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56th  Congress,  )  SENATE.  (  Doc.  No.  231, 

M  Sessioji.       \  \        Part  4. 


COMPILATION 


OF 


REPORTS 


OF 


COMMITTEE  ON  FOREIGN  RELATIONS, 

UISriTED    STATES    SENATE, 

1789-1901, 

First  Congress,  First  Session,  to  Fifty-sixth  Congrp«^.  ?::;u(l  Session. 


MEDITERRANEAN  COMMERCE,  ETC.— NOMINATIONS— AUTHORIZATIONS  TO  ACCEPT  DECORATIONS 
FROM  FOREIGN  GOVERNMENTS— INTERNATIONAL  EXHIBITIONS;  INTERNATIONAL 
CONFERENCES;  MARITIME  CANALS;  PACIFIC  CABLES;  RAILROADS- 
TRADE  AND  COMMERCE  WITH  FOREIGN  NATIONS- 
TARIFF  RESTRICTIONS. 


"VOL.  lAT- 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1901. 

128144 


In  the  Senate  op  the  United  States, 

January  16,  1901. 
Refiolved,  That  there  be  printed  as  a  Senate  document  the  Compi- 
lation of  Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the  United 
States  Senate  from  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-nine  to  nineteen 
hundred,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  as  authorized  by  the  Act  approved  June  sixth,  nineteen 
hundred,  entitled  "An  Act  making  appropriations  to  supply  deficien- 
cies in  the  appropriations  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  thirtieth, 
nineteen  hundred,  and  for  prior  years,  and  for  other  purposes." 

Attest: 

Charles  G.  Bennett, 

Secretary. 
2 


V.  4 


MEDITERRANEAN  COMMERCE,  ETC. 


MEDITERRANEAN  COMMERCE,  ETC. 


FIRST  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 
January  6,  1791. 

On  the  President's  speech  relating  to  Mediterranean  commerce,  and 
the  message  from  the  Pi-csident  in  regard  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States  in  captivity  in  Algiers,  Mr.  Langdon  reported  as  follows: 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  that  part  of  the  President's 
speech  which  relates  to  the  trade  of  the  Mediterranean,  also  the  Presi- 
dent's message  of  December  30,  with  the  papers  accompanying  the 
same,  are  of  opinion  that  the  trade  of  the  United  States  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, can  not  be  protected  bnt  by  a  naval  force,  and  that  it  will  be 
proper  to  resort  to  the  same  as  soon  as  the  state  of  the  public  finances 
will  admit. 


February  1,  1791. 

On  letter  from  Secretary  of  State,  with  inclosures,  relative  to  Amer- 
ican prisoners  in  Algiers,  Mr.  Langdon  reported  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  advise  and  consent  that  the  President  of 
the  United  States  take  such  measures  as  he  may  think  necessary  for 
the  redemption  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  now  in  captivity 
at  Algiers,  provided  the  expense  shall  not  exceed  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars ;  and  also,  that  measures  be  taken  to  confirm  the  treaty  now  exist- 
ing between  the  United  States  and  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  provided 
no  greater  sum  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  be  expended  in  that 
business. 

Ordered,  That  the  Secretary  communicate  this  resolution  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 


March  1,  1791. 

As  to  protection  of  American  commerce  in  Mediterranean  and 
securing  recognition  of  treaty  with  Morocco,  Mr.  Langdon  reported 
following  bill: 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  m  Congress  assembled,  That,  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  a  recognition  of  the  treaty  of  the  United  States 
with  the  new  Emperor  of  Morocco,  there  be,  and  hereby  is,  appropri- 
ated a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  moneys  which,  prior  to  the  first  day  of  January  next,  shall  arise 
from  the  duties  imposed  upon  spirits  distilled  within  the  United 
States,  and  from  stills,  by  the  act  entitled  "An  act  repealing,  after 
the  last  day  of  June  next,  the  duties  heretofore  laid  upon  distilled 
spirits  imported  from  abroad,  and  laying  others  in  their  stead;  and 
also  upon  spirits  distilled  within  the  United  States,  and  for  appropri- 
ating the  same;"  together  with  the  excess  of  duties  which  may  arise 
from  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said  act  on  imported  spirits,  beyond 

5 


6  MEDITERRANEAN    COMMERCE,   ETC. 

those  which  would  have  arisen  by  the  act  entitled  "An  act  making 
further  provision  for  the  payment  of  the  United  States;"  and  the 
President  is  hereby  authorized  to  take  on  loan  tlie  whole  sum  by  this 
act  appropriated,  or  so  much  thereof  as  he  may  judge  requisite,  at  an 
interest  not  exceeding  six  per  cent  per  annum,  and  the  sum  estab- 
lished for  the  above-mentioned  appropriation  is  hereby  pledged  for 
the  payment  of  the  principal  and  interest  of  any  loan  to  be  obtained 
in  manner  aforesaid;  and,  in  case  of  any  deficiency  in  the  said  fund, 
the  faith  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  also  pledged  to  make  good 
such  deficiency. 


March  1,  1791. 

As  to  ransom  of  Americans,  captive  in  Algiers,  Mr.  Langdon 
reported  as  follows : 

Whereas  since  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  advising  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  take  measures  for  the  ransom  of  the  American 
captives  at  Algiers,  large  appropriations  of  money  have  been  made 
for  the  protection  of  the  western  frontiers : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  do  advise  and  consent  that  the  President 

of  the  United  States  suspend  any  operations  under  the  said  resolution 

for  the  ransom  of  said  captives,  until  the  situation  of  the  Treasury 

shall  more  clearly  authorize  appropriations  of  money  for  that  purpose. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  vol.  1,  pp.  72,  73,  75,  77,  78;  Annals,  1st  Cong., 

1749,  1752,  1703,  1773,  1774,  1781.) 


FOURTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION*. 
March  22,  1796. 

On  the  message  of  the  President  as  to  the  equipment  of  frigates  for 
Algiers,  Mr.  Bingham  reported  as  follows: 

That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  committee  it  will  be  expedient  to 
authorize  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  cause  to  be  completed, 
with  all  convenient  expedition,  two  of  the  said  frigates  of  forty-four, 
and  one  of  thirty-six  guns. 

That  a  discretionary  power  be  committed  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  cause  the  other  to  be  finished,  having  a  due  regard 
to  the  existing  price  of  labor  and  materials. 

That  so  much  of  the  $688,888.32  as  by  the  act  of  .Tune,  1794,  was 
appropriated  to  pay  the  expenses  to  be  incurred  by  the  act  to  provide 
a  naval  armament  remains  unexpended,  as  well  as  so  much  of  the 
sum  of  180,000  appropriated  for  a  provisional  equipment  of  gallej's, 
bj"^  the  before-recited  act,  be  appropriated  for  carrying  into  effect  the 
provisions  of  the  aforesaid  resolution. 

(Annals,  4th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  54,  60.) 


EIGHTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  24,  1804. 

As  to  protection  of  the  commerce  and  seamen  of  the  United  States 

against  the  Barbary  Powei*s,  Mr.  Smith  reported  the  following  bill: 

■  Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses 


MEDITEREANEAN    COMMERCE,   ETC.  7 

of  equipping,  officering,  manning,  and  employing  such  of  the  armed 
vessels  of  the  United  States  as  may  be  deemed  requisite  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  tlie  United  States  for  protecting  the  commerce  and  seamen 
thereof,  and  for  carrying  on  warlike  operations  against  the  Regency 
of  Tripoli,  or  of  any  of  the  Barbary  Powers  which  may  commit  hos- 
tilities against  the  United  States,  and  for  the  purpose  also  of  defray- 
ing any  other  expenses  incidental  to  the  intercourse  with  the  Barbary 
Powers,  or  which  are  authorized  by  this  act,  a  duty  of  two  and  one- 
lialf  per  centum  ad  valorem,  in  addition  to  the  duties  now  imposed 
by  law,  sliall  be  laid,  levied,  and  collected  upon  all  goods,  wares,  and 
merchandise,  paying  a  duty  ad  valorem,  whic^Ii  shall,  after  the  thir- 
tieth day  of  June  next,  be  imported  into  the  United  States  from  any 
foreign  port  or  place;  and  an  addition  of  ten  per  centum  shall  be 
made  to  the  said  additional  duty  in  respect  to  all  goods,  wares,  and 
merchandise  imported  in  ships  or  vessels  not  of  the  United  States; 
and  the  duties  imposed  by  this  act  shall  be  levied  and  collected  in  the 
same  manner  and  under  the  same  regulations  and  allowances  as  to 
drawbacks,  mode  of  security,  and  time  of  payment,  respectively,  as 
are  already  prescribed  by  law  in  relation  to  the  duties  now  in  force 
on  the  articles  on  which  the  said  additional  duty  is  laid  by  this  act. 

That  a  distinct  account  shall  be  kept  of  the  duties  imposed  by  this 
act,  and  the  proceeds  thereof  shall  constitute  a  fund,  to  be  denom- 
inated "The  Mediterranean  fund,"  and  shall  be  applied  solely  to  the 
purposes  designated  by  this  act;  and  the  said  additional  duties  shall 
cease  and  be  discontinued  at  the  expiration  of  three  months  after  the 
ratification  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  Regency  of  Tripoli,  unless  the  United  States  shall  then  be  at 
war  with  any  other  of  the  Barbary  States,  in  which  case  the  said  addi- 
tional duty  shall  cease  and  be  discontinued  at  the  expiration  of  three 
months  after  the  ratification  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
a  treaty  of  peace  with  such  power:  Provided,  however,  That  the  said 
additional  duty  shall  be  collected  on  all  such  goods,  wares,  and  mer- 
chandise liable  to  pay  the  same  as  shall  have  been  Imported  previous 
to  the  day  on  which  the  said  duty  is  to  cease. 

That  the  President  of  the  United  States,  if  he  shall  deem  it  neces- 
sary, shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  to  cause  to  be  purchased 
or  built,  officered,  manned,  and  equipped,  two  vessels  of  war,  to 
carry  not  more  than  sixteen  guns  each,  and  likewise  to  hire  or  accept 
on  loan  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  as  many  gunboats  as  he  may  think 
proper. 

That  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  million  of  dollars,  to  be  paid  out  of 
any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  shall  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby,  appropriated  (in  addition  to  the  sum  heretofore 
appropriated  for  the  same  objects)  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  any 
of  the  expenses  authorized  by  this  act  which  may  be  incurred  during 
the  present  year;  or,  if  necessary,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
is  hereby  authorized  to  borrow  the  said  sum,  or  such  part  thereof  as 
he  may  think  proper,  at  a  rate  of  interest  not  exceeding  six  per 
centum  per  annum,  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  is 
hereby  empowered  to  lend  the  same,  or  from  any  other  body  or  bodies, 
politic  or  corporate,  or  from  any  person  or  persons;  and  so  much  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  duties  laid  by  this  act  as  may  be  necessary  shall 
be,  and  is  hereby,  pledged  for  replacing  in  the  Treasury  the  said  sum 
of  one  million  of  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  shall  have  been  thus 
expended,  and  for  paying  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  said  sum, 
or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  borrowed,  pursuant  to  the  authority 


8  MEDITERRANEAN    COMMERCE,   ETC. 

given  in  this  section;  and  an  account  of  the  several  expenditures 
made  under  this  act  shall  be  laid  before  Congress  during  their  next 
session. 

(Annals,  8th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  295, 298;  Stat.  L.,  vol.  2,  p.  291.) 


THIRTEENTH  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 
March  3,  1815. 

As  to  protection  of  the  coninioreo  of  the  United  States  against 
Algerine  cruisers,  Mr,  Bibb  reported  as  follows: 

That  in  the  month  of  July,  1812,  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  taking  offense, 
or  pretending  to  take  offense,  at  the  quality  and  quantity  of  a  sliip- 
ment  of  military  stores  made  by  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of  the 
stipulation  in  the  treaty  of  1795,  and,  refusing  to  receive  the  stores, 
extorted  from  the  American  consul-general  at  Algiers,  by  threats  of 
personal  imprisonment,  and  of  reducing  to  slavery  all  Americans 
within  his  power,  a  sum  of  money,  claimed  as  the  arrearages  of  treaty 
stipulations,  and  denied  by  the  United  States,  to  be  due;  and  then 
compelled  the  consul,  and  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  at 
Algiers,  abruptly  to  quit  his  dominions.  It  further  appears  to  the 
committee  that  on  the  25th  of  August  following,  the  American  brig 
Edwin,  of  Salem,  owned  by  Nathaniel  Silsbee,  of  that  place,  while  on 
a  voyage  from  Malta  to  Gibraltar,  was  taken  by  an  Algerine  corsair 
and  carried  into  Algiers  as  prize.  The  commander  of  the  brig,  Capt. 
George  Campbell  Smith,  and  the  crew,  ten  in  number,  have  ever  since 
been  detained  in  captivity,  with  the  exception  of  two  of  them,  whose 
release  has  been  effected,  under  circumstances  not  indicating  any 
change  of  hostile  temper  on  the  part  of  the  Dey.  It  also  appears  that 
a  vessel  sailing  under  the  Spanish  flag  has  been  condemned  in  Algiers 
as  laying  a  false  claim  to  that  flag,  and  concealing  her  true  American 
character.  In  this  vessel  was  taken  a  Mr.  Pollard,  who  claims  to  be 
an  American  citizen,  and  is  believed  to  be  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  who, 
as  an  American  citizen,  is  kept  in  captivity.  The  Government,  justly 
solicitous  to  relieve  these  unfortunate  captives,  caused  an  agent  (whose 
connection  with  the  Government  was  not  disclosed)  to  be  sent  to  Algiers, 
with  the  means  and  with  instructions  to  effect  their  ransom,  if  it  could 
be  done  at  a  price  not  exceeding  13,000  per  man.  The  effort  did  not 
succeed,  because  of  the  Dey's  avowed  policy  to  increase  the  number 
of  his  American  slaves,  in  order  to  be  able  to  compel  a  renewal  of  his 
treaty  with  the  United  States  on  terms  suited  to  his  rapacity.  Cap- 
tain Smith,  Mr.  Pollard,  and  the  mate  of  the  Edwin  are  not  confined, 
nor  kept  at  hard  labor;  but  the  rest  of  the  captives  are  subjected  to 
the  well-known  horrors  of  Algerine  slavery.  The  committee  have  not 
been  apprised  of  any  other  specific  outrages  upon  the  persons  or  prop- 
erty of  American  citizens  besides  those  stated ;  and  they  apprehend 
that  the  fewness  of  these  is  attributable  to  the  want  of  opportunity, 
and  not  of  inclination,  in  the  Dey  to  prey  upon  our  commerce  and  to 
enslave  our  citizens.  The  war  with  Great  Britain  has  hitherto  shut 
the  Mediterranean  against  American  vessels,  which  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed will  now  shortly  venture  upon  it.  The  committee  are  all  of 
opinion,  upon  the  evidence  which  has  been  laid  before  them,  that  the 
Dey  of  Algiers  considers  his  treaty  with  the  United  States  as  at  an 
end,  and  is  waging  war  against  them.  The  evidence  upon  which  this 
opinion  is  founded,  and  from  which  are  extracted  the  facts  above 
stated,  accompanies  this  report,  and  with  it  is  respectfully  submitted. 
(Leg.  Jour.  vol.  5,  pp.  686,  687;   Am.  St.  Pap.,  vol.  3,  p.  748.) 


NOMINATIONS. 


NOMINATIONS. 


SECOND  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
January  6,  1792. 

On  the  nomination  of  Gouverneur  Morris  and  Thomas  Pickering  to 
be  ministers  plenipotentiary  at  Paris  and  London  and  William  Short 
to  be  minister  resident  at  Tlie  Hague  Mr.  Strong  reported  as  follows : 

That  from  the  facts  communicated  to  them  they  are  of  the  opinion 
that  there  is  now  a  special  occasion  for  the  appointing  of  a  minister 
to  the  Court  of  London. 

The  committee  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate  the  infor- 
mation they  have  received  relative  to  the  expediency  of  appointing 
ministers  at  the  Court  of  Paris  and  at  The  Hague  at  this  time. 
(Ex.  Jour.,  vol.  1,  pp.  92,  93,  94.) 


TWELFTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
November  25,  1811. 

On  the  nomination  of  James  Monroe  to  be  Secretary  of  State  Mr. 
Giles  reported  as  follows : 

That  they  have  examined  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Monroe  while  acting 
as  a  foreign  minister,  and  find  nothing  therein  to  justify  the  rejection 
of  the  nomination. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  voL  2,  pp.  189,  192.) 


THIRTEENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
June  7,  1813. 

On  the  nomination  of  Jonathan  Russell  to  be  minister  to  Sweden 
Mr.  Goldsborough  reported  as  follows: 

That  in  pursuance  of  the  order  of  the  Senate  the  committee  met 
the  Secretary  of  State,  by  appointment,  at  the  office  of  the  Department 
of  State,  when  tliey  were  informed  by  the  Secretary  that  there  was  no 
official  denial  or  admission  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell's  that  the  allega- 
tion of  the  Duke  of  Bassano  to  Mr.  Barlow,  referred  to,  was  true,  but 
that  he  (the  Secretary)  had  a  private  letter  from  Mr.  Russell  subse- 
quent to  the  allegation  of  the  Duke  of  Bassano,  in  which  he  under- 
stood that  allegation  to  be  unequivocally  denied. 
(Ex.  Jour.,  voL  2,  pp.  349,  351.) 

11 


12  NOMINATIONS. 

June  4,  1813. 

On  the  nomination  of  Albert  Gallatin  to  be  envoy  to  Great  Britain 
and  Russia  Mr.  Andei-son  reix)rted  as  follows: 

That  in  obedience  to  the  resolution  authorizing  the  committee  to 
inquire  and  report  thereon  he  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  a  copy  of  which  accompanies  this  report,  inclos- 
ing a  copy  of  the  resolution  under  which  the  committee  were  appointed ; 
that  he  afterwards  called  on  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who 
informed  him  that  he  did  not  consider  the  authority  given  to  the  com- 
mittee such  as  to  authorize  them  to  call  on  him  in  their  official  char- 
acter, but  that  if  they  were  especially  instructed  to  call  upon  him, 
and  the  specific  object  should  be  designated,  he  would  freely  receive 
them  and  appoint  a  time  for  that  purpose. 


July  19,  1813. 

Mr.  Anderson  further  reported  as  follows : 

That  according  to  the  instructions  of  the  Senate  of  the  16th  June 
the  committee,  through  its  chairman,  addressed  a  note  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  on  the  12th  instant,  which  accompanies  this 
report,  and  in  reply  thereto  the  President  addressed  a  note  to  the 
chairman  on  the  14th  instant,  which  note  also  accompanies  this  report, 
appointing  Fridaj',  the  IGth  instant,  to  receive  the  committee,  to  com- 
municate the  aforesaid  resolution  of  the  Senate,  and  apprising  the 
committee  of  his  late  message  to  the  Senate  containing  the  grounds  on 
which  he  would  be  obliged  to  decline  the  proposed  conference  with  the 
committee.  Upon  due  consideration  of  this  reply  the  committee 
deemed  it  an  incumbent  duty  to  wait  on  the  President  according  to  his 
appointment  and  to  present  to  him  both  the  resolutions  of  the  Senate 
in  relation  to  the  nomination  referred  to  the  committee,  and  did  accord- 
ingly wait  upon  him  and  present  them,  when  the  President  was  pleased 
to  observe  to  the  committee,  in  substance,  that  he  was  sorry  that  the 
Senate  had  not  taken  the  same  view  of  the  subject  which  he  had  done, 
and  that  he  regretted  that  the  measure  had  been  taken  under  circum- 
stances which  deprived  him  of  the  aid  or  advice  of  the  Senate.  After 
the  committee  had  remained  a  reasonable  time  for  the  President  to 
make  any  other  observations,  if  he  thought  proper  to  do  so,  and  observ- 
ing no  disposition  manifested  by  him  to  ent«r  into  further  remarks, 
the  committee  retired  without  making  any  observations  on  the  mat- 
ter of  the  resolutions  or  in  reply  to  those  made  by  the  President. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  vol.  2,  pp.  352,  353,  388,  389;  Annals,  13th  Cong., 
Istsess.,  86,87,88.) 


NINETEENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
January  16,  1826. 

On  nominations  of  Richard  C.  Anderson  and  John  Sergeant  to  be 
envoys  extraordinary  and  ministers  plenipotentiary  to  the  assembly 
of  the  American  nations  at  Panama,  Mr.  Macon  reported  as  follows: 

Your  committee  have  examined  the  subject  to  them  referred,  with 
the  most  profound  attention,  and  have  bestowed  upon  it  all  the  con- 


NOMINATIONS.  13 

sideration  demanded  by  its  novelty,  delicacy,  and  high  importance  to 
the  character  and  future  destinies  of  the  United  States.  In  making 
this  examination  the  committee  found  themselves  not  a  little  embar- 
rassed at  tirst  by  the  circumstance  announced  by  the  President  in  his 
message  to  both  Houses  of  Congress,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  session,  that  he  had  already  accepted  the  invitation  given  to 
the  United  States  by  some  of  the  American  Republics  to  be  repre- 
sented at  the  contemplated  congress  of  American  nations,  about  to 
be  assembled  at  Panama.  But  seeing  in  the  several  communications 
made  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  different  ministers  of  these 
Republics  that  an  express  reference  was  made  to  the  concurrence  of 
the  Senate  as  the  indispensable  preliminary  to  the  acceptance  of  this 
invitation,  and  finding  in  the  present  message  of  the  President  the 
explicit  assurance  that  he  had  not  thought  proper  to  take  any  step  in 
carrying  this  measure  into  effect  until  he  could  ascertain  that  his 
opinion  of  its  expediency  would  concur  with  that  of  both  branches  of 
the  legislature,  the  committee  believed  it  became  a  part  of  the  duty 
they  owed  to  the  Senate,  and  would  be  evidence  of  the  proper  respect 
due  to  the  President,  that  they  should  fully  and  freely  examine  into 
the  propriety  of  the  proposed  measure,  the  expediency  of  adopting 
which  was  the  subject  that  the  Senate  was  thus  invited  to  deliberate 
upon  and  to  make  known  their  opinion. 

Considerations  of  much  higher  importance  than  even  these  induced 
the  committee  to  adopt  this  course.  In  the  ordinary  progress  of  their 
proceedings  the  Senate  can  rarely,  if  ever,  find  it  necessary  or  proper 
to  inquire  as  to  the  objects  expected  to  be  attained  by  appointments 
to  which  their  advice  and  consent  is  asked.  As  to  all  offices  created 
by  statute,  in  which  these  objects  are  defined  and  their  attainment 
positively  required,  the  single  question  rising  before  the  Senate  must 
ever  refer  merely  to  the  fitness  of  the  persons  nominated  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  fulfill  such  duties.  The  same  will  generally  be  found  the  sole 
inquiry  necessary  to  be  made  in  filling  up  vacancies  happening  in 
preexisting  foreign  missions  designed  to  maintain  the  customary 
relations  and  intercourse  of  friendship  and  commerce  between  the 
United  States  and  other  nations.  Very  different,  however,  is  the  case 
when  it  is  proposed  to  create  new  offices  by  nomination,  or  to  dispatch 
ministers  to  foreign  States  for  the  first  time,  or  to  accomplish  by  such 
mission  objects  not  especially  disclosed  or  under  circumstances  new, 
peculiar,  and  highly  important.  In  all  these  cases,  instead  of  confin- 
ing these  inquiries  to  the  mere  fitness  of  the  persons  nominated  to 
fill  such  offices,  it  is  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty  of  the  Senate  to 
determine  previously  as  to  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  creating  the 
offices  themselves;  and  in  deciding  these  questions  not  only  the  objects 
for  the  accomplishment  of  which  it  is  proposed  to  create  them,  but 
every  other  circumstance  connected  with  such  a  measure,  must  neces- 
sarily and  unavoidably  become  an  object  of  their  serious  examination. 

This  right,  conferred  by  the  Constitution  upon  the  Senate,  is  the 
only  direct  check  upon  the  power  possessed  *by  the  President  in  this 
respect  which,  relieved  from  this  restraint,  would  authorize  him  to 
create  and  consummate  all  the  political  relations  of  the  United  States 
at  his  mere  will.  And  as,  in  the  theory  of  their  Government,  the  high 
destinies  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  never  to  be  confided 
to  the  unrestrained  discretion  of  any  single  man,  even  the  wisest  and 
best  of  their  fellow-citizens,  it  becomes  a  solemn  duty  which  the  Sen- 
ate owe  to  the  sovereign  States  here  represented  most  seriously  to 
investigate  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  novel  measure 


14  NOMINATIONS. 

now  proposed  by  the  President,  as  to  the  expediency  of  adopting  which 
they  have  been  invited  to  aid  him  with  their  counsel  and  advice. 

Entertaining  these  opinions  in  the  performance  of  the  duty  which 
they  believe  has  been  required  by  the  Senate,  and  anxious  to  manifest 
to  the  President  their  high  respect  by  complying  fully  with  the  wish 
which  he  has  expressed  upon  this  subject,  the  committee  will  proceed 
to  investigate  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  measure  pro- 
poseti,  and  disclosed  ])y  tlie  documents  to  them  referred,  most  deeply 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  consequences  that  may  very 
probably  result  frora  it. 

The  first  question  which  suggested  itself  to  the  committee  at  the 
very  threshold  of  their  investigation  was.  What  cogent  reasons  now 
existed  for  adopting  this  new  and  untried  measure,  so  much  in  con- 
flict with  the  whole  course  of  policy  uniformly  and  happily  i)ui-sued 
by  the  United  States  from  almost  the  very  creation  of  this  Govern- 
ment to  the  present  hour?  By  the  principles  of  this  policy,  inculcated 
by  our  wisest  statesmen  in  former  days  and  approved  by  the  experi- 
ence of  all  subsequent  time,  the  true  interest  of  the  United  States  was 
supposed  to  be  promoted  by  avoiding  all  entangling  connections  with 
any  other  nation  whatsoever.  Steadily  pursuing  this  course,  while 
they  have  been  desirous  to  manifest  the  most  cordial  good  will  to  all 
nations,  and  to  maintain  with  each  relations  of  perfect  amity  and  of 
commerce,  regulated  and  adjusted  by  rules  of  the  most  fair,  equal, 
and  just  reciprocity,  the  United  States  have  hitherto  sedulously 
abstained  from  associating  themselves  in  any  other  way,  even  with 
those  nations  for  whose  welfare  the  most  lively  sensibility  has  been  at 
all  times  felt  and  otherwise  manifested. 

During  the  conflict  for  freedom  and  independence,  in  which  these 
new  States  of  America  were  so  long  engaged  with  their  former  sover- 
eign, although  every  heart  in  the  United  States  beat  high  in  sympathy 
with  them,  and  fervent  aspirations  were  hourly  put  up  for  their  suc- 
cess, and  although  the  relations  then  existing  with  Spain  were  well 
calculated  to  excite  strong  irritation  and  resentment  on  our  part,  yet 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  convinced  of  the  propriety  of 
a  strict  adherence  to  the  principles  which  it  had  ever  proclaimed  as 
the  rule  of  its  conduct  in  relation  to  other  nations,  forbore  to  take 
any  part  in  this  struggle,  and  maintained  the  most  exact  neutrality 
between  these  belligerents.  Nor  would  it  ever  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  these  new  Republics  until  they  had  become  independent 
in  fact,  and  the  situation  of  their  ancient  sovereign  in  relation  to 
them  was  such  as  to  manifest  that  he  ought  no  longer  to  be  held 
responsible  for  their  acts.  So  soon  as  this  occurred  the  United  States 
most  gladly  embraced  the  opportunity,  and  in  being  the  first  to  pro- 
claim the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  these  States,  gave  to  them 
the  strongest  pledge  of  respect  and  cordial  friendship,  and  sincere 
anxiety  for  their  prosperity. 

Since  that  event  ministers  have  been  dispatched  toeach  of  these  new 
Republics,  instructed  to  declare  the  sentiments  sincerely  and  warmly 
felt  for  them  by  the  United  States,  and  empowered  to  conclude  treat- 
ies with  them,  the  objects  of  which  should  be  to  establish,  upon  prin- 
ciples of  the  most  perfect  justice  and  equity,  all  the  ordinary  relations 
that  exist  between  nations.  Thus  mucli  was  due,  not  less  to  them 
than  to  ourselves;  and  in  going  so  far  we  did  all  tliat  our  feelings  dic- 
tated and  the  interest  of  either  seemed  then  to  i*equire.  What  neces- 
sity has  since  arisen  to  do  more?  What  cause  exists  now  to  prom^jt  the 
United  States  to  establish  new  and  stronger  relations  with  them,  and 


NOMESTATIONS.  15 

SO  to  abandon  the  rule  of  conduct  which  has  hitherto  been  here  so 
steadity  and  happily  pursued? 

These  inquiries  necessarily  called  the  attention  of  the  committee  to 
a  minute  examination  of  all  the  documents  to  them  referred,  in  order 
that  they  might  therein  discover  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  new- 
States  of  America  for  desiring  the  United  States  to  be  represented  at 
the  congress  about  to  be  assembled  at  Panama,  and  the  motives  of 
the  President  for  intimating  his  willingness  to  accept  tliis  invitation. 
And  in  making  such  an  examination  many  reflections  presented  them- 
selves as  connected  with  the  proposed  measure,  all  of  which  the  com- 
mittee will  now  state  to  the  Senate. 

In  a  Government,  constituted  as  is  that  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  the  sentiment  so  natural  to  freemen  prompts  them  to  scruti- 
nize most  exactly  the  extent  of  all  the  powers  they  grant,  and  to  limit 
this  extent  by  the  objects  desired  to  be  accomplished  by  their  exer- 
cise, the  strongest  anxiety  is  (and  is  to  be  hoped  always  will  be)  felt 
to  learn  distinctly  what  is  the  precise  object  desired  to  be  attained, 
and  what  are  the  precise  means  proposed  for  its  attainment.  Even 
the  confidence  reposed  in  the  long-tried  patriotism  and  well-proved  wis- 
dom of  our  own  best  citizens  does  not  and  ought  not  to  suffice  to  quiet 
this  anxiety  or  to  overcome  this  jealousy,  inspired  by  an  ardent 
attachment  to  our  rights  and  privileges.  It  was,  therefore,  much  to 
be  desired,  and  certainly  to  liave  been  expected  that,  before  the  des- 
tinies of  the  United  States  should  be  committed  to  the  deliberation 
and  decision  of  a  congress  composed  not  of  our  own  citizens,  but  of 
the  rex)resentatives  of  many  different  nations,  the  objects  of  such  delib- 
eration should  be  most  accurately  stated  and  defined  and  the  manner 
of  their  accomplishment  clearly  and  distinctly  marked  out. 

In  this  opinion  the  President  himself  seems  to  have  concurred  at 
the  commencement  of  this  negotiation;  for  in  the  report  made  to  him 
on  the  20th  of  December  last  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  this  officer 
states  that  agreeablj^  to  his  directions  he  had  informed  the  minis- 
ters by  whom  the  invitation  to  the  proposed  congress  at  Panama  was 
given,  that  "before  such  a  congress  assembled,  it  appeared  to  the 
President  to  be  expedient  to  adjust  between  the  different  powers  to 
be  represented  several  preliminary  points,  such  as  the  subjects  to 
which  the  attention  of  the  congress  was  to  be  directed,  the  nature  and 
the  form  of  the  powers  to  be  given  to  the  diplomatic  agents  who  were 
to  compose  it,  and  the  mode  of  its  organization  and  action."  And  it 
was  made  an  express  and  previous  condition  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
invitation  proposed  to  be  given,  that  "these  preliminary  points  should 
be  arranged  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  United  States." 

It  was,  therefore,  not  without  much  surprise  and  regret  that  the 
committee  discovered  that,  although  in  none  of  the  communications 
subsequently  made  to  this  Government  by  either  of  the  ministers  of 
the  several  States  by  whom  this  invitation  was  given  are  these  pre- 
liminary points  even  stated,  and  although  the  want  of  "a  compliance 
with  these  conditions"  is  expressly  noticed  in  the  reply  made  to  them 
by  the  Secretary  of  State,  yet  they  were  therein  told  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  determined  "at  once"  to  send  commissioners  to  this  con- 
gress at  Panama,  provided  the  Senate  would  advise  and  consent  to 
such  a  measure. 

If,  then,  the  Senate  should  now  demand  of  this  committee  to  inform 
them  what  are  the  objects  to  be  accomplished  at  this  congress,  and 
what  are  the  means  by  which  their  accomplishment  is  to  be  effected- 
although  as  to  objects  the  documents  referred  to  them  will  enable 


16  NOMINATIONS. 

the  committee  to  name  a  few — yet  as  to  all  others  they  must  answer 
in  the  language  of  the  communication  made  by  the  Mexican  minister, 
that  they  are  those  "to  which  the  existence  of  the  new  States  ma}'' 
give  rise,  and  which  it  is  not  easy  to  point  out  or  enumerate."  As  to 
the  means,  however,  the  committee  can  only  reply  that,  while  it  seems' 
to  be  expected  that  the  United  States  are  to  clothe  their  representa- 
tives with  "ample  powers"  to  accomplish  all  the  enumerated  and  these 
other  undefined  objects  also,  yet  the  mode  in  which  these  powers,  if 
granted,  are  to  be  used  and  exercised,  is  nowhere  even  hinted  at. 

One  great  question,  therefore,  upon  which  the  decision  of  the  Sen- 
ate is  called  for  will  be,  whether  in  the  existing  state  of  things  it  is 
wise  or  expedient  that  the  United  States  should  be  represented  at  a 
congress  of  American  nations  by  agents  endowed  with  undefined 
powers  to  accomplish  undefined  objects?  And  this  committee  feel  no 
hesitation  in  stating  as  their  opinion  that,  if  ever  it  ma}'  be  proper 
to  adopt  such  a  measure,  there  is  nothing  known  to  them  that  requires 
or  justifies  it  at  this  time. 

It  is  true  the  power  confided  to  the  Senate  to  ratify  or  reject  any 
agreement  that  may  be  entered  into  by  such  agents  would  constitute 
some  safeguard  to  the  important  interests  of  the  United  States.  But 
long  experience  must  have  informed  the  Senate  that  it  is  generally 
exceedingly  difficult,  and  sometimes  even  impossible,  to  escape  from 
the  embarrassments  produced  by  the  mere  act  of  entering  into  a  nego- 
tiation; and  that  it  is  much  better  to  abstain  from  doing  so  until  its 
objects  are  distinctly  known  and  approved  than  to  confide  in  the 
power  of  the  Senate,  in  the  last  resort,  to  refuse  their  assent  to  the 
ratification  of  an  agreement  after  it  is  adjusted  by  means  of  such 
negotiation. 

In  the  present  case,  if  the  measures  to  be  accomplished  by  the  pro- 
posed congress,  whatever  may  be  their  object  or  character,  should  not 
meet  the  concurring  opinion  of  all  the  parties  there  to  be  represented, 
we  need  not  the  lights  of  history  to  inform  us  that  many  consequences, 
mischievous  in  themselves  and  greatly  to  be  deplored,  not  only  may 
but  most  probably  Avill  result.  And  that  a  difference  of  opinion  will 
exist  in  regard  to  measures  so  important  in  themselves,  and  so  vari- 
ous and  diversified  in  their  effects  upon  nations  differing  from  each 
other  in  almost  every  particular,  is  much  to  be  apprehended.  The 
power  possessed  by  the  Senate  of  withholding  its  assent  ought  not, 
therefore,  to  be  regarded  as  furnishing  sufficient  assurance  against 
the  possible  and  probable  effects  of  the  proposed  measure. 

Turning  from  the  undefined  objects  of  this  congress,  so  imperfectly 
disclosed  in  the  vague  description  given  of  them,  that,  if  seen  at  all, 
they  are  presented  most  indistinctly  to  their  view,  and  regarding  those 
which  are  particularly  mentioned  and  described  with  more  precision, 
this  committee  have  not  been  able  to  discover  in  anyone  of  these  last 
a  single  subject  concerning  which  the  United  States  ought  to  enter 
into  any  negotiation  with  the  States  of  America  to  be  assembled  at  the 
contemplated  congress  at  Panama. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  enumeration  of  these  objects,  the  commit- 
tee can  not  refrain  from  calling  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  a  sin- 
gular circumstance  disclosed  by  the  documents  to  them  referred, 
although  an  enumeration  of  the  subjects  to  which  the  attention  of  the 
proposed  congress  was  to  be  directed  was  explictly  stated  as  a  condi- 
tion preliminary  to  the  acceptance  by  the  United  States  of  the  invi- 
tation given  to  them  to  be  represented ;  although  each  of  the  ministers 
giving  this  invitation  had  communicated  this  to  his  Government  and 


NOMINATIONS.  17 

received  its  instructions  relative  thereto,  yet  great  diversities  will  be 
found  in  the  enumeration  of  these  subjects,  made  by  each  of  these 
ministers  in  pursuance  of  such  instructions.  And,  what  is  still  more 
remarkable,  while  many  of  the  subjects  of  intended  discussion  so 
enumerated  by  these  ministers  are  not  referred  to  in  the  message  of 
the  President  to  the  Senate,  others  are  therein  stated  as  matters  for 
the  deliberation  of  the  proposed  congress  to  which  not  the  slightest 
allusion  seems  ever  to  have  been  made  by  anyone  of  the  American  min- 
isters in  any  of  their  communications  to  this  Government.  Nay,  one 
of  the  subjects  (the  most  important,  probably,  of  any  which  the 
United  States  are  desirous  to  discuss  at  this  congress)  is  neither 
noticed  in  the  communications  made  to  this  Government  by  any  of 
the  American  States  nor  in  the  message  of  the  President  to  the  Senate, 
and  is  to  be  only  inferred  from  the  documents  last  referred  to  this 
committee,  received  under  the  call  made  by  the  Senate  for  further 
information,  all  of  which  will  be  very  clearly  shown  by  the  details 
which  the  committee  will  now  lay  before  the  Senate. 

The  first  subject  stated  by  the  Mexican  minister,  as  one  which  would 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  contemplated  congress  and  in  the  delib- 
erations concerning  which  the  United  States  are  expected  to  take  a 
part,  is  "the  resistance  or  opposition  to  be  made  to  the  interference 
of  any  neutral  nation  in  the  question  and  war  of  independence 
between  the  new  powers  of  this  continent  and  Spain."  And  in  the 
deliberation  upon  this  subject  it  seems  to  be  proposed  "  to  discuss  the 
means  of  giving  to  that  resistance  all  possible  force,"  and  so  to  adjust, 
by  previous  concert,  the  mode  in  which  each  of  the  States  represented 
at  the  congress  "shall  lend  its  cooperation." 

The  same  subject  is  also  stated  by  the  minister  of  Colombia,  and  in 
terms  still  more  explicit.  He  suggests  as  a  matter  of  useful  discussion 
in  the  congress  the  formation  of  an  "eventual  alliance"  of  the  States 
there  to  be  represented,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  any  European 
power  from  interfering  in  the  present  contest  between  Spain  and  her 
former  colonies,  and  that  the  treaty  for  this  purpose  should  "remain 
secret  until  the  casus  foederis  should  happen." 

Notwithstanding  this  is  so  stated  by  both  of  these  ministers,  as  the 
first  and  great  object  of  the  proposed  Congress,  yet  the  President,  in 
his  message,  assures  the  Senate  "that  the  motive  of  the  attendance 
of  the  United  States  is  neither  to  contract  alliances  nor  to  engage  in 
any  undertaking  or  project  importing  hostility  to  any  other  nation." 
It  thus  appears  that  in  relation  to  this  first  and  most  important  point, 
which  seems  to  have  given  birth  to  the  scheme  of  this  congress,  the 
views  and  motives  of  the  United  States  differ  essentially  from  those 
of  the  other  parties.  And  this  difference  of  opinion,  occurring  as  to 
the  very  first  proposition,  which  is  said  to  be  "a  matter  of  immediate 
utility  to  the  American  States  that  are  at  war  with  Spain,"  and  is 
believed  by  them  to  "be  in  accordance  with  the  repeated  declarations 
and  protests  of  the  Cabinet  at  Washington,"  must  unavoidably  excite 
doubts  as  to  "the  interest  we  take  in  their  welfare,  and  our  disposi- 
tion to  comply  with  their  wishes;"  and  would  so  contribute  not  a  little 
to  defeat  other  objects. 

The  next  subject  stated  by  the  Mexican  minister  as  presenting 
"another  of  the  questions  which  may  be  discussed,"  and  which  he 
considers  as  being  "in  like  predicament  with  the  foregoing,"  is  "the 
opposition  to  colonization  in  America  by  the  European  powers." 

The  minister  of  Colombia  concurs  in  this  enumeration.  He  places 
"the  manner  in  which  all  colonization  of  European  powers  on  the 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 2 


18  NOMINATIONS. 

American  continent  shall  be  resisted"  at  the  very  head  of  all  the 
subjects  of  proposed  discussion,  and  couples  this  with  the  former  as 
an  object  to  be  effected  by  the  joint  and  united  efforts  of  all  the 
States  to  be  represented  at  the  congress,  who  should  be  bound  by  a 
a  solemn  convention  to  secure  this  end. 

The  President  concurs  in  part  in  the  opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of 
attaining  this  end,  but  differs  radically  as  to  the  mode  of  accomplish- 
ing it.  "An  agreement  between  all  the  parties  represented  at  the 
meeting,  that  each  will  guard,  by  its  own  means,  against  the  estab- 
lishment of  any  future  European  colony  within  its  borders,"  bethinks 
"may  be  found  advisable."  Now  if  this  be  meant,  that  each  nation 
shall,  by  its  own  means,  protect  its  own  territories  against  all  enroach- 
ments  upon  them,  attempted  by  any  European  or  other  foreign  State 
whatsoever,  the  committee  can  not  discern  either  the  necessity  or 
expediency  of  entering  into  any  formal  agreement  with  other  States 
to  that  effect,  more  than  exists  for  reducing  to  treaty  stipulations, 
any  other  of  the  high,  just,  and  universally  admitted  rights  of  all 
nations.  Such  an  idea,  however,  is  obviously  not  that  suggested  by 
the  ministers  of  Mexico  and  Colombia  and  if  more  is  meant  to  be  com- 
prehended in  the  agreement  which  the  President  thinks  maybe  found 
advisable,  every  other  article  it  would  contain,  must,  in  the  opinion 
of  this  committee,  violate  all  the  well-settled  principles  of  the  policy 
of  the  United  States,  and  put  at  hazard  their  best  interest,  without 
any  adequate  motive  for  so  novel  an  experiment.  In  the  one  case 
the  views  and  motives  of  the  President  differ  again,  essentially,  from 
those  of  the  other  parties  to  be  represented  at  this  congress;  and  from 
the  disclosure  of  these  repeated  differences  of  opinion,  no  good  can 
possibly  result.  And  in  the  other,  should  the  views  of  the  President 
concur  with  those  of  the  other  American  States  (which  the  committee 
do  not  believe),  the  mutual  stipulations  growing  out  of  such  an  agree- 
ment would,  in  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  prove  fatal  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  United  States,  should  the  casus  foederis  ever  happen. 

To  adjust  the  means  of  most  effectual  resistance  to  the  interference 
of  neutral  nations,  in  the  war  of  independence  between  the  new 
powers  of  this  continent  and  Spain;  and  of  opposition  to  colonization 
in  America  by  the  European  powers,  are  said  by  the  Mexican  minister 
to  be  "the  two  principal  subjects"  of  intended  discussion  at  the  con- 
templated congress;  and,  indeed,  are  all  the  subjects  of  discussion 
which  he  particularly  states.  The  minister  of  Colombia,  however, 
extends  his  enumeration  of  the  subjects  of  intended  discussion  some- 
what further,  and  after  mentioning  those  before  stated,  adds,  as 
another,  "the  consideration  of  the  means  to  be  adopted  for  the  entire 
abolition  of  the  African  slave  trade." 

To  this  subject  the  President  makes  no  allusion  in  his  message ;  and, 
after  the  examination  which  it  has  received  in  the  Senate  during  two 
successive  years,  this  committee  deem  it  quite  unnecessary  to  say 
much  in  relation  to  it  at  this  time.  Some  of  the  sovereign  States  here 
represented  were  the  first  in  the  world  to  proclaim  their  abhorrence 
of  this  traffic.  Since  the  formation  of  this  Government  the  United 
States  have  exerted  (and,  as  this  committee  believe,  have  exerted 
effectuallj'^)  all  the  means  in  their  power  to  arrest  its  progress,  so  far 
as  their  own  citizens  were  concerned;  and  if  all  other  nations,  and 
especially  those  holding  possessions  in  America,  would  follow  their 
example,  the  African  slave  trade  would  no  longer  exist.  The  United 
States,  however,  have  not  certainly  the  right,  and  ought  never  to  feel 
the  inclination,  to  dictate  to  others  who  may  differ  with  them  upon 


NOMIISTATIONS.  19 

this  subject;  nor  do  the  committee  see  the  expediency  of  insulting 
other  States  with  whom  we  are  maintaining?  relations  of  perfect  amity, 
by  ascending  the  moral  chair  and  prochiiming  from  thence  mere 
abstract  principles  of  the  rectitude  of  which  each  nation  enjoys  the 
perfect  right  of  deciding  for  itself. 

The  minister  of  Colombia  states,  as  another  subject  of  discussion 
at  the  contemplated  congress,  "on  what  basis  the  relations  of  Haiti, 
and  of  other  parts  of  our  hemisphere  that  shall  hereafter  be  in  like 
circumstances,  are  to  be  placed."  To  this  matter,  also,  the  President 
makes  no  allusion  in  his  message.  And,  surely,  if  there  is  any  sub- 
ject within  the  whole  circle  of  political  relations,  as  to  which  it  is  the 
interest  and  the  duty  of  all  States  to  keep  themselves  perfectly  free 
and  unshackled  by  any  previous  stipulation,  it  is  that  which  regards 
their  future  connections  with  any  other  peojile  not  parties  to  such  an 
agreement.  Of  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  such  connections  each 
must  ever  bo  permitted  to  judge  freely  for  itself,  because  the  benefit 
or  disadvantage  to  result  from  them  must  be  peculiar  and  very  differ- 
ent to  each ;  and  that  relation  which  is  highly  desirable  at  one  time 
may  become  hurtful  at  another.  In  the  opinion  of  this  committee, 
therefore,  the  United  States  should  never  permit  themselves  to  enter 
into  discussion  with  any  foreign  State  whatever,  as  to  the  relations 
they  should  be  obliged  to  establish  with  any  other  people  not  i)arties 
to  such  discussions.  And  the  objections  to  such  a  course  become 
infinitely  stronger  when  the  discussions  are  intended  to  refer  not  only 
to  those  who  then  exist,  bat  also  to  others  who  may  hereafter  be  con- 
sidered as  placed  "in  like  circumstances." 

These  are  all  the  points  particularly  suggested  by  the  minister  of 
C/olombia  as  subjects  of  discussion  at  the  contemplated  congress. 
The  minister  of  Guatemala,  (who  also  unites  in  the  invitation  given  to 
the  United  States,)  has  stated  no  particular  subject  as  matter  of  dis- 
cussion at  this  congress.  He  intimates,  however,  "that,  as  Europe 
had  formed  a  continental  sj^stem  and  held  a  congress  whenever  ques- 
tions affecting  its  interests  were  to  be  discussed,  America  should  also 
form  a  system  for  itself." 

How  far  their  general  suggestion  meets  the  views  of  the  President 
the  committee  are  not  enabled  by  any  document  to  them  referred,  to 
decide.  But  they  will  present  to  the  Senate  their  own  ideas  in  rela- 
tion to  it;  the  rather  because  it  seems  now  to  be  the  prominent  object 
of  the  proposed  congress,  the  magnitude  and  variety  of  details  belong- 
ing to  which  defied  present  enumeration  and  particular  specification. 

Without  adverting  to  the  great. and  obvious  diversities  existing 
between  the  States  of  this  continent  and  those  of  Europe,  by  which 
the  system  here  alluded  to  has  been  established — diversities  growing 
out  of  the  situation  of  their  people,  the  nature  of  their  governments, 
and  the  positions  they  occupy,  not  only  in  relation  to  each  other,  but 
to  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world — this  committee  will  state  as  their 
opinion  that  no  effect  yet  produced  by  the  continental  system  of 
Europe  is  of  a  character  to  invite  the  States  of  this  continent  to  take 
that  system  as  a  model  or  example  fit  for  their  imitation.  The  great 
object  of  the  continental  system  of  Europe  is  to  ijreserve  ancient 
institutions  and  relations,  long  known  and  well  understood,  in  the 
position  which  they  now  occupj'  and  for  centuries  have  done. 

The  operation  of  this  system  is  by  the  combination  of  powers  and 
the  application  of  mere  force  to  arrest  the  progress  of  improvement 
in  the  science  of  government  and  in  the  condition  of  society;  ends 
which  all  free  States  must  reprobate  as  much  as  they  do  the  means 


20  NOMINATIONS. 

employed  for  their  accomplishment.  If  this  were  not*  so,  however, 
a  system  formed  for  this  continent  for  the  same  or  even  different 
objects,  would  most  probably  produce  the  worst  effects.  The  short 
I)olitical  existence  of  all  the  States  on  this  continent,  even  of  the 
United  States  themselves — the  most  ancient  of  anj' — hath  enabled 
them  to  profit  so  little  as  yet  by  experience  that  it  would  seem  rash  to 
proclaim  their  perfection  at  this  time,  or  to  pledge  any  of  them  to 
perpetuate  either  their  present  institutions  or  existing  political  rela- 
tions. Our  own  excellent  Constitution  is  based  upon  the  supposition 
of  its  own  probable  imperfections,  and  most  wisely  provides  for  its 
amendment  whenever  such  defects  shall  be  discovered  to  exist.  We 
can  not,  therefore,  stipulate  to  preserve  it  as  it  is;  and  no  compact 
with  other  States  can  be  necessary  to  bestow  upon  each  the  power  it 
now  possesses  to  effect  any  change  which  experience  may  hereafter 
show  to  be  beneficial  to  itself;  and  a  stipulation  to  make  such  changes 
as  the  good  of  any  others  may  hereafter  require  would  either  be  futile 
in  itself,  or  must  inevitably  lead  to  discord  and  to  wars. 

This  committee  doubt,  moreover,  the  authority  of  the  Governmenta 
of  the  United  States  to  enter  into  any  negotiation  with  foreign 
nations  for  the  purpose  of  settling  and  promulgating  either  principles 
of  internal  policy  or  mere  abstract  propositions  as  parts  of  the  public 
law;  and  if  the  proposed  congress  is  viewed  but  as  a  convenient 
mode  of  conducting  a  summary  negotiation  relative  to  existing  inter- 
ests, important  to  this  continent  alone,  it  not  only  may,  but  most 
probably  will  be  considered  by  all  other  civilized  nations  as  a  con- 
federacy of  States  therein  represented  for  purposes  as  prejudical  to 
the  interests  of  the  old,  as  they  are  supposed  to  be  beneficial  to  those 
of  the  new.  Many  of  the  provisions  in  the  different  conventions 
already  concluded  between  some  of  the  new  States,  relative  to  this 
very  Congress,  and  which  are  now  public,  are  well  cfilculated  to  cre- 
ate such  a  suspicion  even  if  they  do  not  justify  a  belief  in  its  truth; 
and,  whensoever  this  suspicion  shall  be  entertained  by  the  nations  of 
the  old  world  it  must  be  obvious  to  all  that  consequences  much  to  be 
deplored  will  unavoidably  result. 

Nothing  that  can  be  done  thereafter  by  any  department  of  this 
Government  in  refusing  to  sanction  the  stipulations  concluded  at  a 
congress  regarded  in  this  light  will  suffice  to  avert  the  calamity. 
And  the  United  States,  who  have  grown  up  in  happiness  to  their  pres- 
ent prosperity  by  a  strict  observance  of  their  old  well-known  course 
of  policy  and  by  manifesting  entire  good  will  and  most  profound 
respect  for  all  other  nations,  must  prepare  to  embark  their  future 
destinies  upon  an  unknown  and  turbulent  ocean,  directed  by  little 
experience  and  destined  for  no  certain  haven.  In  such  a  voyage  tlie 
dissimilitude  existing  between  themselves  and  their  associates,  in  inter- 
est, character,  language,  religion,  manners,  customs,  habits,  laws,  and 
almost  every  other  particular,  and  the  rivalship  these  discrepancies 
must  surely  produce  among  them,  would  generate  discords,  which, 
if  they  did  not  destroy  all  hope  of  its  successful  termination,  would 
make  even  success  itself  the  ultimate  cause  of  new  and  direful  con- 
flicts between  themselves.  Such  has  been  the  issue  of  all  such  enter- 
prises in  past  time,  and  we  have  therefore  strong  reasons  to  expect 
in  the  future  similar  results  from  similar  causes. 

The  committee,  having  thus  examined  the  several  subjects  of  pro- 
posed discussion  stated  or  alluded  to  by  each  of  the  ministers  of  the 
new  states  of  America  as  matters  of  deliberations  at  the  contemplated 
congress,  will  now  proceed  to  the  investigation  of  others,  not  men- 


NOMINATIONS.  21 

tioned  or  referred  to  hy  any  of  them,  but  exhibited  in  the  message  of 
the  President. 

Tliecomniiltee  see  notlnng  in  the  documents  to  them  referred  to 
prove  that  tlie  states  who  originated  the  project  of  this  congress 
and  settled  the  subjects  proper  for  its  deliberation,  and  who  most 
probably  have  already  adjusted  "the  preliminary  rules  of  that  assem- 
bly," will  admit  as  fit  matters  for  discussion  any  others  than  those 
which  they  themselves  have  so  previously  announced.  Should  this 
be  the  case,  the  degraded  position  which  the  United  States  must  then 
occupy  at  the  congress  must  be  apparent  to  all.  Without  adverting 
further,  however,  at  this  time  to  this  consideration,  the  committee 
will  enter  into  the  examination  of  the  several  topics  suggested  by  the 
President  as  though  the  discussion  of  them  was  a  matter  settled  and 
already  agreed. 

The  first  of  these  subjects  stated  by  the  President  is,  "the  estab- 
lishment of  principles  of  a  liberal  commercial  intercourse."  The 
motives  for  desiring  this  are  stated  to  be  that  "the  Southern  Ameri- 
can nations,  in  their  intercourse  with  the  United  States,  have  some- 
times manifested  dispositions  to  reserve  a  right  of  granting  special 
favors  and  privileges  to  the  Spanish  nation  as  the  price  of  their  rec- 
ognition; at  others  they  have  actually  established  duties  and  imposi- 
tions operating  unfavorably  to  the  United  States  to  the  advantage  of 
other  European  powers;  and  sometimes  they  have  appeared  to  con- 
sider that  they  might  interchange  among  themselves  mutual  conces- 
sions of  exclusive  favor  to  which  neither  European  powers  nor  the 
United  States  should  be  admitted." 

In  considering  these  reasons,  it  can  not  escape  the  observation  of 
any  that  in  manifesting  dispositions  to  establish  such  commercial  rela- 
tions the  Southern  American  nations  must  have  been  actuated  by  the 
only  motive  that  ever  operates  either  upon  nations  or  individuals  in 
regard  to  their  mere  commercial  intercourse — a  desire  fairly  to  advance 
their  own  interests,  and  a  belief  that  they  could  by  such  means  propei-ly 
accomplish  this  end.  If  in  this  belief  these  nations  are  right,  then  the 
United  States  can  scarcely  be  viewed  as  acting  toward  them  in  that 
spirit  of  generous  kindness  and  fraternal  friendship  they  have  pro- 
fessed when  they  would  strive  to  Induce  them  to  establish  as  liberal 
principles  such  as  would  be  injurious  to  the  interests  of  these  south- 
ern nations  themselves.  And  if  they  are  wrong,  it  seems  to  this 
committee  that  the  task  of  exhibiting  their  errors  may  be  much  bet- 
ter performed,  as  hitherto  it  hath  been,  by  particular  discussions  with 
each  separately  than  by  general  demonstrations  made  to  all,  assem- 
bled as  a  congress. 

The  interests  of  commerce  are  necessarily  peculiar;  they  grow  out 
of  numerous  circumstances  produced  by  locality,  climate,  popula- 
tion, manners,  customs,  and  other  causes,  no  one  of  which  exists  alike 
in  any  two  nations  on  the  globe.  Few  general  principles,  therefore, 
can  ever  apply  with  equal  truth  to  so  many  peculiarities,  and  such  as 
do  so  apply  need  not  the  sanction  of  solemn  compact  to  give  them 
effect.  They  may  be  very  safely  confided  to  the  natural  disposition 
of  man  promptly  to  discover  and  eagerly  to  advance  his  own  best 
interests. 

Whatever  dispositions  then  may  have  been  manifested  by  the  south- 
ern nations  of  America,  this  committee  think  that  their  effects,  both 
upon  themselves  and  the  United  States,  will  constitute  subjects  much 
more  fit  for  separate  discussion  with  each  than  of  general  investiga- 
tion before  all.     And  the  committee  are  the  more  confirmed  in  this 


22  NOMINATIONS. 

opinion  by  the  assurance  given  by  the  President  in  this  messaju:e  that 
"in  most*  of  these  cases  their  regulations  unfavorable  to  us  have 
already  yielded  to  friendly  expostuhition  and  reinoiist  ranee,"  and  by 
the  fact  that  the  treaties  recently  concluded  between  these  states 
contain  express  stipulations  that  in  no  event  will  thej'  agree  or  enter 
into  any  treaty  with  Spain  or  any  other  nation  to  the  prejudice  of 
their  independence,  but  to  maintain  at  all  times  their  mutual  interests 
with  the  dignity  and  energy  proper  to  free,  independent  states. 

It  is  true  a  difference  of  opinion  appears  to  exist  at  present  between 
the  United  States  and  one  of  the  new  republics  of  America  in  relation 
to  a  single  principle  of  their  commercial  intercourse.  When  the 
Senate  reeoUect,  however,  that  treaties  have  been  already  concluded 
between  the  United  States  and  three  others  of  these  republics  in  each 
of  which  treaties  this  point  has  been  settled  as  the  United  States  them- 
selves think  right,  the  committee  believe  that  the  Senate  will  concur 
with  them  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  much  betterto  continue  the  discus- 
sion of  this  subject  with  the  dissenting  state  singly,  urging  upon  her 
the  example  of  her  sister  states,  than  to  put  in  hazard  the  stipulations 
already  secured  by  voluntaril)^  entering  into  an  examination  of  their 
expediency  before  the  contemplated  congress. 

"The  consentaneous  adoption  of  principles  of  maritime  neutrality 
favorable  to  the  navigation  of  peace  and  commerce  in  time  of  war " 
is  the  next  object  which, in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  should  "also 
form  a  subject  of  consideration  of  this  congress."  In  relation  to  this, 
so  far  as  it  regards  the  commerce  of  peace,  the  committee  have  already 
expressed  their  opinion;  and  so  far  as  it  is  intended  to  settle  the  rules 
of  war  as  applicable  to  navigation,  the  committee  will  only  remark 
that  there  exists  so  much  risk  of  compromising  and  destroying  the 
relations  of  neutrality  which  the  United  States  are  now  maintaining 
should  they  involve  themselves  by  any  compact  relative  to  belligerent 
rights  entered  into  with  only  one  of  the  parties  to  the  present  war, 
during  its  continuance,  that,  in  their  opinion,  it  would  be  highly 
inexpedient  to  make  such  an  experiment  at  this  time.  Any  principle 
relating  to  the  rights  of  war  which  one  of  the  parties  in  the  existing 
contest  may  be  willing  to  adopt  as  promoting  its  interests  could  scarcely 
be  regarded  with  indifference  by  the  other.  And  the  great  maritime 
states  of  Europe  would  most  probably  consider  that  the  United  States 
liad  seized  the  occasion  of  this  war  to  enter  into  a  confederacy  with 
the  other  states  of  this  continent,  now  actually  engaged  in  it,  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  principles  intended  to  affect  materially  their  future 
interests. 

It  is  well  known  to  the  Senate,  moreover,  that  treaties  already  exist 
between  the  United  States  and  several  of  the  new  states  of  this  conti- 
nent in  which  all  the  subjects  alluded  to  by  the  President  in  this  part 
of  his  message  are  already  settled ;  and  no  reason  is  known  to  this 
committee  to  excite  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  othei-s  of  these  states 
with  whom  treaties  are  not  yet  concluded  will  feel  any  disinclination 
to  enter  into  similiar  stipulations  for  themselves. 

"There  is  yet  another  subject  [says  the  President]  upon  which, 
without  entering  into  any  treaty,  the  moral  influence  of  the  United 
States  may,  perhaps,  be  exerted  wifli  beneficial  consequences  at  such 
a  meeting — the  advancement  of  religious  liberty."  And  as  a  motive 
for  making  an  effort  to  accomplish  this  object,  he  states,  that  "an 
exclusive  church  has  been  incorporated  with  the  political  institutions 
of  some  of  the  southern  nations,  without  toleration  of  any  other  than 
the  dominant  sect." 


NOMITSTATIONS.  23 

Tn  the  opinion  of  tliis  committee  there  is  no  pro])osition,  concerning 
whicli  the  people  of  ilie  United  States  are  now  and  ever  have  been 
more  nnanimoiis  than  that  which  denies  not  merely  the  expediency, 
but  the  right  of  intermeddling  with  the  internal  affairs  of  other  States, 
and  especially  of  seeking  to  alter  any  provision  they  may  have  thought 
proper  to  adopt  as  a  fundamental  law,  or  may  have  incorporated 
with  their  political  constitutions.  And  if  there  be  any  such  subject 
moi-e  sacred  and  delicate  than  another,  as  to  which  the  United  States 
ought  never  to  intermeddle,  even  by  obtrusive  advice,  it  is  that  which 
concerns  religious  liberty.  The  most  cruel  and  devastating  wars  have 
been  produced  b}^  such  interferences;  the  blood  of  man  has  been 
poured  out  in  torrents,  and,  from  the  days  of  the  crusades  to  the 
present  hour,  no  benefit  has  resulted  to  the  human  family  from  dis- 
cussions carried  on  by  nations  upon  such  subjects.  Among  the  variety 
even  of  Christian  nations  which  now  inhabit  the  earth  rare  indeed  are 
the  examples  to  be  found  of  States  who  have  not  established  an  exclu- 
sive church,  and  to  far  the  greater  number  of  these  toleration  is  yet 
unknown.  In  none  of  the  communications  which  have  taken  place 
is  the  most  distant  allusion  made  to  this  delicate  subject  by  any  of 
the  ministers  who  have  given  this  invitation,  and  the  committee  feel 
very  confident  in  the  opinion,  that  if  ever  an  intimation  shall  be  made 
to  the  sovereignties  they  represent,  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  United 
States  to  discuss  at  the  proposed  congress  their  plans  of  internal  civil 
polity,  or  anything  touching  the  supposed  interests  of  their  religious 
establishments,  the  invitation  given  would  soon  be  withdrawn. 

The  committee  have  thus  exhibited  to  the  Senate,  in  detail,  all  the 
subjects  which  they  have  been  enabled  to  find  particularly  stated, 
either  by  the  President  in  his  first  message,  or  by  any  of  the  ministers 
of  the  new  States  of  America,  as  matters  intended  to  be  discussed 
at  the  contemplated  congress.  In  reviewing  these  they  will  repeat 
that  a  concurrence  of  opinion  does  not  seem  to  exist  between  the  dif- 
ferent parties  as  to  the  subjects  of  deliberation,  nor  has  the  mode  of 
discussion  or  decision  been  in  any  way  settled  between  them.  In 
relation  to  some  of  the  subjects  alluded  to  as  fit  matters  for  considera- 
tion, differences  of  opinion,  radical  and  irreconcilable,  seem  already 
to  exist,  which  discussion  may  aggravate,  but  can  not  assuage.  As  to 
others,  their  very  agitation  in  this  mode  threatens  seriously  the  com- 
promitment  of  the  neutral  relations  which  the  United  States  are  now 
maintaining,  and  have  so  carefully  observed  throughout  this  whole 
contest.  Others,  again,  are  unfit  subjects  for  deliberation  in  this 
mode  at  all  times,  and  any  agreement  resulting  from  their  discussion 
must  impair  the  freedom  of  action  which  it  is  necessary  for  the  United 
States  to  preserve  as  to  these,  and,  as  to  the  residue,  they  are  either 
not  of  sufficient  importance  to  require  the  adoption  of  this  new  and 
untried  experiment  of  a  congress  of  nations,  or  may  be  much  better 
ad  j  usted  and  settled  in  separate  negotiations  with  each  than  in  a  gen- 
eral conference  with  all.  For  these  reasons,  if  there  were  none  otlier, 
this  committee  should  regard  the  adoption  of  the  measure  proposed 
by  the  President  as  highly  inexpedient  at  this  time. 

Although  in  the  message  of  the  President  of  the  9th  instant  no  new 
subject  of  deliberation  at  the  contemplated  congress  is  specially  stated, 
yet,  from  the  documents  accompanying  that  message  and  therein 
referred  to  as  containing  information  tending  to  show  the  expediency 
of  adopting  the  proposed  measure,  it  appears  to  this  committee  that 
the  present  and  future  condition  of  the  remaining  Spanish  possessions 
in  America  are  considered  as  proper  matters  to  be  there  agitated  and 


24  NOMINATIONS. 

settled.  Such  being  the  inference  of  the  committee,  they  will  proceed 
to  lay  before  the  Senate  their  opinion  upon  this  subject  also. 

The  committee  are  well  aware  that  the  United  States  can  never 
regard  with  indifference  the  situation  and  probable  destiny  of  the 
neighboring  Spanish  Islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico;  but  so  far  from 
believing  it  expedient  to  discuss  these  subjects  at  a  congress  of  all  the 
American  States,  and  especially  at  this  time,  the  committee  consider 
the  great  probability  that  such  a  discussion  might  be  forced  upon  the 
United  States,  if  they  are  there  represented,  as  a  circumstance  fur- 
nishing in  itself  the  strongest  objections  to  the  adoption  of  the  measure 
proposed. 

If  the  existing  war  between  Spain  and  the  new  States  of  America 
continues,  the  United  States  could  scarcely  endeavor  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  that  war  in  the  only  direction  it  can  hereafter  take,  or 
prevail  upon  one  of  the  belligerents  not  to  strike  their  enemy  where 
alone  he  is  now  assailable  and  vulnerable  by  them  without  announc- 
ing a  determination  to  take  part  in  the  contest;  and  if  peace  shall 
happily  be  restored,  all  apprehension  of  the  effects  of  such  a  blow 
must  cease,  of  course.  Whj'^,  then,  discuss  the  merits  of  such  a  ques- 
tion which  it  seems  probable  will  never  arise?  Or  why  place  the 
United  States  in  such  a  situation  where,  if  the  question  does  arise 
and  they  must  speak,  the  language  which  they  utter  must  be  regarded 
as  equally  unfriendly  to  all  the  new  States;  and  where  if  the  United 
States  keep  silence  this  very  silence  will  be  misinterpreted? 

Should  the  situation  or  policy  of  the  United  States  induce  them  to 
look  with  indifference  upon  the  new  direction  that  the  existing  war 
may  take,  and  to  abstain  from  all  intesrference  in  it,  even  though  the 
neighboring  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  may  be  threatened  or 
assailed,  then  the  very  annunciation  of  such  a  purpose  must  contri- 
bute much  to  accelerate  an  event  that  can  not  be  desired  by  us.  In 
whatever  light,  therefore,  this  subject  is  viewed  it  does  not  seem  to 
be  one  which  the  United  States  should  discuss  with  the  other  American 
States  assembled  at  a  congress.  The  fnexpediency  of  pursuing  such  a 
course  appeared  more  obvious  to  this  committee  when  they  considered 
that  many  of  the  nations  of  Europe  must  also  feel  tliat  their  interests 
were  mateiially  involved  in  its  decision,  and  that  they  would  not 
abstain  from  making  some  movement  in  relation  to  it  which  must 
greatly  embarrass  any  course  that  the  United  States  may  wish  here- 
after to  pursue. 

While  the  United  States  retain  the  position  which  they  have  hitherto 
occupied  and  manifest  a  constant  determination  not  to  mingle  their 
interests  with  those  of  the  other  States  of  America,  they  may  continue 
to  employ  the  influence  which  they  possess,  and  have  already  happily 
exerted,  with  the  nations  of  Europe  in  favor  of  these  new  republics. 
But  if  ever  the  United  States  permit  themselves  to  be  associated  with 
these  nations  in  any  general  congress  assembled  for  the  discussion 
of  common  plans  in  any  way  affecting  European  interests  they  will  by 
such  an  act  not  only  deprive  themselves  of  the  ability  they  now 
possess  of  rendering  useful  assistance  to  the  other  American  States, 
but  also  produce  other  effects  prejudicial  to  their  own  interests. 
Then  the  powers  of  Europe  who  have  hitherto  confided  in  the  sagac- 
ity, vigilance,  and  impartiality  of  the  United  States,  to  watch,  detect, 
announce,  and  restrain  any  disposition  that  the  heat  of  the  existing 
contest  might  excite  in  the  new  States  of  America  to  extend  their 
empires  beyond  their  own  limits,  and  who  liave  thoreforo  considered 
their  possessions  and  commerce  in  America  safe  while  so  guarded, 


NOMINATIONS.  25 

would  no  longer  feel  this  confidence.  Each  would  therefore  endeavor 
to  secure  its  own  interest  by  its  own  means,  and  the  power  of  Spain 
not  being  considered  by  any  as  equal  to  the  protection  of  her  remain- 
ing American  possessions,  a  struggle  would  probably  commence  who 
should  first  obtain  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  the  possession 
of  which  must  ever  be  of  the  last  importance  to  the  commerce  of  this 
hemisphere.  Or,  if  such  should  not  be  the  case,  the  interest  of  many 
European  nations  might  seem  to  require  that  they  should  make  com- 
mon cause  with  Spain  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  these  islands 
from  falling  into  other  hands.  To  the  United  States  it  would  be  of 
little  moment  which  of  these  events  should  occur.  For  it  can  not  be 
expected  that  any  such  contest  could  be  carried  on  so  near  them 
without  the  most  imminent  danger  to  their  neutrality. 

The  very  situation  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  therefore,  furnishes 
the  strongest  inducement  to  the  United  States  not  to  take  a  place  at 
the  contemplated  congress,  since  by  doing  so  they  must  be  considered 
as  changing  the  attitude  in  which  they  have  hitherto  stood  as  impar- 
tial spectators  of  the  passing  scenes  and  identifying  themselves  with 
the  new  republics. 

These  reasons,  strong  as  they  have  appeared  to  this  committee,  are 
not  the  only  objections  to  the  proposed  measure  disclosed  by  the  docu- 
ments to  them  referred.  The  manner  in  which  this  invitation  has 
been  given  of  itself  furnishes  many  forcible  obstacles  to  its  accept- 
ance; and,  in  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  the  United  States  will 
neither  consult  their  own  dignity  nor  what  is  due  to  the  proper  respect 
they  have  a  right  to  claim  from  all  nations,  and  especially  from  the 
new  States  of  America,  if  they  now  agree  to  cooperate  in  carrying 
this  proposed  measure  into  effect. 

The  history  of  the  transaction,  so  far  as  it  is  disclosed  to  this  com- 
mittee, seems  to  be  this :  So  early  as  the  year  1821,  the  project  of  assem- 
bling a  general  congress  of  their  representatives  to  consider  and  adopt 
the  best  plan  for  defending  the  States  of  the  New  World  from  foreign 
aggression  and  to  conclude  treaties  of  alliance,  commerce,  and  friend- 
ship for  the  promotion  of  their  happiness  and  prosperity  appears  to 
have  been  conceived  by  one  at  least  of  the  new  States  of  America. 
This  scheme  of  forming  a  continental  system  for  America,  to  resem- 
ble that  already  formed  in  Europe,  was  communicated  to  the  others 
of  these  States,  who,  concurring  in  the  project,  negotiations  were 
Instituted  between  them  for  the  purpose  of  concluding  conventions  to 
provide  for  this  object. 

The  plan  being  so  far  matured,  the  United  States  were,  for  the  first 
time,  informally  applied  to,  during  the  last  spring,  by  the  ministers 
of  two  of  the  new  States,  separately,  to  learn  whether  an  invitation  to 
be  represented  at  this  congress,  if  given  by  both  these  republics, 
would  be  accepted.  To  this  communication,  informally  made,  the 
President  as  informally  replied  that  he  believed  such  a  congress  as 
was  proposed  might  be  highly  useful  for  several  purposes,  but  that 
before  it  assembled  it  appeared  to  him  expedient  to  adjust  between 
the  powers  to  be  represented  several  preliminary  points,  such  as 
the  subjects  to  be  discussed,  the  nature  of  the  powers  to  be  given  to 
the  agents  who  were  to  compose  it,  and  the  mode  of  its  organization 
and  action.  And  if  these  preliminary  points  could  be  arranged  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  the  United  States,  the  ministers  to  whom  this 
communication  was  made  were  informed  that  the  President  thought 
the  United  States  ought  to  be  represented  at  the  contemplated  con- 
gress. Each  minister  undertook  to  transmit  to  his  government  this 
answer  thus  given. 


26  NOMINATIONS. 

The  affair  remaining  in  this  posture  as  to  the  United  States,  the 
negotiations  previously  entered  into  between  the  new  States  were 
brought  to  a  close,  and  conventions  provided  fov  the  objects  of  the 
proposed  congress  were  actually  concluded,  some  of  them  so  far  back 
as  the  6th  day  of  July,  1822. 

After  the  conclusion  of  all  these  conventions,  and  only  a  few  weeks 
since,  during  the  month  of  November  last,  separate  formal  communi- 
cations were  made  to  the  United  St.ates  by  the  ministers  of  Mexico, 
Colombia,  and  Guatemala,  respectively,  disclosing  some  of  the  objects 
intended  to  be  discussed  at  the  x^roposed  congress,  in  the  manner 
already  stated  bj^  the  committee,  and  giving  the  invitation  to  the 
United  States  to  be  there  represented.  In  some  of  these  communica- 
tions the  United  States  were  informed  that  instructions  and  ample 
powers  for  the  attainment  of  the  proposed  objects  would  be  given  by 
at  least  one  of  the  new  republics,  and  a  wish  was  expressed  that  the 
agents  of  all  the  others  might  bear  the  same.  In  none,  however,  is 
any  mention  made  either  of  the  mode  of  organization  or  action  of 
the  congress,  nor  is  it  anywhere  stated  who  would  be  the  parties, 
or  what  representatives  were  either  invited,  expected,  or  would  be 
received.  But  in  the  very  communication  which  conveys  the  infor- 
mation already  stated,  the  United  States  were  told  that  at  the  date  of 
that  communication  (November  3)  the  representatives  from  Colombia, 
Peru,  Guatemala,  and  Mexico  would  have  arrived  at  Panama,  the 
agreed  jjlaee  of  assembling,  and  would  be  engaged  in  settling  the  pre- 
liminary rules  of  the  assembly  and  in  discussing  the  questions  which 
should  be  supposed  by  them  to  belong  exclusively  to  the  belligerents. 

It  thus  appears  that  after  everything  relative  to  the  meeting  of  the 
proposed  congress  had  been  settled  by  formal  negotiations  and  treat- 
ies between  themselves,  the  United  States  have  been  thus  loosely 
invited  by  the  other  American  States,  as  if  it  were  mere  courtesy,  to 
attend  its  deliberations.  Should  the  United  States  accept  such  an 
invitation,  the  deputies  whom  they  may  send  to  Panama  will  there  be 
associated  with  they  know  not  whom,  or  for  what  purposes,  or  in  what 
mode.  When  these  deputies  shall  inquire  of  the  congress  as  to  any 
of  these  important  particulars,  they  will  receive  the  information  they 
ask,  in  resolutions  and  compacts  adjusted  and  concluded  before  their 
arrival.  And  if,  waiving  aU  these  things,  which  none  ought  to  con- 
sider as  mere  ceremonials,  the  agents  of  the  United  States  should 
take  the  places  previously  assigned  them  and  propose  to  take  a  part 
in  the  discussions,  they  will  find  all  the  leading  principal  topics  for 
deliberation  already  passed  upon  and  concluded. 

The  committee  are  well  aware  that  the  interest  and  character  of 
free  States  should  never  be  permitted  to  rest  upon  matters  of  mere 
fastidious  etiquette  and  ceremonious  observance;  but  even  in  the 
intercourse  between  individuals,  and  much  more  in  that  between 
sovereignties,  there  is  a  point  at  which  form  becomes  a  substance 
and  when  scrupulous  attention  to  the  most  minute  ceremonials  that 
comity  and  respect  exact  is  due  to  the  sacred  character  and  dignity 
of  the  Republic.  At  that  point  the  committee  believe  the  United 
States  should  ever  make  a  stand,  and,  resting  there,  should  always 
exact,  even  from  the  most  ancient  and  puissant  sovereign  of  the 
earth,  everything  required  by  their  own  self-respect.  Nor  should  any- 
thing be  then  waived,  even  to  manifest  their  sensibility  to  whatever 
concerns  the  prosperity  of  the  American  hemisphere  or  the  sincere 
friendship  which  they  feel  for  these  new  Republics. 

As  the  most  ancient  State  in  the  New  World,  the  first  acknowledged 


NOMINATIONS.  27 

sincere  friend  of  those  more  recently  existing;  as  a  State  from  whose 
greater  experience  more  light  is  said  to  bo  expected  to  be  shed  upon 
the  subjects  to  be  discussed  and  tlie  principles  to  be  established  at 
the  contemplated  congress  than  from  the  other  States,  the  United 
States  had  a  right  to  expect  that  Avhcu  this  project  of  a  congress  of 
American  nations  was  conceived,  it  should  have  been  communicated 
to  them  as  early  as  to  any  others  whose  j^resence,  by  their  representa- 
tives, was  deemed  desirable.  That  they,  too,  should  have  been  asked 
whether  such  a  measure  would  be  acceptable;  that  they,  too,  should 
have  been  consulted  as  to  the  time,  the  place,  and  the  manner  of 
assembling  such  a  congress;  that  they,  too,  should  have  been  permit- 
ted to  assist  in  the  enumeration  of  the  subjects  to  which  its  attention 
might  properly  be  directed  in  the  adjustment  of  the  nature  and  form 
of  the  powers  to  be  given  to  the  diplomatic  agents  who  were  to  com- 
pose it,  in  the  mode  of  its  organization  and  action,  and,  above  all 
others,  in  the  settlement  of  the  great  question  who  should  be  invited 
to  take  part  in  its  deliberations.  The  United  States  had,  also,  a  right 
to  expect  that  the  result  of  all  such  consultations  should  be  fixed  and 
secured  by  solemn  pacts  and  conventions,  in  which  they,  too,  should 
be  parties. 

Such  the  committee  believe  ought  to  have  been  and  woulfl  have 
been  the  course  pursued  by  the  United  States  toward  the  other  Ameri- 
can States  if  the  xn'oject  of  convening  a  congress  of  American  nations 
had  occurred  to  us  as  a  measure  useful  and  beneficial  to  the  American 
continent,  and  being  never  disposed  to  exact  from  others  more  respect 
than,  in  like  circumstances,  they  are  willing  themselves  to  pay,  the 
United  States,  in  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  would  themselves, 
even  if  an  opinion  should  be  entertained  that  anything  exists  requir- 
ing the  adoption  of  such  a  measure  at  this  time,  courteously  decline 
the  invitation  given  under  the  circumstances  stated,  and  to  institute 
the  proper  proceedings  necessary  to  its  consummation  in  the  mode 
which  friendship,  comity,  and  deference  to  others  require.  Such  a 
movement  belongs  to  the  high  character  which  the  United  States 
enjoy  in  the  estimation  of  all  the  world,  the  merit  of  which  is  accorded 
to  them  by  none  more  willingly  than  by  the  new-born  States  of  this 
continent;  and  if  it  be  not  now  made  the  time  will  go  by  when  the 
jwsition  may  ever  hereafter  be  properly  assumed. 

The  committee  would  not  be  understood  as  suggesting  the  expedi- 
ency of  any  such  measure  at  this  time.  In  their  opinion,  there  exists 
no  adequate  motive  to  induce  its  adoption.  Every  spot  known  or  hab- 
itable in  America  is  already  ai)propriated  by  diiferent  nations,  whose 
rights  of  territory  all  recognize;  and  if  trifling  differences  may  exist 
between  anj''  upon  the  subject  of  mere  common  boundary,  these  dif- 
ferences constitute  fit  matter  of  friendly  discussion  between  them 
alone.  The  idea  of  colonization  in  America,  therefore,  no  longer 
exists;  and  in  the  present  posture  of  nations  there  is  little  reason  to 
apprehend  the  willful  encroachment  of  any  upon  the  American  posses- 
sions of  another.  Each  passing  hour  strengthens  the  just  claims 
which  the  new  states  of  America  have  preferred  to  be  recognized  as 
sovereign  and  independent  by  all  other  nations;  and  the  quiet  efflux 
of  time,  if  it  has  not  already  done  so,  must  very  soon  place  their  sov- 
ereignty upon  the  same  basis  on  which  rests  that  of  the  most  ancient 
nations  of  the  earth.  Spain  possesses  not  the  ability  to  give  any  of 
them  cause  of  serious  concern;  and  enjoying  the  friendship  and  pro- 
claimed recognition  of  Great  Britain  and  of  the  United  States,  there 
is  no  sufficient  reason  to  apprehend  the  interference  of  any  European 


28  NOMINATIONS. 

nation  in  the  question  of  war  and  of  their  independence.  Compacts 
have  been  already  concluded  or  are  now  negotiating  between  each  of 
the  states  of  this  continent  wherein  their  mutual  interest,  both  general 
and  particular,  will  be  firmly  fixed  upon  principles  of  the  most  perfect 
justice  and  liberal  equity.  And  no  common  subject  now  remains  of 
sufficient  magnitude  to  require  a  movement  so  new  and  important  as 
the  assembling  of  a  congress  of  all  the  American  nations,  which  can 
not  but  excite  suspicion  and  jealousy  in  the  other  hemisi)liere,  and 
might  so  affect  injuriously  the  interests  of  the  new  States  themselves. 

Should  this  happy  state  of  things  ever  change,  the  lively  interest 
which  the  United  States  have  ever  taken  in  the  welfare  of  these  their 
sister  sovereignties  ought  to  be  regarded  by  them  as  the  surest  pledge 
that  we  can  not  be  indifferent  to  anything  that  concerns  them.  An 
eye  the  most  vigilant  we  shall  ever  direct  to  their  prosperity;  the 
appearance  of  the  first  cloud  rising  to  obscure  its  light  will  be 
announced  to  them;  and  the  United  States  will  then  manifest  the 
deep  interest  which  they  feel  in  the  elevation  and  happiness  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  New  World. 

When  such  an  event  shall  occur,  the  United  States  will  probably  be 
the  first  to  solicit  the  assembling  a  congress  of  American  States;  and 
the  invitations  which  they  shall  then  give  to  others  to  be  there  repre- 
sented will  be  such  as  their  friendship  and  respect  shall  dictate,  and 
upon  terms  which  the  most  fair  and  liberal  principles  of  policy  require. 
The  same,  this  committee  have  no  doubt,  would  have  been  the  char- 
acter of  the  invitation  given  to  the  United  States  upon  this  occasion 
if  the  new  States  of  America,  when  they  conceived  or  matured  the 
scheme  for  assembling  the  congress  at  Panama,  had  entertained  the 
most  remote  idea  that  the  United  States  either  would  or  ought  to  be 
there  represented.  All  the  conventions  concluded  between  these 
States,  however,  prove  beyond  doubt  that  even  at  the  date  of  the  most 
recent  of  their  compacts  none  others  were  expected  or  desired  to  be 
represented  at  this  congress  but  the  States  of  America  who  had  for- 
merly been  colonies  of  Spain  and  who  were  then  engaged  in  war  with 
that  power.  That  the  great  object  of  this  congress  was  to  adjust 
between  themselves  the  most  effectual  means  of  conducting  this  war 
to  the  most  speedy  and  happy  conclusion;  and  that  the  presence  of 
no  neutral  State  could  therefore  be  anticipated. 

Before  they  conclude  their  report,  the  committee  beg  leave  to  remark 
that  the  intimation  given  by  the  President,  in  his  first  message  to 
the  Senate,  that  this  measure,  in  which  he  had  thought  proper  to  take 
no  step  before  ascertaining  that  his  opinion  of  its  expediency  would 
concur  with  that  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  was,  neverthe- 
less, "deemed  by  him  ^o  be  within  the  constitutional  competency  of 
the  Executive,"  did  not  escape  their  observation.  But,  as  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  opinion  entertained  and  expressed  by  the  President 
will  constitute  proper  matter  for  the  deliberation  and  decision  of  the 
Senate,  when  they  shall  enticr  upon  the  consideration  of  a  resolution 
now  lying  on  the  table,  and  not  referred  to  this  committee,  they  did 
not  believe  that  they  were  authorized  by  the  Senate  to  consider  this 
subject.  The  committee  therefore  forbear  from  saying  anything  in 
relation  thereto. 

The  committee  feel  most  sensibly  the  embarrassing  situation  in 
which  they  are  placed.  On  the  one  hand,  the  duty  which  they  owe 
to  themselves,  and  to  the  Senate,  and  to  the  President  required  that 
they  should  examine  fully  and  freely  the  measure  proposed,  and 
should  state  the  reasons  that  lead  to  the  conclusion,  which  they  felt 


NOMINATIONS.  29 

themselves  bound  to  adopt.  On  the  other,  they  were  well  aware  that 
the  adoption  of  this  conclusion  and  the  assignment  of  the  reasons 
which  produced  it  might  contribute  not  a  little  to  embarrass  the 
President,  whose  acceptance  of  the  invitation  given  was  already 
announced.  Placed  in  this  delicate  situation  after  bestowing  upon 
the  subject  the  most  mature  consideration,  believing  it  to  be  a  sacred 
duty  which  the  Senate  owed  to  the  sovereign  States  that  they  here 
represent,  to  exercise  the  constitutional  power  conferred  upon  them, 
by  examining,  at  this  time,  every  feature  of  this  new  project  and 
deciding  npon  its  expediency  or  inexpediency,  as  to  them  might  seem 
right,  the  committee  could  not  hesitate  to  disclose  all  their  views  in 
relation  to  this  important  matter  in  order  that  these,  being  fully 
exhibited  to  the  Senate,  might  be  by  them  either  adopted  or  corrected. 
The  committee  were  induced  to  adopt  this  course  with  less  reluctance 
by  the  assurance  given  by  the  President  that,  until  he  could  be  aided 
by  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  he  would  take  no  step  to 
carry  the  measure  which  he  had  proposed  into  effect.  Most  willingly 
would  the  committee  recommend  to  the  Senate  to  abstain  from  pro- 
nouncing any  opinion  upon  this  now  delicate  subject  if  they  could 
permit  themselves  to  propose  to  this  body  a  dereliction  of  its  bounden 
duty  or  the  adoption  of  any  course  that  might  lead  it  to  shrink  from 
its  high  responsibility.  But,  convinced  that  the  Senate  had  the  right 
and  were  bound  to  decide  directly  upon  the  expediency  of  this  new 
scheme  without  limiting  their  decision  to  the  mere  nominations  con- 
nected with  it,  and  convinced  that  the  project  itself,  viewed  in  any 
light,  was  highly  inexpedient  at  this  time,  the  committee  thought  it 
better  to  exhibit  these  their  views  and  to  advise  the  expression  of  the 
Opinion  of  the  Senate  in  relation  thereto  in  the  first  instance. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  vol.   3,  pp.   473,  474;   Cong.   Deb.,  vol.  2,  pt.  2, 
Appendix,  p.  92.) 


TWENTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
February  8,  1832. 

On  the  nomination  of  Hugh  S.  Legare  to  be  charge  d'affaires  to 
Belgium,  Mr.  Tazewell  reported  as  follows: 

That  they  have  instituted  every  inquiry  which  to  them  seemed  neces- 
sary, with  the  view  of  informing  themselves  and  of  enabling  them  to 
report  to  the  Senate  as  to  the  character  and  qualifications  of  the 
nominee  for  the  office,  to  fill  which  he  has  been  nominated  by  the 
President.  The  result  of  these  inquiries  has  satisfied  them  that  Mr. 
Legare  is  well  qualified  to  discharge  all  the  duties  of  the  station  to 
wliich  he  has  been  nominated  with  honor  to  himself  and  usefulness  to 
his  country,  and  that  he  is  in  every  way  unobjectionable.  But  the 
committee  are  further  satisfied  that  there  exists  no  reason  at  this  time 
which  renders  it  necessary  or  expedient  to  enlarge  the  diplomatic 
relations  of  the  United  States  by  sending  a  diplomatic  agent  of  any 
grade  to  the  King  of  Belgium.  For  this  reason  only  they  recommend 
to  the  Senate  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  it  is  not  expedient  at  this  time  to  appoint  any  charge  d'affaires 
from  the  United  States  to  the  King  of  Belgium. 

Resolved,  therefore,  That  the  Senate  do  not  advise  and  consent  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  Ilvigh  S.  Legare  to  such  an  office. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  Vol.  4,  p.  207.) 


30  NOMINATIONS. 

TWENTY-FOURTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  3,  1836. 

On  the  nomination  of  Andrew  Stevenson  to  be  minister  to  Great 
Britain,  Mr.  Clay  reported  as  follows: 

That  on  the  SOth  of  May,  1834,  Andrew  Stevenson  was  nominated 
for  the  same  office,  and  on  the  24th  of  the  succeeding  month,  he  was 
rejected  by  the  Senate;  that  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York,  had 
been  previously  nominated  for  the  same  office,  and,  on  the  25th  of 
January,  1832,  had  been  rejected  by  the  Senate;  that  it  remained 
vacant  from  this  time  until  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Stevenson,  and  it 
has  continued  vacant  from  the  time  of  his  rejection.  This  office  has 
therefore,  been  unoccupied  during  a  term  of  more  than  four  j^ears. 

When  Mr.  Stevenson  was  first  nominated,  he  was  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of    the  United   States,   which   office  he 

resigned  on  the day  of  June,  1834.     While  that  nomination  was 

under  consideration,  it  appeared  to  the  Senate  that  the  Secretary  of 
State  had,  on  the  15th  of  March  1833,  addressed  an  official  note  to  Mr. 
Stevenson,  in  which  the  Secretary  said: 

I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  inform  yon,  confidentially  that,  as  soon  as 
advices  shall  be  received  that  the  British  Government  consent  to  open  negotia- 
tions with  this,  which  are  dailj'  exi)ected,  it  is  his  intention  to  offer  you  the  place 
of  minister  i)lenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  St.  James:  and  he  requests,  that, 
should  this  appointment  be  agreeable  to  you,  you  would  hold  yourself  in  readiness 
to  embark  in  the  course  of  the  summer.  I  congratulate  you,  sir,  on  this  mark  of 
the  Presidents  confidence. 

This  note  was  received  by  Mr.  Stevenson;  but,  if  he  returned  a 
direct  answer,  it  did  not  appear  to  the  Senate. 

Subsequent  to  the  receipt  of  this  note,  in  April,  1833,  Mr.  Stevenson 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State 
of  Virginia;  took  his  seat  at  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  Con- 
gress in  the  December  following;  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  office  until  he  resigned 
it,  as  hereinbefore  stated. 

It  appeared  further  to  the  Senate  that,  shortly  after  Mr.  Stevenson 
received  the  note  of  the  Secretary  of  State  before  mentioned,  he  had 
an  interview  and  consultation  with  Mr.  Thomas  Ritchie,  his  friend 
and  neighbor,  and  the  editor  of  a  leading  newspaper  supporting  the 
Administration,  published  at  Richmond  in  Virginia,  on  the  subject  of 
the  contents  of  that  note.  In  that  interview,  Mr.  Ritchie,  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Stevenson  in  June,  1834,  says  it  struck  him  that  the  President 
might  appoint  Mr.  Stevenson  in  ease  the  contingency  happened  during 
the  recess,  and  did  not  send  him,  but  Mr.  Livingston,  to  France. 

I  suggested  [says  he]  that  these  appointments  ought  not  and  could  not  be  made, 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate.     You 

{Mr.  StevensonJ  promptly  and  cordially  concurred  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  and 
then  determined  to  write  to  a  friend  in  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  laying 
this  view  before  the  President  himself.  You  approved  of  my  doing  so.  and,  in  fact, 
we  agreed  perfectly  in  the  course  to  be  taken.  We  determined  to  take  no  notice 
of  Mr.  Livingston's  letter;  to  act  yourself  as  if  no  letter  had  been  written,  and 
that  it  would  be  best  not  to  offer  to  accept  the  appointment  if  made  in  the  summer, 
and  to  wait  the  action  of  the  Senate,  etc. 

In  pursuance  of  the  plan  thus  arranged  between  Mr.  Stevenson  and 
Mr.  Ritchie  the  latter,  in  March,  1833,  addressed  two  letters  to  Mr.  W.  B. 
Lewis,  at  the  city  of  Washington,  who  was  the  friend  and  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  the  President,  and  held  the  office  of  Auditor.  Extracts 
from  these  letters  were  furnished  bj'  Mr.  Lewis,  and  presented  to  the 


NOMINATIONS.  81 

Senate  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  nomination  of  Mr.   Stevenson. 
Mi-.  Ritchie  says  to  Mr.  Lewis: 

I  am  about  to  address  you  on  a  subject  whicli  has  caused  much  speculation 
among  our  friends  and  great  uneasiness  in  my  bosom.  I  speak  to  you  as  a  friend, 
and  without  the  slightest  reserve.  The  papers  have  recently  spoken  of  a  batch  of 
appointments  which  the  President  is  about  to  make,  embracing  the  two  highest 
missions  to  European  courts  and  the  two  highest  seats  in  his  Cabinet.  I  have  con- 
versed freely  with  our  friend  Stevenson  upon  them,  and  I  have  this  day  commu- 
nicated to  him  my  intention  to  write  to  you  and  to  lay  before  you  my  views  on 
the  matter. 

We  have  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  virtue  of  General  Jackson.  We  have  no 
idea  that  he  would  arrogate  to  hims-elf  new  powers  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
Departments  of  the  Government.  His  generous  ambition  has  been  fully  satisfied. 
He  has  nothing  more  to  ask  of  his  country  than  her  verdict  of  approbation  when 
he  lays  down  the  high  and  difficult  office  with  which  he  is  intrusted.  We  all 
know  it,  and  every  candid  individual  admits  it.  We  believe  that  the  course  he 
may  pursue  will  be  to  a  single  eye  to  the  public  interest.  But  while  we  dismiss 
all  apprehensions  that  he  will  designedly  abuse  his  authority,  we  wish  at  the  same 
time  that  he  would  do  no  act  which  may  be  plead  hereafter  by  an  unworthy  suc- 
cessor in  justification  of  his  acts.  In  this  last  term  of  his  Administration  we  wish 
to  see  no  precedent  set  which  may  be  perverted  in  future  times;  we  desire  it  on 
our  own  account  as  well  as  that  of  our  country.  We  wish  to  see  his  Administra- 
tion set  in  glory,  and  we  wish  to  see  our  country  benefited  in  all  time  to  come  by 
his  pure  example.  But  this  can  not  be,  if  any  error  should  be  committed  against 
princiijle,  even  from  the  best  of  motives;  if  any  authority  should  be  assumed 
which  does  not  fairly  belong  to  him,  or  even  if  any  doubtful  power  should  be 
exercised  upon  any  delicate  branch  of  the  Constitution,  his  high  popularity  would 
only  make  it  more  current.  One  of  the  highest  poweis  which  attaches  to  the 
Executive  is  that  of  appointment;  over  its  exercise  is  accordingly  thrown,  and 
wisely  thrown,  the  check  of  concurrence  by  the  Senate.  Now,  sir,  doubts  do 
exist  whether  the  vacancy  in  the  missions  of  London  and  Paris  did  not  originally 
occur  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate.  Secondly,  whether  the  vacancy  does  not 
still  exist;  and  thirdly,  whether  it  ought  now  to  be  tilled  without  .a  consultation 
with  the  Senate. 

The  letters  from  which  these  extracts  were  taken  having  been 
written  expressly  with  a  view  of  being  laid  before  the  President, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  done.  Their  main  object — that  of 
preventing  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stevenson  in  the  vacation  of  the 
Senate — was  secured.  The  President  forebore  to  malce  it,  and  w^aited 
until  the  Senate  assembled  at  the  ensuing  session  before  the  nomina- 
tion was  made. 

It  is  stated  by  the  President  in  his  message  of  the  13th  of  June, 
1834,  communicating  the  note  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Mr.  Steven- 
son, that  the  negotiations  to  which  it  refers  were  commenced  early  in 
April,  1833,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  instead  of  London,  and  as 
they  have  been  since  conducted  here  no  further  communication  was 
made  to  Mr.  Stevenson.  What  these  negotiations  were  has  not  been 
stated.  Whatever  they  might  liave  been,  the  residence  of  a  minister 
of  the  United  States  at  London  at  all  times  is  obviously  proper,  and 
that  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stevenson  did  not  depend  upon  any  par- 
ticular negotiations  is  manifest  from  the  fact  of  his  having  been 
finally  nominated  for  the  office.  If  the  President  had  abandoned  all 
intention  of  sending  him  to  England,  inasmucli  as  lie  had  been 
requested  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  go  during  the  summer  of 
1833  and  had  not  declined  the  offer,  he  would  probably  have  been 
notified  of  the  change  of  the  views  of  the  President. 

The  Senate  saw,  therefore,  that  a  promise  of  the  mission  to  Great 
Britain  had  been  communicated  to  Mr.  Stevenson  on  the  15th  of  March, 
1833.  They  saw  an  indirect  intervention,  with  Mr.  Stevenson's  knowl- 
edge and  acquiescence,  to  prevail  upon  the  President  not  to  make  the 
appointment  in  the  vacation  of  the  Senate,  in  accommodation  with 


32  NOMINATIONS. 

the  views  of  Mr.  Stevenson  and  his  friend  Mr.  Ritchie.  They  saw 
that  the  President  did  forbear  to  make  the  appointment  in  the  vaca- 
tion of  the  Senate.  And  they  saw  the  final  execution  of  the  promise, 
as  far  as  it  depended  upon  the  Executive,  by  his  nomination  on  the 
30th  of  May,  1834.  During  this  long  interval,  he  had  been  elected  by 
the  x>eople  of  a  Congressional  district  in  Virginia  as  their  Reprsenta- 
tive,  ignorant  of  his  having  possession  of  such  an  oflBcial  promise;  he 
had  been  elected,  under  like  ignorance,  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives as  their  Speaker,  and  in  that  station  had  performed  all  the  highly 
important  duties  incident  to  it.  Tliat  office,  at  all  times  one  of  great 
influence,  possessed  more  than  ordinary  weight  in  the  session  of 
1833-34.  The  President,  some  time  before  its  commencement,  had 
directed  the  public  deposits  to  be  drawn  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  and  placed  in  the  local  banks.  That  measure  excited  deep 
and  general  sensation  throughout  the  country;  divided  the  people; 
divided  the  constitutional  advisers  of  the  President;  divided  Con- 
gress, and  became  a  subject  of  warm  and  animated  discussion  in  both 
Houses.  It  was  at  this  extraordinary  period  that  the  Sjieaker  of  the 
House  of  Rep'resentatives,  invested  with  the  power  of  appointing  and 
arranging  the  committees  of  the  House,'and  wielding  a  great  influence, 
secretly  held  a  written  official  promise  of  the  important  mission  abroad, 
everybody  being  ignorant  of  the  fact  except  himself,  the  President, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  and  a  few  confidential  friends. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  his  nomination  came  up  for 
consideration  in  the  Senate.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  free 
governments,  that,  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  their  adminis- 
tration, each  of  the  three  departments  into  which,  according  to  all 
safe  maxims,  they  are  divided,  should  be  kept  independent  of,  and 
without  the  influence  of  the  other.  But,  if  the  head  of  one  of  these 
departments  may,  at  a  critical  period,  confidently  present,  and  for  a 
long  period  of  time  hold  up  to  the  presiding  officer  of  the  popular 
branch  of  the  other,  the  powerful  inducement  of  a  splendid  foreign 
mission,  is  there  not  imminent  danger  of  undue  subserviency — of  a 
failure  of  that  presiding  officer  faithfully  and  independently  to  dis- 
charge the  high  duties  of  his  exalted  station? 

The  Senate  thought  there  was,  and  withheld  its  advice  and  consent 
to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Stevenson  as  minister  to  Great  Britain.  And 
now,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  two  years,  with  all  the  circumstances 
by  which  his  original  nomination  was  attended  remaining  in  full  force 
but  with  considerable  variations  in  the  composition  of  the  Senate,  the 
same  individual  is  again  nominated  by  the  President  for  the  same 
office.  Doubtless,  a  place  more  than  any  foreign  appointment  impor- 
tant to  be  constantly  occupied,  has  not  been  kept  vacant  with  a  view  to 
or  in  expectation  of  any  such  variations.  Doubtless,  in  the  ample  field 
for  selection  which  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  near  fifteen 
millions  of  people  offer  some  individual  equallj'^  well  qualified  with, 
and  less  exceptionable  than,  Mr.  Stevenson,  might  be  designated  to 
represent  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Doubtless,  no 
personal  feelings  or  wishes  to  achieve  triumph  over  the  Senate  can 
have  prompted  the  renewal  of  this  nomination. 

Whatever  may  have  been  its  motives,  the  committee  neither  know 
nor  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  They  are  not  themselves  aware 
of  any  peculiar  fitness  in  Mr,  Stevenson,  or  any  absolute  necessity  of 
deputing  him,  and  him  only,  as  the  minister  of  the  United  States  to 
Great  Britain.  In  ordinary  times  the  fact  of  his  being  unacceptable 
to  a  large  portion  of  the  Senate,  even  if  that  did  not  constitute  an 


NOMTN^ATIONS.  33 

actual  majority,  would  be  regarded  as  deserving  of  consideration.  In 
a  free  government  it  should  be  the  aim  of  those  who  administer  it  to 
promote  harmony  in  the  public  councils  and  satisfaction  among  the 
people. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  is  supposed  to  be,  by  the  theory  of 
the  Constitution,  as  free  and  independent  in  the  exercise  of  its  judg- 
ment on  nominations  submitted  to  its  consideration  as  the  President 
is  in  proposing  them.  Each  of  the  two  components  of  the  appointing 
power  acts  upon  its  own  sense  of  duty  and  upon  its  own  responsibility. 
The  Senate  has  no  right  to  require  the  President  to  nominate  any  par- 
ticular individual,  and  the  President  has  no  right  to  require  the  Sen- 
ate to  confirm  any  particular  nomination.  "When  the  Senate  has  once 
decided  upon  a  nomination,  there  ought  to  be  an  end  to  the  matter. 

Prior  to  the  present  administration  instances  of  renomination  were 
rare,  and  are  believed  to  have  occurred  only  when  some  indication 
was  given  from  the  Senate  of  a  desire  that  it  should  take  place.  It 
has  of  late  become  more  frequent.  The  practice  is  liable  to  great 
abuses.  A  President  disposed  to  grant  favorites  to  public  offices,  and 
finding  a  Senate  disagreeing  with  him  as  to  their  fitness,  may  forbear 
for  a  long  time,  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  services,  to  nominate 
any  person  to  fill  them,  until,  from  those  changes  of  individual  mem- 
bers, to  which  all  collective  bodies  are  liable,  a  Senate  happens  to  be 
formed  more  yielding  and  complying.  When  a  nomination  is  once 
rejected  the  exact  state  of  tlie  votes  of  the  Senate  is  known  to  the  Presi- 
dent; and  if  the  practice  of  renomination  is  indulged,  in  process  of 
time  there  will  be  danger  of  the  existence  or  the  imputation  of  corrup- 
tion. The  committee  think  that  the  practice  ought  to  be  resisted ;  and 
when  the  Senate  has  once  rejected  an  individual  nomination  the  deci- 
sion ought  to  be  held  as  final  and  conclusive,  and  that  it  ought  not  to 
confirm  the  nomination  of  the  same  person  when  made  again  for  the 
same  office  without  strong  special  cause.  In  the  present  case  no  such 
cause  is  alleged  or  known  to  exist,  while  all  the  considerations  which 
formerly  opposed  the  confirmation  of  Mr.  Stevenson  continued  in 
unabated  strength.  The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved  That  the  Senate  do  not  advise  and  consent  to  the  appointment  of 
Andrew  Stevenson  as  minister  plenipotentiary  and  envoy  extraordinary  to  Great 
Britain. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  Vol.  4,  p.  513;  Leg.  Jour.,  p.  577.) 


TWENTY-FIFTH  CONGRESS,  SPECIAL  SESSION  SENATE. 
March  8,  1837. 

On  nominations  of  John  R.  Conway  and  Hiram  G.  Runnels  to  be 
commissioners  to  run  the  southwestern  boundary  line  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Buchanan  reported  as  follows : 

That  the  treaty  of  January  3, 1828,  fixed  the  boundary  line  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico,  but  the  provision  which  was  made 
for  the  running  and  marking  of  the  line  was  not  carried  into  exe- 
cution within  the  time  limited  by  its  terms.  To  remedy  this  omis- 
sidn,  a  convention  was  concluded  at  the  City  of  Mexico  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1835,  between  the  contracting  parties,  under  which  each  of 
them  engaged  to  appoint  a  commissioner  and  surveyor  to  run  and 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 3 


34  NOMINATIONS. 

mark  this  bonndary  line  within  one  year  from  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications,  which  took  place  at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the  20th 
of  April,  1836.  It  was  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  executing  this 
convention  that  a  clause  was  inserted  by  Congress  in  this  bill  to  pro- 
vide for  the  civil  and  diplomatic  expenses  of  the  Government  for  the 
year  1837,  appropriating  the  salary  and  expenses  of  a  commissioner 
and  surveyor;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  therefore 
felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  send  nominations  of  these  officers  to  the 
Senate. 

Your  committee  believe,  however,  that  the  recognition  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  Texas  by  the  United  States  has  entirely  changed  the 
aspect  of  this  affair.  Mexico  has  no  longer  any  control  over  the 
boundary  question;  Texas  has  become  the  party  interested  in  its 
adjustment.  If  the  United  States  would  appoint  a  commissioner 
and  surveyor,  and  they  should  be  met  by  a  commissioner  and 
surveyor  appointed  by  Mexico,  this  would  be  a  violation  of  the  rights 
of  Texas,  whose  independence  has  just  been  recognized  by  the  United 
States. 

The  committee  are  sensible  that,  under  the  law  of  nations,  Texas, 
which  was  a  part  of  Mexico  when  the  treaty  of  1828  was  concluded  and 
ratified,  is  not  released  from  executing  its  provisions  in  consequence 
of  having  since  become  an  independent  State.  They  deem  it  more 
politic  and  wise,  however,  under  the  existing  circumstances  to  per- 
mit the  question  to  rest  for  the  present.  The  mode  and  manner  of 
executing  the  treaty  of  1828,  in  regard  to  the  boundary  line,  will 
properly  become  the  subject  of  negotiation  between  the  United 
States  and  Texas  in  case  the  latter  should  maintain  her  independence. 

The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  nomination  of  Hiram  G.  Rnnnels  to  be  commissioner  and 
that  of  John  B.  Conway  to  be  surveyor,  to  run  the  southwestern  boundary  line  of 
the  United  States,  be  laid  on  the  table. 

(Ex.  Jour.,  vol.  5,  p.  22.) 


AUTHORIZATIONS  TO  ACCEPT  DECORATIONS 
FROM  FOREIGN  GOVERNMENTS. 


85 


AUTHORIZATIONS  TO  ACCEPT  DECORATIONS  FROM  FOREIGN 

GOVERNMENTS. 


FIFTH   CONGRESS,  SECOND   SESSION. 
May  2,  1798, 

On  letter  from  Thomas  Pinckney,  late  minister  plenipotentiary  of 
the  United  States  to  His  Catholic  Majesty,  requesting  the  direction  of 
Congress  in  respect  to  the  acceptance  of  the  customary  present  from 
that  Government,  and  also  one  from  His  Britannic  Majesty,  made  in 
conformity  to  the  usage  of  those  powers,  respectively,  to  a  foreign 
minister,  on  negotiating  a  treaty,  Mr.  Sedgwick  reported  as  follows: 

Be  it  resolved  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  Aiyierica  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Congress  doth 
consent  that  Thomas  Pinckney,  esq.,  who,  as  envoy  extraordinary  of 
the  United  States,  negotiated  the  treaty  of  friendship,  limits,  and 
navigation,  between  the  United  States  and  the  King  of  Spain,  may 
receive  from  the  said  King  such  present  as  it  is  customary  for  His 
Catholic  Majesty  to  make  to  such  persons  as  negotiate  treaties  with 
him. 

And  he  it  further  resolved.  That  Congress  doth  consent  that  the  said 
Thomas  Pinckney,  esq.,  lately  minister  plenipotentiary  from  the 
United  States  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  may  receive  from  the 
said  King  such  present  as  it  is  customary  for  His  Britannic  Majesty 
to  make  to  ministers  plenipotentiary  on  taking  leave  of  him. 
(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  2,  pp.  480,  482,  483-484.) 


FORTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

May  24,  1882. 

[Senate  Report  No.  649.] 

Mr.  "Windom,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
joint  resolution  (H.  R.  54)  to  authorize  Lieut.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  United 
States  Army,  to  accept  a  position  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  Colombia,  have  considered  the  same,  and  respect- 
fully report: 

That  the  facts  in  this  case  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  following  papers ; 
and,  as  the  joint  resolution  simply  permits  said  ofl&cer  to  accept  the 
position  of  instructor  at  the  military  school  at  Bogota,  and  does  not 
authorize  him  to  accept  any  military  rank  from  the  Government  of 
.the  United  States  of  Colombia,  the  committee  recommend  its  passage. 

-^     *  •'      _■     :       5       i 


88  LIEUT.   HENRY    R.   LEMLT. 

War  Department, 
Washington  City,  Felnruary  'M,  188i, 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of  the 
8th  instant,  inclOBiiig  a  copy  of  House  resolution  54,  being  a  joint  resolution  to 
authorize  Lieut.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  United  States  Army,  to  accept  a  position  under 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia  and  asking  to  be  informed  of 
the  views  of  this  Department  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  legislation  proposed 
therein. 

In  reply.  I  beg  to  invite  attention  to  the  inclosed  rei)ort  of  the  Adjutant-General 
of  the  Army,  to  whom  the  subject  was  referred,  which  furnishes  the  military 
history  of  Lieutenant  Lemly,  together  with  a  full  statement  of  the  circumstances 
and  authority  under  which  he  first  accepted  a  professorship  of  civil  and  military 
engineering  in  the  national  military  school  at  Bogota,  including  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  subsequent  action  of  the  Colombian  authorities  in 
advancing  him  to  the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  academy  and  conferring 
upon  him  the  honorary  rank  of  colonel  in  the  Colombian  army,  and  the  reasons 
which  governed  the  action  of  the  President  in  revoking  the  leave  of  absence  which 
had  been  granted  to  Lieutenant  Lemly  to  enable  him  to  accept  the  professorship 
above  referred  to,  and  directing  him  to  terminate  his  connection  with  the  mili- 
tary school  at  Bogota. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  action  of  the  Colombian  authorities  toward  Lieu- 
tenant Lemly  is  highly  complimentary,  and  attests,  in  a  forcible  manner,  the 
earnest  appreciation  of  his  service  by  that  Government;  and  as  the  zeal  and 
ability  which  have  gained  for  him  so  flattering  a  recognition  by  the  Colombian 
authorities  are  worthy  of  commendation,  and  as  he  went  to  Bogota  with  the 
approval  of  the  President,  the  passage  of  the  above-mentioned  resolution  No.  54  is 
recommended,  with  an  amendment  as  follows: 

^*  Provided,  That  the  permission  hereby  given  shall  be  held  to  terminate  April  1, 
1883." 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  T.  Lincoln, 

Secretary  of  War, 

Hon.  Thos.  J.  Henderson, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  House  of  Representatives, 


Adjutant-General's  Opficb, 
Washington,  February  14, 188S. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith  the  House  resolution  No.  54,  authoriz- 
ing Lieut.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  Third  Artillery,  to  accept  from  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  of  Colombia  •'  a  position  of  instructor  at  the  military  school  at 
Bogota,"  which  was  referred  by  the  Committee  on  Militarj' Affairs.  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, for  the  views  of  the  Department  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  legislation 
proposed  therein,  and  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  this  office  for  report  and  previ- 
ous history  of  the  case. 

Lieutenant  Lemly  graduated  from  the  United  States  Military  Academy,  and 
was  appointed  second  lieutenant.  Third  Cavalry,  June  14, 1872;  was  transferred  to 
the  Third  Artillery  October  7,  1878,  and  promoted  first  lieutenant  February  23, 
1880.  On  April  21.  1880,  he  was,  by  direction  of  the  President,  granted  leave  of 
absence  for  three  years,  with  permission  to  go  beyond  sea.  The  instructions  of  the 
President  directing  that  Lieutenant  Lemly  be  granted  this  leave  are  indorsed 
upon  a  letter  from  D.  H.  Starbuck.  stating  that  -'Lieut.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  of  the 
Army,  is  desirous  to  visit  South  America,  and  has  the  offer  of  a  professorship  of 
civil  and  military  engineering  in  the  national  military  school  at  Bogota,  wh.chhe 
desires  to  accept  for  a  term  of  three  j'ears,  provided  he  can  obtain  a  furlough  or 
leave  of  absence  for  that  time."  Upon  this  paper  the  President  indorsed  as  fol- 
lows: "April  19,  1880.  Having  fully  considered  this  application,  I  direct  that  the 
leave  asked  for  be  allowed  First  Lieut.  H.  R.  Lemly,  Third  Artillery,  for  the  pur- 
pose herein  expressed." 

Under  date  of  September  30,  1881,  the  Acting  Secretary  of  State  transmitted  to 
the  Secretary  of  War  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  from  the  minister  of  the  United  States 
at  Bogota,  stating  that  Lieutenant  Lemly.  '•  by  his  knowledge,  tact,  and  devotion 
to  duty  has  secured  the  approval  of  the  Colombian  authorities  and  respect  of  this 
community  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  advanced  to  the  position  of  superintendent 
of  the  academy,  officially  styled  '  chief  director  of  the  studies  of  the  school  of  civil 
and  military  engineering,'  and  that  as  a  special  mark  of  distinction  this  appoint- 
ment has  been  accompanied  by  a  decree  conferring  upon  him  the  rank  of  colonel  in 
theCk>lombian  army." 


LIEUT.   HENKY    E.   LEMLY.  39 

Upon  these  papers  the  Secretary  of  War  on  November  4, 1881,  directed  the  Gen- 
eral of  the  Army  to  cause  Lieutenant  Lemly  to  be  informed  that  "the  President, 
while  commending  Lieutenant  Lemly  for  the  earnestness  and  ability  which  he 
has  exhibited  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  assumed  by  him  under  the  Colom- 
bian Government,  directs  that  he  be  informed  that  a  consideration  of  a  clause  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  [Par.  8,  sec.  9,  Art.  1]  not  only  prevents  the 
acceptance  by  Lieutenant  Lemly  of  either  of  the  offices  named  in  the  letter  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  but  compels  the 
revocation  of  the  order  of  the  President  bearing  date  April  19,  1880,  granting  to 
Lieutenant  Lemly  a  leave  of  absence  for  three  years  for  the  purpose  of  accepting 
a  professorship  '  in  the  national  school  at  Bogota.' " 

The  instructions  of  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  were  communicated  to 
Lieutenant  Lemly  by  letter  from  this  office  dated  November  17,  1881,  and  he  was 
directed  to  terminate  his  connection  with  the  military  school  at  Bogota  upon 
receipt  of  the  letter,  and  to  return  to  the  United  States  as  soon  thereafter  as 
practicable. 

Subsequently,  however,  on  November  17,  1881 ,  the  President,  through  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  directed  ' '  that  Lieutenant  Lemly  be  authorized  to  remain  at  Bogota, 
if  he  so  desires,  on  leave  of  absence  a  reasonable  time,  to  allow  application  to  be 
made  on  his  behalf  to  Congress  for  its  consent  to  his  keeping  position  in  national 
school,"  but  that  he  must  "immediately  disconnect  himself  from  any  foreign  offi- 
cial position  and  so  remain  until  consent  of  Congress  is  obtained." 

These  instructions  were  communicated  to  Lieutenant  Lemly  by  letter  from  this 
office  of  November  18,  1881. 

Under  date  of  January  4, 1882,  Lieutenant  Lemly  reports  receipt  of  the  instruc- 
tions of  November  18, 1881,  and  that  in  obedience  thereto  he  had  disconnected 
himself  from  "any  foreign  official  position,"  etc. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

B.  C.  Drum,  Adyutant-OeneraU 
The  honorable  Secretaey  of  War. 


War  Department, 
Washington  City,  May  6,  188S, 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  25th 
ultimo,  inclosing  a  copy  of  joint  resolution  (H.  R.  54)  "  to  authorize  Lieut.  Henry 
R.  Lemly,  United  States  Army,  to  accept  a  position  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  Colombia,"  and  requesting  information  as  to  the  amount  of  pay 
Lieutenant  Lemly  is  now  receiving  from  this  Government,  and  the  amount  to  be 
paid  to  him  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 

In  reply,  I  beg  to  inclose  herewith  a  report  of  the  Paymaster-General,  dated  the 
29th  ultimo,  giving  the  information  asked  for  as  to  the  amount  of  pay  Lieutenant 
Lemly  is  receiving  from  this  Government,  and  to  inclose  also  a  communication 
from  the  Adjutant-General,  dated  the  4th  instant,  and  its  accompanying  papers, 
which  include  a  copy  of  the  contract  between  Lieutenant  Lemly  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  in  which  it  is  stipulated  the  amount  of 
compensation  to  be  paid  to  him  by  that  Government;  said  copy  having  been  made 
from  a  copy  transmitted  to  this  Department  by  the  Department  of  State,  under 
date  of  the  6th  ultimo. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  T.  Lincoln, 

Secretat-y  of  War, 
Hon.  Wm.  Windom, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate, 


War  Department,  Paymaster-General's  Office, 

Washington,  April  29,  1882. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith  the  letter  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  of  the  Senate  of  the  25th  instant,  with  the  accompanying  bill  and  report, 
in  reference  to  Lieut'.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  United  States  Army,  and  to  state  in  reply 
that  Lieutenant  Lemly  is  now  receiving  the  sum  of  $68.75  per  month,  being  half 

Eay  of  his  grade  of  first  lieutenant  of  artillery,  he  being  on  leave  of  absence.    As 
)ng  as  he  shall  continue  on  leave  he  will  be  reduced  to  half  pay. 


40  LIEUT.   HENRY    R.   LEMLY. 

With  reference  to  the  last  incjuiry  in  the  letter  of  the  committee,  "the  amount 
he  will  be  paid  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Columbia  shomd  the 
permission  asked  be  granted,"  this  office  is  not  able  to  respond. 
Very  respectfully,  yofur  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  B.  Rochester, 
Paymaster-General,  U.  S.  A, 
The  honorable  Secretary  of  War. 


Adjutant-Gexeral's  Office,  May  4,  ISSS. 

Sir:  I  have  honor  to  return  herewith  the  communication  from  the  chairman  of 
Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the  2.')th  ultimo,  re^iuesting  certain 
information  in  the  case  of  First  Lieut.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  Third  Artillery,  in  con- 
nection with  a  joint  resolution  (H.  R.  54),  and  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  of  Lieu- 
tenant Lemly's  contract  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia 
received  through  the  State  Department, 

This  information  as  to  the  nature  of  the  contract  and  the  compensation  Lieu- 
tenant Lemly  was  to  receive  from  the  Colombian  Government  was  not  received 
until  after  the  report  of  this  office  of  February  14,  1882  (printed  in  House  Report 
No.  483,  a  copy  of  which  accompanies  the  letter  from  the  Senate  committee),  had 
been  made,  and  is  the  only  information  of  record  in  this  office  touching  the  inquiry 
of  the  committee  as  to  what  amount  Lieutenant  Lemly  "will  be  paid  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  of  Colombia  should  the  permission  asked  for  be 
granted." 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

B.  C.  Drum,  Adjxdant-Qeneral, 

The  honorable  Secretary  of  War. 


Department  of  State, 
Washington,  April  C,  1SS2. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  in  connection  with  previous  corre- 
spondence from  your  Department  upon  the  subject,  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  from  our 
minister  resident  at  Bogota,  of  February  17  last,  relative  to  the  case  of  Lieut,  H.  R. 
Lemly,  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  is  now  employed  by  the  Government  of 
Colombia,  also  a  copy  of  Lieutenant  Lemly's  contract  with  that  Government 
inclosed  with  the  minister's  dispatch. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinohdysen. 
Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln, 

Secretary  of  War, 


No.  10.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Bogota,  February  17,  1882. 

Sir:  Inclosed  copy  of  contract  with  the  Colombian  Government  is  respectfully 
forwarded  with  the  view  of  affording  the  President  and  Congress  the  fullest  infor- 
mation in  the  case  of  Lieutenant  Lemly,  United  States  Army,  treated  of  in  Depart- 
ment dispatches  Nos.  6  and  8. 

It  is  my  advice.  The  Colombian  Government  desires  Lieutenant  Lemly's  serv- 
ices for  the  terms  of  the  contract,  and,  taking  the  view  he  was  permitted  to  enter 
into  it  by  the  highest  officials  of  our  Government  at  the  time,  claims  it  would  be 
neither  courteous  nor  proper  to  deprive  it  of  his  services  before  the  expiration  of 
the  time  for  which  it  was  made. 

Have  thought  it  but  proper  to  impart  this  information  to  the  Department. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Geo.  Maney,  Minister  Resident, 
Hon.  Feedk.  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington. 

Be  it  known  by  this  document  that  we,  the  undersigned,  J.  A.  Echsverria,  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  the  name  and  by  request  of  Francisco  J.  Cisneros,  of  the 


LIEUT.   HENRY    R.   LEMLY.  41 

same  city,  now  absent  in  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  party  of 
the  first  part,  and  Henry  Rowan  Lemly,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  party  of  the  second 
part,  have  entered  into  a  contract  under  the  following  conditions: 

Article  the  1st,  Francisco  J.  Cisneros,  and  in  his  name  J.  A.  Echsverria,  do 
here  declare:  Firstly,  that  by  the  law  No.  69  of  1877  of  the  TJ.  S.  of  Colombia,  it 
was  ordered  that  a  school  of  civil  and  military  engineering  should  be  established 
in  the  city  of  Bogota,  capital  of  the  Republic;  secondly,  that  in  fulfillment  of  said 
law  and  of  the  decree  issued  by  the  executive  power  of  the  Republic,  dated  at 
Bogota  the  26th  of  November,  1879,  the  school  of  civil  and  military  engineers  must 
have  been  established  the  2nd  day  of  the  present  month,  in  the  building  known  by 
the  name  of  "  Candeiaria; "  thirdly,  that  according  to  article  3rd  of  said  decree, 
besides  the  director  and  several  professors  and  employees,  there  must  be  at  the 
school  two  foreign  professors,  with  the  salary  and  emolument  agreed  upon  in  their 
contract,  to  teach  military  science  and  any  other  one  that  may  be  recommended 
to  them,  specially  staff  and  artillery  instruction;  and,  fourthly,  that  Francisco  J. 
Cisneros  has  been  expressly  commissioned  and  authorized  by  the  executive  of  the 
Republic  of  Colombia  to  engage  in  the  United  States  of  America  the  two  above- 
mentioned  professors,  under  the  instructions  received  by  him  from  the  secret,ary 
of  the  war  and  navy. 

Article  the  2nd,  In  virtue  of  his  authorization  Francisco  J.  Cisneros.  in  the 
name  of  the  Government  of  Colombia,  does  hereby  engage  Mr.  Henry  Rowan 
Lemly  for  one  of  the  two  professorships  of  military  science  in  the  school  of  civil 
and  militarj'  engineering  of  Bogota,  with  the  salary  of  three  thousand  fi\e  hun- 
dred dollars  per  year,  payable  in  monthly  installments  of  $291.66$  each,  in  lawful 
gold  or  silver  money. 

Article  the  3rd.  The  salary  of  Mr,  Henry  Rowan  Lemly  will  run  from  the  date 
of  his  departure  from  New  York  for  Savanilla  and  Bogota,  this  having  to  take 
effect  with  the  shortest  possible  delay. 

Article  the  4th.  Besides  the  above-mentioned  salary  the  Government  of  'Co- 
lombia will  pay  the  passage  out  and  all  regular  traveling  expenses  of  Mr.  Lemly 
and  wife  from  New  York  to  Bogota. 

Article  the  5th.  This  contract  will  be  for  the  term  of  three  years  from  the 
date  of  the  departure  of  Mr.  Henry  R.  Lemly  from  New  York. 

Article  the  6th,  Mr.  Henry  R,  Lemly  ought  to  oblige  himself  to  take  charge 
of  such  classes  as  will  be  allotted  to  him,  according  to  articles  8th,  9th,  and  10th 
of  the  decree  of  November  26th,  1879;  to  give  the  theoretical  and  practical  instruc- 
tion required  in  each  branch  of  teaching;  to  comply  with  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions of  the  schools,  and  to  fulfill,  in  a  word,  all  and  every  duty  of  his  professor- 
ship with  the  assiduity,  steadiness,  and  intelligence  that  the  Government  of 
Colombia  expects  from  him. 

Article  the  7th.  Mr.  Henry  R.  Lemly,  on  his  part,  accepts  the  salary  of  three 
thousand  and  five  hundred  dollars  per  year,  payable  in  monthly  installments  of 
equal  amount,  and  the  payment  of  his  passage  and  travelling  expenses  from  New 
York  to  Bogota  that  the  Government  of  Colombia,  represented  by  Mr.  Francisco 
J.  Cisneros,  offers  him  to  pay;  acknowledges  that  he  is  instructed  of  articles  of  the 
decree  of  Nov'er  26th,  1879,  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  paragraph;  obliges  him- 
self to  teach  scientifically  and  practically  the  subjects  allotted  to  him,  specially 
in  relation  to  military  science;  to  compl-y  with  the  rules  and  regulations  enacted 
by  proper  authority  for  the  government  of  the  school,  and,  finally,  to  fulfill  all  the 
duties  deriving  from  his  contract  during  its  term  of  three  years  to  the  best  of  his 
abilities. 

Article  the  8th,  It  is  understood  that  in  case  Mr,  Henry  R.  Lemly,  for  any 
cause  whatever,  should  be  called  to  take  charge  of  a  single  class  the  reduction 
spoken  of  in  article  18th  of  the  decree  of  Nov'er  26th,  1879,  will  not  apply  to  him, 
and  his  full  salary  will  be  in  such  case  paid  to  him,  as  agreed  upon  in  this  covenant. 

Article  the  9th.  This  contract  will  be  considered  as  provisional  until  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Henry  R.  Lemly  to  Bogota,  when  it  will  be  ratified  by  the  secretary 
of  the  army  and  navy. 

Both  parties,  being  agreed  in  the  foregoing  articles,  sign  two  copies  of  the  same 
tenor,  which  they  reciprocally  exchange  in  the  city  of  New  York,  &c. 

(Signed)    Jose  A.  Echsverria.     [seal.] 


(Signed)    Henry  R.  Lemly,         [seal. 

2  Lieut.  3d  U.  S.  ArVy,  Despaeho, 


Witness: 

L.  Del  Monte. 
John  S.  Slagle. 


42  AUGUSTUS   J.   CAR8ARD BEITISH    BARK    LAMMERLAW. 

FORTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
February  19,  1884. 
[Senate  Report  No.  20L] 

Mr.  Wilson,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
application  of  Augustus  J.  Cassard  to  be  permitted  to  accept  a  gold 
medal  conferred  on  him  by  the  Government  of  France,  submits  the 
following  report: 

The  Secretary  of  State,  in  a  letter  of  January  19,  1884,  responding 
to  inquiries  relative  to  the  facts  in  this  case,  says: 

That  for  eight  months  prior  to  February,  1881,  Mr.  Cassard,  our  consul  at  Tam- 
pico,  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  French  Government  by  taking  charge  of  its 
consular  archives  and  interests,  there  being  during  that  period  no  French  consul 
in  that  district.  For  this  service  Mr.  Cassard  could  receive  no  compensation,  and, 
therefore,  the  French  Government  desired  to  present  a  medal  as  a  mark  of  its 
appreciation  thereof. 

A  gold  medal  has  been  prepared  by  the  French  Government  and 
forwarded  through  the  proper  diplomatic  channels,  but  as  it  can  not 
be  delivered  to  or  accepted  by  Mr.  Cassard  without  the  permission  of 
Congress,  the  committee  present  the  joint  resolution  accompanying 
this  report  and  recommend  its  passage. 


March  6,  1884. 

[Senate  Report  No.  277.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report: 

The  British  bark  Lammerlaw,  bound  from  Australia  to  Portland, 
Oreg.,  with  a  carload  of  coal,  stranded  on  the  North  Break,  at  the 
entrance  of  Shoalwater  Bay,  Washington  Territory,  at  about  5  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  October  30,  1881.  A  heavy  southwest  gale  was 
blowing  at  the  time,  and  the  sea  was  very  rough  and  swept  over  the 
vessel  as  soon  as  she  stranded,  so  that  the  crew  were  forced,  for  the 
most  part,  to  take  to  the  rigging  to  save  their  lives.  The  point 
at  which  the  vessel  stranded  was  about  9  miles  from  the  shore.  The 
facts,  as  stated  in  the  ofl&cial  report  of  the  affair  to  the  Treasury 
Department,  show  that  Albert  T.  Stream,  keeper  of  the  life-saving 
station  at  Shoalwater  Bay,  being  without  a  crew,  collected  such  vol- 
unteers as  he  could,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  perils  and  at 
the  imminent  risk  of  his  life,  rowed  out  to  the  vessel  and  rescued 
the  entire  crew,  comprising  some  15  persons.  He  was  first  apprised 
of  the  stranding  of  the  bark  at  about  8.30  a.  m.  of  the  30th  of  Octo- 
ber, but,  notwithstanding  all  of  his  efforts  to  secure  the  necessary 
assistance,  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of  the  31st  that  he  succeeded 
in  getting  all  of  the  crew  off  the  wreck.  During  all  of  this  time  the 
storm  raged  without  abatement,  and  shortly  after  the  rescue  was 
effected  the  bark  sank,  leaving  nothing  but  her  spars  to  mark  the 
spot  where  she  lay.  The  rescued  seamen  saved  nothing  but  the  cloth- 
ing on  their  persons.  The  bark  went  to  pieces  and  the  cargo  was 
entirely  lost. 


STATUE   TO    SIMON    BOLIVAR HENRY   VIGNAUD.  43 

In  recognition  of  the  humanity  and  noble  heroism  displayed  by  Mr. 
Stream  on  this  occasion,  the  British  Government  lias  tendered  liim  a 
medal,  and  the  same  is  now  in  the  hands  of  tlie  Secretary  of  State, 
who  has  recommended  that  the  Congress  shall  take  the  necessary 
action  to  enable  Mr.  Stream  to  accept  the  reward  which  he  so  man- 
fully won. 

The  committee  therefore  report  herewith  a  bill  to  authorize  Mr. 
Stream  to  accept  this  medal,  and  recommend  its  passage  by  the  Senate. 


March  26,  1884. 

[Senate  Report  No.  392.] 

Mr.  Lapham,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
resolution  No.  43,  "for  the  erection  of  a  bronze  equestrian  statue  to 
Simon  Bolivar  in  the  city  of  Washington,"  having  considered  the 
same,  report: 

That  the  leading  reasons  for  such  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  are 
substantially  set  forth  in  the  preamble  to  the  said  resolution  and  meet 
the  approval  of  your  committee. 

In  addition  thereto,  the  Secretary  of  State  has  sent  to  your  commit- 
tee, with  his  approval,  a  letter  from  our  minister  at  Caracas  in  which 
he  urgently  recommends  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

Your  committee  therefore  report  the  same  back  with  certain  amend- 
ments, together  with  the  papers  referred  to,  and  ask  that  the  said 
committee  be  discharged,  and  that  the  same  be  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Library  for  final  action. 


FORTY-EIGHTH   CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

December  17,  1884. 

[Seuate  Report  No.  915.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
bill  817,  "to  permit  Henry  Vignaud,  of  Louisiana,  second  secretary 
of  the  legation  of  the  United  States  at  Paris,  to  receive  the  decoration 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor  of  France,"  having  considered  the  same,  beg 
leave  to  report  it  back  to  the  Senate  with  a  recommendation  that  it  do 
pass. 

Mr.  Vignaud,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  born  in  Louisiana,  has 
lived  for  many  years  in  Paris,  where  he  has  been  the  most  conspicuous 
contributor  to  the  Memorial  Diplomatique,  a  well-known  journal  pub- 
lished in  that  city,  and  devpted  to  the  discussion  of  questions  of 
diplomacy  and  international  law.  He  was  appointed  by  the  French 
Government  on  the  14th  of  August,  1874,  to  the  Legion  of  Honor. 
This  compliment  was  paid  him,  as  was  set  forth  in  the  decree  of 
appointment,  in  appreciation  of  services  rendered  as  a  publicist. 
Subsequently,  viz,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1875,  Mr.  Vignaud  was 
commissioned  second  secretary  of  the  legation  of  the  United  States  at 


44  THOMAS    O.   OSBORN STEAMSHIP   ALERT. 

Paris.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1881 ,  Mr.  Vignaud  was  made  an  officer 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  This  was  a  promotion  falling  to  him  in  the 
regular  order  of  things.  The  reason  given  for  his  original  appoint- 
ment was  again  alleged  in  the  order  decreeing  his  promotion;  his 
services  as  a  publicist  were  again  recognized.  As  Mr.  Vignaud  is  now 
in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  United  States,  an  act  of  Congress  is 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  accept  the  natural  sequence  of  a  distinction 
conferred  upon  him  before  he  became  an  officer  of  the  Government. 


February  12,  1885. 
[Senate  Report  No.  1236.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  beg  leave  to  report  a  bill  "to 
permit  Thomas  O.  Osborn,  minister  resident  and  consul-general  of 
the  United  States  at  Buenos  Ayres,  to  receive  a  symbolic  shield  from 
the  Argentine  Republic,"  and  to  recommend  its  passage,  submitting 
in  this  connection  the  following  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  viz: 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  February  5,  18S5. 
Sir:  In  a  note  of  the  19th  of  December,  1883,  from  the  Argentine  minister  of 
state  to  Mr.  Thomas  O.  Osborn,  minister  of  the  United  Stat+'S  at  Buenos  Ayres, 
complimentary  reference  is  made  to  the  then  recent  services  of  Mr.  Csborn  len- 
deied  in  the  settlement  of  a  boundary  question  between  that  Republic  and  Chile: 
and  he  is  requested  to  accept,  in  commemoration  thereof,  a  ''symbolic  shield,'' 
properly  engraved. 

I  have  now  the  honor  to  ask  that  your  committee  will  introduce  a  measure 
enabling  Mr.  Osborn  to  accept  the  proj)osed  gift,  which  he  has,  of  course,  thus  far 
declined  to  receive. 
I  have  addressed  a  like  request  to  the  corresponding  committee  of  the  House. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fred'k  T.  Fbelinghuysen. 
Hon.  John  F.  Miller,  etc., 

Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate, 


February  12,  1885. 
[Senate  Report  No.  1337.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions, submitted  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
message  of  the  President  "in  relation  to  the  steamship  Alert,^^  hav- 
ing considered  the  same,  beg  leave  to  report  herewith  and  recommend 
the  passage  of  a  "joint  resolution  to  authorize  the  return  to  Her 
Britannic  Majesty's  Government  of  the  Arctic  relief  steamer  Alert." 

In  this  connection  the  committee  also  submit  the  following  letter 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy: 

Navy  Department, 
Washington,  February  9,  1885. 

Sir:  r  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  4  th 
instant,  wherein  you  make  certain  inquiries  relating  to  the  present  condition  of 
the  Arctic  relief  steamer  Alert,  and  request  this  Department  to  prepare  a  draft  of 
such  a  measure  as  Congress  should  pass  in  order  that  effect  may  be  given  to  the 
opinions  expressed  by  the  President,  In  his  message  of  the  30th  ultimo,  recom- 
mending the  return  of  the  Alert  to  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government, 


STEAMSHIP    ALEBT STEAMER   JEANNETTB.  45 

In  reply  I  have  to  inform  yon  that,  upon  her  arrival  in  this  country,  the  Alert 
waff  repaired  and  thoroughly  fitted  for  her  expected  work  by  this  Department,  at 
an  expense  of  about  $60,000.     After  her  return  she  was  laid  up  in  ordinary  at  the 
navy-yard,  New  York,  where  she  now  is.    She  is  in  excellent  condition,  and  no 
appropriation  will  be  needed  to  enable  her  to  be  returned  to  Great  Britain. 
Inclosed  herewith  is  a  draft  of  a  joint  resohition,  such  as  you  desire. 
For  the  further  information  of  the  committee.  I  also  inclose  a  copy  of  a  letter 
relating  to  the  subject  of  the  final  disposition  of  the  Alert  which  was  addressed 
by  this  Department,  on  the  23d  ultimo,  to  Hon.  C.  A.  Boutelle,  chairman  sub- 
committee on  Naval  Affairs,  House  of  Representatives. 
Very  respectfully, 

Wm.  E.  Chandler, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Hod.  John  F.  Miller, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate. 


February  12,  1885. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1245.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions, submitted  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
"message  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  transmitting 
communication  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  relative  to  the  serv- 
ices extended  in  Russia  to  the  survivors  of  the  steamer  Jeannette 
expedition,"  having  considered  the  same,  beg  leave  to  report  an 
"  amendment  intended  to  be  proposed  to  the  sundry  civil  appropria- 
tion bill"  to  enable  the  President  to  carry  out  the  recommendations 
made  in  the  said  message. 

The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  amount  of  the  expendi- 
tures involved  will  not  exceed  $15,000. 

The  message  of  the  President  referred  to,  and  the  accompanying 
letters  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  are  submitted  as  explanatory 
hereof. 


[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  48,  Forty-eighth  Congress,  second  session.] 

[Message  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  transmitting  communication  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy  relative  to  the  services  extended  in  Russia  to  the  survivors  of  the  steamer 
Jeannette  expedition.] 

ExECOTivE  Mansion, 

January  27, 1885. 
To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  communications  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
recommending  certain  action  by  the  Government  in  recognition  of  the  services, 
official  and  personal,  extended  in  Russia  to  the  survivors  of  the  Arctic  exploring 
steamer  Jeannette  and  to  the  search  parties  subsequently  sent  to  Siberia. 

The  authority  of  Congress  is  requested  for  extending  the  specific  rewards  men- 
tioned in  the  paper  accompanying  one  of  the  communications  of  the  Secretary. 
The  suggestion  concerning  the  thanks  of  Congress  is  also  submitted  for  consider- 
ation. 

Chester  A.  Arthur. 

Navy  Department, 

Washington,  January  10,  1885. 

Sir:  In  view  of  the  great  services  and  the  sympathy  extended  in  Russia  to  the 

survivors  of  the  Arctic  exploring  steamer  Jeannette,  and  to  the  search  parties 

subsequently  sent  to  Siberia,  it  seems  fitting  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 

States  should  tender  to  the  Government  and  people  of  Russia  an  oflficial  expres- 


46  STEAMER   JEANNETTE. 

sion  of  its  thanks;  and,  further,  that  those  officials  and  ijihabitants  of  Siberia  who 
directly  and  materially  aided  the  surviving  officers  and  men  of  the  Jeannette  and 
the  officers  of  the  search  parties  should  receive  such  additional  evidences  of  the 
appreciation  of  this  Government  as  may  be  appropriate. 

1  have,  therefore,  the  honor  to  recommend  that  the  thanks  of  Congress  be  ten- 
dered to  the  Government  and  people  of  Russia;  that  the  persons  designated  in  the 
paper  accompanying  this  communication  be  given  the  specific  rewards  set  opposite 
their  names,  and  that  Congress  be  requested  to  make  such  special  appropriation  as 
may  be  necessary  to  carry  these  recommendations  into  effect. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Wm.  E.  Chandleb, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
The  President. 


Recoonition  of  Services  Extended  by  Russian  Officials  and  Others  to 
THE  Survivors  of  the  Arctic  Exploring  Steamer  Jeannette  and  to  the 
Officers  of  the  Search  Parties. 

SPECIAL  rewards. 

OfflciaJs. 

Maj.  Qen.  George  Tchemaieff,  governor  of  Yakutsk,  Russian  Siberia:  Sword,  and 
letter  from  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

Cossack-Sul^ltem  Baieshoff :  Silver  medal,  sporting  rifle,  and  a  gratuity  of  $200. 
CJossack-Subaltern  Kalinkin:  Silver  medal  and  a  gratuity  of  $200. 
Cossack  Ivan  Bozhedomoff:  A  gratuity  of  $100. 

Inhabitants  of  Irkutsk, 

Mr.  Stepanoff :  Gold  watch. 
Mr.  A.  A.  Thoman:  Gratuity  of  $300. 
Mr.  Charles  Lee:  Gold  watch. 
Constantin  Bobokoff :  Silver  medaL 
Jaokin  Grombeck:  Silver  medal. 

Natives  of  the  district  of  Yakutsk, 

Vassili  Bobrowsky:  Large  silver  medal  and  $500. 
Ivan  Androsoff:  Medium  silver  medal. 
Constantin  Mohoploff :  Medium  silver  medal. 
Peter  Arrara:  Medium  silver  medal. 
Slipsof  Verbenie:  Medium  silver  medal. 
Alezei  Atkasoff :  Medium  silver  medal. 
Nicolai  Diakonoff :  Medium  silver  medal. 
Michael:  Small  silver  medal. 
Abanashi  Bobrowsky:  Small  silver  medaL 
Maxim  Stepenoff :  Small  silver  medal. 
Toros  Savin:  Small  silver  medal. 

Korani:  Small  silver  medal. 

And,  to  each  of  these.  1  small-bore  muzzle-loading  sporting  rifle,  500  rounds  of 
ammunition.  1 ,000  percussion  caps,  powder  flask,  bullet  pouch,  bullet  mold,  cleaner, 
nipper,  tine  ax,  waist  belt,  sheath  knife,  flint  and  steel,  2  pairs  scissors,  100  glover  s 
needles,  5  pounds  of  white  and  5  pounds  black  linen  thread,  20  yards  navy  flannel, 
20  yards  calico,  5  pounds  tea,  10  pounds  tobacco,  and  5  pounds  horsehair  for  nets. 

Criminal  exiles  in  district  of  Yakutsk. 

Eusma  Eremioff  (Russian):  Two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Yafim  Kopoloff  (Russian):  One  hundred  dollars. 

Feodore  Serroroff  (Yakut) :  One  hundred  dollars. 

For  general  distribution  among  the  natives  of  the  villages  of  Kitach,  Zemovia- 
lach,  and  Arrui,  a  quantity  of  tea,  tobacco,  beads,  flannel,  calico,  thre^,  needles, 
glover's  needles,  lead,  and  horsehair  for  nets,  to  be  distributed  by  the  headmen, 
and  excluding  those  Yakuti  specifically  rewarded  as  above.  The  quantity  should 
be  ample  for  about  300  people,  which  is  the  estimated  number  that  should  benefit 
by  this  bounty. 


STEAMEE   JEANNETTE ^JOSEPH   RAWIOZ.  47 

Navy  Department, 
Washington,  January  10,  1885. 

Sir:  As  it  seems  fitting  that  the  important  and  valuable  services,  official  and 
personal,  extended  in  Russia  to  the  survivors  of  the  Arctic  exploring  steamer  Jean- 
nette  and  to  the  search  parties  subsequently  sent  to  Siberia  should  receive  appro- 
priate official  recognition,  I  have  the  honor  to  recommend  that  your  thanks  be 
tendered  the  follow^ing-named  persons,  all  of  whom,  as  specifically  set  forth  in  the 
reports  made  to  this  Department,  materially  aided  the  surviving  officers  and  men 
of  the  Jeannette  and  the  officers  ot  the  search  parties: 

Governor-general,  Lieutenant-General  Anuchin  (Irkutsk). 

Governor-general,  Lieutenant  General  Kalpokoffsky  (Omsk). 

Governor,  Major-General  Tchernaielf  (Yakutsk). 

Governor,  Major-General  Nassovich  (Irkutsk). 

Governor,  Conseiller  d'Etat  Mertsalof  (Tomsk), 

Governor  of  Petropaulovsk. 

Gen.  Peter  Civer  (Irkutsk). 

Consul  of  France,  M.  Edmund  de  Lagreue  (Moscow). 

Medical  Director  R.  Kapello  (Yakutsk). 

Count  Emil  Ahlfeldt  Laurwigen  (St.  Petersburg). 

As  valuable  services  were  also  extended  by  Dr.  R.  Byelie  and  Mr.  E.  Leon,  polit- 
ical exiles  in  Siberia,  to  the  officers  and  men  referred  to,  I  shall,  with  your  approval, 
tender  them  the  thanks  of  this  Department. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Wm.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 

The  PEEsiDEaiT, 


FORTY-NINTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
January  13,  1886. 
[Senate  Report  No.  35.] 

Mr.  Payne,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the  let- 
ter of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  December  17,  1885  (Senate  Ex.  Doc. 
No.  11),  recommending  the  passage  of  an  act  to  permit  Joseph  Rawicz, 
United  States  consul  at  Warsaw,  Russia,  to  accept  decorations  from 
Russia,  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  a  bill  for  the  purpose  men- 
tioned, with  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 

The  committee  find  that  for  many  years  Mr.  Rawicz  has  discharged 
the  duties  of  United  States  consul  at  Warsaw  without  receiving  any 
compensation  therefor;  that  the  Russian  Government  has  tendered 
him  certain  decorations  for  services  rendered  his  own  country  (he 
being  a  Russian  subject),  which,  as  he  holds  an  oflBce  of  trust  under 
the  United  States,  he  is  not  at  liberty  to  accept  without  the  consent 
of  Congress  specifically  given,  while,  as  a  subject  of  Russia,  he  can 
not  decline  them.  The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that,  in  view  of 
all  the  circumstances,  Congress  may  very  properly  accede  to  the 
request  of  Mr.  Rawicz  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  accept  the  honors 
referred  to. 

The  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  State  referred  to  is  submitted  here- 
with, and  made  a  part  of  this  report. 


48  JOSEPH    RAWICZ. 

[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  11,  Forty-ninth  Congress,  first  session.] 

[Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  recommending  the  pa.ssage  of  an  act  to  permit  the  United 
States  consul  at  Warsaw,  Kussia,  to  accept  decorations  from  Russia.] 

Department  op  State, 

Woshiugton,  December  17,  1885. 
Sib:  I  have  the  honor  to  send  yon  inclosed  extracts  from  dispatches  Nos.  115 
and  119  from  Mr.  Joseph  Rawicz,  consul  of  the  United  States  at  Warsaw,  Russia, 
relating  to  certain  decorations  that  have  leen  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Russian 
Government. 

In  accordance  with  Mr.  Rawicz's  request  I  respectfully  recommend  that  a  bill 
be  passed  granting:  him  permis-sion  to  accept  said  decorations.     It  is  proper  to  add 
that  the  ottice  held  by  Mr.  Rawicz  is  compensated  by  fees,  the  amonnt  of  which 
is  very  insignificant,  and  that  he  is  a  Russian  subject. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  F.  Bayabd. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

President  of  tlie  Senate  pro  tempore. 


No.  115.]  Consulate  of  the  United  States, 

Warsaw,  June  5,  lS8b, 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  State  Department's  two 
copies  of  the  monthly  consular  reports  Nos.  47  end  48,  one  circular  of  April  9.  and 
one  dispatch.  No.  Gl.  of  April  22  last. 

In  reply  to  the  latter  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that,  having  been  decorated  by 
the  Russian  and  French  Governments,  viz: 

March  24,  1875,  with  the  order  of  St.  Stanislaus,  third  class,  for  my  services  of 
twenty  years  as  judge  of  the  commercial  court; 

May  25, 1877.  with  the  order  of  St.  Anna,  third  class,  as  member  of  the  commit- 
tee of  Philadelphia  Exhibition,  held  in  1876; 

October  30,  1878.  with  the  Red  Cross; 

September  25,  1880,  with  the  French  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  for  the  Paris 
Exhibition  of  1878; 

May  15  and  June  25,  1883,  with  two  orders  of  St.  Stanislaus,  second  class,  for 
my  services  as  member  of  the  committee  of  the  "Warsaw  Commercial  School;  and 
finally, 

February  28, 1885,  with  the  order  of  St.  Anna,  second  class,  as  cnrator  of  the 
Warsaw  Lunatic  Asylum,  for  ten  years'  services. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Joseph  Rawicz,  United  States  Consul, 
Hon.  William  Hunter, 

Second  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


No.  119.]  Consulate  of  the  United  States, 

Warsaiv,  October  1,  1885. 

Sir:  *  *  *  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  dispatch  No.  63, 
of  July  15  last.  In  reply  to  the  latter  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that,  being 
at  the  head  of  the  oldest  local  1  anking  house,  existing  since  1769,  I  am  frequently 
called  to  hold  various  Government  and  private  honorary  oflSces,  as  a  president  or 
member  of  committees. 

This  prominent  position  always  enables  me  to  decisively  act  in  the  behalf  of 
this  consulate,  and  this  influential  position  becomes  the  more  desirable  as  this 
consulate  is  the  only  one  not  being  general,  and  the  latter  circumstance  greatly 
influences  upon  the  official  classification  of  foreign  consuls  in  this  country.  Owing, 
however,  to  my  personal  position,  I  am  enabled  in  some  measure  to  keep  myself 
upon  the  level  with  the  rights  due  to  my  colleagues  the  consuls-general. 

Many  a  time  I  requested  the  State  Department  for  changing  this  consulate  into 


JOSEPH    RAWICZ GEN.    O.   O.   HOWARD.  49 

a  general  one,  never  requiring  any  special  pecuniary  compensation  or  privilege, 
as  I  wanted  only  the  title  indispensable  for  the  intercourse  with  the  local  authori- 
ties. Not  wishing  to  be  behind  all  other  local  consuls,  I  requested  long  ago  for 
this  title  the  Department  of  State  by  the  mediation  of  some  of  the  United  States 
ministers  passing  through  Warsaw  to  St.  Petersburg,  but  I  regret  to  say  their 
mediation,  as  well  as  their  representations  made  the  State  Department,  remained 
till  now  entirely  unconsidered. 

The  reason  why  the  other  European  powers  are  represented  here  by  the  consuls- 
general  is  that  Warsaw  was  once  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland. 

As  the  subject  of  this  country  I  can  not  decline  the  acceptance  of  the  Russian 
decorations,  and  therefore  I  repectfully  beg  you  to  pass  the  necessary  formalities 
through  the  Congress  relative  to  the  orders  already  received  by  me. 

******* 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Joseph  Rawicz,  United  States  ConmU 
Hon.  WiLT.iAM  Hunter, 

Second  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 


January  29,  1886. 

[Senate  Report  No.  68.] 

Mr.  Edmunds,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  follovring  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  having  had  under  considera- 
tion a  letter  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  under  date  of  January 
8,  1885  [1886],  to  the  committee,  transmitting  copy  of  a  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  under  date  of 
December  29,  1885,  and  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  by  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  United  States  Army,  under  date  of  16th 
November,  1885,  requesting  the  consent  of  Congress  to  General  How- 
ard receiving  from  the  French  Republic  a  decoration  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  and  the  brevet  appointment  and  honorary  rank  of  Chevalier, 
respectfully  report  that  they  have  had  the  matter  under  consideration. 

It  appears  from  the  letter  of  General  Howard  that  in  the  year  1884, 
he,  being  in  France,  attended  the  fall  maneuvers  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  d'Arraee  as  representing  the  United  States;  in  what  precise 
capacity,  however,  does  not  appear  from  the  papers;  and  that  this 
decoration  and  title  was  tendered  him  by  the  French  Government,  in 
appreciation  of  services  rendered  his  own  country. 

It  does  not  appear  from  the  letters  of  the  Secretaries  of  War  and 
State  that  they  recommend  that  such  an  act  of  Congress  be  passed ; 
but  whatever  may  be  their  views  upon  the  subject,  the  committee  is  of 
opinion  that  the  legislation  asked  for  ought  not  to  be  enacted.  It  has 
been  the  custom  hitherto,  and,  as  the  committee  thinks,  somewhat  too 
frequent  and  extended,  for  Congress  to  authorize  officers  of  the  United 
States  to  receive  gifts  and  decorations  from  foreign  Governments  for 
some  distinguished  and  peculiar  service  that  such  officer  may  have 
rendered  to  such  foreign  government,  its  citizens,  or  subjects;  but  the 
committee  is  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our 
republican  institutions  that  any  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
should  receive  decorations  or  titles  from  foreign  governments  as  tokens 
of  their  appreciation  of  the  services  of  such  officers  in  their  own  coun- 
try, which  is  supposed  to  be  capable  of  measuring  for  itself  and  suit- 
ably rewarding  the  services  of  its  own  citizens. 

The  papers  referred  to  are  hereto  appended. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 4 

"-1 


50  GEN.    O.   O.    HOWARD. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  8,  1885, 
Sir:  With  reference  to  section  3  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  January  31 ,  1881, 
entitled  "  An  act  authorizing  the  persons  therein  named  to  accept  certain  decora- 
tions and  presents  therein  named,  and  for  other  purposes,"  I  have  the  honor  to 
transmit  to  yo«  herewith  for  your  consideration  a  copy  of  a  letter  to  this  Depart- 
ment from  my  colleague,  the  Secretary  of  War,  asking  that  the  proper  steps  may 
be  taken  for  the  passage  of  an  act  of  Congress  permitting  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard, 
United  States  Army,  to  accept  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  which  has 
been  tendered  to  him  by  the  Government  of  France. 

I  have  this  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  F.  Bayabd. 

John  F.  Miller, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate, 


Headquarters  Department  of  the  Platte, 

Omaha,  Nebr,,  November  16,  1885. 
Sir:  By  date  of  November  18, 1884, 1  requested  the  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton,  United 
States  minister  to  France,  to  forward  through  your  Department  to  Congress  the 
tender  of  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

Afterwards  1  inclosed  him  the  brevet  and  badge  given  me  at  the  time  I  was  in 
Paris. 

It  will  require  an  act  of  Congress  for  me  to  accept  the  brevet  and  badge.  It,  the 
decoration,  was  tendered  to  me  by  the  French  Government  for  services  rendered 
to  my  own  country.  The  honorary  rank  was  that  of  "  Chevalier,"  and  I  regarded 
the  tender  as  conferring  upon  me  and  my  country,  which  I  represented  at  the  fall 
maneuvers  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  d'Armee  of  France,  special  honor. 

Will  you  kindly  forward  my  wishes  by  the  usual  method  of  carrying  out  the  law 
when  such  a  gift  is  tendered  to  a  citizen  of  the  United  States? 

Please  write  me  if  the  brevet  and  badge  have  been  received  at  the  State  Depart- 
ment, or  if  there  is  anything  further  for  me  to  do  in  the  premises. 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

O.  O.  Howard, 
Brigadier-General,  United  States  Army. 

Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 
(Through  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  War.) 


War  Department, 
Washington  City,  December  29,  1885. 

Sm:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of  the 
28d  ultimo,  containing  a  copy  of  a  communication  received  by  you  direct  from 
Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  United  States  Army,  requesting  that  the  proper  measures  be 
taken  by  your  Department  for  the  passage  of  an  act  of  Congress  permitting  him 
to  accept  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  France. 

In  accordance  with  the  suggestion  contained  in  your  letter,  General  Howard 
was  advised  that,  as  an  officer  of  the  Army,  he  should  address  a  coordinate  Depart- 
ment of  the  Government  through  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  I  have  now  the  honor 
to  transmit  herewith  General  Howard's  official  communication  to  you  through  this 
Department,  asking  that  the  proper  steps  be  taken  for  the  passage  of  the  act  of 
Congress  permitting  him  to  accept  the  decoration  in  question. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  C.  Endicott, 
Secretary  of  War, 

The  Hon.  Secretary  of  State. 


COMMANDER    JOHN    W.    PHILIP,  51 

February  18,  1886. 
[Senate  Report  No.  131.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  beg  leave  to  report  herewith 
Senate  bill  1568,  recommending  its  passage,  to  authorize  Commander 
John  W.  Philip,  United  States  Navy,  to  accept  a  silver  pitcher  ten- 
dered him  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 

A  reference  to  the  letters  and  documents  of  the  Secretaries  of  the 
State  and  Navy  Departments,  presented  herewith,  will  show  that,  on 
the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government,  Commander  Philip  was 
detailed,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1884,  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter 
built  for  that  government  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  that  Commander 
Philip  rendered  that  service  to  the  satisfaction  of  that  Government, 
which,  in  token  of  its  appreciation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  duty 
was  performed,  tendered  to  him  the  silver  pitcher  referred  to.  The 
committee  are  of  the  opinion  that,  under  the  circumstances,  the  con- 
sent of  Congress  may  very  properly  be  given  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
gift  by  Commander  Philip. 


Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  IS,  1886. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor,  at  the  instance  of  the  Colombian  minister  here,  and  with 
the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  ask  that  Congressional  action  may 
be  taken  to  enable  Commander  John  W.  Philip,  United  States  Navy,  to  accept  a 
silver  pitcher  from  the  Colombian  Government  in  recognition  of  his  service  in 
inspecting,  in  1884.  the  revenue  cutter  Boyaca  for  that  Government. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  F.  Bayard. 
The  Hon.  John  F.  Miller,  Etc., 

Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate. 


Navy  Department, 
Washington,  January  30,  1886. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  28th 
instant,  and  beg  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  of  the  Department's  order,  dated 
December  10,  1883,  to  Commander  John  W,  Philip,  United  States  Navy,  directing 
him  to  proceed  to  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  inspect  the  revenue  cutter  Boyaca,  built 
by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  of  that  city,  for  the  Colombian  Government, 
together  with  copies  of  all  other  papers  bearing  upon  the  subject  on  file  in  this 
Department, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  C.  Whitney, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Acting  Chairman  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 


Department  of  State, 
Washington,  November  5,  1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  bring  to  your  consideration  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  dis- 
patch from  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Bogota,  of  September  30  last, 
preferring  the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government  that  a  naval  officer  of  the 


62  COMMANDER   JOHN    W.   PHILIP. 

United  States  be  detailed  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter  now  being  built  at  Wilming- 
ton, Del.,  for  Colombia,  before  its  final  acceptance  by  the  Government.  I  trans- 
mit at  the  same  time  a  paper  containing  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the 
vessel  in  question,  and  will  thank  you  to  return  the  same  for  our  files  when  you 
will  have  made  such  use  of  the  paper  as  your  Department  thinks  advisable. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  Hunter, 

Acting  Secretary, 
Hon.  William  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


No.  112.]  United  States  Legation, 

BcH/ota,  September  :i(),  1SS,1. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  and  translation  of  a  note  which  I  have 
received  from  the  Colombian  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  dated  the  2.')th  instant, 
and  to  earnestly  express  the  hope  that  the  request  therein  made  may  l)e  granted 
by  the  Navy  Department.  I  inclose  also  the  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial  referred  to 
in  the  minister's  note,  and  likewise  a  copy  of  *my  note  to  him,  dated  tbe  26th 
instant. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  L.  ScBuaos. 
Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  112.— Translation.] 

Bogota,  September  S5,  1883. 

Sir:  The  executive  power  has  arranged,  through  the  home  department,  that  the 
coasting  vessel,  contracted  for  in  the  name  of  the  Colombian  Government,  by 
Seiior  Miquel  Camacho  Roldan,  of  New  York,  with  Messrs.  Pusey,  Jones  &  Co., 
of  Wilmington,  Del.,  be  received  under  the  inspection  and  report  of  a  naval  officer 
of  the  United  States,  in  order  that  by  this  means  there  may  be  nothing  wanting  in 
the  fulfillment  of  the  contract,  and  that  the  vessel  should  satisfy  the  needs  of  the 
public  service  for  which  it  is  destined. 

To  this  end  the  executive  power  hopes  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  will  kindly  lend  the  aid  of  one  of  its  naval  officers  for  the  purpose  indicated, 
and,  in  order  to  obtain  this  courtesy,  I  direct  this  note  to  your  excellency,  accom- 
panied by  the  number  of  the  Diario  Oficial  in  which  the  contract  is  published. 

1  beg  that  your  excellency  be  pleased  to  communicate  the  contents  of  this  note 
to  the  Department  of  State  at  Washington,  for  the  information  and  consideration 
of  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  also,  should 
this  request  be  granted,  to  have  communicated  at  the  same  time  to  Seiior  Miquel 
Camacho  Roldan,  in  New  York,  the  name  of  the  naval  officer  that  may  be  desig- 
nated, and  the  date  on  which  the  examination  of  the  vessel  can  take  place. 

In  the  name  of  the  national  executive,  I  present  for  transmission  to  your  excel- 
lency's Government  his  expressions  of  the  most  sincere  thanks,  and  for  yourself 
the  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 
I  remain,  your  excellency's  very  attentive  servant, 


To  his  excellency  William  L.  Scruggs, 

Minister  Resident  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


Antonio  Roldan. 


[Inclosure  3  in  No.  112.] 

United  States  Legation, 

Bogota,  September  26,  1883. 

Mr.  Secretary:  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  excellency's  polite  note  of 

yesterday  (and  also  the  number  of  the  Diario  Oficial  to  which  it  refers)  relative 

to  the  revenue  cutter  now  being  built  in  the  United  States  for  and  on  account  of 

the  Colombian  Government.    It  shall  be  my  care  to  transmit  the  same  to  my  GK>y- 


COMMANDER   JOHN    W.   PHILIP.  53 

ernment  by  the  mail  of  the  30th  instant,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  request  therein 
so  courteously  made  will  be  most  cheerfully  granted  by  the  President. 

With  renewed  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration,  I  have  the 
honor  to  remain  your  excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

William  L.  ScRuaas. 
To  his  excellency  Dr.  Antonio  Roldan, 

Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 


Navy  Department, 
Washington,  November  I4,  18SS, 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  5th  instant, 
bringing  to  my  attention  the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government  that  an  officer 
of  the  Navy  be  detailed  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter  being  built  at  Wilmington,  Del., 
for  Colombia,  and  inclosing  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  from  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  at  Bogota,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial  of  Bogota,  in  which 
the  contract  is  published. 

In  reply  I  have  pleasure  in  informing  you  that  this  Department  will  detail  an 
officer  to  inspect  the  steamer  being  built  for  the  Co'ombian  Grovernment  by  the 
Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  with  instructions  to  carefully  examine  and  report 
whether  or  not  the  specifications  of  the  contract  have  been  complied  with. 

The  officer  selected  will  be  ordered  to  proceed  with  the  inspection  when  this 
Department  is  informed  that  the  vessel  is  ready.  The  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial 
will  be  returned  to  the  Department  of  State  as  soon  as  the  report  shall  have  been 
completed. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant,  Ed.  T.  Nichols, 

Acting  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Department  op  State, 
Washington,  November  W,  1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  in  connection  with  my  letter  to  you 
of  the  16th  instant,  the  inclosed  copy  of  one  addressed  to  me  by  Mr.  Roldan,  of  the 
17th  instant,  relative  to  the  revenue  cutter  now  building  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  for 
the  CDlombian  Government,  and  whose  inspection  by  a  naval  officer  of  the  United 
States  is  desired  l)y  that  Republic. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 
Hon.  Wm.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

[Inclosure.] 

New  York,  November  17, 1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  esteemed  favor  of  the 
16th  instant,  relative  to  the  inspection  of  the  revenue  cutter  now  building  for 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  by  an  officer  of  the  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  reply  thereto  beg  to  say  that  I  am  at  present  unable  to 
name  the  precise  date  on  which  she  will  be  in  readiness,  but  will  at  once  commu- 
nicate with  the  builders,  and  upon  receipt  of  their  reply  will  advise  your  Depart- 
ment of  the  date  on  which  she  will  be  completed  and  ready  for  inspection. 
I  am,  sir,  yours,  very  respectfully, 

M.  Camacho  Roldan. 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 


D. 


Department  op  State, 

Washington,  January  7,  I884. 
Sir:  I  have  now  the  honor  to  apprise  yon,  in  connection  with  the  Department's 
communication  to  you  of  November  16  last,  of  the  receipt  of  a  letter  of  the  4th 
instant  (a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  inclosed)  from  Mr.  M.  Camacho  Roldan, 


54  COMMANDER   JOHN    W.   PHILIP. 

stating  that  the  revenue  steamer  built  at  the  yard  of  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Com 
pany.  Wilmincjton,  Del.,  for  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  is  now  ready  for  and 
awaiting  inspection,  as  desired  by  that  Grovernment,  by  an  oflScer  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  before  the  formal  acceptance  of  the  steamer  by  Colombia. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

John  Davis, 
Acting  Secretary. 
Hon.  WiLUAH  E.  Chandleb, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


New  York,  January  4,  lSff4. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  refer  to  your  esteemed  favor  of  November  17th  ultimo,  also  to  my 
reply  thereto  of  the  following  day's  date,  and  to  advise  you  that  the  revenue 
steamer  built  at  the  yard  of  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  Wilmington,  Del.,  for 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  is  now  ready  for  and  awaiting 
inspection  by  an  oflBcer  of  the  United  States  Navy  detailed  for  that  purpose  by 
request  of  the  said  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia  made  through 
your  Department. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  Camacho  Roldan, 
Per  J.  N.  Van  Sickel. 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinqhdysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Navy  Department, 
Washington,  D.  C,  January  10, 1884. 

Sir:  Application  having  been  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of 
Colombia  that  a  steam  revenue  cutter  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  ( 'ompany,  of 
Wilmington,  Del.,  may  be  inspected  by  a  United  States  naval  officer  lor  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  whether  the  specifications  and  the  contract  between  the 
company  and  the  Government  have  been  carried  out,  and  whether  tlie  vessel  is 
likely  to  fulfill  the  conditions  required  of  her  as  a  revenue  cutter,  you  have  been 
selected  for  that  duty. 

The  Department  having  been  notified  that  the  steamer  has  been  completed  and 
is  now  awaiting  inspection  by  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Navy,  you  will  pro- 
ceed without  delay  to  New  York  and  put  yourself  in  communication  with  Seiior 
M.  Camacho  Roldan.  87  Wall  street  (P.  O.  box  1G09),  and  arrange  with  him  the 
time  for  making  the  necessary  steam  trials  and  examinations. 

From  New  York  you  will  proceed  to  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  having  acquainted 
the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company  with  the  tenor  of  your  instructions,  and  having 
received  authority  from  them,  make  careful  examinations  of  the  steam  vessel 
bnilt  under  contract  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  a 
copy  of  which  is  contained  in  the  Diario  Oficial,  published  in  Bogota  May  19, 1883, 
herewith  inclosed. 

After  having  thoroughly  examined  the  above-mentioned  steamer,  under  way  and 
at  the  dock,  you  will  report  to  this  Department  whether  or  not  the  steamer  fulfills 
the  terms  of  the  specifications  and  contract,  and  whether  or  not  the  vessel  is  likely 
to  prove  efficient  in  the  service  for  which  she  is  intended. 

Should  you  find  that  the  terms  of  the  contract  have  not  been  carried  out,  you 
will  so  inform  the  Department,  stating  wherein  the  specifications  have  not  been 
complied  with. 

Be  pleased  to  return  to  the  Department  the  inclosed  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial 
when  you  shall  have  finished  the  examination  of  the  steamer. 

Upon  the  completion  of  this  duty  return  to  your  home  and  await  orders. 

This  employment  on  shore  duty  is  required  by  the  public  interests,  and  such 
service  will  continue  until  February  10,  1884,  unless  it  is  otherwise  ordered. 
Very  respectfully, 

W.  E.  Chandler. 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 

Commander  J.  W.  Philip,  U.  S.  N., 

Washington,  D.  C, 


COMMANDER   JOHN    W.   PHILIP CAPT.   D.   W.   MULLAN.  55 

Navy  Department, 
WasJiington,  Januai'y  17,  1884, 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith,  in  connection  with  yonr  letter  of  the 
7th  instant,  notifying  this  Department  "that  the  revenue  steamer  built  at  the 
yard  of  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  Wilmington,  Del.,  for  the  United  States  of 
Colombia,  is  now  ready  for  and  awaiting  inspection,"  a  copy  of  an  order  to  Com- 
mander J.  W.  Philip,  U.  S.  N.,  and  a  copy  of  his  report  upon  the  inspection  of 
the  steamer  Boi/aca,  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  Wilmington,  Del., 
for  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia.  I  also  inclose,  as  requested 
in  your  letter  of  the  r)th  November  last,  the  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial,  published 
in  Bogota,  forwarded  therewith. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  E.  Chandler, 
.,    Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghoysen, 

Secretary  of  State. 


New  York,  January  16, 188^. 

Sir:  In  obedience  to  your  order  of  January  10  I  have  carefully  examined  the 
steamer  Boyaca,  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  of  Wilmington,  Del. ,  for  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  and  respectfully  submit  the  following 
report: 

The  steamer  was  in  the  water,  coaled  and  provisioned,  and  about  ready  for  her 
sea  voyage,  consequently  I  could  not  make  that  examination  of  her  under-water 
portion — viz,  stem,  sternpost,  rudderpost,  rudder,  sheathing, etc.— that  the  speci- 
fications called  for,  but  all  parts  of  the  vessel  attainable  were  carefully  examined 
and  measured  and  found  to  be  in  strict  accordance  with  the  specifications  and  very 
neatly  and  well  constructed. 

Owing  to  ice  in  river  and  creek,  it  was  impracticable  to  get  the  vessel  under  way, 
Sefior  Rolden  agreeing  with  me  that  it  would  be  best  to  dispense  with  that  part  of 
the  examination. 

A  "dock  trial"  was  had,  when  the  engines  ran  very  smoothly,  noiselessly,  and 
with  but  little  vibration,  thus  showing  evidences  of  careful  construction  from  good 
material  with  promises  of  giving  entire  satisfaction.  In  examining  and  measuring 
about  the  vessel,  if  discrepancies  exist  they  are  in  favor  of  the  steamer — for  instance, 
both  anchors  and  chains  are  larger  and  heavier  than  the  specifications  call  for, 
and  the  boats  are  lifeboats  instead  of  the  ordinary  yard-built  cutters. 

On  questioning  the  captain  and  chief  engineer,  they  told  me  that,  so  far  as  they 
were  able  to  judge,  the  best  of  material  had  been  used  in  the  construction  of 
the  hull  and  engines  and  that  the  company  (Pusey  &  Jones)  had  been  most  liberal 
in  the  supply  of  stores  and  supplies,  both  in  regard  to  quantity  and  quality. 

After  the  above  examinations  I  am  able  to  report  that  the  steamer  Boyaca  fulfills 
the  terms  of  the  specifications  and  contract,  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  she  will 
prove  most  efficient  in  the  service  for  which  she  is  intended. 

I  return  herewith  the  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial. 

Hoping  my  report  will  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  Department,  I  remain,  sir, 
very  respectfully, 

Jno.  W.  Philip, 
Commander,  United  States  Navy, 

Hon.  W.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


March  3,  1886. 

[Senate  Report  No.  188.] 

Mr.  Brown,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

In  the  matter  of  the  medal  tendered  by  the  Chilean  Government  to 
Capt.  D.  W.  Mullan,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  your  committee  sub- 
mit the  following  report: 

During  the  late  war  between  the  Governments  of  Chile  and  Peru 


56  OAPT.   D.   W.   MULLAN LIEUT.   D.   PBATT   MANNIX. 

Captain  Miillan,  then  a  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  Navy  off  the 
coast  of  Chile,  was  sent  by  Commander  J.  A.  Howell,  of  the  Navy, 
then  in  command  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Adams,  to  visit  the  headquarters  of 
the  Chilean  army  and  request  that  he  be  permitted  to  accompany  the 
staff  of  the  Armj'  during  the  operations  near  Lima.  The  request  was 
gi'anted  by  the  Chilean  Government,  and  Lieutenant  MuUan  observed 
the  operations  of  the  Chilean  army  during  two  or  three  important 
battles. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1885,  the  minister  of  war  of  the  Chilean 
Government  addressed  a  letter  to  W.  R.  Roberts,  then  representing 
the  United  States  Government  near  the  Government  of  Chile,  convey- 
ing to  him  a  medal  for  Captain  Mullan,  which  the  minister  of  war 
says  is  intended  in  the  character  of  simply  a  memento,  and  not  as  a 
military  recompense,  etc. 

From  the  whole  case  it  appears  that  Captain  Mullan  was  detailed 
by  authority  of  our  own  Government  to  visit  and  remain  for  the  time 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  Chilean  army  to  observe  its  military  opera- 
tions. In  that  capacity  he  had  no  right  to  render  any  service  to  the 
Chilean  Government  or  to  take  any  part  whatever  in  the  military 
operations  then  being  conducted.  He  was  simply  there,  by  the  courtesy 
of  that  Government,  to  observe  its  military  operations.  It  is  not  pre- 
tended that  he  rendered  any  service  to  the  Chilean  Government  or 
that  he  did  anything  to  the  detriment  of  the  Peruvian  Government, 
and  it  seems  that  the  medal  is  intended  simply  as  a  memento  of  what 
he  saw  at  the  battles  which  were  fought  while  he  was  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Chilean  army.. 

While  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  Congress  should 
authorize  the  acceptance  by  American  officers  of  medals  or  decora- 
tions or  other  presents,  where  they  were  in  condition  properly  to  ren- 
der and  did  render  important  services  to  a  foreign  government,  or 
perform  acts  of  gallantry  or  humanity  which  in  the  opinion  of  the 
foreign  government  entitled  them  to  marked  consideration,  your  com- 
mittee think  that  this  practice  is  carried  too  far,  and  that  Congress 
should  not  as  a  matter  of  course,  without  regard  to  the  merits  of  the 
case,  pass  an  act  authorizing  every  officer  of  the  United  States  to 
whom  a  decoration  or  medal  may  be  tendered  by  a  foreign  government 
to  accept. 

In  this  case  your  committee  do  not  see  from  an  examination  of  the 
papers  that  any  important  service  was  rendered  to  the  Chilean 
Government  or  any  act  of  humanity  performed  which  would  entitle 
Captain  Mullan  to  any  special  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the 
Government  of  Chile.  They  are  therefore  of  the  opinion  that  no  act 
of  Congress  should  be  passed  authorizing  the  acceptance  of  the  medal 
above  referred  to. 


March  3,  1886. 

[Senate  Report  No.  187.| 

-  Mr.  Brown,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

This  is  an  application  made  to  the  State  Department  by  Mr.  E.  J. 
Smithers,  charg^  d'affaires  ad  interim  at  Perkin,  informing  the  State 
Department  that  Li  Hung  Chang,  viceroy  of  China,  has  informed  him 
that  His  Imperial  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  has  conferred  upon 


LIEUT.   D.   PEATT   MANNIX AUGUSTUS    J.   CASSARD.  57 

Lieut.  D.  Pratt  Mannix,  of  tlie  United  States  Marine  Corps,  the  deco- 
ration of  the  third  class  of  the  Double  Dragon,  on  account  of  distin- 
guished services  rendered  by  him  to  China  as  torpedo  instructor.  The 
viceroy  states  that  he  displayed  the  utmost  ability,  and  that  all  the 
soldiers  under  his  tuition  have  become  proficient,  which  has  been  a 
service  of  great  satisfaction  to  the  viceroy. 

As  this  was  a  service  rendered  the  Emperor  of  China  by  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  which  was  eminently  satisfactory  to  His  Majesty, 
and  as  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  joins  in  the  recom- 
mendation that  he  be  permitted  to  accept  the  decoration  tendered  by 
the  Emperor,  your  committee  report  the  accompanying  joint  resolu- 
tion and  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


March  17,  1886. 

[Senate  Report  No.  237.] 

Mr.  Frye,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted  the 
following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
application  of  Augustus  J.  Cassard  to  be  permitted  to  accept  a  gold 
medal  conferred  on  him  by  the  Government  of  France,  submit  the 
following  report: 

An  examination  of  the  facts  in  this  case,  as  appears  from  the  com- 
munications of  the  Secretary  of  State,  shows  that  for  eight  months 
prior  to  Februarj^  1881,  Mr.  Cassard,  our  consul  at  Tampico,  rendered 
valuable  services  to  the  French  Government  by  taking  charge  of  its 
consular  archives  and  interests,  there  being  during  that  period  no 
French  consul  in  that  district.  For  this  service  Mr.  Cassard  could 
receive  no  compensation,  and  therefore  the  French  Government  desired 
to  present  a  medal  as  a  mark  of  its  appreciation  therefor.  A  gold 
medal  has  been  prepared  by  the  French  Government  and  forwarded 
through  the  proper  diplomatic  channels,  but  as  it  can  not  be  delivered 
to  or  accepted  by  Mr.  Cassard  without  the  permission  of  Congress, 
your  committee  present  the  joint  resolution  accompanying  this  report 
and  recommend  its  passage. 


June  5,  1886. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1280.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the  mes- 
sage of  the  President  relating  to  the  acceptance  and  inauguration  of 
the  colossal  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,  having  consid- 
ered the  same,  beg  leave  to  report  herewith  an  amendment  intended  to 
be  proposed  to  the  bill  making  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  expenses 
of  the  Government,  providing  for  an  appropriation  of  $100,100,  to  be 
used  as  recommended  in  the  message  of  the  President  cited,  which 
they  ask  may  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Appropriations,  with 
accompanying  documents. 


58  STATUE    OF   LIBERTY    ENLIGHTENING    THE    WORLD. 

[Message  from  tbe  President  of  the  United  States,  relating  to  the  acceptance  and  inauguration 
of  the  colossal  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World.] 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: 

By  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress  approved  March  3, 1877,  the  ^'resident,  was 
authorized  and  directed  to  accept  the  colossal  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the 
World  when  presented  by  the  citizens  of  the  French  Republic,  and  to  designate 
and  set  apart  for  the  erection  thereof  a  suitable  site  upon  either  Governors  or 
Bedloes  Island,  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  and  upon  the  completion  thereof  to 
cause  the  statue  "  to  be  inaugurated  with  such  ceremonies  as  will  serve  to  testify 
the  gratitude  of  our  people  for  this  expressive  and  felicitous  memorial  of  the 
sympathy  of  the  citizens  of  our  sister  Republic." 

The  President  was  further  thereby  "  authorized  to  cause  suitable  regulations  to 
be  made  for  its  future  maintenance  as  a  beacon,  and  for  the  permanent  care  and 
preservation  thereof  as  a  monument  of  art  and  the  continued  good  will  of  the 
great  nation  which  aided  us  in  our  struggle  for  freedom." 

Under  the  authority  of  this  resolution,  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1884,  the  minister 
of  the  United  States  to  the  French  Republic,  by  direction  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  accepted  the  statue  and  received  a  deed  of  presentation  from  the 
Franco- American  Union,  which  is  now  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State. 

I  now  transmit  to  Congress  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State  from  Joseph  W. 
Drexel,  esq.,  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  "'the  American  committee 
on  the  pedestal  of  the  great  statue  of  *  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,' "  dated  the 
27th  of  April,  1886,  suggesting  the  propriety'of  the  further  execution  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  joint  resolution  referred  to,  by  prescribing  the  ceremonies  of  inaugu- 
ration to  be  observed  upon  the  complete  erection  of  the  statue  upon  its  site  on 
Bedloes  Island,  in  the  harbor  of  New  York. 

Thursday,  the  3d  of  September,  being  the  anniversary  of  the  signing  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  at  Paris  by  which  the  Independence  of  these  United  States  was 
recognized  and  secured,  has  been  suggested  by  this  committee,  under  whose 
auspices  and  agency  the  pedestal  for  the  statue  has  been  constructed,  as  an  appro- 
priate day  for  the  ceremonies  of  inauguration. 

The  international  character  which  has  been  impressed  upon  this  work  by  the 
joint  resolution  of  1877  makes  it  incumbent  upon  Congress  to  provide  means  to 
carry  their  resolution  into  effect.  Therefore  I  recommend  the  appropriation  of 
such  sum  of  money  as  in  the  .iudgment  of  Congress  shall  be  deemed  adequate  and 
proper  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  inauguration  of  this  statue. 

I  have  been  informed  by  the  committee  that  certain  expenses  have  been  incurred 
in  the  care  and  custody  of  the  statue  since  it  was  deposited  on  Bedloes  Island,  and 
the  phraseology  of  the  joint  resolution  providing  for  "the  permanent  care  and 
preservation  thereof  as  a  monument  of  art "  would  seem  to  include  the  payment 
by  the  United  States  of  the  expense  so  incurred  since  the  reception  of  the  statue 
in  this  country. 

The  action  of  the  French  Government  and  people  in  relation  to  the  presentation 
of  this  statue  to  the  United  States  will,  1  hope,  meet  with  hearty  and  responsive 
action  upon  the  part  of  Congress,  in  which  the  Executive  will  be  most  happy  to 
cooperate. 

Gboyeb  Cleveland. 

Executive  Mansion,  May  11, 18S6. 


To  the  President: 

I  transmit  to  you  herewith  a  letter  Sated  April  27,  1886,  addressed  to  this 
Department  by  Joseph  W.  Drexel,  esq.,  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of 
"  the  American  committee  on  the  pedestal  of  the  great  statue  of  *  Liberty  Enlight- 
ening the  World.'"  Mr.  Drexel's  letter,  after  referring  to  the  joint  resolution  of 
Congress  approved  March  3, 1877.  in  accordance  with  which  the  statue  was  accepted 
by  this  Government,  suggests  the  propriety  of  taking  measures  for  its  proper 
inauguration  upon  its  completion,  and  asks  for  the  payment  of  certain  expenses 
incurred  in  taking  care  of  the  statue. 

I  recommend  that  the  subject  be  submitted  to  Congress  for  its  consideration. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

T.  F.  Bayard. 

Department  of  State, 

Wa^ington^  May  7, 1886, 


STATUE    OF    LIBEETY    ENLIQHTENIT^Q    THE    WORLD.  59 

New  York,  April  S7, 1886. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  instructed  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  American  com- 
mittee on  the  pedestal  of  the  great  statue  of  "  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World" 
to  lay  before  you  an  account  of  the  progress  and  present  condition  of  their  enter- 
prise, together  with  a  suggestion  of  the  duties  devolving  upon  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  under  the  existing  circumstances. 

In  order,  however,  that  you  may  clearly  understand  the  subject,  it  may  be  well 
to  recall  its  history. 

You  will  doubtless  remember  that  during  the  year  1875,  when  the  people  of  the 
United  States  were  making  preparations  for  the  celebration,  in  1876,  of  the  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  their  national  independence,  the  people  of  the  sister  Repub- 
lic of  France  desired  to  give  some  token  of  their  sympathy  in  the  occasion.  As 
their  ancestors  had  been  in  alliance  with  our  fathers  in  the  great  Revolutionary 
struggle  which  ended  in  the  establishment  of  onr  independence,  it  was  natural 
and  appropriate  that  they  should  desire  to  take  part  in  its  centennial  commem- 
oration. A  committee  was  accordingly  formed,  called  the  "Union  Franco- 
Americaine  de  France, "  to  devise  the  modes  in  which  they  could  best  give  expres- 
sion to  their  feelings.  Among  the  members  of  this  committee  were  many  of  the 
most  eminent  citizens  of  France,  including  Ossar  de  Lafayette,  the  Marquis  de 
Noailles,  the  Marquis  de  Rochambeau,  Count  de  Tocquevil^le,  Cornelius  De  Witt, 
Paul  de  Remusat,  Edward  Laboulaye,  and  Henri  Martin;  some  of  them  descend- 
ants of  the  heroes  who  helped  us  in  "the  times  that  tried  mens  souls,"  and  others 
distinguished  for  their  lifelong  devotion  to  republican  principles.  It  was  decided 
by  the  Union  to  present  to  the  people  of  this  country  a  colossal  statue  of  "  Liberty 
Enlightening  the  World,"  of  which  the  models  had  just  been  made  by  an  eminent 
French  artist,  M.  Felix  Bartholdi.  In  their  address  to  the  people  of  France, 
soliciting  funds  for  the  construction  of  this  statue,  the  committee  said: 

"Our  design  is  to  raise  a  monument,  in  remembrance  of  a  glorious  anniver- 
sary, which  shall  be  unequaled  in  its  kind.  We  propose  the  erection  of  it  in  the 
harbor  of  the  metropolitan  city  of  New  York,  on  an  island  belonging  to  the  United 
States  of  the  American  Union,  and  in  face  of  Long  Island,  where  some  of  the  most 
memorable  battles  of  independence  were  fought.  This  gigantic  statue,  whose 
frame  on  the  horizon  will  be  the  good  cities  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Jersey 
City,  will  rise  from  the  bosom  of  the  waves,  and  on  the  threshold  of  a  continent 
so  full  of  new  life,  where  vessels  from  all  parts  of  the  globe  are  constantly  pass- 
ing, represent  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  as  the  enlightener  of  the  world." 

The  money  for  this  purpose  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscription  from  all  classes 
of  the  people  of  France. 

The  citizens  of  New  York,  whose  harbor  had  been  designated  as  the  proper  site 
for  this  magnificent  monument,  promptly  responded  to  the  movement  abroad,  and 
at  a  meeting  held  in  1877  appointed  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts 
was  chosen  chairman,  Mr.  H.  F.  Sijaulding  treasurer,  and  Mr.  Richard  Butler  sec- 
retary, to  receive  the  noble  gift,  to  provide  a  proper  pedestal  for  the  statue,  and  to 
secure  from  the  Congress  of  the  nation  whatever  legislation  might  be  necessary 
and  appropriate.  In  pursuance  of  a  special  message  of  President  Grant,  the 
Congress,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1877,  passed  unanimously  the  following  joint 
resolution: 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  authorizing  the  President  to  designate  and  set  apart  a  site  for  the  colos- 
sal statue  of  "Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  and  to  provide  for  the  permanent  mainte- 
nance and  preservation  thereof. 

Whereas  the  President  has  communicated  to  Congress  the  information  that 
citizens  of  the  French  Republic  propose  to  commemorate  the  one  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  our  independence  by  erecting  at  their  own  cost  a  colossal  bronze  statue 
of  "Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  upon  a  pedestal  of  suitable  proportions,  to 
be  built  by  private  subscription  upon  one  of  the  islands  belonging  to  the  United 
States  in  the  harbor  of  New  York:  and 

Whereas  it  is  proper  to  provide  for  the  care  and  preservation  of  this  grand  mon- 
ument of  art  and  of  the  abiding  friendship  of  our  ancient  ally:  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rejjresentatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  accept  the  colossal  statue  of  "Liberty 
Enlightening  the  World,"  when  presented  by  citizens  of  the  French  Republic, 
and  to  designate  and  set  apart  for  the  erection  therefor  a  suitable  site  upon  either 
Governors  or  Bedloes  Island,  in  the  harbor  of  New  York:  and  upon  the  completion 
thereof  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  inaugurated  with  such  ceremonies  as  will  serve 
to  testify  the  gratitude  of  our  people  for  this  expressive  and  felicitous  memorial 
of  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens  of  our  sister  Republic;  and  he  is  hereby  author- 
ized to  cause  suitable  regulations  to  be  made  for  its  future  maintenance  as  a 
beacon,  and  for  the  permanent  care  and  preservation  thereof  as  a  monument  of 


60  STATUE    OF    LIBERTY    ENLIGHTENING    THE    WORLD. 

art  and  of  the  continued  good  will  of  the  great  nation  which  aided  us  in  onr 
straggle  for  freedom." 

In  exercise  of  the  power  thus  intrusted  to  him.  President  Hayes  requested  Gen. 
William  T.  Sherman  to  determine  which  of  the  two  places  mentioned  in  the  reso- 
lution was  best  adapted  to  the  purpose  in  view.  General  Sherman  chose  the  island 
known  as  Bedloes  Island,  which  was  no  longer  needed  for  military  uses,  as  a  posi- 
tion admirably  fitted  for  the  statue,  regarded  either  as  an  ornament  or  a  beacon. 
That  island  was  thereupon  transferred  by  the  War  Department  to  the  temporary 
occupation  of  the  American  comnnttee,  which  proceeded  immediately  to  divest  it 
of  the  few  useless  buildings  upon  it  and  to  prepare  the  ground  for  the  foundation 
of  the  pedestal.  Gen.  Charles  P.  Stone,  a  military  engineer  of  the  highest  quali- 
fications and  great  experience,  was  chosen  by  tlie  committee,  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Generals  Grant.  Sherman,  and  others,  as  their  responsible  and  active  agent 
in  the  pro.secution  of  the  work  of  erecting  the  pedestal,  which  was  found  to  be  one 
of  unexampled  magnitude  and  difficulty.  As  the  funds  retjuired  were  to  be  raised, 
according  to  the  joint  resolution,  by  voluntary  subscription,  the  committee 
addressed  their  appeals  to  all  parts  of  the  Republic,  and  in  the  end  succeeded  in 
getting  the  amount  of  money  which  was  necessary — over  $311,000.  The  expendi- 
tures were  increased  considerably  beyond  the  original  estimates  of  the  committee 
by  the  slowness  with  which  the  subscriptions  came  in,  which  necessitated  prolonga- 
tions and  delays  of  labor,  and  by  the  unexpected  outlays  incurred  in  the  reception 
and  unloading  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  great  statue  was  borne  across  the  seas. 

The  statue  was  completed  in  1884.  and  formally  received  by  the  United  States 
minister,  Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton,  in  Paris,  under  the  instructions  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, and  it  was  dispatched  to  the  United  States  in  vessels  of  the  French  Repub- 
lic, which  has  always  manifested  the  profoundest  interest  in  the  subject.  The 
arrival  of  these  vessels  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  in  the  month  of  June,  1885, 
was  made  the  occasion  of  a  brilliant  aquatic  display  and  civic  festivities  that 
were  alike  honorable  to  the  givers  and  receivers  of  the  munificent  present,  which 
has  been  well  called  a  new  wonder  of  the  world. 

The  expenses  of  this  reception  were  borne  by  the  committee,  aided  by  the  munic- 
ipal government  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  executive  committee  are  happy  to  report  that  this  gigantic  pedestal  has  been 
finished  according  to  the  designs  of  the  distinguished  architect,  Mr.  Richard  M. 
Hunt,  and  that  the  only  work  remaining  to  be  done  is  to  raise  the  statue  itself  to 
its  proper  position.  This  work  they  hope  to  accomplish  in  the  course  of  the  com- 
ing summer,  when  the  entire  monument  will  be  handed  over  to  the  possession  and 
disposal  of  the  Federal  Government. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  joint  resolution  of  1877,  cited  above,  that  the  President  of 
the  United  States  is  authorized  "to  cause  the  said  statue  to  be  inaugurated  with 
such  ceremonies  as  will  serve  to  testify  the  gratitude  of  our  jteople  for  this  express- 
ive and  felicitous  memorial  of  the  sympathy  of  the  citizens  of  our  sister  Republic;" 
and  the  executive  committee  would  therefore  beg  leave  to  suggest  to  the  President, 
through  you,  his  first  minister,  that  the  said  ceremonies  of  inauguration  might  be 
observed  with  signal  propriety  on  the  3d  of  Sep' ember  next,  the  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris,  which  consummated  the 
glorious  work  begun  in  1776.  It  is  understood  that  at  that  time  the  French  Gov- 
ernment will  be  willing  to  participate  in  the  event  by  a  suitable  representative 
delegation.  As  the  occasion  will  require  the  expenditure  of  some  money,  I  need 
hardly  remind  you  that  the  appropriation  of  it  must  be  made  by  the  Congress 
now  in  session. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

Jos.  W.  Drexel, 
Chairman  Executive  Committee. 

Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard, 

Secretary  of  State  of  tJie  United  States. 

Department  op  State, 
Washington,  May  25,  1886. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

CJutirman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate: 
Sir:  In  response  to  the  inquiry  contained  in  your  communication  of  the  20th 
instant,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  herewith  a  copy  of  a  letter  to  this 
Department  from  the  Secretary  of  War  furnishing  the  information  desired  by  your 
committee  in  relation  to  the  probable  expense  of  the  inauguration  of  the  statue  of 
Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,  and  to  the  cost  of  the  completion  of  that  work. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Ja.s.  D.  Porter, 
Acting  Secretary, 


STATUE    OF    LIBERTY    ENLIGHTENING    THE    WORLD.  61 

inaugukation  of  baetholdi  statue. 

War  Department, 

Washington  City,  May  23,  1886. 
Sir:  In  accordance  with  the  suggestions  contained  in  the  inclosed  letter  of  the 
22d  instant,  from  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  for  your 
information  copies  of  communications  dated  the  19th  and  2 1st  instant,  respectively, 
from  Gen.  {>harles  P.  Stone,  the  engineer  in  charge  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  in 
relation  to  the  probable  expense  of  the  inauguration  ceremonies  of  that  statue 
and  to  the  cost  of  completion  of  the  work. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  V.  Benet, 
Brigadier-General,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  and  Acting  Secretary  of  War^ 

The  Secretary  of  State. 


Office  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  United  States  Army, 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  S2,  1886. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  copies  of  communications  received 
this  day  in  relation  to  the  probable  expenses  of  the  inauguration  ceremonies  of  the 
Bartholdi  Statue  and  of  the  cost  of  completion  of  the  works. 

I  beg  leave  to  suggest  that  these  papers  be  referred  to  the  State  Department  for 
transmission  to  Congress. 

These  papers  contain  the  most  reliable  information  which  this  office  is  capable 
of  furnishing  at  the  present  time. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

John  Newton,  Chief  of  Engineers. 
Hon.  Wm.  C.  Endicott, 

Secretary  of  War. 


[Statue  of  Liberty,  office  of  engineer  in  chief,  No.  1  Broadway,  room  140.] 

New  York,  May  21, 1886. 

Dear  General:  I  inclose  herewith  the  estimate,  which  I  have  made  with  as 
much  care  as  possible,  for  the  cost  of  the  proper  installation  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty. 

Generals  Duane  and  Abbot  very  kindly  accompanied  me  to  Bedloes  Island,  on 
the  19th  instant,  in  compliance  with  your  suggestion. 

They  agreed  with  me  that  the  present  wharf  is  utterly  worn  out  and  unsafe,  and 
that  it  would  be  best  to  replace  it  by  one  of  stone  and  beton.  A  wooden  wharf 
would  cost  $10,000  and  would  be  only  temporary,  subject  to  the  attack  of  worms 
and  weather. 

Genera. s  Duane  and  Abbot  both  agreed  with  me  that  the  proposed  system  of 
electric  light  illuminating  the  statue  and  throwing  a  beam  upward  from  the  flame 
of  the  torch  would  be  preferable  to  any  other,  and  General  Duane  kindly  requested 
his  assistant,  Lieutenant  Millis,  Corps  of  Engineers,  who  has  had  much  personal 
experience  in  the  arrangement  of  the  electric  light  at  Hell  Gate,  to  confer  with 
me  about  the  details  of  the  proper  machinery,  taking  advantage  of  the  results  of 
experiments  at  the  above-named  place.  That  able  young  officer  has  conferred 
fully  with  me  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  he  believes  that  the  amount  stared  in  the 
estimate  will  establish  the  necessary  light. 

An  elevator  in  the  interior  of  the  pedestal  is  evidently  necessary  for  the  dec«nt 
satisfaction  of  the  public,  and  the  same  power  which  during  the  night  can  supply 
the  electric  light  can  during  daylight  work  the  elevator. 

The  necessity  of  large  expense  in  clearing  and  arranging  the  grounds  is  only  too 
evident  to  all  who  visit  the  island. 

The  estimate  for  strengthening  the  interior  walls  is  for  about  1,200  cubic  yards 
of  beton.  This  strengthenin.(  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  removal  of  the  build- 
ings which  formerly  occupied  the  interior  and  for  supporting  the  thrust  of  the 
arches  connecting  the  fort  with  the  foundation  mass  of  the  pedestal.    - 

The  connecting  arches  for  which  estimate  is  made  will  re  jnire  :5,800  cubic  yards 
of  beton  and  very  heavy  centering,  as  the  half  arches  have  40  feet  span. 

The  platforms  for  the  ceremony  of  inauguration  must  necessarily  be  very-large 
in  their  proportions,  very  high,  and  will,  therefore,  require  great  quantities  of 
lumber  and  timber— say  60,000  feet,  and  say  $850  in  skilled  and  ordinary  labor— 
$150  for  nails  and  spikes,  etc. 


62  8TATUB    OF   LIBERTY    ENLIGHTENING    THE    WOBLD. 

As  a  great  crowd  will  donbtless  assemble  on  the  day  of  inangiiration,  a  larg^ 
police  force  will  be  necessary,  and  I  have  estimated  for  30  during  twenty-four 
hoars. 

As  the  United  States  Government  will  doubtless  have  the  courtesy  to  officially 
invite  the  French  Government  to  send  representative  men  of  that  Republic  to  be 
present  on  the  occasion,  estimate  is  made  for  their  proper  entertainment  during 
their  probable  stay. 

There  will  doubtless  be  present  invited  representatives  of  the  several  States  and 
the  diplomatic  corps  on  the  day  of  inauguration  and  such,  together  with  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Congress  (Senate  and  House),  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  civil 
service,  will  probably  number  at  least  the  500  for  whom  refreshments  are  estimated. 

The  committee  will  be  under  great  obligations  to  you  for  all  that  you  may  do  to 
aid  in  the  prompt  securing  of  the  proper  appropriation,  and  to  their  thanks  in 
advance  I  beg  to  be  permitted  to  add  my  own  personal  thanks. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

Chas.  p.  Stone,  Engineer  in  Chief. 

Maj.  Gen.  John  Newton, 

Chief  of  Engineers,  U,  S.  Army. 


[Statue  of  Liberty,  Oflace  of  Engineer  in  Chief,  1  Broadway,  Boom  140.] 

New  York,  May  19, 1886. 

Estimate  for  appropriation  for  installation  of  Statue  of  Liberty. 

For  amount  of  memorandum  by  H.  F.  Spaulding,  treasurer  of  American 

committee - $15,000 

For  construction  of  platform  for  ceremonies  of  inauguration,  decorations, 

music,  and  police 3,520 

For  refreshments  for,  say,  500  invited  guests 2,500 

For  unforeseen  expenses  of  inauguration  day 480 

For  entertainment  of,  say,  30  official  French  guests  during,  say,  thirty 

days,  at  $10  each 9,000 

For  clearing  grounds  of  island,  grading,  and  removing  unsightly  struct- 
ures . 5,000 

For  building  a  new  wharf  of  stone  and  concrete 16,000 

For  electric-light  plant  ... 15,000 

For  elevator  in  interior  of  pedestal 6,000 

For  strengthening  interior  walls  of  court 7,200 

For  connecting  arches  between  walls  of  fort  and  foundation  mass  of 

pedestal 26,400 

Total 106,100 

Chas.  P.  Stone, 
Engineer  in  Chief. 


[Office  of  the  American  Committee  of  the  Statne  of  Liberty,  No.  66  Liberty  street,  room  Na 
aj,  William  M.  Evarts,  chairman;  Bichard  Butler,  secretary;  Henry  F.  Spaulding,  treasurer. 
Executive  committee:  Joseph  W.  Drexel,  chairman;  Parlce  Godwin,  J.  W.  Pinchot,  V.  Mum- 
ford  Moore,  Frederick  A.  Potts.] 

New  York,  May  17,  1886. 

The  American  committee  has  received  voluntary  contributions  from  the  people 
for  building  the  pedestal  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  about  $323,000.  It  is  now  com- 
pleted. 

Among  the  items  of  expenditure  are  the  following: 
For  landing  the  statue  from  the  Isere,  housing  and  protecting  it  on  Bed- 

loe  Island  about $4, 450 

For  wages  paid  two  watchmen  for  about  four  years,  as  demanded  of  us  by 

the  Secretary  of  War,  for  the  protection  of  Government  property  on  the 

island,  each  man,  at  $60  per  month 6,760 

Total 10,210 

The  committee  thinks  it  belongs  to  the  Government  to  reimburse  us  for  these 
outlays. 


STATUE    OF    LIBERTY    ENLIGHTENING   THE    WORLD.  63 

Our  executive  committee  is  in  debt  as  follows: 

For  borrowed  money $3,000 

For  balance  due  on  contract  for  heavy  steel  girders  and  fastenings  for  the 
statue 5,000 

Total 8,000 

Our  committee  considered  its  task  completed  when  the  pedestal  was  fin- 
ished, but  in  its  anxiety  to  have  the  statue  placed  in  position  for  dedi- 
cation on  the  3d  of  September  next,  made  an  appeal  to  the  public  for  the 
funds  necessary  for  that  purpose,  and  entered  into  a  contract  for  the 
erection  of  the  statue  (including  services  of  our  chief  engineer) 12,500 

Add  incidental  expenses _ 500 

Total... 13,000 

We  have  received  in  response  to  our  appeals  about 6, 000 

Leaving  balance  still  needed 7,000 

The  foregoing  figures  are  approximately  correct. 

As  yet  the  Government  has  paid  nothing  toward  the  expenses  of  this  grand 
international  historical  monument.  We  therefore  respectfully  ask  that  the  sum 
of  $15,000  be  inserted  as  an  item  in  an  appropriation  for  expenses  incidental  to 
the  inauguration  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  to  be  used  to  square  up  the  accounts 
of  our  committee,  as  herein  stated. 

Respectfully  submitted  by  order  of  the  board. 

Henry  F.  Spaulding, 
Treasurer  American  Committee  Statue  of  Liberty. 


FIFTIETH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
April  11,  1888. 

[Senate  Report  No.  934.] 

Mr.  Brown,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted  the 
following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill 
(H.  R.  639)  providing  that  Commander  John  W.  Philip  should  be 
authorized  to  accept  a  silver  pitcher  tendered  to  him  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows : 

A  reference  to  the  letters  and  documents  from  the  Secretaries  of  the 
State  and  Navy  Departments,  presented  herewith,  will  show  that,  on 
the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government,  Commander  Philip  was 
detailed,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1884,  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter 
built  for  that  Government  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  that  Commander 
Philip  rendered  that  service  to  the  satisfaction  of  that  Government, 
which,  in  token  of  its  appreciation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  duty 
was  performed,  tendered  to  him  the  silver  pitcher  referred  to.  The 
committee  are  of  the  opinion  that,  under  the  circumstances,  the  con- 
sent of  Congress  may  very  properly  be  given  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
gift  by  Commander  Philip. 


Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  13, 1886. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor,  a,t  the  instance  of  the  Colombian  minister  here,  and  with 
the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  ask  that  Congressional  action  may 
be  taken  to  enable  Commander  John  W.  Philip,  U.  S.  Navy,  to  accept  a  silver 
pitcher  from  the  Colombian  Government,  in  recognition  of  his  service  in  inspect- 
ing in  1884  the  revenue  cutter  Boyaca  for  that  Government. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  F.  Bayard. 
The  Hon.  John  F.  Miller,  etc., 

Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate. 


64  COMMANDER   JOHN    W.    PHILIP. 

Navy  Department, 

Washington,  January  30,  ISSS. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  28th 
instant,  and  beg  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  of  the  Department's  order,  dated 
December  10,  18!i:J,  to  Commander  John  W.  Philip,  U.  S.  Navy,  directing  him  to 
proceed  to  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  inspect  the  revenue  cutter  Boyaca,  built  by  the 
Pusey  and  Jones  Company,  of  that  city,  for  the  Colombian  Government,  together 
vrith  copies  of  all  other  papers  bearing  upon  the  subject  on  file  in  this  Department. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  C.  Whitney, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Hon.  John  Sheruan, 

Acting  Chairman  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 


Department  of  State, 

IVashington,  November  5,  188S. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  bring  to  your  consideration  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  dis- 
patch from  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Bogota,  of  September  30  last,  pre- 
ferring the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government  that  a  naval  officer  of  the  United 
States  be  detailed  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter  now  being  built  at  Wilmington,  Del., 
for  Colombia,  before  its  final  acceptance  by  the  Government.  I  transmit,  at  the 
same  time,  a  paper  containing  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  vessel  in 
question,  and  will  thank  you  to  return  the  same  for  our  files  when  you  will  have 
made  such  use  of  the  paper  as  your  Department  thinks  advisable. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  Hunter,  Acting  Secretary. 
Hon.  William  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 


No.  112.]  United  States  Legation, 

Bogota,  September  30,  1883. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  and  translation  of  a  note  which  I  have 
received  from  the  Colombian  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  dated  the  2.jth  instant, 
and  to  earnestly  express  the  hope  that  the  request  therein  made  may  be  granted 
by  the  Navy  Department.  I  inclose  also  the  copy  of  the  Diar.  Oficial  referred  to  in 
the  minister's  note,  and  likewise  a  copy  of  my  note  to  him,  dated  the  26th  instant. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  L.  Scruggs. 
Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  112.— Translation.] 

Bogota,  September  S5, 188S. 

Sir:  The  executive  power  has  arranged,  through  the  home  department,  that  the 
coasting  vessel  contracted  for  in  the  name  of  the  Colombian  Government  by 
Senor  Mi^juel  Camacho  Roldan,  of  New  York,  with  Messrs.  Pusey,  Jones  &  Co., 
of  Wilmington.  Del.,  be  received  under  the  inspection  and  report  of  a  naval  officer 
of  the  United  States,  in  order  that  by  this  means  there  may  be  nothing  wanting 
in  the  fulfillment  of  the  contract  and  that  the  vessel  should  satisfy  the  needs  of 
the  public  service  for  which  it  is  destined. 

To  this  end  the  executive  power  hopes  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  will  kindly  lend  the  aid  of  one  of  its  naval  officers  for  the  purpose  indicated, 
and  in  order  to  obtnin  this  courtesy  I  direct  this  note  to  your  excellency,  accom- 
panied by  the  number  of  the  Diario  Oficial  in  which  the  contract  is  published. 

I  beg  that  your  excellency  be  pleased  to  communicate  the  contents  of  this  note 
to  the  Department  of  State  at  Washington,  for  the  information  and  consideration 
of  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  also,  should 
this  re  i nest  be  granted,  to  have  communicated  at  the  same  time  to  Sefior  Miquel 
Camacho  Roldan,  in  New  York,  the  name  of  the  naval  officer  that  may  be  desig- 
nated and  the  date  on  which  the  examination  of  the  vessel  can  take  place. 


COMMANDER    JOHN    W.   PHILIP.  65 

In  the  name  of  the  national  executive  I  present,  for  transmission  to  yonr  excel- 
lency's Government,  his  expressions  of  the  most  sincere  thanks  and  for  yourself 
the  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration. 
I  remain  your  excellency's  very  attentive  servant, 

Antonio  Roldan. 
To  His  Excellency  William  L.  Scruggs, 

Minister  Resident  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


[Inclosure  3  in  No.  112.] 

United  States  Legation, 

Bogota,  September  26,  1883. 
Mr.  Secretary:  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  excellency's  polite  note 
of  yesterday  (and  also  the  number  of  the  Diario  Olicial  to  which  it  refers)  relative 
to  the  revenue  cutter  now  being  built  in  the  United  States  for  and  on  account  of 
the  Colombian  Government.  It  shall  be  my  care  to  transmit  the  same  to  my  Gov- 
ernment by  the  mail  of  the  30th  instant,  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  request  therein 
so  courteously  made  will  be  most  cheerfully  granted  by  the  President. 

With  renewed  assurances  of  my  most  distinguished  consideration,  I  have  the 
honor  to  remain  your  excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

William  L.  Scruggs. 
To  His  Excellency  Dr.  Antonio  Roldan, 

Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 

Navy  Department, 
Washington,  November  14, 188S. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  5th 
instant,  bringing  to  my  attention  the  request  of  the  Colombian  Government  that 
an  officer  of  the  Navy  be  detailed  to  inspect  a  revenue  cutter  being  built  at  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  for  Colombia,  and  inclosing  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  from  the  minister 
of  the  United  States  at  Bogota,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial,  of 
Bogota,  in  which  the  contract  is  published. 

In  reply  I  have  pleasure  in  informing  you  that  this  Department  will  detail  an 
officer  to  inspect  the  steamer  being  built  for  the  Colombian  Government  by  the 
Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  with  instructions  to  carefully  examine  and  report 
whether  or  not  the  specifications  of  the  contract  have  been  complied  with. 

The  officer  selected  will  be  ordered  to  proceed  with  the  inspection  when  this 
Department  is  informed  that  the  vessel  is  ready.  The  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial 
will  be  returned  to  the  Department  of  State  as  soon  as  the  report  shall  have  been 
completed. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Ed.  T.  Nichols, 
Acting  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State. 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  November  20, 1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  in  connection  with  my  letter  to  you 
of  the  16th  instant,  the  inclosed  copy  of  one  addressed  to  me  by  Mr.  Roldan,  of 
the  17th  instant,  relative  to  the  revenue  cutter  now  building  at  Wilmington,  Del., 
for  the  Colombian  Government  and  whose  inspection  by  a  naval  officer  of  the 
United  States  is  desired  by  that  Republic. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 
Hon.  Wm.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

[Inclosure.] 

New  York,  November  17, 18SS. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  esteemed  favor  of  the 
16th  instant,  relative  to  the  inspection  of  the  revenue  cutter  now  building  for 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia  by  an  officer  of  the  Navy  of 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 5 


66  command?:r  john  w.  phi  lip. 

the  United  States',  and  in  reply  thereto  beg  to  say  that  I  am  at  present  unable  to 
nsn.ie  the  precise  date  on  which  she  will  be  in  readiness,  bat  will  at  once  commu- 
nicate with  the  hnilders.  and  upon  receipt  of  their  reply  will  advise  your  Depart- 
ment of  the  date  on  which  she  will  be  completed  and  ready  for  itispection. 
I  am,  sir,  yours,  very  respectfully, 

M.   C  A  MACHO  ROLDAN. 

Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinohuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 


D. 


Department  of  State, 
WnsJiinyton,  January  7,  1884* 
Sir:  I  have  now  the  honor  to  apprise  yon,  in  connection  with  the  Department's 
communication  to  you  of  November  16  last,  of  the  receipt  of  a  letter  of  the  4th 
instant  (a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  inclosed)  from  Mr.  M.  (>amacho  Roldan, 
Btatingthat  the  revenue  steamer  built  at  the  yard  of  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Com- 
pany, Wilmington.  Del.,  for  the  Cnited  States  of  Colombia,  is  now  ready  for  and 
awaiting  inspection  as  desired  by  that  Government  by  an  officer  of  the  United 
States  Navy  before  the  formal  acceptance  of  the  steamer  by  Colombia. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

John  Davis, 

Acting  Secretary, 
Hon.  William  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


New  York,  January  4, 1884. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  refer  to  your  esteemed  favor  of  November  17  ultimo,  also  to  my 
reply  thereto  of  the  following  day's  date,  and  to  advise  you  that  the  revenue  steamer 
built  at  the  yard  of  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  Wilmington,  Del.,  for  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  is.  now  ready  for  and  awaiting  inspec- 
tion by  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Navy  detailed  for  that  purpose  by  request  of 
the  said  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia  made  through  your  Depart- 
ment. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant. 

M.  Camacho  Roldan, 
Per  J.  N.  Van  Sickel. 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Freltnohuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D,  (7. 


Navy  Department, 
Washington,  I).  C,,Jantiary  10,  1884, 

Sir:  Application  having  been  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of 
Colombia  that  a  steam  revenue  cutter  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  of 
Wilmington.  Del.,  may  be  inspected  by  a  United  States  naval  officer,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  whether  the  specific  ati on s  and  the  contract  between  the  com- 
pany and  the  Government  have  been  carried  out,  and  whether  the  vessel  is  likely 
to  fulfill  the  conditions  required  of  her  as  a  revenue  cutter,  you  have  been  selected 
for  that  duty. 

The  Department  having  been  notified  that  the  steamer  has  been  completed  and 
is  now  awaiting  inspection  by  an  officer  of  the  United  states  Navy,  you  will  pro- 
ceed without  delay  to  New  \ork  and  put  yourself  in  communication  with  Senor 
M.  Camacho  Roldan.  87  Wall  street  (P.  O.  bo.v  1609).  and  arrange  with  him  the 
time  for  making  the  necessary  steam  trials  and  examinations. 

From  New  York  you  will  proceed  to  Wilmngton.  Del.,  and  having  ac'inainted 
the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company  with  the  tenor  of  your  instructions,  and  having 
receiA  ed  authority  from  them,  make  careful  examinations  of  the  steam  vessel  bailt 
under  contract  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  a  copy  of 
which  is  contained  in  the  Diario  Oficial,  published  in  Bogota  May  19,  1883,  here- 
with inclosed. 

After  having  thoroughly  examined  the  above-mentioned  steamer,  under  way 
and  at  the  dock,  you  will  report  to  this  Department  whether  or  not  the  steamer 


COMMANDER    JOHN    W.    PHILIP.  67 

fulfills  the  terms  of  the  specifications  and  contract  and  whether  or  not  the  vessel 
is  likel}'  to  prove  efficient  in  the  service  for  wliich  she  is  intended. 

Should  you  find  that  the  termg  of  the  contract  have  not  heen  carried  out,  you 
will  so  inform  the  Department,  stating  wherein  the  specifications  have  not  been 
complied  with. 

Be  pleased  to  return  to  the  Department  the  inclosed  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial 
when  you  shall  have  finished  the  examination  of  the  steamer. 
Upon  the  completion  of  this  duty  return  to  your  home  and  await  orders. 
This  employment  on  shore  duty  is  required  bj^  the  public  interests,  and  such 
service  will  continue  until  February  10,  ItiSi,  unless  it  is  otherwise  ordered. 
Very  respectlully, 

W.  E.   Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Commander  J.  W.  Philip.  U.  S.  N., 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Navy  Department, 

Washington,  January  17,  188Ji.. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith,  in  connection  with  your  letter  of  the 
7th  instant,  notifying  this  Department  "  that  the  revenue  steamer  buiI1>at  the  yard 
of  the  Pusey  &. Tones  Company.  Wilmington,  Del.,  for  the  United  States  of  Colom- 
bia, is  now  ready  for  and  awaiting  inspection,"  a  copy  of  an  order  to  Commander 
J.  W.  Philip,  United  States  Navy,  and  a  copy  of  his  report  upon  the  inspection  of 
the  steamer  Boyaca,  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company,  Wilmington,  Del.,  for 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia.  I  also  inclose,  as  requested  in 
your  letter  of  the  oth  of  November  last,  the  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial,  published 
in  Bogota,  forwarded  therewith. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Hon.  Frederick  T.  Frelinohuysen, 

Secretary  of  State. 


New  York,  January  16, 188fy. 

Sir:  In  obedience  to  your  order  of  January  10,  I  have  carefully  examined  the 
steamer  Boyaca,  built  by  the  Pusey  &  Jones  Company  of  Wilmington.  Del.,  for  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  and  respectfully  submit  the  follow- 
ing report: 

The  steamer  was  in  the  water,  coaled  and  provisioned,  and  about  ready  for  her 
sea  voyage;  consequently  I  could  not  make  that  examination  of  her  under-water 
portion,  viz,  stem,  steriipost,  rudderpost,  rudder  sheathing,  etc.,  that  the  specifica- 
tions called  for,  but  all  parts  of  the  vessel  attainable  were  carefully  examined  and 
measured  and  found  to  be  in  strict  accordance  with  the  specifications  and  very 
neatly  and  well  constructed. 

Owing  to  ice  in  river  and  creek,  it  was  impracticable  to  get  the  vessel  under  way, 
Sefior  Roldan  agreeing  with  me  that  it  would  be  best  to  dispense  with  that  part  of 
the  examination. 

A  "  dock  trial  "  was  had,  when  the  engines  ran  very  smoothly,  noiselessly,  and 
with  but  little  vibration,  thus  showing  evidences  of  careful  construction  from  good 
material,  with  promises  of  giving  entire  satisfaction.  In  examining  and  measuring 
about  the  vessel,  if  discrepancies  exist,  they  are  in  favor  of  the  steamer.  For 
instance,  both  anchors  and  chains  are  larger  and  heavier  than  the  specifications 
call  for  and  the  boats  are  lifeboats  instead  of  the  ordinary  yard-built  cutters. 

On  questioning  the  captain  and  chief  engineer  they  told  me  that  so  far  as  they 
were  able  to  judge  the  best  of  material  had  been  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
hull  and  engines  and  that  the  company  (Pusey  &  Jones)  had  been  most  liberal  in 
the  supply  of  supplies  and  stores,  both  in  regard  to  (quantity  and  quality. 

After  the  above  examinations  I  am  al)leto  report  that  the  steamer  ^o.yoca  fulfills 
the  terms  of  the  specifications  and  contract,  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  she  will 
prove  most  efficient  in  the  service  for  which  she  is  intended. 

I  return  herewith  the  copy  of  the  Diario  Oficial. 

Hoping  my  report  will  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  Department,  I  remain,  sir, 
very  respectfully, 

Jno.  W.  Philip, 
Commander,  United  States  Navy. 

Hon.  W.  E.  Chandler, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy, 


68  ENSIGN   J.   B.   BERNADOU. 

In  view  of  the  facts  set  forth  in  tlie  foregoing  correspondence  the 
committee  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  of  the'Senate  adopt  the  foregoing 
report  of  the  House  committee,  and  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 


FrFTY-FIBST  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
May  7,  1890. 

[Senate  Report  No.  885.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  respectfully  report  a  joint  res- 
olution "authorizing  Ensign  J.  B.  Bernadou,  United  States  Navy,  to 
accept  two  vases  presented  to  him  by  the  Government  of  Japan,"  and, 
for  the  reasons  stated  in  accompanying  letters  from  the  Departments 
of  State  and  Navy,  recommend  that  it  do  pass. 


Department  or  State, 
Washington,  May  6, 1890. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  bring  to  your  attention  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  letter 
addressed  by  my  predecessor  to  your  committee,  February  28,  1889,  with  its 
accompaniments  concerning  two  flower  vases  presented  to  Ensign  J.  B.  Bernadou, 
United  States  Navy,  by  the  Government  of  Japan,  and  the  necessary  authority  of 
Congress  for  him  to  accept  them. 

No  action  appears  to  have  been  taken  upon  that  letter  owing,  no  doubt,  to  its 
being  so  near  the  final  adjournment  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress.  I  venture,  there- 
fore, to  suggest  that  the  Department's  previous  recommendation  may  receive 
favorable  consideration,  and  that  authority,  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  approved  January  31,  1881  (Stat.  L.,  vol.  21,  p.  603),  may  be  given  Ensign 
Bernadou  to  accept  the  testimonial  referred  to. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

James  G.  Blainb. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate, 


Department  of  State, 
Washington,  February  28, 1889. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  call  your  attention,  with  a  view  to  securing  such  action 
on  the  part  of  Congress  as  may  he  proper,  to  a  gift  of  two  Japanese  vases  presented 
by  the  Imperial  Japanese  Government  to  Ensign  J.  B.  Bernadou,  United  States 
Navy,  in  recognition  of  services  rendered  to  certain  Japanese  subjects  in  Korea. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1884,  Mr.  Bernadou  was  temporarily  attached  to  the 
United  States  legation  at  Seoul,  Korea,  at  which  time  a  very  serious  outbreak 
occurred  in  that  capital,  endangering  the  lives  of  all  foreign  residents.  On  the 
9th  of  December,  1884,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Foote,  then  in  cliarge  of  the  legation 
of  the  United  States,  Ensign  Bernadou,  proceeded  to  Cheiimlpho  in  charge  of  a 
number  of  Japanese  refugees,  whom  he  safely  conducted  to  the  seashore.  In  May, 
1885.  Mr.  Masuki  Konto,  the  Ja|)ane8e  charge  at  Seoul,  informed  Mr.  Foulk  that 
the  Japanese  Government  had  instructed  him  to  transmit  a  pair  of  flower  vases 
which  His  Majesty's  Government  desired  to  present  to  Mr.  Bernadou  "as  a  token 
of  acknowledgment  of  the  kind  services  he  performed  in  escorting  to  His  Imperial 
Japanese  Majesty's  consulate  at  Chemulpho  a  number  of  Jap:ine.se  subjects;"  and 
Mr.  Kondo  also  requested  Mr.  Foulk  to  convey  to  Mr.  Bernadou  the  sentiments  of 
high  appreciation  of  His  Majesty's  Government. 

ihe  vases  in  question  have  now  reacied  th  s  Department,  having,  for  various 
causes,  been  delayed  in  their  transmit  si  ju  hither.    My  colleague,  the  Secretary  of 


COMMANDER    DENNIS    W.    MULL  AN.  C9 

the  Navy,  has  heen  informed  of  their  receipt,  and  he  concurs  with  me  in  thinking 
that  the  services  of  Mr.  Bernadon  appear  to  be  of  such  a  character  as  would  justify 
the  Cons^ress  in  granting  him  permission  to  receive  the  present. 

A  statement  ot  the  occurrences  in  Korea  referred  to  may  be  found  in  the  volume 
of  Foreign  Relations  for  1885,  pages  331-335. 
1  have  the  honor,  etc., 

T.  F.  Bayard. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate. 


l^AVY  Department, 
Washington,  February  25,  1SS9. 
Sir:  The  Department  has  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  2l8t 
instant,  stating  that  you  have  in  your  possession  a  pair  of  Japanese  vases,  a  pres- 
ent from  the  .Japanese  Government  to  Ensign  J.  B.  Bernadou,  in  recognition  of 
services  rendered  to  certain  Japanese  subjects  in  Korea,  and  asking  whether  it  is 
the  Department's  desire  that  permission  should  be  asked  of  Congress  for  their 
acceptance  by  Ensign  Bernadou. 

In  reply  I  have  to  say  that  the  Department  agrees  with  you  that  the  services  of 
Mr.  Bernadou  appear  to  have  been  of  such  a  character  as  would  justify  the  Con- 
gress in  granting  him  permission  to  receive  the  present,  and  I  have  to  respectfully 
request  that  you  communicate  the  facts  to  Congress,  with  a  view  to  its  granting 
Ensign  Bernadou  permission  to  accept  the  present  tendered  in  such  a  complimen- 
tary manner. 

Very  respectfully,  etc.,  W.  C.  Whitney, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
The  Secretary  op  State. 


June  16,  1890. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1367.] 

Mr.  Payne,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the  reso- 
lution (S.  R.  66)  authorizing  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  United 
States  Navy,  to  accept  the  medal  presented  to  him  by  the  Chilean 
Government,  having  duly  considered  the  same,  respectfully  report: 

That  the  correspondence  in  the  appendix  submitted  herewith 
shows  that  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  United  States  Navy,  was 
on  November  26,  1880,  ordered  by  Capt.  J.  A.  Howell,  United  States 
Navy,  then  commanding  the  U.  S.  war  ship  Adams,  off  Callao,  Peru, 
to  attach  himself  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Chilean  armj^^  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  United  States  Navy,  then  stationed  and  serving  in 
the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  for  the  purpose  of  observing  the  military 
operations  then  going  on  between  the  Governments  of  Chile  and  Peru, 
and  to  report  thereon  for  the  benefit*  of  the  proper  authorities  of  the 
United  States;  that  while  so  attached  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
Chilean  army.  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  United  States  Navy, 
was  present  at  the  battles  of  Chorillos  and  Miraflores,  in  Peru. 

As  a  compliment  to  said  officer  and  as  a  memento  of  the  matters 
set  forth  in  the  correspondence  submitted  herewith,  the  proper  author- 
ities of  the  Chilean  Government  forwarded,  through  the  American 
minister  at  Santiago,  Chile,  Hon.  William  R.  Roberts,  a  gold  medal 
to  be  presented  to  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  United  States 
Nav}^,  through  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  which  medal  is  now  in  the 
State  Department  in  the  custody  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  correspondence  contained  in  the  appendix  herewith  shows  that 


70  COMMANDER    DENNIS    W.   MULLAN. 

Commander  Dennis  W.  MuUan,  United  States  Navy,  by  his  official 
acts  as  an  officer  of  the  Navy,  has  on  sundry  occasions  reflected  j^reat 
credit  upon  himself  and  upon  the  Navy,  and  which  have  rendei-ed 
him  eminently  worthy  to  receive  at  the  hands  of  the  Cliilean  Govern- 
ment this  testimonial  of  their  appreciation,  as  fet  forth  in  said  corre- 
spondence. 

Wherefore  your  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  said  reso- 
lution. 


Appendix. 

*  .  '  Department  of  State, 

WashitKjtoii,  May  .J,  1S90. 

Sm:  I  have  the  honor  to  aclcnowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  80th 
nltiino,  with  which  you  lay  before  me  sundry  papers  concerninj^  the  ser\nce8  of 
Ck)mmander  Dennis  W.  Mullau.  United  States  Navy,  in  the  Sa:iioan  Isands.  and 
durinji  the  war  between  Chile  and  Pern,  together  with  a  coj»y  of  .loint  resolution 
(S.  R.  66)  authorizing  that  officer  to  accept  a  medal  presented  to  him  by  the  Chilean 
Government.  On  behalf  of  the  Couimiltee  on  Foreign  Relations  you  reiiuest  the 
opinion  of  this  Department  "  as  to  whether  this  authorization  would  be  agreeable 
to  the  Government  of  Peru."' 

It  appears  from  the  recital  of  the  resolution  that  in  1880,  under  authorization  and 
detail  of  Capt.  .J.  A.  Howell.  United  States  Navy,  then  commanding  the  AiUnns, 
Commander  Muilan  accompanied  the  Chilean  military  forces  toob.serve  and  make 
report  concerning  operations  then  in  progress  against  Peru,  and  that  the  medal 
in  question  is  tendered  to  Commander  Mullau  by  the  Chilean  Government  to 
commemorate  his  presence  at  the  battles  of  Chorillos  and  MiraHores.  in  Peru. 

It  is  not  uncommon  in  time  of  war  for  military  and  naval  officers  of  neutral 
governments  to  be  attached  to  the  headfjuarters  of  the  respective  forces  during 
the  progress  of  active  hostilities  for  the  purpose  of  observing  and  reporting  to  their 
own  governments  concerning  the  operations  of  combatants.  This  has  been  the 
case  in  several  recent  European  wars,  and  our  attaches  have  in  nowise  been  iden- 
tified with  the  i£iterests  of  the  governments  whose  forces  they  accompanied.  Their 
function  has  been  isimply  that  of  disinterested  observers  and  chroniclers  of  the 
events  falling  under  their  notice.  Inasmuch  as  the  impartial  statns  of  the  officer 
is  an  essential  condition  of  his  presence,  it  is  not  seen  how  the  fact  of  his  accom- 
panying the  forces  of  one  of  the  belligerents  could  in  any  way  be  impugned  by  the 
other;  neither  is  it  perceived  how  a  courteous  recognition  or  commemoration  of 
his  presence  by  the  government  with  whose  anny  he  was  stationed  could  in  the 
slightest  degree  wound  any  just  susceptibilities  of  the  opposed  government. 

A  precedent  for  the  proposed  authorization  in  favor  of  Commander  Mullau  is 
found  in  the  act  of  Congress  approved  January  81.  1881  (Stat.,  vol.  21,  p.  604).  by 
which  Lieut.  Francis  V.  Greene,  of  the  United  States  Army,  was  authorized  to 
accept  certam  decorations  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Government  of  Russia  for 
bravery  under  fire  at  .Shipka  P<iss,  Plevna,  and  o:her  engagements  in  the  course 
of  the  Russo-Turkish  campaign  of  1877. 

Returning  herewith,  as  requested,  the  papers  which  accompanied  your  letter, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

James  G.  Blaine. 

Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate, 


JOINT  RESOLUTION  authorizing  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mxillan.  United  States  Navy,  to 
accept  a  medal  presented  to  bim  by  tne  Chilean  Government. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  arid  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica in  Congress  assfmbled.  That  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan.  United  States  Navy, 
be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  to  accept  a  medal  presented  to  him  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Chile  through  the  State  Department  of  the  United  States,  as  a  memento 
of  his  presence  with  the  headquarters  of  the  Chilean  army  at  the  battles  of  Cho- 
rillos and  Miratiores,  in  Peru,  by  virtue  of  an  official  order  issued  November  26. 
1880,  by  Capt.  J.  A.  Howell.  United  States  Navy,  then  commanding  the  United 
States  war  ship  Adams,  off  Callao.  Peru,  to  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan.  to 
accompany  General  Baquedano,  chief  of  the  Chilean  military  forces,  for  the  pur- 


C0MMANDP:R    DENNIS    W.    MULLAN.  71 

pose  of  observing,  as  a  representative  of  the  American  Navy,  the  military  ,and 
naval  operations  then  going  on  between  the  Governments  of  Chile  and  Peru,  "and 
making  a  report  thereon  to  the  proper  authorities  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States. 


Bureau  of  Navigation,  Navy  Department, 

Washington,  April  1,  1890. 
Sir:  In  accordance  with  your  request  of  the  81st  ultimo  to  the  Department,  the 
bureau  incloses  copies  of  letters  written  by  Mr.  Stephen  J.  Wheeler,  master  of 
American  vessel  Orion,  and  by  Mr.  Peter  Colly,  master  of  American  barkentine 
Constitution,  to  the  Navy  Department. 

Very  respectfully,  F.  M.  Ramsay, 

Chief  of  Bureau. 
Commander  D.  W.  Mullan,  U.  S.  Navy, 

Annapolis,  Md. 


San  Francisco,  March  S7, 1889. 

Dear  Sirs:  I  desire  to  inform  your  respective  Departments  that  I,  Stephen 
James  Wheeler,  was  the  captain  of  the  American  vessel  Orion  which  left  San 
Francisco  on  November  15, 18S8,  laden  with  a  cargo,  consisting  of  sujiplies  for  the 
U.  S.  S.  Nipsic,  stationed  at  Apia.  Samoan  Islands,  and  of  other  stores,  etc.,  and 
that  my  vessel  reached  Apia  on  December  23,  188«,  on  which  date  the  German 
authorities  in  the  harbor  of  Apia,  Samoan  Islands,  attempted  to  search  my  vessel. 
This  attempt  I  resisted,  and  the  authority  to  do  so  I  denied.  I  thereupon  imme- 
diately reported  a  1  these  facts  to  the  captain  commanding  the  U.  S.  S.  Nipsic,  Com- 
mander Dennis  W.  Mullan,  United  States  Navy,  who,  with  very  great  promptness 
and  cheerfulness,  came  to  my  immediate  aid,  and  sent  on  board  of  my  vessel  one 
of  hiv  officers  with  a  squad  of  his  men  from  his  ship  A'rp.s/c.and  thereby  prevented 
this  outrageous  violation  of  the  rights  of  American  vessels  in  the  waters  of  the 
South  Pacific  Ocean  which  was  attempted  to  be  perpetrated  upon  me  and  my 
vessel  by  the  German  authorities. 

It  is  proper,  therefore,  in  my  opinion,  upon  my  arrival  in  the  port  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, that  I  should  duly  report  all  these  fncts  to  your  Departments  at  Washing- 
ton, and  at  the  same  time  to  place  on  record  the  thanks  and  appreciation  of  myself 
and  the  other  officers  and  crew  of  my  vessel  for  the  kind  and  efficient  and  valua- 
ble services  of  Commander  Mullan,  United  States  Navy,  commanding  the  U.  S.  S. 
Nipsic,  and  for  the  very  courteous  manner  in  which  he  came  to  the  rescue  and 
support  of  myself  and  officers  and  crew  of  my  vessel  on  said  occasion,  and  also 
for  the  prompt,  chivalric,  and  successful  manner  in  which  he  resisted  and  pre- 
vented this  unwarranted  search,  by  a  foreign  power,  of  m}'  ves.«iel  in  the  waters 
of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  during  a  time  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and 
Germany. 

I  am,  sirs,  yours,  very  truly, 

Stephen  J.  Wheeler, 

Caj}taiu  of  the  Orion, 

Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  Hon.  Secretary  of  State, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


San  Francisco,  Cal.,  April  2, 1889. 

Dear  Sir:  The  undersigned,  Peter  Colly,  captain  of  the  American  vessel  Con- 
stitution, left  this  port  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  on  December  (5,  1888,  loaded  with 
a  miscellaneous  cargo  for  Apia,  Samoan  Islands,  at  which  place  I  arrived  with 
said  vessel  on  February  1,  lb8!). 

On  my  arrival  at  Apia  the  German  authorities  sent  their  officials  to  my  vessel 
to  examine  my  ship's  papers,  etc.,  which  I  would  not  permit  to  be  done  by  them. 
My  vessel  remained  in  the  harbor  of  Apia  until  February  V-i,  1889,  on  which  date 
she  was  wrecked  in  that  harbor. 

I  now,  therefore,  write  to  the  Navy  Department  to  express  my  warm  thanks 
and  high  ai>preciation  for  the  valuable  services  rendered  me  by  Capt.  D.  W.  Mul- 
lan, of  the  Navy,  commanding  the  U.  S.  S.  Mps/c,  during  the  time  I  was  in  the 
harbor  of  Apia,  and  especially  for  the  valuable  services  he  rendered  me  and  my 
vessel  by  taking  my  anchor  and  mooring  my  vessel  in  the  safest  part  of  that  har- 


72  COMMANDER    DENNIS    W.   MULLAN. 

bor.  and  in  rescuing,  saving,  and  landing  myself  and  the  crew  of  my  vessel  on  the 
day  she  was  wrecked  on  a  reef  in  that  harbor,  and  which  fact  necessitated  my 
returning  to  San  Francisco  aa  a  passenger  on  the  steamer  Zelundia. 

For  the  very  kind,  voluntary,  and  successful  efforts  of  Captain  Mullan,  of  the 
Nipsic,  on  all  these  occasions,  I  desire,  therefore,  to  now  return  to  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment at  Washinstoii  the  thanks  of  myself  and  of  the  crew  of  my  vessel. 
I  am,  sir,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

Peter  Colly, 
Captain  of  the  American  Vessel  Constitution. 
Hon.  Benjamin  Tracy, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Washington,  D.  C 


[Senate  Mis.  Doc.  No.  110,  Fifty-first  Congress,  first  8es.sion.] 

papers  relative  to  the  conferring  upon  commander  dennis  w.  mullan, 
united  states  navy,  by  the  government  of  chile,  a  gold  medal. 

United  States  of  America, 

Department  of  State: 
To  aU  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  greeting: 

I  certify  that  the  documents  hereto  annexed  are  true  copies  from  the  files  of  this 
Department. 

In  testimony  whereof  I,  William  F.  Wharton,  Acting  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  caused  the  seal  of  the 
Department  of  State  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  3d  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1890,  and  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  one  hundred  and  fourteenth. 

[seal.]  William  F.  Wharton. 

No.  80.]  United  States  Legation, 

'  Santiago,  Noveviher  27,  1SS5. 

SiB:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  a  medal  which  has  been  transmitted  to  me  by 
the  minister  of  war  of  Chile,  with  a  reiuest  that  I  would  have  it  forwarded  to 
Captain  Mullane,  of  the  United  States  States  Navy. 

The  letter  of  the  minister  of  war,  a  copy  of  which,  with  translation,  I  inclose, 
will  explain  the  motive  which  has  prompted  its  presentation.  I  also  inclose  a 
copy  of  my  reply  to  the  minister. 

I  trust  the  medal  will  reach  you.  I  had  hoped  to  send  it  by  the  hands  of  some 
person  returning  to  the  United  States,  but  finally  concluded  to  trust  it  to  the 
mails. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  B.  Roberts. 
Hon.  T.  F.  Bayard, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 


[Tran.<«lation  of  Na  2  in  80.] 

Ministry  of  War,  Republic  of  Chile, 

Santiago,  October  14,  1885. 
Sir:  Believing  that  it  will  be  agreeable  to  Mr.  MuUan,  captain  of  the  corvette 
of  the  marine  of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  to  preserve  a  rememl  ranee 
of  the  battles  of  Chorrillos  and  Miraflores.  at  which  this  officer  found  himself 
added  to  the  general  headquarters  ot  the  Chilean  ai'my,  comuussioned  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  of  North  America  in  order  to  observe  the  operations 
of  our  forces,  will  you  please  have  sent  to  the  hands  of  Mr.  Mullan  the  accom- 
panying medal?  It  is  the  same  as  those  which  the  chiefs  of  our  army  have  received; 
but  in  sending  it  to  Captain  Mullan  it  is  destined  in  the  character  of  simply  a 
memento,  and  not  as  a  military  recompense,  which  the  Government  of  Chile  could 
not  agree  to  in  this  case,  nor  Mr.  Mullan  accept. 

With  sentiments  of  distinguished  consideration,  I  remain  your  attentive  and  con- 
stant servant, 

Carlos  Autunsz. 
Hon.  William  R.  Roberts, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 

of  tlie  United  States  of  North  America. 


COMMANDER    DENNIS    W.    MULLAN.  73 

[Copy  of  No.  3  in  30.] 

United  States  Legation, 

Santiago,  October  28,  1885. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  esteemed  favor  dated  the  14th 
instant,  with  the  accompanying  medal,  requesting  me  to  forward  it  to  Captain 
Mullan,  of  the  American  Navy. 

I  assure  your  excellency  that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  transmit  it  to 
my  Government  on  the  first  favorable  opportunity,  accompanied  with  a  copy  of 
your  communication. 

I  have  the  honor,  etc., 

William  M.  Roberts, 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 

of  United  States  of  America, 
His  Excellency  Don  Carlos  Autunez, 

Minister  of  War. 


U.  S.  S.  Adams  (Third  Rate), 

Off  Callao,  Peru,  November  2G,  1880, 
Sir:  H.  M.  S.  Osprey  ha.ving  been  detailed  by  Admiral  Sterling,  of  Her  Majesty's 
service,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  neutral  officers  a  passage  to  such  a  point  south 
as  will  enable  them  to  communicate  with  General  Baquedano,  the  chief  of  the 
Chilean  forces,  you  will  take  passage  in  her  to-morrow  morning,  November  27. 
Upon  your  arrival  near  the  Chilean  headquarters,  you  will  communicate  with 
General  Baquedano,  or  the  officer  in  command  of  the  Chilean  army,  and  present 
my  letter  requesting  permission  for  you  to  accompany  his  staff  during  the  opera- 
tions near  Lima,  If  the  permission  be  granted,  you  will  remain  with  the  army, 
and  will  note  the  different  features  and  incidents  of  the  conflict,  and  report  the 
same  upon  your  return.  If  permission  be  not  granted,  you  will  return  in  the 
Osprey. 

Very  respectfully,  J.  A.  Howell, 

Commander,  U.  S.  Navy,  Commanding  U.  S.  S.  Adams. 
Lieut.  Commander  D.  W.  Mullan,  U.  S.  N., 

U.  S.  S.  Adams. 

Annapolis,  Md.,  February  5, 1890. 
I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  full,  true,  and  correct  copy  of  an  original 
order  issued  to  me  November  26,  1880. 

Dennis  W.  Mullan, 

Commander,  U.  S.  Navy. 


JOINT  RESOLUTIONS  tendering  the  thanks  of  the  State  of  Maryland  to  Commander  Denni 
W.  Mullan,  United  States  Navy,  and  authorizing  the  governor  to  procure  and  present  to  him 
as  a  testimonial,  a  gold  chronometer  watch,  suitably  inscribed. 

Whereas  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  U.  S.  Navy,  a  native  of  this  State, 
commanded  the  United  States  war  ship  Nipsie  during  a  critical  period  when  con- 
fronted by  a  superior  foreign  naval  force,  and  discharged  with  heroism  and  ability 
the  delicate  diplomatic  duties  that  devolved  upon  him  as  a  naval  commander,  by 
resisting  the  imperious  demands  made  upon  him  by  the  commander  of  said  naval 
force  to  surrender  an  American  citizen,  then  under  his  protection  on  board  of  his 
said  ship,  and  in  vindicating  American  rights  by  preventing  an  attempt  by  a  for- 
eign power  to  search  American  vessels  in  the  South  Pacific  Ocean:  and 

Whereas  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan  also  commanded  said  ship  during  the 
destructive  and  memorable  hurricane  in  Samoan  waters,  South  Pacific  Ocean,  in 
March,  1889,  and  with  heroic  bravery  and  nautical  skill  saved  his  ship  during  said 
hurricane;  and 

Whereas  all  of  said  services  were  perilous,  demanding  skill,  courage,  and  ability 
as  a  naval  commander,  and  said  acts  reflect  credit  upon  the  American  Navy  and 
upon  his  native  State:  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  general  assembly  of  Maryland,  That  the  thanks  of  the  State 
of  Maryland  be.  and  they  are  hereby,  tendered  to  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan 
for  his  unflinching  courage  and  gallant  achievements  in  vindicating  the  rights  of 
American  citizens  and  of  American  vessels  in  foreign  waters,  and  for  his  bravery 
and  nautical  ability  in  saving  his  ship  during  the  destructive  hurricane  in  Samoan 
waters. 


74  COMMANDER   DENNIS    W.   MULLAN. 

Reaolved,  That  as  a  testimonial  of  the  skillful,  able,  and  courageous  manner  in 
which  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan  protected  and  vindicated  American  rights, 
and  the  bravery  and  nautical  ability  .shown  by  him  during  the  hurricane  in  Sauioau 
waters,  the  governor  of  this  Stat©  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to 
procure  and  present  to  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mulfan,  U.  S.  Navy,  a  gold  chro- 
nometer watch,  with  an  inscription  as  follows,  to  wit: 

"The  State  of  Maryland,  to  Commander  Dennis  W.  Mullan,  U.  S.  N.,  for  his 
heroism  and  gallant  services  in  protecting  and  vindicating  American  rights,  and 
for  the  bravery  and  nautical  ability  shown  by  him  during  the  hurricane  of  188i», 
in  iSamoan  waters?.  South  Pacific  Ocean." 

And  be  it  further  resolved.  That  the  cost  of  said  testimonial  shall  be  paid  by  the 
governor  out  of  the  contingent  fund  at  the  disposal  of  the  executive. 

R.  F.  Brattan, 
President  of  the  Senate, 
John  Hubnek, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates. 

State  of  Maryland,  set. : 

I,  Spencer  C.  Jones,  clerk  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Maryland,  do  hereby  certify 
that  the  foregoing  is  a  full  and  true  copy  of  the  joint  resolution  of  the  general 
assembly  of  Maryland  of  which  it  purports  to  be  a  copy,  as  taken  from  the  original 
joint  resolution  belonging  to  and  deposited  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  court  of 
appeals  aforesaid. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  as  clerk  and  affixed  the  seal 
of  said  court  of  appeals  this  7th  day  of  March,  A.  D,  1890. 

[SEAX-J  Spencer  C.  Jones, 

Clerk  Court  of  Appeals  of  Maryland. 

State  of  Maryland,  set.: 

I,  Richard  H.  Alvey,  chief  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Maryland,  do  hereby 
certify  that  Spencer  C.  Jones  is  clerk  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Maryland,  and  that 
the  foregoing  attestation  by  him  is  in  due  form  and  by  the  proper  officer. 
Given  under  my  hand  this  7th  day  of  March,  1890. 

R.  H.  Alvey, 
Chief  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Maryland, 

State  of  Maryland,  set.: 

I,  Spencer  C.  Jones,  clerk  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Maryland,  do  hereby  certify 
that  the  Hon.  Richard  H.  Alvey,  who  has  signed  the  foregoing  certificate,  is,  and 
at  the  time  of  so  doing  was,  chief  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Maryland,  and 
that  full  faith  and  credit  are  due  to  his  acts  as  such. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  as  clerk,  and  affixed  the  seal 
of  the  said  court  of  appeals,  this  7th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1890. 

[seal.]  Spencer  C.  Jones, 

Clerk  Court  of  Appeals  of  Maryland. 

State  of  Maryland, 

Executive  Department: 

I,  Elihn  E.  Jackson,  governor  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  do  hereby  certify  that 
Spencer  C.  Jones,  esq.,  is  clerk  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Marj'land,  and  as  such 
keeper  of  the  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  State,  and  that 
full  faith  and  credit  are  due  and  ought  to  be  given  to  his  acts  as  such. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  the  great  seal  of 
the  State  of  Maryland  on  this  7th  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1890. 

[seal.]  Eliho  £.  Jackson. 

By  the  governor: 

E.  W.  Le  Compte,  Secretary  of  State, 


OFFICERS    AND    CREW    OF    THE    U.   S.   S.   BALTIMORE.  75 

FIFTY-FIRST  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
December  17,  1890. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1871.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  report  that  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Sweden  and  Norway  has  presented  a  box  containing  354 
medals  to  be  delivered  to  the  commander,  officers,  and  crew  of  the 
U.  S.  S.  Baltimore,  to  commemorate  the  service  rendered  by  them  to 
Sweden  in  carrying  back  to  his  native  land  the  remains  of  Capt.  John 
Ericsson.  Your  committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  medals  should 
be  accepted  and  presented  by  the  Department  of  State  to  the  persons 
for  whom  they  were  designed,  in  compliance  with  the  terms  of  sec- 
tion 3  of  the  act  approved  .January  31,  1881,  entitled  "An  act  author- 
izing the  persons  therein  named  to  accept  of  certain  decorations  and 
presents  therein  named  from  foreign  Governments,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses," and  report  a  joint  resolution  for  that  purpose,  accompanied 
by  the  letters,  liereto  attached,  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  and  the  commanding  officer  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Balti- 
more. . 


Department  op  State, 
Washingfon,  December  16,  1890. 
Sir:  The  Department  has  received  a  letter  from  the  Acting  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  a  copy  of  which  is  inclosed,  calling  attention  to  the  reception  from  our 
legation  at  Stockholm  by  Capt.  W.  S.  Schley,  commanding  the  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore, 
of  a  box  containing  Boi  medals,  which  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Sweden  and 
Norway  desires  to  i)resent  to  the  commander,  officers,  and  crew  of  that  vessel,  to 
commemorate  the  service  rendered  by  them  to  Sweden  in  carrying  back  to  his 
native  land  the  remains  of  Capt.  John  Ericsson. 

In  view  of  the  provisions  of  section  H  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  January 
31,  1881  (United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  volume  21,  page  604),  and  of  the  letter 
of  the  Acting  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  I  have  the  honor  to  ask  that  Congress  will, 
if  it  deems  it  proper,  authorize  this  Department  to  deliver  the  medals  in  question 
to  the  commander,  officers,  and  crew  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore,!!!  accordance  with 
the  desire  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

James  Q.  Blainb. 

Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 

United  States  Senate, 


Navy  Department, 

Washington,  October  10, 1890. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  copy  of  a  communication  dated 
Kiel,  Germany,  2r)th  September,  received  from  Capt.  W.  S.  Schley,  commanding 
the  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore,  in  which  he  advises  the  Department  that  the  United  States 
minister  at  Stockholm  has  sent  on  board  the  Baltimore  a  box  containing  854 
medals  commemorative  of  the  transportation  of  the  remains  of  the  late  John 
Ericsson  from  America  to  Sweden,  which  it  is  the  desire  ot  the  King  of  Sweden 
to  present  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  that  vessel.     In  view  of  the  act  of  Congress 


76 


OFFICERS    AND    CREW    OF    THE    U.   S.   S.    BALTIMORE. 


with  regard  to  the  acceptance  of  presents  of  any  kind  by  officers  of  the  Navy  from 
foreign  governments,  the  matter  is  submitted  to  the  DepartmMit  of  State  for  sr.ch 
action  thereon  as  may  appear  to  it  to  be  proper. 

Very  respectfully,  F.  M.  Ramsay, 

Acting  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
The  Secretary  of  State. 


*  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore  (first  rate), 

Kiel,  Germany,  September  ^5,  1890, 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  yon  that  the  United  States  minister  at  Stock- 
holm, the  Hon.  W.  W.  Thomas,  jr.,  sent  on  board  this  vessel  on  Septemlwr  22,  the 
day  before  my  departure,  a  box  containing  354  medals  commemorative  of  the  trans- 
portation of  the  remains  of  the  late  John  Ericsson  from  America  to  Sweden  in  the 
U.  S.  S.  Bulthnore. 

One  of  the  medals  is  of  gold,  intended  for  the  commanding  officer;  31  are  of 
silver, intended  for  each  of  the  31  officei*son  board;  and  322  are  of  bronze,  intended 
for  ea'-h  one  of  the  crev^. 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  King  to  present  these  medals  to  the  officers  and  crew  as  a 
means  to  commemorate  the  service  rendered  by  them  to  Sweden  in  bringing  back 
to  his  home  and  countrj-  the  remains  of  his  most  distinguished  countryman. 

As  we  are  not  permitted  to  accept  these  medals  exceiit  by  the  authority  of  Con- 
gress, and  as  the  ship  will  be  absent  from  home  for  some  time  to  come,  I  would  ask 
the  Department,  on  behalf  of  the  officers  and  crew,  that  such  action  may  be  taken 
as  will  secure  the  necessary  Congressional  action  preliminary  to  their  accepting 
them. 

These  medals  merely  commemorate  an  incident,  and  are  not  intended  as  an  order 
or  as  a  decoration  of  any  kind  from  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway. 

The  box  containing  them  will  be  held  on  board,  and  the  medals  will  not  be  deliv- 
ered until  the  proper  authority  is  given  to  accept  them. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  S.  Schley, 
Captain,  U.  S.  N.,  Commanding, 
The  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 

Navy  Department,  Washington,  D.  C, 


List  of  officers  of  the  U.  S.  S,  Baltimore  when  the  remains  of  Ericsson  were  taken 

to  Stveden. 


Captain,  Winfield  Scott  Schley. 
Lieutenant-commander,  Uriel  Sebree. 
Lieutenant,  Edward  W.  Sturdy. 
Lieutenant,  Sidnej*  H.  May. 
Lieutenant,  Henry  McCrea. 
Lieutenant,  Robert  M.  Doyle. 
Lieutenant  (junior  grade),  James  H. 

Sears. 
Lieutenant  (junior  gi-ade),  Herbert  O. 

Dunn. 
Lieutenant   (junior   grade),   Benjamin 

W.  Wells. 
Lieutenant  (junior  grade),  William  S. 

Cloke. 
Naval  cadet,  John  B.  Patton. 
Naval  cadet,  William  D.  MacDougall. 
Naval  cadet,  Philip  Williams. 
Naval  cadet,  Julius  Prochazka. 
Navad  cadet,  George  L.  Fermier. 


Naval  cadet,  John  R.  Edie. 

Naval  cadet,  Lay  H.  Everhart. 

Naval  cadet,  Lawrence  H.  Moses. 

Naval  cadet.  Claud  B.  Price. 

Medical  inspector,  John  H.  Clark. 

Passed  assistant  surgeon.  Oliver  Diehl. 

Assistant  surgeon.  Edward  R.  Stitt. 

Paymaster,  William  W.  Woodhull. 

Chief  engineer,  Charles  E.  De  Valin. 

Passed  assistant  engineer,  Charles  P. 
Howell. 

Passed  assistant  engineer,  William  Row- 
both  am. 

Assistant  engineer.  George  R.  Salisbury. 

Chaplain,  Joseph  P.  Mclntyre. 

Captain  of  marines.  MenryH.  Coston. 

Pay  clerk,  William  M.  Long. 

Gunner,  Peter  Hanley. 

Carpenter,  John  S.  Waltemeyer, 


OFFICERS    AND    CEEW    OF   THE    U.   S.   S.   BALTIMORE. 


77 


List  of  men  on  hoard  the  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore  on  date  of  arrival  at  Stockholm,  Stoeden, 

September  12, 1890. 


Name. 


Abrahamsen,  A 

Ainsworth,  R 

Albertson,  Louis 

Allen,  J.  J 

Anderson,  Charles 

Andersen,  D.  N 

Andersen,  Jerry 

Avery,  Charles 

Burkhart,H 

Bacchus.  J.-  

Barbee,  William  A 

Bergman,  A 

Berneker,  Ulrich  J 

Birdsall,  D.  D 

Bleisner,  O 

Boyle,  Condy 

Branns,  Charles 

Briggeraan,  N.  J 

Braiiy,  J.  T 

Bro.WD,  Warren 

Brown,  John 

Brown,  Josejih 

Brown,  J.  G 

Broome,  0.  H 

Burke,  M.J 

Butts,  Robert ^^.. 

Burns,  J.  P 

Burns,  W.  H 

Carlsen,  F 

Carson,  T 

Carson,  John 

Conning,  O.  8 

Carroll,  G.  H 

Chase,  J.  A.  F 

Christie,  W.H 

Coyn, A  

Cott,  George  H 

Colquhoun,  William.. 

Cook,  J.  W 

Collins,  W 

Conway,  P , 

Carrin,  John 

Clausen,  R 

Cray,  William  D 

Craven,  Thomas 

Cutherell,  E.  J 

Cullin,W.F 

Dalstrom,  Charles 

Dayton,  F.  G 

Denni.son,  William 

Dexter,  John 

Donaldson,  A 

Downey,  John 

Downey,  E 

Duncan,  E 

Kagan,  Patrick 

Ebert,R  

Eble,  Charles 

Ell  wood,  Nicolas 

Eshikawa  Masatara. . . 

Fiunegan,  P 

Flynn,  S.  E 

Faster,  Louis -. 

Freeze,  John  W 

Friedrich.  Herman  ... 

Fullham,  Thomas , 

Furlong,  Jamos 

Gabrielson,  Niels  M .. 
Gallacher,  Thomas ... 

Gallops,  James 

Grillan,  James , 

Gorman,  M.  J 

Green,  Richard 

Gulsen,  Plerman 

Gustafson,  John  P 

Gustafson,  Charles  ... 

Gustafson,  Gustav 

Gilsinan,  Thomas 

Hall,  Thomas 

Hamilton,  John 

Harrison,  J.  J .... 


Sea. 

C.  hold. 

Sea. 

C.  H. 

Q.  M. 

Painter. 

C.H. 

2C.  F. 

C.H. 

O.  S. 

Lds. 

O.  S. 

Gr.  M. 

C.H. 

O.S. 

2  0.  F. 

Mach. 

Lds. 

C.H. 

2C.  F. 

Ch.  B.  M. 

Gr.  M. 

C.H. 

Pay.  yeo. 

Lds. 

W.  O.  C. 

2C.  P. 

C.  H. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

IC.F. 

C.H. 

C.H. 

Lds. 

2C.  F. 

Lds. 

C.  H. 

IC.F. 

Lds. 

C.H. 

C.  H. 

Cox. 

M.  A.  A. 

C.H. 

Mach. 

Mach. 

Q.  M. 

Sea. 

Qr.  gr. 

Qr.  gr. 

Mach. 

IC.F. 

C.  H. 

Lds. 

Lds. 

IC.  P. 

Lds. 

Sea. 

C.H. 

Steward. 

C.  H. 

Barber. 

Cox. 

Sea. 

O.S. 

C.  H. 

W.  T. 

Sea. 

2C.F. 

1  C.  P. 

•i  C.  F. 

C. and  C. 

Sea. 

C.  of  F. 

Lds. 

S.  Corp. 

IC.F. 

C.  and  C. 

Sea. 

C.  M. 

Sea. 


Name. 


Hayes,  William   

Horn,  Charles 

Hogan,  George , 

Holm,  Adolpli. 

Horgan,  Michael 

Houlihan,  Michael 

Hoey,  Frank 

Howard,  Charles 

Hurley,  J.  J 

Hunt,H 

Hughes,  James  S 

Hunt,  J.  H 

Iriski,  Sinjiro 

Jonbeck,  Peter 

Johnson,  Peter 

Johnson.  James  M 

Kearns,  Peter  J 

Kenny.  Thomas 

Kelly,  Edward 

Kinsey,  Frederick  E 

Kilbride,  John 

Kinklchi,  P 

Kondrup.J.J 

Kobayashi,  Edward 

Kraft,  Frederick , 

Kurz,  Frederich 

Kuma,  Moto 

Lacey,  William 

Larsen.K 

Lavery ,  James  P 

Lightfoot,  W.  H 

Lindstrom,  C.  G 

Little,  Louis 

Lucy,  Patrick 

Luf  tus,  James 

Mahoney,  Peter 

Maloney,John 

Marshall,  Harry 

Maramuchi.  T. 

Mallory.G.A.L 

Ma.sterson,  P.  F 

McCool,  William  J 

McShehy,  Samuel 

Mc  Adams,  John 

McGrath,  Joseph 

McKenna,  J.  P 

McBride.John 

McCarthy,  Owen 

McCarrier,  Samuel 

McGuinness,  Thomas... 

McWilliams.P 

Mil]er,D.M 

Miller,T , 

Mitchell,  Samuel  K 

Miskey,M.C 

Mass,  John 

Mori,  Joseph 

Martensen.Soren. 

Morgan,  James 

Murphy,  William 

Murray,  John 

Neil,  John 

Nelson.  Andrew 

Nevis,  John 

O'Brien,  James 

O'Donnell,  Lawrence  R . 

01sen,Kristian 

Olsen, Harry 

Oshima,  Joseph 

0'Toole,John 

O'Neill,  Patrick 

Oshimatsu,  Okado 

Packard,  Elijah 

Panter,  George 

Patterson,  Martin 

Peterson,  Harry 

Peterson.  Andrew 

Pfeifler,  Louis 

Pfeiflfer,  Alfred 

Phillips,  John  J 

Pickemell,  Frank 


Rate. 


Sea. 

C.  top. 

Cox. 

Sea. 

Oiler. 

2  C.  F. 

B'sraith. 

Lds. 

C.  and  C. 

Ch.Q.M. 

C.H. 

Sea. 

Lds. 

IC.F. 

(.>r.  gr. 

Oiler. 

IC.F. 

Sea. 

C.H. 

IC.F. 

C.H. 

W.  O.  S. 

O.S. 

Lds. 

Qr.  gr. 

C.stw. 

W.  R.  S 

C.H. 

Sea. 

Oiler. 

Lds. 

C.  top. 

Lds. 

C.H. 

C.H. 

IC.F. 

Lds. 

Qv.mr. 

Lds. 

IC.F. 

1  C.  P. 
Oiler. 
Bavman. 
W.T. 
2C.F. 
Cox. 
Oiler. 
W.T. 
C.H. 
C.H. 
C.H. 
W.T. 

C.  P.  C. 

Lds. 

E(|.  yeo. 

S.M.M. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

Oiler. 

IC.F. 

Br.  mkr. 

B.M. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

C.H. 

C.H. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

Str.  ook. 

Qr.  Gr. 

2  C.  F. 
Lds. 
Qr.  gr. 
C.H. 
Cox. 
Sea. 
Lds. 
Lds. 
Oiler. 
10.  P. 
Macb. 


78 


OFFICERS    AND    CREW    OF   THE    U.   8.   S.   BALTIMORE. 


lAst  of  men  on  board  the  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore  on  date  of  arrival  at  Stockholm,  Sweden, 
September  12,  i5&0— Continued. 


Name. 


Paulsen,  William  F 

Price,  George  L 

Qaisrley.. Joseph 

Quinlan,  Thomas  P 

Ouinland.John  J 

Keese,  William  L.. 

Readdy,  William 

RigKin.C.W 

Richardson,  B.  R 

Riddick,  Henry  W 

Robertson,  James 

Rodger 8,  George  W 

Rooney.John 

Scott,  Arthur 

Seymour,  James 

Semper,  Charles  B 

Sheehan.  Daniel 

Shemelis,  Adam 

Shields,  James 

Sheridan.  James 

Sbafer,  Adam  A 

Shea,  John 

Shimada,  Harakichi . ... 

Shinjiro,  Nagano 

Siebermann,  Frank 

Soden.John 

Spain,  Andrew 

Stewart,  Alex.  J 

Staples,  William 

Stickney,  Robert 

Swanson,  Adolph 

Smith.  Frederick...!... 

Sullivan,  William 

Tabb.PaulK 

Taliaferro,  Q.  D 

Thomas,  J.  A 

Tivnan,  John 

Townsend,  George  W . . 

Toner.  John  F.  

Turnbull,  George 

Turnbull,  William 

Trefethen.F.J 

Tinney.  James  A 

Wallace,  Lee  A    

Waterstreet.  Elias 

Watanabe,  Sadjiro 

Watanobay,  Talo 

Weislx)gel,  Albert 

Welch,  John  F 

Weiss,  Charles  L 

Weis.sell.  Adam 

Whannell.G.D. ...;„.. 

Whalen.J.E 

Whipkey,  Allen 

Wilson,  Charles 

Williams.  John 

Wilson,  Roliert 

Wilson, M.J 

Wilkinson,  Patrick  H  .. 
Williamson,  William ... 

Winter,  James 

Wetteland,  Olaf 

Yama,  Moto 


Rank. 


Lds. 

Ld». 

C.H. 

Eng,  yeo. 

Lds. 

Sea. 

C.H. 

B.M. 

O.8. 

2C.F. 

2C.F. 

IC.F. 

C.H. 

Sea. 

Oiler. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

S.cook. 

IC.F. 

Mach. 

C.H. 

Stw. 

Lds. 

O.S. 

Sea. 

Mach. 

IC.P. 

Bayman. 

OUer. 

Sea. 

Sea. 

IC.F, 

Mach. 

Lds. 

C.H. 

Lds. 

Cox. 

C.H. 

C.H. 

C.H. 

Apotta. 

Cb.  cook. 

Lds. 

2C.F. 

Lds. 

Lds. 

Cox. 

Oiler. 

Sea. 

J.O.D. 

8.gr. 

O.S. 

Armorer. 

Sea. 

C.H. 

Qr.M. 

Sea. 

Mach. 

B'smith. 

2C.F. 

Cox. 

Lds. 


Name. 


Apprtnticet 


Bechtle,J.J 

Bennett,  W.P 

Bo  rstel.  Frank 

Brigge,  William  A 

BrisccK.P 

Brosnan,  William  J 

Butler,.Tohn 

Burns,  William  K 

Cass,  Henry 

Cook.J.J 

Cunningham, H 

Dan^,H.J.S 

Davis.  Frederick  W 

Deleglise,  Albert  A 

Dunn,  CharlesD 

Ennis.  M.  S 

Grelier,  C.F 

Healey,  Thomas  W 

Hedenger,I.  B 

Hill.  Joseph 

Holdsworth.W.R 

Honnor.s,  Frank 

Hodge.R.J.J.S  

Kenuey,  Joseph 

Lilli.s,J.-A 

Lucas,  P.  J 

Leitner,  W.  J 

Mantz.  Louis 

McCormirk,  E 

McDonough.  T.P 

McEl wain,  Edward  N 

Moel,  Harry  F 

Moore,  Archibald 

Morris,  Charles  D 

Nickerson,  Horace  J 

Noonan,  John 

01sen,N.B 

Parkinson,  F.  W 

Powell, B.T 

Rogers.  John  F 

Ryan, George 

Reynolds.  W.H 

Rogers,  P.  V 

Schopp,  Otto 

Seeckts,  Albert 

Serini,J.  O 

Sheehan,  J.  A 

Smith, F.H 

Sterne,  Nick 

Talbot,  John  W 

Taylor,  J.  R 

Wendel,  Charles  Q 

Werz,  Charles  P 

Whidding,C.H 

White,  William  E 

Williams,  F.D 

Wilbur,  B.R 

Wightman,  James 

Williams,  T.H 

Willis,  C.  C 


Rank. 


8.A.1C. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

8.  A.  20. 

IC.A. 

S.A.2C. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

8.A.ia 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

8.  A.  20. 

S.A.2C. 

IC.A. 

S.A.2C. 

8.A.2C. 

S.A.1C. 

IC.A.     • 

S.A.1C. 

8.  A.  20. 

S.A.2a 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

S.A.2C. 

8.  A.  20. 

S.A.IO. 

S.A.2C. 

8.  A.  10. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

8.  A.  20. 

1  C.  A. 

8.  A.  2  0. 

S.A.IO. 

3  0.  A. 

IC.A. 

S.  A  2  O. 

IC.A. 

2C.A- 

10.  A. 

Bugler. 

S.  A.  1 C. 

2C.A 

IC.A. 

S.A.IO. 

8.  A.  2  0. 

30.  A. 

IC.A. 

IC.A. 

8.  A.  2  0. 

S.A.2C. 

S.A.IO. 

S.A.2C. 

IC.A. 

8.  A.  2  0. 

S.A.2  0. 

10.  A. 


INTERNATIONAL  EXHIBITIONS;  INTERNA 

TIONAL  CONFERENCES;  MARITIME 

CANALS;  PACIFIC  CABLES; 

RAILROADS. 


79 


I 


INTERNATIONAL    EXHIBITIONS;     INTERNATIONAL    CONFER- 
ENCES; MARITIME  CANALS;  PACIFIC  CABLES;  RAILROADS. 


THIRTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

August  30,  1852. 

[Senate  Report  No.  355.] 

Mr.  Mason  made  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  has  been  referred 
the  message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  the  27th  July, 
1852,  communicating  the  correspondence  between  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  respecting  the  right  of 
way  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  have  had  the  same  under 
consideration,  and  after  giving  to  the  subject  all  the  deliberation  which 
its  importance  demands,  now  respectfully  report: 

That  the  right  of  opening  a  communication,  by  artificial  way,  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  across  the  territory  of  Mexico  at 
the  Isthmus  of  Tehauntepec  was  conceded  to  Don  Jose  de  Garay,  a 
citizen  of  Mexico,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1842,  by  General  Santa  Ana, 
then  President  of  Mexico,  vested  with  the  "  supreme  power."  By  his 
decree  of  that  date,  in  the  name  of  the  "  supreme  government,"  "  the 
honor  and  faith  of  the  nation  are  pledged  to  maintain  the  projector, 
Don  Jose  de  Garay,  as  well  as  any  private  individual  or  company  suc- 
ceeding or  representing  him,  either  natives  or  foreigners,  in  the  undis- 
turbed enjoyment  of  all  the  concessions  granted." 

In  the  following  year,  Gen.  Nicholas  Bravo  having  succeeded  to  the 
Presidency,  tlie  grant  thus  made  by  Santa  Ana  was  recognized  and 
affirmed  by  his  decree  of  the  9th  of  February,  1843,  pursuant  to  which 
orders  were  issued  by  the  Government  of  Mexico  to  the  department  of 
Oaxaca  and  Vera  Cruz  to  put  Garay  in  possession  of  the  lands  con- 
ceded to  him  by  the  grant  of  1842  and  directing  that  every  facility 
should  be  extended  for  the  prosecutinn  of  the  work.  These  decrees 
were  executed  hy  those  departments,  and  Garay,  the  grantee,  put  in 
actual  possession  of  the  lands  conceded. 

On  the  6th  October,  1843,  Santa  Ana,  being  restored  to  power,  issued 
a  further  decree,  reciting  that  the  surveys  by  Garay  being  completed 
and  the  work  aljout  to  commence,  he  ordered  the  governors  of  the 
departments  of  Oaxaca  and  Vera  Cruz  to  furnish  300  convicts  to  be 
employed  on  the  work,  and  by  another  decree  of  the  28th  December, 
1843,  the  time  for  its  commencement,  which  was  to  expire  on  the  1st 
July,  1844,  was  extended  to  the  1st  July,  1845. 

The  Government  of  Mexico  during  this  period  was  subject  to  fre- 
quent i-evolutions.     Santa  Ana,  driven  from  power  in  the  winter  of 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 6  ai 


82  ISTHMUS   OF   TEHUANTEPEC. 

1844,  was  sncceeded  for  a  short  time  by  General  Paredes,  who  in  turn 
yielded  to  Mariano  de  Salas  as  Dictator, 

In  the  distracted  and  unsettled  condition  of  the  country,  resulting 
from  constant  revolution,  the  grantee  of  the  Tehuantepec  way,  fore- 
seeing that  he  would  probably  be  disabled  from  commencing  opera- 
tions so  early  as  July,  1845,  procured  the  passage  of  a  law  by  the 
Mexican  Chamber  of  Deputies  granting  further  time  to  commence  the 
work.  In  the  Senate  this  bill  had  a  favorable  report  from  the  appro- 
priate committee,  and,  it  is  not  doubted,  would  have  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Senate,  when,  by  a  sudden  and  violent  popular  convulsion, 
the  entire  Congress  was  dispersed. 

In  November,  1846,  Salas,  being  still  invested  with  supreme  power 
as  Dictator,  promulgated  a  decree,  which  was  a  copy  of  the  law  thus 
accidentally  frustrated,  giving  time  until  the  5th  of  November,  1848, 
for  the  commencement  of  the  work,  and  the  work  was  actually  com- 
menced prior  to  that  date. 

So  much  for  the  history  of  this  grant  whilst  in  the  hands  of  the 
original  grantee,  a  citizen  of  Mexico. 

During  the  years  1846-47  various  contracts  were  entered  into  be- 
tween Don  Jose  de  Garay,  the  grantee,  and  Messrs.  Manning  and 
Mcintosh,  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  which  were  formally  recognized 
and  consummated  at  the  City  of  Mexico  on  the  28th  September,  1848, 
and  by  which  the  grant  aforesaid,  with  all  its  privileges  and  incidents, 
was  transferred  to  the  latter. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1849,  this  grant  was  assigned  to  Peter  A. 
Hargous,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  who  subsequently  entered  into 
a  contract  to  assign  and  transfer  the  same  to  certain  citizens  of  New 
Orleans  on  terms  intended  to  secure  the  necessary  capital  to  execute 
the  work.     These  transfers  form  part  of  the  documents  communicated. 

In  December,  1850,  a  party  of  engineers,  with  a  competent  equip- 
ment, was  sent  out  from  the  United  States,  at  great  expense,  by  the 
American  assignees,  to  complete  the  necessary  survej's  on  the  Isth- 
mus, who  continued  so  employed  until  the  month  of  June  following, 
when  they  were  required  to  discontinue  the  work  and  to  leave  the 
country.  This  was  effected  through  a  letter  from  the  governor  of 
Tehuantepec,  dated  June  3,  1851,  transmitting  from  the  governor  of 
Oaxaca  an  order  from  the  minister  of  relations  in  Mexico,  issued  in 
pursuance  of  a  law  approved  by  the  President  of  the  Mexican  Repub- 
lic on  the  22d  May,  1851 ;  by  which  law  the  grant  to  Garay  was  made 
null  and  void. 

The  committee  have  thus  briefly  traced  this  grant  from  its  incep- 
tion to  its  regular  and  legitimate  transfer  to  its  present  holders,  all  of 
whom,  it  is  believed,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

It  will  be  seen  that  by  the  terms  of  the  grant  and  the  decree  of  1842, 
on  which  it  was  founded,  the  "honor  and  faith"  of  Mexico  were 
pledged  to  maintain  the  grantee,  "as  well  as  any  private  individual 
or  company  succeeding  or  representing  him,  either  natives  or  foreign- 
ers, in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  the  concessions  granted." 

It  wiU  be  seen  that  the  period  for  commencing  the  work  was  extended 
from  time  to  time  by  the  Mexican  Government  until  it  expired  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1845,  under  the  circumstances  detailed  above.  And  it 
will  be  seen  that  as  soon  as  the  Government  became  once  more  estab- 
lished this  single  lapse  was  cured  by  the  decree  of  Salas  of  November, 
1846,  giving  two  years'  further  time,  until  the  5th  November,  1848,  tc 
commence  the  work,  and  that  the  work  was  actually  commenced 
within  this  period. 


ISTHMUS    OF   TEHUANTEPEO.  83 

The  committee  will  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment has,  subsequently  to  this  decree  of  November,  1846,  recognized, 
in  the  most  unequivocal  manner,  the  binding  validity  of  this  grant, 
and  admitted  its  obligation  to  abide  by  it. 

In  1846-47  the  assignment  of  the  grant  to  Manning  &  Mcintosh  was 
duly  notified  to  the  Government  of  Mexico,  and  on  their  complaint 
President  Herrera  issued  orders  to  the  governors  of  Oaxaca  and  Vera 
Cruz  to  prevent  the  cutting  of  mahogany  on  the  lands  granted  by  any 
other  than  the  English  company. 

In  1847,  while  the  treaty  of  peace  was  under  negotiation,  Mr.  Trist, 
the  commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  by  instruction 
from  his  Government,  proposed  a  large  money  consideration  to  Mexico 
for  a  right  of  way  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehauntepec,  and  was 
answered  "that  Mexico  could  not  treat  on  this  subject  because  she 
had  several  years  before  made  a  grant  to  one  of  her  own  citizens,  who 
had  transferred  his  right,  by  authorization  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment, to  English  subjects,  of  whose  rights  Mexico  could  not  dispose." 

After  the  assignment  of  the  grant  to  the  present  American  holders 
the  minister  of  the  United  States  in  Mexico  was  instructed  by  his 
Government  to  apprize  that  of  Mexico  of  the  desire  of  this  company 
to  commence  their  work  by  a  thorough  survey  of  the  isthmus;  and  the 
minister  was  further  instructed  to  make  overtures  for  a  treaty  secur- 
ing to  the  enterprise  the  joint  protection  of  the  two  Governments. 
The  Mexican  Government,  as  we  learn  from  the  correspondence  of 
Mr.  Letcher  with  the  Mexican  minister  of  foreign  relations,  "made 
not  the  slightest  opposition  in  forwarding  passports,  and  issued  orders 
to  the  departments  of  Oaxaca  and  Vera  Cruz,  not  only  to  avoid  inter- 
posing any  obstacles  in  their  way,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  afford 
them  aid  and  hospitality."  "The  engineers,"  Mr.  Letcher  adds, 
"were  accordingly  sent,  the  ports  thrown  open  for  their  supplies, 
and  more  than  1100,000  have  been  expended  in  surveys,  opening 
roads,  etc.,  besides  a  large  sum  of  money  in  furnishing  materials,"  etc. 

This  is  not  all.  The  Government  of  Mexico  at  once  assented  to 
enter  into  negotiations  for  the  proposed  treaty,  and  a  convention  for 
the  joint  protection  of  the  work  thus  to  be  executed  by  American  citi- 
zens, as  assignees  of  the  Garay  grant,  was  concluded  at  Mexico  in 
June,  1850,  and  sent  to  the  United  States.  To  this  convention  certain 
modifications  being  suggested  by  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washing- 
ton, it  was  returned  to  our  minister  in  Mexico,  and  the  whole  termi- 
nated by  a  new  convention,  signed  at  Mexico  on  the  2oth  of  January, 
1851,  with  the  approval  of  President  Herrera.  This  last  convention 
was  ratified  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  and  returned  to  Mex- 
ico, and  finally  rejected  by  the  Mexican  Congress  in  April,  1852. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  by  the  twelfth  article  of  this  convention 
it  was  required  that  the  holder  of  the  Garay  grant  (then  being  Mr. 
Hargous,  an  American  citizen)  should  file  with  the  Mexican  minister 
at  Washington  his  written  assent  to  the  convention  before  it  should 
be  submitted  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  ratification.  This 
was  accordingly  done,  on  the  21st  February,  1851,  through  the  Secre- 
tary of  State ;  but  the  Mexican  minister  declined  to  recognize  it  on  the 
ground  of  absence  of  instructions  from  his  Government. 

Previously,  however,  to  the  rejection  of  this  convention  by  the 
Mexican  Congress  the  law  was  passed,  before  adverted  to,  annulling 
the  decree  of  Salas  of  November,  1846,  and  with  it  the  Garay  grant. 

The  rejection  by  Mexico  of  the  convention  concluded  with  the 
approbation  of  President  Herrera,  and  subsequently  ratified  by  the 


84  ISTHMUS   OF   TEHUANTEPEO. 

Senate  of  the  United  States,  however  calculated  to  disturb  the  har- 
mony of  the  relations  between  this  Government  and  Mexico,  had  not 
the  slightest  effect  upon  the  validity  of  the  Garaj'^  grant,  nor  is  it  so 
pretended.  On  the  contrary,  the  sole  ground  upon  which  Mexico  rests 
for  the  vacation  of  this  grant  is  that  it  was  forfeited  by  failure  to 
commence  the  work  before  the  1st  July,  1845,  and  that  the  decree  of 
Salas  of  November,  1846,  which  cured  the  alleged  forfeiture,  was  null 
because  he  was  in  possession  of  supreme  power  by  usurpation,  or 
because  he  transcended  the  powers  of  a  usurper.  And  this  strange 
position  is  assumed  by  Mexico  in  the  face  of  the  repeated  subsequent 
recognitions  of  its  existence  and  validity  which  are  hereinbefore 
recited.  Respect  for  that  Government  alone  restrains  the  committee 
from  speaking  of  this  position  in  the  terms  it  would  seem  to  require. 

The  Government  of  Salas  was  that  of  Dictator,  vested  with  supreme 
power.  It  was  acknowledged  and  submitted  to  by  the  people  of 
Mexico  and  treated  with,  while  it  lasted,  as  the  Government  de  facto. 
After  having  accomplished  the  purpose  of  creating  a  federal  system, 
an  election  for  membei-s  of  Congress  was  held  by  his  decree,  which 
met  pursuant  thereto.  To  that  Congress  the  Dictator  communicated 
the  decrees  made  by  his  Government  ad  interim,  and  with  them  this 
very  decree  of  November,  1846. 

Amongst  the  decrees  thus  issued  during  the  dictatorship  of  Salas 
are  several  of  the  charactor  of  general  laws,  not  one  of  which  was  dis- 
affirmed by  Congress,  nor  was  his  authority  ever  questioned  as  the 
lawmaking  power  for  the  time  being,  until  found  convenient  to  do  so 
for  the  purpose  of  annulling  this  grant  after  it  became  the  property  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

The  doctrine  that  the  government  de  facto  is  the  government  respon- 
sible has  been  fully  recognized  by  Mexico  herself  in  the  case  of  the 
dictatorship  of  Salas,  as  of  those  who  preceded  him.  It  is  a  principle 
of  univei-sal  law  governing  the  intercourse  of  nations  with  each 
other  and  with  individuals,  and  this  Government  can  not  and  ought 
not  to  treat  with  indifference  a  departure  from  it  by  Mexico  in  the 
l)resent  instance. 

There  is  a  remaining  view  of  this  question  which  the  committee  are 
not  at  liberty  to  disregard,  and  that  is  the  embarrassment  into  which 
the  relations  of  the  two  Governments  is  thrown  by  the  conduct  of 
Mexico  in  the  negotiations  which  have  taken  place  in  reference  to  this 
grant. 

Two  fonnal  conventions,  having  for  their  basis  this  grant  of  a  right 
of  way,  the  value  and  importance  of  which  to  the  people  and  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  was  fully  exposed  to  Mexico  as  the  induce- 
ment on  our  part  to  negotiate,  were  actually  signed  at  the  City  of 
Mexico  by  ministers  dulj'  empowered  by  their  respective  Govern- 
ments, the  last  of  which,  formally  ratified  by  the  Senate,  has  been 
rejected  by  the  Mexican  Congress. 

The  committee  are  aware  that  a  refusal  by  one  government  to  enter 
into  treaty  stipulations  with  another  upon  a  prescribed  subject  should 
not  as  of  course  be  considered  an  indication  of  unfriendly  feeling; 
yet  regarding  the  circumstances  attending  the  protracted  discussions 
which  terminated  in  the  second  convention  spoken  of  above,  with  its 
prompt  rejection  by  the  Congress  of  Mexico;  regarding  the  fact  fully 
made  known  to  Mexico,  that  the  interests  of  the  Government  and  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  were  deeply  involved  in  obtaining  the 
right  of  way  proposed;  and  finally  that  it  has  been  refused  at  lastbj' 
the  discourtesy  of  rejecting  a  treaty  proffered  bv  the  United  States, 


ISTHMUS    OF   TEHCANTEPEO.  85     "- 

and  by  the  violent  sacrifice  of  a  valuable  property  belonging  to 
citizens  of  tlie United  States,  fo'-  the  preservation  of  which  the  "honor 
and  faith"  of  Mexico  were  formally  pledged,  the  committee  can  not 
but  look  on  tiie  occasion  as  one  authorizing  if  not  requiring  this 
Government  to  review  all  of  its  existing  relations  with  the  Government 
of  Mexico. 

Certainly  in  what  has  passed  there  is  to  be  found  but  little  assur- 
ance of  tliat  friendly  feeling  on  the  part  of  that  Republic  which  leads 
nations  to  connect  themselves  by  treaty  obligation,  or  which  makes 
it  desirable  to  continue  such  as  have  been  previously  contracted. 

In  the  correspondence  submitted  with  the  message  of  the  President 
the  committee  have  seen  with  entire  approbation  that  the  executive 
department  has  been  fully  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tions involved  in  this  controversy,  and  of  the  grave  attitude  they  may 
assume  should  Mexico  persevere  in  her  refusal  of  the  redress  which  is 
required  at  her  hands. 

In  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Senor  Luis  de  la  Rosa,  the 
Mexican  minister  at  Washington,  dated  April  30,  1851,  after  an  able 
and  comprehensive  review  of  the  whole  question,  the  Secretary,  refer- 
ring to  the  probable  rejection  of  the  treaty  by  Mexico  (which  a  letter 
of  the  Mexican  minister  led  him  to  anticipate),  concludes  in  the 
following  emphatic  terms: 

The  President  of  the  United  States  can  not  persuade  himself  that  such  a  calamity 
as  its  rejection  by  Mexico  now  impends  over  the  two  countries. 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  La  Vega,  the  successor  to  Senor  La  Rosa, 
of  the  loth  March,  1852,  the  Secretary  of  State  says: 

If,  however,  these  hopes  should  prove  to  be  unfounded,  and  the  convention 
should  not  go  into  effect,  this  Government  will  feel  itself  compelled  to  take  into 
consideration  the  measures  which  its  duty  to  its  own  citizens  may  require  it  to 
adopt  to  protect  their  rights  under  a  voluntary  grant  made  by  Mexico  of  the 
transit  way  at-ross  the  isthmus.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  can  in  no 
event  be  expected  to  abandon  those  rights,  and  ardently  hopes  that  the  Mexican 
Government  will  do  justice  to  them  in  season. 

And,  finally,  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the  occasion,  and  to 
avert  if  possible  consequences  of  the  magnitude  of  which  to  the  two 
countries,  while  this  question  remains  unsettled,  none  can  be  blind, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  addressed  himself  directly  to  the 
President  of  Mexico  by  a  letter  of  the  19th  of  March,  1852,  from  which 
the  committee  quote  as  follows: 

In  addition  to  the  motives  I  have  urged  for  the  speedy  ad  ^ustment  of  this  matter, 
I  beg  leave  most  earnestly  to  call  the  attention  of  Your  Excellency  to  the  probable 
difficulties  that  may  grow  up  between  the  two  nations  should  Mexico  break  her 

E lighted  faith  in  the  grant  to  Garay.  Our  citizens,  relying  upon  her  good  faith, 
ave  become  interested  in  that  grant;  they  have  advanced  large  sums  of  money  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  out  its  objects;  they  have  survej'ed  a  route  for  a  railroad 
and  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  constructing  it;  and  it  is  not  possible  that 
they  should  now  be  deprived  of  the  privileges  guaranteed  by  that  grant  and 
sustain  the  heavy  losses  that  must  ensue  without  appealing  to  their  own  Govern- 
ment for  the  enforcement  of  their  rights.  My  anxious  desire  is  to  avoid  the  too 
probable  consequences  that  must  result  from  such  an  appeal.  We  can  not,  if  we 
would,  be  indifferent  to  it.  It  is  a  duty  which  every  government  owes  to  its  own 
citizens  to  protect  their  rights  at  home  and  abroad:  and  the  conse  luences  growing 
out  of  the  disagreement  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Garay  grant  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Mexico  are  such  as  no  true  friend  of  this  country  or  of  Mexico  can  look 
upon  with  indifference. 

The  committee  are  fully  prepared  to  sustain  the  executive  depart- 
ment in  the  position  assumed  toward  Mexico  in  the  correspondence 


86  ISTHMUS    OF   TEHUANTEPEO. 

here  referred  to,  and  conclude  by  recommending  to  the  Senate  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  As  the  judgment  of  the  Senate,  that  in  the  pn^sent  postnre  of  the 
question  on  the  grant  of  a  right  of  way  through  the  territory  of  Mexico  at  tlie 
Isthmus  of  Tehanntepec.  conceded  by  that  Republic  to  one  of  its  citizens,  and 
now  the  property  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  the  same  is  presented  by  the 
correspondence  and  documents  accompanying  the  message  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  the  27th  July,  1852,  it  is  not  compatible  with  the  dignity  of  this 
Government  to  prosecute  the  subject  further  by  negotiation. 

2.  Should  the  Government  of  Mexico  propose  a  renewal  of  such  negotiation,  it 
should  be  acceded  to  only  upon  distinct  propositions  from  Mexico  not  inconsistent 
with  the  demands  made  by  this  Government  in  reference  to  said  grnnt. 

3.  That  the  Government  of  the  United  States  stamls  committed  to  all  of  its 
citizens  to  protect  them  in  their  rights,  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  within  the 
sphere  of  its  jurisdiction;  and  should  Mexico,  within  a  reasonable  time,  fail  to 
reconsider  her  position  concerning  said  grant,  it  will  then  become  the  duty  of 
this  Government  to  review  all  existing  relations  with  that  Republic,  and  to  adopt 
such  measures  as  will  preserve  the  honor  of  the  country  and  the  rights  of  its 
citizens. 

Since  this  report  was  prepared  and  ready  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Senate  the  committee  were  apprised  that  a  correspondence  had  taken 
place  between  Mr.  Larrainzar,  the  Mexican  minister  to  the  United 
States,  at  Washington,  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  communicating  to 
the  Department  further  correspondence  on  the  subject  of  the  transit 
way  at  Tehuantepec;  a  note  was  accordingly  addressed  by  the  chair- 
man of  the  committee  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  asking  for  copies  of 
such  correspondence. 

The  reply  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  with  a  supplementary  note  from 
the  chief  clerk  of  the  Department  communicating  tliese  papers, 
'  accompanies  this  report.  They  have  been  examined  by  the  commit- 
tee, but  they  find  nothing  in  them  requiring,  in  their  opinion,  any 
modification  of  their  report  or  the  resolutions  accompanying  it. 


Department  of  State, 

Washington.  Aiu/vst  SO,  185S. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  28th 
instant,  and  herewith  transmit  a  copy  ot  the  correspondence  between  the  Depart- 
ment and  the  Mexican  minister  respecting  the  documents  relative  to  Tehuantepec, 
not  included  in  the  report  of  this  Department  to  the  President  on  the  subject,  and 
a  translation  of  the  papers  which  accompanied  Mr.  Larrainzar's  note  of  the  2iith 
instant,  which,  however,  was  not  received  at  the  Department  until  late  on  Friday, 
the  27  th  instant.  It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  the  papers  are  of  material  impor- 
tance, or  should  influence  the  deliberations  of  the  committee  or  delay  its  report. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Danl.  Websteb. 
Hon.  J.  M.  Mason, 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate, 


Department  of  State,  August  SO,  1S59. 
My  Dear  Sir:  The  clerk  who  copied  Mr.  Webster's  note  to  Mr.  Larrain7jir.  of 
the  18th  instant,  having  accidently  mislaid  the  draft,  it  has  been  deemed  fidvis- 
able  not  to  delay  sending  the  other  papers.  That  note,  however,  merely  .=aid  that 
the  only  paper  mei)tioned  by  Mr.  Larrainzar  as  wantiuirin  the  correspoiidencf'  as 
puiilJshed,  which  could  be  found  in  the  Department,  or  which  had  ever  Veen  there, 
was  the  note  of  Mr.  Buckingham  Jmith  to  Mr.  Macedo.  which  was  not  deemed 
either  verj'  important  or  relevant  to  the  subject.  In  order  that  the  whole  series 
may  be  complete.  I  will  probably  send  you  in  the  course  of  the  day  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Webster's  note  to  Mr.  Larrainzar.  above  referred  to. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  Hdntee,  Chief  Clerk. 
Hon.  J.  M.  Mason. 


ISTHMUS    OF   TEHUANTEPEO.  87 

Mr.  Larraiiizar  to  Mr.  \Vebstet\ 
[Translation.] 

Washington,  August  11,  1852. 

The  unflersigned,  envoy  extraoi-dinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Mexi- 
can iiepublic.  has  the  honor  to  address  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of 
State,  the  present  communication,  with  the  desii^n  of  manifesting  to  him  that  in 
a  publication  which  has  been  made  by  order  of  the  Senate  of  the  diplomatic  corre- 
spondence and  documents  relating  to  the  business  of  Tehuantepec,  certain  notes 
are  not  to  be  found  which  the  undersigned  believes  of  considerable  importance  to 
an  exact  understanding  of  the  circumstances  attending  this  serious  affair. 

The  notes  which  are  wanting  in  the  published  correspondence  are  as  follows: 
One  of  Mr.  Kosa  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  of  the  1st  of  April,  1851;  another  of  the 
minister  of  foreign  relations  of  Mexico  to  Buckingham  Smith,  esq.,  of  the  3d  of 
August  of  same  year;  three  from  Mr.  Letcher  to  the  minister  of  relations  of 
Mexico,  of  the  6th  and  liJth  of  January  and  the  7th  of  April  of  the  present  year, 
1852,  and  three  from  said  minister  of  relations  to  Mr.  Letcher,  of  the  8th  of  Janu- 
ary  and  the  6th  and  11th  of  last  April. 

If  the  Secietary  of  State,  coinciding  in  opinion  with  the  undersigned,  should 
make  the  same  estimate  of  their  importance,  it  would  afford  him  much  satisfac- 
tion to  see  that  his  suggestion  had  obtained  the  object  had  in  view. 

The  undersigned  seizes  this  occasion  *to  offer  anew  to  the  Secretary  of  State  the 
assurances  of  his  very  distinguished  consideration. 

Manuel  Labrainzah. 


Mr.  Larrainzar  to  Mr.  Webster. 
[Translation.] 

*  Washington,  August  19, 185?. 

Sir:  The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
Mexican  Republic,  advised  by  the  note  of  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State, 
of  the  inability  tojind  among  the  papers  of  the  Department  the  notes  referred  to 
in  that  which  the  undersigned  had  the  honor  to  address  him  on  the  11th  instant, 
has  directed  copies  to  be  made  of  all  of  said  notes.  The  undersigned  will  be  care- 
ful to  remit  Jhem  to  the  Secretary  of  State  as  soon  as  possible,  in  compliance  with 
the  indication  which  he  was  pleased  to  make. 

In  the  meantime  he  has  the  greatest  pleasure  in  renewing  the  assurances  of  his 
very  distinguished  consideration. 

Manuel  Laebainzab. 


Mr.  Larrainzar  to  Mr.  Webster, 
[Translation.] 

Washington,  August  S6, 185S. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  tlie  Mex- 
ican Republic,  complying  with  his  offer  to  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of 
State,  in  his  official  note  of  the  tilth  instant,  has  the  honor  to  inclose  copies  of  the 
eight  notes  to  which  special  reference  was  made  in  the  note  of  the  11th  instant, 
which  he  had  the  honor  to  direct  to  him. 

The  undersigned  would  be  much  gratified  if  the  same  publicity  were  given  to 
these  notes  as  that  which  the  other  documents,  concerning  the  Tehuantepec  busi- 
ness, received;  that  was  the  object  of  the  aforementioned  note,  and  he  hopes  that 
the  Secretary  will  find  his  indication  founded  m  reason. 

The  undersigned  gtlways  has  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  renewing  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  his  very  distinguished  consideration. 

Manuel  Larrainzar. 


88  ISTHMU8    OF   TEHUANTEPEO. 

Mr,  la  Rosa  to  Mr.  Webster, 
[Translation.] 

Mexican  Legation  in  the  United  States  of  America, 

W'lishinyton,  April  /,  1851. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraortlinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Mex- 
ican Republic,  has  the  honor  to  address  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  purpose  of 
saying  that  until  now  he  had  conceived  it  to  be  his  duty  to  urge,  as  he  has  urged, 
his  request  for  a  reply  to  his  note  of  the  7th  of  last  month  relative  to  the  Tehuan- 
tepec  treaty.  The  Secretary  of  State  has  refused  up  to  this  time  to  give  said 
reply,  jierhaps  because  he  may  have  thought  proper  to  treat  upon  this  business 
directly  with  the  Government  of  Mexico,  or  through  some  other  channel.  The 
undersigned  therefore  l^elieves  that  it  would  no  lonj^er  be  decorous  in  him  to  insist 
further  in  requesting  the  reply  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

The  undersigned  will  tlierefore  henceforward  preserve  a  complete  silence  upon 
this  point,  unless  he  shall  find  himself  obliged  to  interrupt  it  because  of  some 
grave  circumstance  arising,  or  because  of  new  instructions  which  he  may  receive 
from  his  Ghsvernment.  But  he  desires  that  this  silence  may  not  be  attributed 
either  to  a  forgetfulness  of  his  duty,  or  much  less  to  a  desistance  from  what  he 
has  unfolded  to  the  Secretary  of  State  in  his  aforesaid  note  of  the  7th  ultimo. 

The  Government  of  Mexico  has  comiilieJ  with  all  that  ,tcood  faith  and  its  fidelity 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  reiiuired  from  it  in  making  the  declara- 
tions and  giving  the  explanations  contained  in  the  aforesaid  note,  lor  greater 
exactitude  in  its  deliberations,  it  desired  to  know  the  views  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  in  regard  thereto.  If  it  should  unfortunately  happen  that, 
from  the  long  silence  which  the  Secretary  of  State  has  thought  proper  to  preserve 
with  this  legation  upon  this  subject,  any  serious  diflBculty  should  sooner  or  later 
arise  between  the  two  Governments,  neither  the  undersigned  nor  the  Govern- 
ment of  Mexico  will  be  responsible  for  this  result.  The  undersigned  has  endeav- 
ored to  prevent  it  as  far  as  it  has  been  in  his  power,  animated  as  he  is,  as  well  as 
his  Government,  with  the  liveliest  desire  that  the  relations  of  amity  and  good 
will,  which  happily  exist  between  the  two  Republics,  may  be  preserved  unalterable. 

The  undersigned  fears  lest  the  reserve  and  prolonged  silence  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  toward  this  legation  may  be  a  fresh  source  of  diflBculty  in  Mexico  in  respect 
to  the  approval  of  the  treaty  by  Congress.  The  Secretary  of  State  will  at  once 
perceive  that  his  silence  may  be  interpreted  in  a  thousand  ways  by  the  multitude 
of  persons  who,  as  deputies  or  senators,  are  to  take  part  in  the  revision  and  exami- 
nation of  the  treaty  referred  to. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  reiterate  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  the  assurances  of  his  most  distinguished  consideration. 

Luis  de  la  Bosa. 

Hon.  Daniel  Websteb,  etc. 


Mr.  Macedo  to  Mr.  Smith, 

[Translation.] 

National  Palace,  Mexico,  August  S,  1851. 
The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  relations,  has  the  honor  to  state  to  Mr. 
Buckingham  Smith,  charge  d'affaires  ad  interim  of  the  United  States,  that,  accord- 
ing to  information  which  the  Government  of  Mexico  has  received.  American  ves- 
sels are  quite  frequently  departing  from  New  Orleans  bound  direct  to  Minatitlan, 
notwithstanding  that  the  latter  is  not  an  open  port,  and  that  the  vice-consul  in  the 
said  city  of  New  Orleans  has  constantly  relused  to  grant  them  the  necessary  docu- 
ments. In  this  manner  has  sailed  the  pilot  boat  Helen  Mar.  which  was  brought 
from  Guatzacoalcos  to  Vera  Cruz,  there  condemned  by  the  district  judge  to  a  fine 
of  $"3(30  and  the  expenses  arising  from  her  being  brought  to  said  port;  and  her 
captain,  James  Silkirk,  in  order  not  to  pay  said  fine,  abandoned  the  vessel  m 
Vera  Cruz,  to  which  case  the  undersigned  calls  the  attention  of  Mr.  Bucking- 
ham Smith,  protesting  that  Mexico  is  not  responsible  for  any  loss  which  ma}' 
ensue  to  the  owners  of  the  Helen  Mar  because  of  the  abandonment  of  her  by  her 
captain.  In  like  manner  the  so-called  Tehuantepec  Railroad  Company,  in  the  dis- 
patch of  the  schooner  United  States  and  the  ])arks  Znrabia  and  Abuar/re,  whose 
captains,  in  conjunction  with  the  secretary  of  said  company,  have  made  protests 


ISTHMUS    OF   TEHUANTEPEO.  89 

against  the  Mexican  vice-consul  and  the  authorities  of  this  Republic  because 
they  do  not  permit  vessels  to  be  freely  cleared  for  Miuatitlan,  giving  as  a  reason 
Vi^hat  they  call  the  rights  of  the  company  (which  this  Government  does  not  recog- 
nize), and  that  there  is  an  American  consul  at  Minatitlan;  wherefore  they  affect 
to  understand  it  to  be  and  open  port. 

Furthermore,  the  aforesaid  company,  through  its  secretary,  has  published  in 
the  New  Orleans  newspapers  proposals  for  the  sale  to  it,  in  th«  present  month  and 
until  the  1st  day  of  next  month,  of  two  river  steamboats,  and  for  contracts  in  its 
service  of  50i)  laborers,  who  they  say  are  to  be  employed  in  the  Isthmus. 

In  view  of  these  circumstances  which  may  excite  j^opuJar  feeling  upon  this 
subject  imd  compromise  the  honor  of  Mexico,  the  (lOve;  nment  of  the  undersigned 
has  res  )lved  that  there  not  being  now  any  o  casion  for  the  American  consul  in 
Minatitlan.  since  in  the  present  state  of  things  the  laws  of  this  Republic  do  not 
jjeimit  foreigti  vessels  to  be  admitted  into  Guatzacoalcos.  the  exequatur  which  on 
the  14th  January  of  this  year  was  granted  on  the  appomtment  of  Mr.  John  O. 
Robert  as  consial  ad  interim  at  said  place  is  revoked  and  the  permission  subse- 
quently granted  by  the  Govi-rnment  of  the  undersigned  on  the  11th  of  February 
last  for  Mr.  Alexander  Pleasant  to  act  as  consular  agent  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  said  place,  Minatitlan;  and  he  hopes  that  the  charge  d'affaires  of  the 
United  States  will  be  pleased  to  so  inform  those  gentlemen  directly. 

The  undersigned  also  hopes  that  Mr.  Smith  in  communicating  this  measure  to 
his  Government  will  signify  to  it  that  there  have  been  no  other  influences 
toward  dictating  it  than  pacific  considerations  and  the  desire  to  preserve  due  har- 
mony between  the  two  nations  by  removing  a  pretext  of  the  violation  of  the  laws 
of  iMexico  toward  persons  who,  from  their  interests  being  ill  understood,  are 
induced  to  desire  to  violate  them. 

The  undersigned  reiterates  to  Mr.  Smith  the  assurances  of  his  distinguished 
consideration. 

Mariano  Macedo. 

Mr.  BucKiN(iHAM  Smith, 

Charge  d' Affaires  ad  interim  of  the  U.  S.  A, 


Mr.  Letcher  to  Mr.  Ramirez. 

[Translation.] 

Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America, 

Mexico,  January  6,  1852. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  has  the  hoijor  to  reassure  Mr.  Ramirez  of  his  sincere 
consideration,  and  to  avail  himself  of  the  earliest  opportunity  to  manifest  to  his 
excellenc}'.  very  respectfully,  that  having  consented  to  open  negotiations  relative 
to  the  treaty  of  Tehuantepec— as  has  been  done  heretofore,  with  a  view  to  its  modi- 
fication, seeing  that  the  difficulties  have  been  renewed  as  far  as  relates  to  its  ratifi- 
cation by  the  Government  of  Mexico,  and  the  conferences  having  been  commenced 
concerning  the  projet  which  was  presented  on  the  8d  instant  by  Mr.  Ramirez  in 
substitution  of  the  treaty  as  it  now  stands— the  undersigned  finds  himself  under 
present  cir>  unistances  bound  by  a  proper  consideration  of  his  duty  to  indicate 
frankly  and  expressly  to  Mr.  Ramire:^  that  in  truth  it  is  absolutely  and  indis- 
pensably necessary  and  proper  that  the  time  specified  for  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty,  which  expires  on  the  2oth  instant,  should  be  prolonged  in  order  that  the 
business  may  be  definitely  arranged  in  the  manner  which  its  vast  importance 
requires. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned  it  is  altogether  impossible  that,  in  the  period 
of  a  few  days,  the  articles  of  a  treaty  which  embraces  so  many  importan,t  interests 
can  be  minutely  arranged  and  modified. 

All  must  acknowledge  that  the  communication  between  the  two  great  oceans, 
which  it  is  the  so  e  object  of  the  treaty  to  establish  on  just  and  equitable  bases,  is 
the  grandest  and  most  magnificent  enterprise  of  the  present  century.  If  it  should 
be  accomplished  a  new  era  will  dawn  on  the  entire  commercial  world.  All  the 
civilized  nations  of  the  globe  are  more  or  less  interested  in  the  successful  conclu- 
sion of  this  immense  advancement,  and  Mexico  more  than  any  other. 

It  seems  to  the  undersigned  that  the  importance  of  the  measure  requires  more 
time  for  mature  deliberation;  but  he  will  not  stop  to  speak  of  it  for  it  speaks  for 
itself.  Therefore,  considering  the  state  of  the  negotiation  and  looking  at  it  in  all 
its  aspects  and  bearings,  he  would  add  that  he  sincerely  desires  that  without  hesi- 
tation you  will  accede  to  the  reasonalile  prorogation  which  the  undersigned 


90  I8THMD8   OF   TEflUANTEPEC. 

reqneets.  He  flatters  himself  at  the  same  time  that  a  very  satisfactory  arrange- 
ment can  be  made  of  all  the  difficalties  before  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid  pro- 
rogation. Time  for  deliberation  and  investigation  can  not  prejudice  anyone  and 
can  only  contribute  to  promote  the  great  object  aimed  at. 

Before  closing  this  note  the  undersigned  should  remark  that  from  the  first  inter- 
view had  with  y9ur  excellency  up  to  this  date  your  excellency  has  evinced  in 
relation  to  this  business  the  best  disposition  to  proceed  freely  and  openly  and  with 
enlightened  liberality,  and  he  has  confidence  that,  animated  by  the  same  spirit, 
you  will  promptly  and  willingly  agree  that  it  is  altogether  proper  that  the  nego- 
tiation should  be  concluded  within  the  limited  time  above  designated. 

K.  P.  Letcheb. 


Mr.  Ramirez  to  Mr.  Letcher, 
[Translation.] 

National  Palace,  Mexico,  January  8, 1852. 

The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note 
of  his  excellency,  Mr.  R.  P.  Letcher,  of  the  fith  of  the  present  month,  in  which  he 
acknowledges  the  receipt  of  the  projet  of  a  convention  which  was  presented  to 
him  on  the  3d  instant  as  a  substitute  for  that  signed  on  the  '35th  of  January  of 
last  year  by  his  excellency  and  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Republic  for 
the  opening  of  the  communication  by  the  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec. 

In  reference  thereto,  and  remarking  in  relation  to  the  impossibility  of  regulating 
conveniently  so  serious  a  business  in  the  very  few  days  which  remain  between  this 
and  the  25th.  the  time  fixed  for  the  ratification,  his  excellency  desires  that  the  time 
should  be  extended  to  the  same  date  of  the  coming  month  of  June. 

The  undersigned  comprehends  fully  the  correctness  and  reason  which  exist  for 
this  extension,  considering  the  state  in  which  this  business  now  is,  and  althongh 
the  undersigned  has  had  no  intervention  therein,  yet,  wishing  to  give  a  decided 
proof  of  his  sincere  desire  to  obviate  all  ground  for  complaint  or  occasion  for  diffi- 
culty with  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  also  as  a  mark  of  consiuera- 
tion  so  merited  by  its  worthy  representative,  signifies  to  him  a  disposition  to  con- 
sent to  a  prolongation  of  time  sufficient  for  the  negotiation  which  has  been  begun 
in  relation  to  the  aforesaid  work,  although  he  would  limit  it  to  the  8th  day  of  next 
April,  at  which  time  it  will  be  considered  as  terminated  if  the  object  contemplated 
should  not  be  accomplished.  This  is  as  much  as  the  undersigned  can  do  with  a  view 
to  preserve  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  two  Republics,  in  despite  of  difficulties 
and  embarrassments  which  Mr.  Letcher  will  know  how  to  appreciate. 

The  acquiescence  given  by  the  undersigned  revives  a  condition  agreed  to  by  your 
excellency,  and  which  he  desires  to  see  ratified  in  the  reply  to  this  note.  That  con- 
dition is  that  nothing  shall  be  commenced  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
or  its  citizens  interested  in  opening  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  in  the  state  in 
which  this  business  now  is  toward  advancing  the  iindertakiug,  not  even  under 
the  pretext  of  collecting  materials  or  making  reconnaissances,  for,  in  case  of  their 
so  doing,  the  Government  of  Mexico  reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  put  a  termina- 
tion to  the  negotiation,  in  whatever  state  it  may  be.  without  prejudicing  its  right 
to  act  in  conformity  with  the  declarations  and  protests  which  were  made  to  your 
excellency  in  its  note  of  the  13th  of  last  December. 

The  undersigned  renews  to  Bis  Excellency  Mr.  Letcher  the  assurances  of  his 
high  consideration. 

J.  Fernando  Bamibez. 

His  Excellen  7  R.  P.  Letchek, 

Envoy,  etc.,  and  Minister,  etc.,  of  the  U.  S.  A, 


Mr.  Letcher  to  Mr.  Ramirez. 
^Translation.] 

Legation  of  United  States  of  Amkrioa, 

Mexico,  January  10.  185S. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Uni  ted 

States  of  America,  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note  of  His  Excellency  Mr.  Ramirez, 

of  the  8th  instant,  in  reply  to  the  one  directed  to  him  on  the  6th,  which  proposed 

to  extend  until  the  25th  of  Jime  next  the  time  for  the  ratification  of  the  convention 


ISTHMUS    OF   TEHUANTEPEC.  91 

of  25th  of  January  last,  relating  to  the  opening  the  way  of  communication  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Tehaantepec,  for  reasons  of  public  interest  which  are  considered 
conclusive. 

Knowing  Mr.  Ramirez,  as  he  does  very  well  the  strength  of  the  reasons,  and 
impelled  by  just  principles  of  liberality  and  sound  policy  as  far  as  relates  to  the 
important  object  which  is  embraced  by  the-  negotiation,  he  accedes  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  time  until  the  Sth  of  April  next.  The  undersigned  will  refrain  from 
using  a  single  expression  of  displeasure  or  complaint  in  reference  to  the  resolution 
adopted  by  his  excellency,  although,  considering  the  circumstances  attendant  on 
this  business,  and  with  the  greatest  respect,  lie  will  say  that  the  time  granted  by 
Mr.  Ramirez  is  much  less  than  the  undersigned  expected.  He  will  assent,  however, 
to  the  decision  of  his  excellency,  and,  in  consequence  thereof,  agrees  that  the  period 
shall  be  continued  until  the  8th  day  of  April,  believing,  however,  that  it  should 
have  been  extended  to  a  longer  time.  The  undersigned  has  no  just  reason,  not  the 
most  remote,  to  fear  that  during  the  pendency  of  negotiations  any  attempt  will  be 
made  by  the  'New  Orleans  company  or  any  other  to  take  possession  of  the  Isthmus 
by  force.  But  if,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  the  undersigned,  such  a  thing 
should  happen,  Mr.  Ramirez  has  re.served  to  himself  in  such  a  contingency  the 
right  to  submit  to  Congress  the  convention  of  2r)th  of  January,  all  of  which  he  has 
manifested  to  the  undersigned  as  well  by  words  as  in  writing. 
Embracing  this  occasion,  etc., 

R.  P.  Lktcher. 

His  Excellency  Josi':  F.  Ramirez, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


Mr,  Ramirez  to  Mr.  Letcher, 
[Translation.] 

National  Palace,  Mexico,  April  6, 1852. 

The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  has  received  the  note  of  His  Excel- 
lency R.  P.  Letcher,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister,  etc. ,  of  thedate  of  yesterday, 
and  although  diplomatic  usage  would  justify  him  in  returning,  without  replying 
to,  a  communication  which  does  not  refrain  from  personalities,  yet  he  will  keep  it 
for  the  particular  importance  which  it  has  in  relation  to  other  intentions,  and 
without  entering  into  the  business  deeply,  will  limit  himself  to  a  few  observations 
the  nature  of  which  requires  they  should  be  known  to  the  Qovernment  of  the  United 
States  through  its  minister. 

The  undersigned  deems  it  necessary,  although  it  may  seem  of  little  importance, 
to  commence  by  fixing  the  character  of  the  note  in  question.  It  appears  that  your 
excellency  sent  it  as  a  reply  to  the  circular  with  which  was  communicated  to  the 
diplomatic  corps  the  report  relative  to  the  business  of  Tehuantepec  published  by 
this  department;  but  this  is  not  certainly  the  character  with  which  it  should  come, 
for  your  excellency  announced  said  note  ever  since  the  2"^d  of  the  anterior  month — 
that  is,  before  it,  the  circular,  was  printed,  and  even  before  it  was  concluded,  and 
it  was  announced  with  the  view  of  communicating  officially  the  last  instructions 
of  your  Government,  in  virtue  of  which  the  undersigned  was  advised  that  the 
negotiations  then  pending  might  be  considered  as  put  a  stop  to,  referring  to  the 
treaty  of  Tehuantepec. 

In  a  note  again  presented  a  few  days  subsequent  thereto — asked  for  by  the  under- 
signed in  his  confidential  letter  of  the  1st,  and  finally  promised  by  your  excellency 
in  your  reply  of  same  day — you  offer  "to  show  your  instructions  again."  The 
character  has  entirely  changed  in  your  note  of  yesterday,  for  your  excellency, 
taking  exception  to  his  intentions,  even  enters  into  the  question  concerning  the 
rights  of  Garay  and  the  company  of  New  Orleans— a  thing  which  you  never 
wished  to  do,  notwithstanding  the  urgings  of  the  unda  signed,  to  whom  you 
declared  explicitly,  and  many  times,  that  you  did  not  wish  lo  touch  that  .question. 

In  the  presence  of  these  antecedents,  the  surprise  manifested  by  Mr.  Letcher  is 
more  and  more  incomprehensible  at  the  publicalion  of  the  report,  and  which  he 
qualifies  as  "improper  and  unheard  of  in  the  annals  of  negotiations."  It  is  not 
so,  for  the  report  relates  to  public  acts,  and  in  it  no  reference  whatever  is  had  to 
the  negotiation.  It  is  not,  for  the  history  of  diplomacy  presents  an  infinity  of 
examples  of  publications  made  before  and  during  the  continuance  of  the  same 
negotiations,  even  in  relation  to  points  therewith  connected.  It  is  not,  for  that 
relating  to  which  reference  is  now  made  took  place  after  your  excellency  declared 
the  negotiation  concluded.    Finally,  if  it  were,  which  it  is  not,  the  fault  which  is 


92  ISTHMUS   OF   TEHUANTEPKC. 

now  imputed  belongs  altopjether  to  your  excellency;  for  the  nndersigned,  not  for- 
getting tor  a  moment  the  system  of  sincerity,  frankness,  and  conrtesy  which  he 
proposed  to  observe  in  all  his  conferences  and  rehitions,  intimated  to  Mr.  Letcher, 
m  one  held  toward  the  close  of  February  or  i  ej^inning  ot  March,  "that,  seeing 
that  your  excellency,  your  (iovernmeut.  and  the  directors  of  the  company  were 
completely  deceived  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  Garay.  he  had  commenced  writing 
a  report  on  the  subject,  which  he  proposed  to  publish,  to  undeceive  them  and  rec- 
tify the  opinion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  whole  world  that 
they  judgeiJ  of  Mexico  by  false  and  garbled  information. '  The  undersigned 
added  "that  its  justice  was  so  evident  that  he  doubted  not  that  your  excellency 
would  be  persuaded  of  it  whenever  he  shall  have  read  it.'  To  this  announcement, 
made  with  ihe  frankness  and  good  faith  which  the  words  show.  Mr.  Letcher  only 
replied  that,  in  consideration  of  the  bu8ine!?s  which  occupied  the  undersigned,  it 
would  be  proper  to  suspend  the  conferences  for  some  days  in  order  that  the  under- 
signed might  have  tlie  repose  and  time  necessary  to  conclude  it,  asking  that  it 
might  be  communicated  as  soon  as  it  was  printed.  They  thus  separated;  the  cou- 
ferencas  in  effect  were  suspended  for  more  than  a  week;  they  were  not  opened 
afterwards  until,  with  the  intention  of  making  known  to  the  undersigned  that 
dispatches  and  instructions  lately  received  directed  your  excellency  to  exact  the 
approval  of  the  treaty  in  the  same  terms  in  which  it  was  agieed  upon,  and  that  if 
not  approved  the  negotiation  should  Le  considered  as  terminated.  In  view  of  the 
above  tacts,  which  Mr.  Letcher  will  not  have  forgotten,  the  surprise  is  inconceiv- 
able which  he  manilests  at  the  publication  of  the  report,  and  the  charge  which  he 
makes,  founded  thereon,  is  truly  unheard  of. 

If  the  resolution  which  the  undersigned  has  taken  stood  not  in  the  way  to  pre- 
vent examination  of  the  points  treated  of  by  Mr.  Letcher,  it  would  be  very  easy  to 
destroy  their  foundations,  tor  they  (without  making  reference  to  those  intended 
to  have  an  impression  on  the  imagination)  are  based  entirely  on  a  suppression  of 
the  principal  facts,  or  on  a  8upi)08-tion  of  others  which  have  never  existed,  and  do 
not  now  exist.  These,  as  well  as  others  treated  of  by  your  excellency,  will  be 
revealed  and  ratified  at  the  proper  time  and  in  such  manner  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  will  be  convinced  that  the  execution  of  the  great  work  will 
not  be  frustrated  by  the  unjust  and  capricious  resistance  of  Mexico,  but  by  the 
private  interest  of  three  or  four  persons. 

Although  the  undersigned,  in  virtue  of  the  position  which  he  holds  and  his 
birth,  considers  that  he  has  a  right  to  have  some  infiupnce  in  the  deliberations  of 
Congress  in  reference  to  any  matter  which  may  affect  the  interests  of  his  country, 
he  has  not  used  it  as  he  now  assures  Mr.  Letcher,  in  whom  he  recognizes  no  right 
to  take  him  to  task  for  so  doing;  and  he  finds  himself  so  far  from  fearing  the  light 
(the  system  adopted  by  your  excellency  of  subjecting  the  will  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people),  that,  leaving  every  one  in  tranquil  possession  of  doing  what 
he  may  think  best,  he  now  transmits  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  the  treaty,  and 
with  it  your  note,  without  making  any  explanation  whatever  in  regard  to  it,  in 
this  manner  complying  with  th^-  wishes  of  your  excellency  in  this  respect,  as  also 
putting  an  end  to  the  negotiation. 

The  undersigned,  feeling  deeply  the  unexpected  and  disagreeable  termination 
which  His  Excellency  R.  P.  Letcher  has  given  to  a  negotiation  which  gave  so 
much  promise,  and  not  forgetting  the  affecting  manifestations  with  which  he  has 
been  honored  and  to  which  he  has  cordially  corresponded,  will  not  conclude  this 
note  without  renewing  to  your  excellency  the  assurances  of  his  high  consideration 
and  respect. 

Jost  Fernando  Bauibez. 

His  Excellency  B.  P.  Letcher, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  U.  S.  A, 


Mr.  Letcher  to  Mr.  Ramirez. 
[Translatioii.  ] 

Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America, 

McvicD,  Ajiiil  7,  1852. 
The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  had  the  honor  last  night  to  receive  the  note  of  Mr. 
Ramirez  of  yesterday,  in  reply  to  one  transmitted  to  his  excellency  a  few  days 
smce. 

The  undersigned  truly  regrets  to  see  that  h  s  exce'.lency  has  permitted  himself  to 
Le  so  excited  in  irelation  to  it,  and  certainly  without  any  just  cause  of  personal  provo- 


ISTHMUS    OF    TEHUANTEPEC.  93 

cation  on  the  part  of  the  undersigned.  He  has  but  a  few  words  to  say  in  reply.  As 
an  act  of  justice  to  himself,  he  declares,  with  great  sincerity  and  truth,  that  in 
the  transmission  of  said  note  he  had  no  motive  or  design  to  wound  the  sensibility 
of  his  excellency  nor  of  any  other  person  whatever.  He  considered  the  circular 
(which  Mr.  Ramirez  deemed  proper  to  publish)  premature  and  out  of  the  regular 
routine  of  negotiations,  and  exx)ressed  his  opinion  with  that  freedom  which  his 
excellency  has  uniformly  used  with  him.     Was  this  cause  of  otfense? 

The  undersigned  has  objected,  decidedly,  to  the  mode  which  Mr.  Ramirez  wished 
to  adopt  in  manifesting  his  opposition  to  the  Tehuantepec  communication,  and  in 
the  same  manner  he  still  objects  to  it. 

It  is  true,  as  his  excellency  observes,  that  he  communicated  to  the  undersigned 
his  intention  of  making  known  to  the  world  his  views  in  relation  to  Garay's  grant; 
but  the  undersigned  supposed,  of  course,  that  he  would  have  done  it  in  the  way 
customary  under  actual  circumstances.  He  expected  to  receive  a  copy  of  the 
report  in  the  form  of  an  official  note,  and  supposed  that  afterwards  it  would  be 
published.  But  certainly  he  never  had  the  most  remote  idea  that  it  would  be 
given  to  the  public  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  which  his  excellency  in  fact 
chose. 

On  this  point  it  was  the  intention  of  the  undersigned  to  express  his  views  frankly 
but  respectfully.  It  was  not  by  any  means  that  he  should  be  understood  as  arro- 
gating to  himself  the  right  of  reprimanding  his  excellency  nor  any  other  person. 
The  undersigned  will  not  forbear  to  say  that  a  difference  of  opinion  and  the  liberty 
of  dissent  which  emanates  from  this  difference  of  opinion  ought  not  to  be  taken 
as  a  i-epriinand. 

His  excellency  seems  to  insinuate  that  the  undersigned  wishes  in  his  note  to  give 
offense  to  Mexico.  Such  insmuation  is  entirely  gratuitous  and  unjust.  The 
undersigned  desires  the  prosperity  of  Mexico.  He  anxiously  desires  to  see  her 
advancing,  even  to  the  highest  point  of  elevation;  his  most  ardent  sympathies 
have  been  for  a  long  time  in  her  favor.  The  undersigned  is  the  last  man  in  the 
world  who  would  say  or  do  anything  which  would  in  the  least  degree  offend  or 
injure  Mexico.  If  all  were  animated  by  the  same  sentiments  which  inspire  the 
undersigned  in  relation  to  her,  she  would  soon  be  seen  elevated  to  a  high  eminence. 
The  undersigned  re  [uests  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  add  that  his  favorable 
sentiments  can  not  be  changed  by  any  injustice  that  it  may  be  his  lot  to  receive 
from  any  person. 

His  excellency  complains  that  the  undersigned  always  avoided  a  discussion  of 
the  merits  of  the  concession  of  Qaray.  This  is  most  assuredly  the  fact.  But  why? 
For  the  reason  that  the  undersigned  discovered  the  very  first  moment  that  he  had 
the  pleasure  of  knowing  his  excellency  that  he  was  very  susceptible  and  that 
whoever  might  gain  an  advantage  over  him  in  an  argument  which  his  excel- 
lency had  invited  would  incur  his  never-ending  displeasure.  Knowing  very  well, 
as  did  the  undersigned,  that  if  he  permitted  himself  to  enter  into  a  discussion 
with  his  excellency  while  his  excellency  sustained  the  untenable  side  of  the  ques- 
tion, he  consequently  could  not  maintain  it,  the  undersigned  refused  to  be  drawn 
into  it;  he  believed  it  much  more  proper  to  leave  his  excellency  to  his  own  reflec- 
tions. 

The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  the  pres9nt  occasion  to  assure  his  excellency 
that,  let  him  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  prosperity  or  oppressed  by  adversity,  whether 
in  good  or  bad  humor,  he  will  always  ardently  desire  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  his  excellency. 

R.  P.  Letcher. 


Mr.  Ramirez  to  Mr.  Letcher. 
[Translation.  ] 

Natioxal  Palace,  Mexico,  April  11,  1S52. 
The  undersigned,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  a  note  of  the  7th  instant  from  His  Excellencj'  R.  P.  Letcher,  in  reply  to 
the  note  which  was  sent  to  him  by  the  undersigned  on  the  day  previous.  He 
laments  equally  with  your  excellency  that  in  the  power  of  feeling  and  the  mode 
of  seeing  objects  they  should  dilfer  so  widely,  and  that  he  finds  even  the  explana- 
tions which  occupy  their  attention  clothed  in  the  same  dress  as  the  anterior  note 
and  forming  a  part  of  the  same  proper  system.  There  might  not  have  been  any 
design,  as  your  excellency  says,  to  wound  the  sensibility  of  any  i)erson;  but  the 
undersigned,  who  can  only  judge  of  the  proper  signification  and  strength  of  words 


94  ISTHMUS    OF    TEHUANTEPEO. 

without  searching  for  intentions,  saw,  and  still  sees,  that  those  referred  to  tran- 
scended the  rules;  for  althougli  harsh  and  even  disaj^reeable  phrases,  drawn  out  by 
confidence  in  the  cause  which  is  defended,  may  be  excusable  in  the  hecit  of  dis- 
cussion, they  should,  however,  be  so  restrained  as  never  to  descend  to  person- 
alities. The  undersigned  acknowledges  that  he  has  made  use  of  the  license  per- 
mitted to  him,  although  not  to  so  great  an  extent  as  your  excellency,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  has  the  consciousness  that  he  has  never  once  been  wanting  in  that 
respect  and  consideration  due  to  himself. 

But  dropping  this  question,  concerning  which  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  will  form  its  judgment  in  view  of  its  practice  and  the  antecedents,  the 
undersigned  will  only  add  a  few  lines  to  rectify  certain  ideas  which  Mr.  Letcher 
has  referred  to,  with  a  view  to  obviate  the  inferences  which  might  be  drawn  from 
a  silence  being  observed  thereon.  * 

The  undersigned  is  certain  that  he  never  gave  to  your  excellency  at  any  time 
reason  to  believe  that  the  report  which  he  published  concerning  the  privilege  of 
Garay  should  be  communicated  in  the  form  of  an  official  note  previously  to  its  pnl> 
lication.  On  the  contrary,  and  in  the  most  express  and  explicit  manner,  he  said 
that  it  was  his  intention  to  publish  it  forthwith.  It  was  exactly  this  manifesta- 
tion which  induced  your  excellency  to  suspend  the  conferences  and  to  request 
that  one  of  the  first  copies  might  be  sent  to  you.  That  request  is  irreconcilable 
with  any  such  belief.  Moreover,  the  previous  assent  of  your  excellency  was 
unnecessary,  for  the  reason  that  a  topic  was  treated  of  which  had  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  public  press  for  years  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  negotiation. 

The  proof  of  this  assertion  is  found  in  the  declarations  which  JSJr.  Letcher  has 
ceased  not  to  repeat  and  which  he  has  reiterated  in  his  last  note.  His  excellency 
agrees  that  he  never  wished  to  open  the  discussion  concerning  the  iustice  of  the 
concession  of  Garay;  and  although  he  now  explains  his  re-istance  with  a  new  per- 
sonal offense  which  he  unjustly  C(  mmits  against  the  undersigned,  the  truth  is  th  it 
his  excellency  was  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  business,  and,  as  is  appar- 
ent, did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  inform  himself  of  it  entirely.  In  evidence  o;  the 
first  is  the  surprise  which  the  sight  of  the  deed  of  2(jth  of  July,  1846,  entered  into 
between  Garay  and  Mcintosh,  caused;  and  the  second  is  clear  from  a  certain 
declaration,  which  his  excellency  will  not  have  forgotten  to  have  made  to  the 
undersigned  when,  being  pressed  on  this  point,  he  said  that  he  had  already  made 
up  his  opinion  on  this  business  and  that  nothing  would  induce  him  to  change  it. 
The  report  then  treated  of  a  question  which,  according  to  Mr.  Letcher,  was 
entirely  extraneous  and  foreign  to  the  negotiation.  So  likewise  had  the  Congress 
considered  it.  when  it  only  examined  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  the  treaty 
submitted  for  its  delibei  ation,  without  taking  the  least  account  of  the  concession 
of  Garay. 

In  the  extremity  to  which  the  affair  has  arrived  the  undersigned  thinks— not 
from  his  own  too  great  delicacy,  however— that  it  is  proper  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
discussion,  since  it  can  not  conduce  to  any  useful  or  positive  result,  tending  to  the 
advancement  of  the  great  work  so  desired  by  the  two  Republics.  That  of  Mexico, 
firm  and  persevering  in  her  purpose,  will  apply  her  resotirces  to  its  acconii)lish- 
ment  without  at  the  same  time  refusing  foreign  assistance,  much  less  the  effica- 
cious cooperation  of  the  United  States  and  the  other  nations  interested  in  main- 
taining and  securing  free  and  liberal  transit  over  the  new  way  of  communication 
for  the  commerce  of  the  whole  world.  The  uiidersigned,  in  this  manner,  has 
addressed  himself  to  the  Government  of  Mr.  Letcher,  and  he  hopes  that  under  less 
adverse  auspices  all  difficulties  will  be  removed,  all  interests  reconciled,  and  that 
with  them  will  be  more  firmly  consolidated  the  bonds  of  friendship  by  which  both 
countries  are  united. 

The  undersigned  expects  that  the  measure  proposed  will  meet  the  approbation 
of  Mr.  Letcher,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  arrangement  of  the  other  questions  pending, 
and  that  he  will  receive  it  as  a  new  mark  or  the  consideration  and  respect  which 
he  offers  to  his  excellency. 

Jose  F.  Bahirez. 

To  His  Excellency  R.  P.  Letcher, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  of  tlie  United  States. 


Mr,  Webster  to  Mr,  Larrainzar, 

Department  op  State, 

Washingtov.  Ainpisf  18,  185S. 
The  undersigned.  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  has  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  note  of  Mr.  Larrainzar,  envoy  extraordinary  and 


INTEET^ATTONAL    MARITIME    EXHIBITIO^T.  95 

minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  of  the  11th  instant,  specifying 
some  papers  relative  to  the  Tehuantrpec  negotiation  as  having  been  omitted  in 
the  pamphlet  recently  published  i  y  order  of  the  Senate,  and  suggesting  that  they 
are  important  to  a  full  understanding  of  the  subject.  In  reply  the  undersigned 
has  the  honor  to  acquaint  Mr,  Lariainzar  that  the  only  paper  he  mentions  which 
can  be  found  on  the  files  of  the  Ueiartnient  is  the  note  of  Air.  Buckingham  Smith 
to  the  min  ster  of  foreign  relations  of  Mexico,  of  the  3d  of  August,  1851.  It  is 
presumed  that  this  was  purposely  omitted  in  the  report  of  this  Department  to  the 
Pres:dent  because  it  was  i;ot  considered  to  have  any  direct  connection  with  the 
subject.  It  merely  ex]iresses  the  wisli  of  the  Mexican  Government  that  the  acting 
consulate  of  the  United  States  at  Minatitian  should  be  discontinued. 

The  correspondence  beiween  Mr.  Letcher  and  the  minister  of  foreign  relations 
of  the  Mexican  Republic,  to  which  Mr.  Larrainzar  refers,  has  never  been  received 
at  this  Department;  and  if  the  note  of  Mr.  La  Rosa,  of  the  1st  of  April,  18ol.  was 
communicated  it  has  been  mislaid.  The  undersigned  will  consequently  thank 
Mr.  Larrain/ar  for  a  copy  of  these  ])apers,  and  avails  himself  of  Ihis  occasion  to 
offer  him  a  renewed  assurance  of  his  very  distinguished  consideration. 

Danl.  Webster. 

Senor  Don  Manuel  Larrainzar,  etc. 


[See  pp.  ,] 

FORTIETH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

January  15,  1868. 

[Senate  Report  No.  9.] 

Mr.  Siimner,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

A  RESOLUTION  providing  for  the  representation  of  the  United  States  at  the 
International  Maritime  Exhibition,  to  be  held  at  Havre. 

Resolved  hy  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  be  authorized  to  detail  one  or  more  ofl&cersof  the  navy,  as  he  shall 
think  best,  to  be  present  at  the  International  Maritime  Exposition,  to 
be  held  at  Havre,  under  the  auspices  of  the  French  government,  from 
the  first  of  June  to  thirty-first  of  October  of  the  present  year,  there  to 
represent  the  United  States,  and  otherwise  to  promote  the  interests 
of  exhibitors  from  our  country:  Provided,  That  no  expenditure  shall 
accrue  therefrom  to  the  treasury,  or  to  any  public  fund,  nor  shall  any 
mileage  or  other  expenses,  or  any  additional  compensation  be  paid 
to  such  persons  as  may  be  designated  under  authority  of  this  resolu- 
tion, nor  shall  any  national  or  public  vessel  be  employed  to  convey  the 
oflicers  so  detailed  to  or  from  the  place  of  such  exhibition. 

Approved  March  12,  18G8. 


Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  S,  1868. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  your  consideration,  and  that  of  the  commit- 
tee over  which  you  preside,  tlie  inclosed  translation  of  a  note  of  the  2'lth  of  No- 
vember last,  and  a  (  opy  of  the  printed  papers  which  accompanied  it,  in  relation  to 
an  international  maritime  e.xhibition  proposed  to  be  held  at  Havre  from  the  1st  of 
June  to  the  ;?lst  ol  October,  It- 6^,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
Prince  Imperial  of  France.  The  note  of  .\!.  Berthe-ny.  under  the  instructions  of 
his  Government,  conveys  to  that  of  the  United  States  an  invitation  to  participate 
in  this  exhibition  and  a  request  that  commissioners  may  be  appointed  on  the  part 
pf  this  Government  to  perfect  the  arrangements  necessary  for  a  representation; 


96  INTERNATIONAL    MARITIME    EXHIKITION. 

and  it  also  conveys  a  request  that  the  printed  papers  may  Ije  published  in  this 
countrj'  tor  the  infonnaton  of  our  citi  :en8. 

In  the  absence  of  legal  anthority  f  <r  adopting  any  of  the  measures  above  sng- 
gi'Sted  it  IS  left  for  Con  stress  to  signify  its  decsion  as  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
courteous  in  vita:  ion  thus  officially  communicated  and  as  to  the  other  measures 
involved  in  such  accejitance.  it  is  presumed  ihat  if  Congiess  autiiorizes  an 
acceptiince  of  the  invitation  the  limit  set  for  the  reception  of  applications  from 
this  country  will  be  extended  sufficiently  to  enable  our  citizens  to  be  admitted 
as  exhibitors.  And  it  would  probably  be  we'.l.  in  the  event  of  acceptance,  to  make 
it  conditional  upon  an  extension  of  that  time  to  the  10th  of  February  next. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant. 

WiLLiAJC  H.  Sevtabd. 
Hon.  Charles  Si  mner. 

Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Iielations,.Senate, 


Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  6,  1SG8. 

Sir:  With  reference  to  my  letter  of  the  'Ith  instant  c  oncerning  a  proposed  mari- 
time exhibition  at  Havre.  France,  I  have  the  hunor  to  inform  you  that  since  that 
letter  was  written  information  has  been  received  through  our  legation  at  Paris 
that  the  condit  on  wh'ch  I  suggested,  in  the  event  of  fin  acceptance  by  authority 
of  Congress  of  the  invitation,  has  been  anticipated  by  the  directors  of  the  exhibi- 
tion. Corrected  copiesof  the  printed  regulations  have  1  een  accordingly  forwarded 
to  the  Department,  in  which  the  15th  of  February  next  is  nismedas  the  latest  date 
for  the  reception  of  apiilications. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

William  H.  Sewabd. 
Hon.  Charles  Summer, 

Chairman  of  tlie  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate, 


[Translation.] 

Legation  of  France  to  the  United  States, 

Washington,  November  24,  1867. 

The  Se-^retary  of  State:  An  International  Maritime  Exposition  is  to  take 
place  at  Havre  from  the  1st  of  June  to  the  Slst  of  October  of  the  coming  year. 
This  enterprise,  of  which  the  Emperor  and  the  Prince  Imperial  have  designed  to 
accept  the  patronage,  is  being  organized  with  the  cooperation  of  the  municipal 
administration  of  the  city,  through  the  care  of  a  general  committee  constituted 
under  the  honorary  presidency  of  the  senator,  prefect  of  the  Lower  Seine.  In 
giving  notice  of  this  projected  exposition  to  your  excellency  I  have  the  honor  to 
inform  you  at  the  same  time  of  the  value  which  the  committee  would  attach  to 
seeing  the  Federal  Goverament  appoint  commissioners  who  would  place  them- 
selves in  relations  with  it. 

The  work  it  is  in  view  to  carry  out.  in  fact,  is  interesting  to  all  maritime  nations, 
and  in  this  respect  the  United  States  are  called  upon  to  take  therein  so  considera- 
ble a  part  that  the  expectation  can  not  but  be  believed  to  be  well  foimded  that 
they  will  give  a  favorab'e  reception  to  the  earnest  wishes  the  expression  whereof  I 
am  instructed  by  my  Governm'Ut  to  transmit  to  you. 

I  have  the  honor,  in  consequence,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  to  annex  hereto  two 
copies  of  the  programme  and  of  the  regulations,  as  well  as  some  forms  of  applica- 
tions for  admission,  begging  you  to  have  the  kindness  to  cause  that  official 
publicity  to  be  given  to  these  documents  which  comports  with  the  usages  of  the 
Administration. 

The  information  which  they  contain  permits  the  communication  of  an  exact 
statement  of  the  object  of  the  maritime  exhibitions  and  of  the  principal  condi- 
tions of  its  organization. 

Accept,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  the  assurances  of  my  high  consideration. 

Berth  EM  Y. 

Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  etc. 


INTERKATIONAL    MARITIME    EXHIBITION.  97 

Mr.  Morris  to  Mr.  Seward. 

No.  51.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Havre,  November  25,  1867. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  the  Department  that  a  Maritime  International 
Exhibition  will  be  held  at  Havre  next  year. 

The  particular  utility  of  the  landertaking,  strongly  urged  by  the  French  press, 
has  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Imperial  Government,  and  His  Majesty  the 
Emperor,  foreseeing  the  benefits  which  will  inevitably  follow  to  French  commerce 
from  such  an  enterprise,  has  bestowed  his  powerful  patronage  upon  the  same, 
and  the  Government  is  now  concerting  measures  to  insure  its  success. 

Inclosed  I  beg  to  transmit  a  number  of  pamphlets  containing  the  rules  of  the 
exhibition  and  other  necessary  data  for  exhibitors. 
I  likewise  forward  a  plan  of  the  exhibition  itself,  which  is  now  being  erected. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

DwiGHT  Morris, 
United  States  Consul. 
Hon.  William  H.  Seward, 

Secretary  of  State, 


Mr,  Morris  to  Mr.  Seward, 

No.  54.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Havre,  December  14,  1867. 

Sir:  I  beg  respectfully  to  refer  to  my  dispatch  No.  51,  and  have  now  the  honor 
to  transmit  to  the  Department  some  additional  information  in  relation  to  the 
Maritime  International  Exhibition  of  this  city,  showing  the  constantly  increas- 
ing importance  of  the  undertaking  and  the  deep  interest  evinced  in  its  success  by 
the  Imperial  Government. 

I  learn  from  a  reliable  source  that  His  Majesty  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  and 
the  Prince  Imperial  will  all  furnish  a  number  of  prizes,  in  specie  and  otherwise, 
for  distribution  to  the  exhibitors. 

The  ministers  of  marine  and  of  commerce  have  likewise  promised  to  allot  a 
handsome  sum  to  the  enterprise,  and  the  city  of  Havre  will  devote,  it  is  said, 
50,000  francs  to  the  same. 

The  minister  of  marine  will,  besides,  forward  all  the  objects  exhibited  by  his 
department  at  the  late  Paris  exhibition,  and  the  board  of  salvage  will  furnish  as 
large  a  number  of  its  lifeboats  as  possible. 

The  number  of  French  exhibitors  already  inscribed  is  no  less  than  2,000. 

Belgium  and  Italy  will  likewise  exhibit  those  articles  pertaining  to  their  marine 
which  figured  at  the  grand  exposition,  and  have  appointed  special  commissioners 
to  reside  at  Havre. 

The  number  of  Belgian  private  exhibitors  is  75;  that  of  Italian  exhibitors  90. 

Great  Britain  has  promised  to  appoint  a  commissioner,  and  no  less  than  733 
English  exhibitors  are  now  inscribed. 

Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark  have  already  appointed  commissioners,  and 
their  Governments  laave  promised  to  send  all  the  objects  exhibited  by  their  marine 
departments  at  the  Paris  Exhibition.  The  number  of  Swedish,  Danish,  and  Nor- 
wegian exhibitors  is  47. 

Austria  has  already  furnished  35  exhibitors,  and,  it  is  thought,  will  shortly  ap- 
point a  special  commissioner. 

Prussia  has  appointed  a  commissioner  and  will  exhibit  its  marine  models,  etc.. 
which  figured  at  Paris.  The  number  of  Prussian  private  exhibitors  inscribed 
is  33. 

The  cities  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen  have  furnished  45  exhibitors. 

The  secondary  States  of  Germany — Bavaria,  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  etc. — will 
all  appoint  commissioners,  and  the  number  of  their  private  exhibitors  is  33. 

Spain  and  Portugal  have  each  appointed  a  commissioner,  and  the  number  of  the 
former's  private  exhibitors  is  17,  and  that  of  the  latter  country  9. 

Brazil  will  exhibit  the  greater  portion  of  the  objects  which  were  in  the  late 
Paris  Exposition,  has  already  appointed  a  commissioner,  and  possesses  30  private 
exhibitors. 

Prom  the  French  colonies  there  are  now  inscribed  10  exhibitors. 

The  city  of  Habana  has  furnished  2  exhibitors, 


S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4- 


98  INTERNATIONAL    MARITIME    EXHIBITION. 

The  Government  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  Republic  of  Honduras  have 
appointed  special  commissioners  and  will  exhibit  the  articles  which  figured  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition. 

Greece  has  appointed  a  commissioner,  and  the  number  of  its  private  exhibitors 
inscribed  is  2. 
China  and  Japan  will  also  exhibit  their  Paris  Exhibition  articles. 
Persia  and  the  Kingdom  of  Siam  have  appointed  special  commissioners,  and  it 
is  anticipated  that  they  will  also  send  to  the  Havre  Exhibition  those  articles  which 
were  exhibited  by  them  at  the  late  Paris  Exhibition. 
The  United  States,  up  to  the  present  time,  figure  for  33  exhibitors. 
The  total  number  of  private  exhibitors  from  all  countries  already  inscribed  is 
3,193. 

I  will  make  it  my  duty  to  keep  the  Department  advised  of  all  that  passes  of 
interest  connected  with  the  Havre  Exhibition. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

DwiQHT  Morris, 
United  States  Consul. 
Hon.  William  H.  Seward, 

Secretary  of  State, 


The  Havre  International  Maritime  Exhibition,  from  the  1st  of  June,  1S6S,  to  the 

Slst  of  October. 

[Under  the  patronage  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  and  His  Highness  the  Prince  Imperial.] 

The  Maritime  International  Exhibition  of  Havre  is  organized  under  thq  patron- 
age of  the  municipal  administration  of  Havre  and  of  a  general  consultative  com- 
mission, of  which  M.  le  Senateur-Prefet  de  la  Seine  Inferieure  ishonorary  president. 
This  commission  is  composed  of  the  principal  men  in  administration,  trade,  and 
industry,  of  scientific  and  practical  men,  etc. 

Honored  with  the  flattering  adhesions  of  LL.  excellences  le  ministre  de  la 
marine  et  des  colonies,  le  ministre  des  travaux  publics,  du  commerce  et  de  I'agri- 
culture,  le  ministre  des  affaires  6trangeres,  as  well  as  those  of  the  delegates  of 
the  foreign  powers  to  the  Universal  Exhibition,  the  exhibition  of  Ha\'re  has  been 
able  to  add  to  these  great  suitporters  the  high  patronage  of  H.  M.  the  Emperor  and 
that  of  H.  H.  the  Prince  Imperial,  which  was  granted  on  the  ~'4th  of  July,  1867, 
and  thus  becomes  for  this  undertaking  the  surest  pledge  of  success. 

The  Maritime  International  Exhibition  of  18()8  includes  43  classes,  figuring  in 
the  programme  in  the  5  following  groups: '  Navigation,  goods,  fishing,  aqui- 
coltarc,  complemental  classes. 

NAVIQATION, 

First  class:  Sailing  vessels  (models  and  plans). 
Second  class:  Steam  vessels  (models  and  plans). 
Third  class:  Wood-built  vessels  and  composite  (wood  and  iron)i 
Fourth  class:  Iron-built  vessels. 

Fifth  class:  Boats  of  all  descriptions.  ^ 

Sixth  class:  Masting. 
Seventh  class:  Rigging. 
Eighth  class:  Sails. 

Ninth  class:  Materials  for  fitting  out  ships. 
Tenth  class:  Preservation  of  ships. 

Eleventh  class:  Fnrnittire  for  vessels,  steamers,  yachts,  etc 
Twelfth  class:  Ship  stores. 
Thirteenth  class:  Sailors"  outfit  and  chest. 

Fourteenth  class:  Instruments  for  navigation,  steerage,  light-houses,  and  signals. 
Fifteenth  class:  Hygiene,  ship's  medicine  chests  and  surgery. 
Sixteenth  class:  Apparatus  lor  loading,  stowing,  unloading,  and  transshipping. 
Seventeenth  class:  Lifeboats  and  other  contrivances  to  save  life  and  property; 
swimming  apparatus:  various  ob.iects  for  the  use  of  bathers. 
Eighteenth  class:  Paddle  propellers. 

'  The  proeramme,  the  regnlations,  and  the  linear  plan  are  forwarded  on  application.  The 
Gazette  or  Report  of  the  Maritime  Exhibition  is  published  every  month.  Subscription,  3  francs 
a  year. 


INTERNATIONAL   MARITIME    EXHIBITION.  99 

Nineteenth  class:  Screw  propellers. 
Twentieth  class:  Engines,  impellers. 
Twenty- first  class:  Steam  boilers  and  generators,  fuel. 

Twenty-second  class:  Various  parts  of  machinery  belonging  to  marine  engines 
and  accessories. 
Twenty-third  class:  Various  works  relating  to  ports;  ship's  repairing. 

GOODS. 

Twenty-fourth  class:  Textiles — cotton,  flax,  hemp,  etc.,  woo^s.  horsehair. 

Twenty-fifth  class:  Colonial  goods  for  consumption,  home  produce  (similar.) 

Twenty-sixth  class:  Corn,  alimentary  flours,  fruits,  and  seeds. 

Twenty-seventh  class:  Dyeing  and  chemical  produce. 

Twenty-eighth  class:  Greasy  and  oily  substances. 

Twenty-ninth  class:  Woods,  wrought  or  uuwrought. 

Thirtieth  class:  All  kinds  of  metals. 

Thirty-first  class:  Different  sorts  of  goods  and  produce  of  industry  for  importa- 
tion or  exportation.' 

Thirty-second  class:  Instruments  and  apparatus  applied  by  trade  to  establish 
the  quality  or  discover  the  adulteration  of  goods. 

Thirty-third  class:  Packing — produce  used  for  manufacturing  objects  necessary 
to  pack  up  goods. 

FISHINO. 

Thirty-fourth  class:  Whale  fishing,  etc. 

Thirty-fifth  class:  Cod  fishing,  etc. 

Thirty-sixth  class:  Coast  fishing. 

Thirty-seventh  class:  River  fishing  and  pond  fishing. 

Thirty-eighth  class:  Specialty  of  tackle  and  instruments  used  in  fishing;  bait; 
salt:  preparation  of  fish;  models  of  establishments  for  preparing  fish;  fishermen 
and  sailors'  outfit  and  clothing. 

AQUICULTURE. 

Thirty-ninth  class:  Fresh  and  salt  water. 

COMPLEMENTAL   CLASSES. 

Fortieth  class:  Art  annex,  special  naval  art,  art  properly  so  called. 

Forty-first  class:  Writings  and  books,  maps  and  plans. 

Forty-second  class:  Competition  and  experiments. 

Forty-third  class:  Nautical  sports,  representations,  the  plan  and  action  of  which 
will  be  taken  from  historical  events  or  fabulous  and  legendary  snbjects. 

A  Maritime  and  International  Congress  will  take  place  during  the  time  of  the 
exhibition. 

We  must  mention  also  the  aquarium  and  the  sea- water  ponds,  worthy  of  notice 
with  regard  to  their  inhabitants  and  aquatic  plants. 

The  exhibition  will  be  held  in  closed  galleries,  which  were  begun  in  the  month 
of  July,  1867.  on  the  grounds  situated  by  the  seashore  opposite  the  roadstead  on 
the  Boulevard  Imperial  and  the  Boulevard  Frangois  I".  These  grounds  are  granted 
by  Government.  It  contains,  besides  the  galleries,  an  inclosure  in  the  open  air; 
a  floating  annex  will  receive  special  exhibitions. 

The  whole  surface  of  the  exhibition  is  about  5  hectares,  or  13  acres  and  2  roods, 
English  measure,  not  including  the  annex  above  mentioned. 

Objects  admitted  will  be  exhibited  under  the  name  of  the  inventor,  builder, 
manufacturer,  or  author,  etc.,  and  generally  of  the  producer  or  the  manufacturer. 

They  may  also  be  exhibited  under  the  name  of  the  shipowner,  merchant,  holder, 
collector,  tradesman,  or  the  consignee. 

Exhibitors  will  have  the  privilege  to  sell  in  the  inclosure  of  the  exhibition  com- 
modities manufactured  on  the  spot.  They  will  have  also,  in  spefcial  galleries  for 
this  use,  the  right  of  letting  customers  taste  their  produce,  and  retailing  goods 
similar  to  those  exhibited.     Nonexhibitors  will  not  have  this  right. 

The  first  500  exhibitors  will  have  free  admission  to  the  club  belonging  to  the  exhi- 
bition, serving  as  a  place  where  exhibitors  may  meet  and  treat  of  their  affairs. 


*  This  class  includes:  Goods,  machinery,  parts  of  machinery  and  any  produce  whatever  that 
can  not  be  classed  in  the  the  maritime  branch  properly  called,  but  which  are  used  or  may  be 
used  in  navijration.  The  thirty-first  class  will  thus  malie  a  special  and  most  important  group 
for  importation  and  exportation. 


100 


INTERNATIONAL    MARITIME    EXHIBITION. 


The  rewards  adjudged  to  exhibitors,  on  the  decision  of  the  international  jury,  will 
consist  of  pecuniary  gifts  and  objects  of  art.  gold  and  silver  medals,  and  honorable 
mentions.     There  will  be  several  great  prizes  among  the  rewards. 

The  jury  will  begin  their  operations  as  soon  as  the  exhibition  oi>en8.  The  rewards 
will  be  delivered  in  a  grand  assembly  of  the  general  commission  on  Sunday,  26th 
of  August.  1868. 

The  catalogue  of  the  exhibition,  entitled  Catalogue  officiel  de  I'Exposition  Mari- 
time Int<'rnationale,  and  the  under  title,  Manuel  de  la  Marine  et  du  Commerce 
Maritime,  has  been  ceded  to  MM.  Marc  Deflfaux  et  Pache,  rue  de  Rivoli,  No.  1()4 
H  Paris.  They  will  have  no  right  to  sell  the  l)ook  at  more  than  2  francs,  nor 
require  from  exhibitors  or  the  public  more  than  2  francs  for  each  line  of  notice  or 
advertisement. 

The  conditions  for  admission  are  indicated  in  the  following  articles  of  the 
regulations: 

Art.  4.  A  moderate  charge  is  laid  on  exhibitors,  on  account  of  the  expenses 
incurred  by  the  erection  of  the  building,  and  for  watching,  insuring,  and  keeping 
the  same  in  order. 

The  tarififs  of  the  exhibition  are  fixed  as  follows: 


French  measures  and  prices. 

Closed  galleries,  le  metre  super- 

ficiel -- Fr.25 

Closed  galleries,  le  demi-metre  . .        15 
Closed  galleries,  le  quart  de  me- 
tre  10 

On  inside  wall,  le  metre  superfi- 

ciel 10 

In  open  air,  le  metre  superficiel.-  5 

With  the  right  to  erect  sheds  or 
set  up  kiosques 10 


English  measures  and  prices. 

Closed   galleries,  3   ft.    3    in. 

square £1.00.0 

Closed  galleries,  1  ft.    7^   in. 

square -  0.12.0 

Closed     galleries,    9^     inches 

square 0. 08. 0 

On  inside  wall,  3  ft.  3  in.  square.  0. 08. 0 

In  open  air,  3  ft.  3  in.  square . .  0. 04. 0 
With  the  right  to  erect  sheds  or 

set  up  kiosques 0.08.0 


Pictures  and  purely  art  productions  will  be  admitted  free  of  charge.  Books, 
memoirs,  etc.,  will  have  to  pay  5  francs  per  exemplary  or  volume.  The  exhibition 
furnishes  bookcases  and  furniture  for  the  rooms  where  they  are  situated. 

Private  fixtures,  show  glass  cases  in  the  galleries,  decorations,  ornaments,  and 
inscriptions,  as  well  as  Swiss  cottages,  kiosques,  sheds  in  open  air,  and  fancy 
buildings,  are  erected  by  exhibitors  or  their  delegates,  unless  they  instruct  the 
exhibition  to  build  tliem  for  their  account. 

The  exhibition  will  provide  shelves  or  stands  for  objects  weighing  200  kilograms 
(4  hundredweight)  and  under  at  the  rate  of — 


Le  metre Fr. 5 

Le  derai-metre 3 

Le  quart  de  metre 2 


3  feet  3  inches  for £0.4.0 

1  foot  7i  inches  for 0.2.6 

1  foot  OHnches  for 0.1.8 


Art.  5.  An  exhibitor  paying  over  100  francs  will  have  a  right  during  all  the 
time  of  the  exhibition  to  have  his  name,  address,  and  profession  posted  up  in  one 
of  the  frames  of  publicity  placed  in  the  galleries  and  all  around  the  inclosures 
without  paying  any  supplementary  charge.  He  also  has  a  right,  from  this  date, 
to  a  trade  advertisement  like  the  preceding  onw  in  the  Gazette  de  TExposition,  pub- 
lished once  a  month.  Any  exhibitor  whose  dues  to  the  exhibition  are  under  100 
francs  may  obtain  the  double  advertisement  just  spoken  of  by  paying  a  sum  of  25 
francs. 

Art.  8,  sec.  4.  Objects  coming  from  the  Universal  Exhibition  of  Paris  will  be 
received  as  soon  as  this  exhibition  closes,  and  be  kept  in  their  packing  until  the  1st 
of  March. 

Art.  10.  Foreign  goods  to  be  directed  to  MM.  Mohr,  Nicole  &  Co.,  general  agents 
to  the  Maritime  International  Exhibition  of  Havre.  Exhibitors  will  have  to  set- 
tle with  them  for  the  carriage,  unpacking,  and  returning  of  the  said  goods.  If  any 
more  information  is  required,  ask  for  the  regulations  of  the  exhibition,  Townhall, 
Havre. 

Art.  12.  Foreign  goods  will  be  received  for  temporary  admission,  and  conse- 
quently will  not  have  to  pay  any  cu8|;om-house  dues. 

The  formula  or  model  of  demand  for  admission  here  inclosed,  when  filled  up  and 
signed,  must  be  addressed:  An  Directeur  de  I'Exposition.  Hotel  de  Ville,  an  Havre. 
Office,  Cercle  International  du  Champ  de  Mars  a  I'Exposition  Universelle,  Paris; 
open  from  11  o'clock  till  5. 

The  inclosed  demand  must  be  sent  in  before  the  1st  January,  1868.  It  vnll  be 
answered  immediately. 


INTERNATIOlSrAL    MARITIME    EXHIBITION.  101 

Goods  and  product  will  be  received  upon  the  premises  of  the  exhibition  from  the 
1st  of  March  until  the  Ist  of  May,  1868. 

The  railway  companies  in  France  on  seeing  the  certificate  of  admission  will  allow 
a  deduction  of  50  per  cent  on  objects  and  product  destined  for  the  Havre  exhibi- 
tion. The  companies  for  transport  by  sea  will  also,  for  the  most  part,  reduce  their 
prices  on  freight. 

JORET   DES   ClOSIE:EES, 

Le  President  de  la  Commission  d'' Organisation,  Sous-prefet  du  Havre. 

P.  Nicole, 
Le  Directeur  de  VExposition  Maritime  Internationale. 


Demand  of  admission  to  the  Havre  International  Maritime  Exhibition,  opening  on 
the  1st  of  June  and  closing  on  the  31st  of  October,  1868. 

No. . 


M  (1) ,  in  case  his  demand  of  admission  is  received,  will  have  a 

right  (2) of  the  exhibition  to  a  surface  of  (3) ,to  exhibit 

(4) .    He  will  have  to  pay  the  sum  of  (5) ,  representing 

the  whole  amount  of  charges,  viz,  the  half  during  the  week  following  the  sending 
of  the  certificate  of  admission,  and  the  balance  on  the  15th  of  May,  1868. 

He  will  consequently  enjoy  the  privileges,  rights,  and  advantages  granted  to 
exhibitors. 

Mr. moreover  observes  (6) 


Signature  of  exhibitor 


(1)  Name  and  Christian  names,  address,  medals,  and  rewards  obtained  in  former 
exhibitions  and  competition  meetings. 

(2)  In  theclosed  galleries,  or  on  the  inside  wall  of  the  galleries,  or  in  the  inclo- 
sure  in  open  air.     (Regulations  of  the  exhibition,  article  4.) 

(3)  Mention  the  number  of  square  feet. 

(4)  Nature  of  the  object  or  produce  exhibited,  its  estimated  value  for  the  insur- 
ance which  shall  regard  the  exhibitions.     (Regulations  of  the  exhibition,  article  4.) 

(5)  The  amount. 

(6)  Mention  if  the  exhibitor  will  furnish  his  own  fixtures  or  have  them  made 
by  the  exhibition,  or  if  he  will  use  the  shelves  or  stands  mentioned  in  article  4  of 
the  regulations. 


International  Marine  Exhibition  of  Havre,  under  the  patronage  of  His  Majesty 
the  Emperor  and  His  Highness  the  Prince  Imperial;  opening  June  1  and  closing 
October  31,  1868. 

RULES  OP  THE  EXHIBITION. 

Article  1.  The  Havre  International  Marine  Exhibition  will  be  opened  on  the 
1st  of  June  and  closed  on  the  31st  of  October,  1868,  and  will  include  an  indoor  and 
an  outdoor  department. 

Art.  2.  This  exhibition  is  organized  by  the  Society  of  the  Havre  Exhibition, 
under  the  patronage  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  His  Highness  the 
Prince  Imperial,  the  Havre  corporation,  and  also  of  a  general  consulting  commit- 
tee, of  which  the  senateur-prefet  of  the  Seine-inferieur  is  honorary  president, 
which  committee  is  composed  of  the  leading  gentlemen  of  French  commerce,  art, 
science,  etc. 

Art.  3.  The  demands  for  admission  must  be  addressed,  before  the  15th  Fevrier, 
1868,  to  the  directors  of  the  Havre  exhibition,  or  to  the  special  delegates  in  France 
or  abroad. 

Art.  4.  A  moderate  charge  will  be  made  to  exhibitors  to  cover  the  expenses  of 
the  building,  keeping,  insuring,  etc.    The  rates  are  fixed  as  follows: 

Indoor  department— closed  galleries:  Francs. 

Per  superficial  yard 25 

Per  superficial  half  yard 15 

Per  superficial  quarter  yard 10 

On  the  inside  wall,  per  superficial  yard 10 

Outdoor  department: 

Per  superficial  yard ■. 5 

With  power  of  erecting  roofs,  sheds,  etc 10 


102  INTERNATIONAL   MARITIME    EXHIBITION. 

Pictures  and  works  of  art  will  be  admitted  without  charge. 

Books,  pamphlets,  etc..  will  be  charged  't  francs  per  volume. 

The  exhibition  furnishes  the  necessary  fixtures  of  the  library. 

Private  spaies,  glass  cases,  decorations,  and  inscriptions,  as  well  as  buildings  in 
the  outdoor  department,  must  be  erected  by  the  exhibitors  or  tht-ir  assignees;  or 
the  exhibition  will  undertake  to  erect  them  at  the  cost  of  the  exhibitors. 

The  exhibition  provides  stands  and  supports  for  articles  of  200  pounds  weight  or 
less  at  the  rate  of — 

Francs. 

Per  yard 5 

Per  half  yard 3 

Per  quarter  yard 2 

Art.  5.  Every  exhibitor  paying  charges  exceeding  100  francs  will  have  the  right 
of  advertising  during  the  entire  exhibition  by  frames  and  bills  placed  in  the  gal- 
leries and  on  the  surrounding  walls.  The  name,  address,  and  business  of  every 
exhibitor  in  this  category  will  be  placed  on  these  framed  bills,  and  without  any 
extra  charge. 

He  has,  besides,  and  from  this  date,  right  to  an  advertisement  in  the  "  Gazette 
of  the  Exhibition,"  published  every  month. 

Every  exhibitor  who  pays  less  than  one  hundred  francs  may  obtain  the  same 
advantages  of  publicity  by  paying  twenty-tive  francs  extra. 

Art.  G.  The  same  advantages  will  be  given  to  members,  besides  the  publicity  to 
which  that  membership  entitles  them. 

Art.  7.  The  distribution  of  space  made  by  the  directors  of  the  exhibition  will 
be  announced  at  a  later  date. 

A  plan  of  the  whole  exhibition  will  be  sent  free  on  application. 

Art.  y,  French  and  foreign  productions  will  be  received  in  the  buildings  of  the 
exhibition  from  the  first  of  Mar.h  to  the  first  of  May.  After  which  date  they 
will  be  strictly  refused,  and  the  charges  to  which  they  are  liable  made  by  the 
exhibition. 

Articles  from  the  Paris  exhibition  will  be  received  immediately  after  its  closing, 
and  kept  in  their  packages  until  the  first  of  March. 

Art,  y.  From  the  first  of  March  a  catalogue  will  be  made  of  the  articles 
exhibited,  indicating  the  spot  they  occupy  in  the  buildings. 

This  catalogue  will  include  two  alphabetical  indexes— one  of  the  exhibitor  and 
one  of  the  articles  exhibited. 

Art.  10.  French  and  foreign  productions  intended  for  the  exhibition  must  be 
addressed  to  Messrs.  R.  Mohr,  Nicole  &  Co.,  general  agents  of  the  exhibition,  with 
whom  exhibitors  must  arrange  for  the  carriag .^  unpacking,  reshipping,  &c. 

Demands  for  reduced  rates  have  been  addressed  to  all  companies  of  conveyance 
by  land  and  water. 

Art.  11.  The  expense  of  package  and  carriage  there  and  back  must  be  borne  by 
exhibitors. 

Art.  12.  Foreign  goods  will  be  entered  as  "admission  temporaire,'*  and  conse- 
quently will  be  free  from  duty. 

Art.  13.  No  article  of  any  kind  admitted  to  the  exhibition  can  be  reproduced, 
copied,  or  drawn  without  the  exhibitor "s  permission. 

The  directors  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  of  permitting  drawings,  photo- 
graphs, &c..  of  the  whole. 

Art.  14.  The  constructors  of  machinery  requiring  water,  gas.  or  steam,  and  those 
who  intend  having  engines  in  motion,  must  give  notice.  wUen  asking  for  admission, 
of  the  B^ieed,  and  also  of  the  motive  power  they  will  require.  They  will  oblige  by 
sending  these  particulars  as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  that  the  committee  may 
make  the  necessary  arrangements  on  that  special  object. 

Art.  15.  Every  facility  will  be  given  to  exhibitors  for  the  sale  of  their  goods; 
they  will  not,  however,  be  allowed  to  take  them  away  before  the  close  of  the 
exhibition. 

The  directors,  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  committee,  will  undertake  to  intro- 
duce the  foreign  exhibitors  to  any  merchants  or  tradesmen  of  Havre,  whose  assist- 
ance for  the  sale  of  their  goods  they  may  think  desirable. 

Art.  16.  A  free  admission  ticket  is  delivered  to  every  exhibitor,  which  is  not 
transferable,  and  will  be  forfeited  if  lent  or  sold. 

Art.  17.  Exhibitors  have  the  right  of  intrusting  their  goods  to  their  own  agents, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  directors. 

Admission  tickets  will  be  delivered  to  these  agents  under  the  same  restrictions 
as  exhibitors. 

An  agent  for  exhibitors  will  not  have  more  than  one  ticket,  however  many 
exhibitors  he  may  represent. 


INTEENATIONAL   MAKITIME    EXHIBITION.  103 

Art.  18.  During  the  exhibition  international  judges  will  be  chosen  for  each  class 
of  objects  exhibited. 

Trials  and  experiments  will  be  made  under  the  management  of  the  judges.  The 
results  of  these  experiments  will  be  published  in  the  "  Gazette  of  the  Exhibition." 

The  rewards  given  to  exhibitors  will  consist  of  works  of  art,  gold  and  silver 
medals,  money  prizes,  and  honorable  mentions. 

Art.  19.  Meetings  and  lectures  will  take  place  during  the  exhibition. 

Art.  20.  Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  exhibition  exhibitors  are  bound  to 
commence  the  j)acking  and  removing  of  their  goods,  &c. 

This  removal  must  be  completed  before  the  first  of  December;  after  that  date  the 
goods,  packages,  and  fittings  not  yet  removed  by  exhibitors  or  their  agents  will  be 
carried  away  and  consigned  to  a  public  warehouse  at  the  exhibitors'  risk  and 
expense.  Objects  not  removed  after  the  30th  of  June  from  the  above-mentioned 
warehouse  will  be  sold  by  auction  and  the  proceeds  given  to  charities. 

Programme. 

navigation. 

I.  Sailing  ships:  Models  and  drawings  of  merchantmen,  pilot  boats,  yachts,  and 
rowing  boats;  models  and  drawings  of  the  ancient  navigation;  Egyptian,  Indian, 
Chinese,  and  Japanese  navigation. 

3.  Steamers:  Models  and  drawings  of  paddle  and  screw  steamers,  trans-Atlantic 
steamers,  steam  yachts,  river  steamers,  towing  steamers  and  barges,  tugs. 

3.  Wooden  constructions:  Models  and  drawings  of  the  hulls  of  wooden  ships  and 
ships  of  wood  and  iron;  various  improvements  in  the  building  of  ships  of  wood; 
specimens  and  models  showing  these  improvements. 

Fittings,  tools,  etc. ;  works  for  the  building  of  wooden  ships;  specimens  of  decks, 
deck  houses,  quarter-decks,  &c. 

4.  Iron  constructions:  Models  and  drawings  of  iron  ships;  various  improve- 
ments in  the  building;  models  and  drawings  of  quarter-decks,  etc.;  fittings,  tools, 
and  building  yards  for  iron  ships. 

5.  Small  boats:  Canoes,  whaleboats,  pontoons  for  raising  anchors,  etc. 

6.  Masting:  Models  and  drawings  of  wood  and' iron  masts;  different  ways  of 
joining;  iron  masts;  telescope  masts;  movable  masts;  specimens  of  wooden  masts, 
raw  and  finished  state;  specimens  of  iron  masts. 

7.  Rigging:  Hemp,  iron,  wire;  brass  wire  rigging;  hemp,  flax,  cotton,  coir-yam, 
etc.;  cables,  ropes,  and  lines;  blocks,  oars,  etc. 

8.  Sails:  Linen,  cotton,  incombustible  sails;  sewing  machines  for  making  sails; 
models  and  drawings  of  sails. 

9.  Ship  fitting:  Anchors,  chains,  capstans;  apparatus  for  dropping  and  raising 
anchors;  various  pumps;  rudders  of  all  kinds;  fittings  in  galvanized  iron;  rudders. 

Distillatory  apparatus;  cooking  apparatus;  bread  ovens. 

10.  Preservation  of  naval  constructions:  Paint,  coatings,  cements,  for  destroy- 
ing insects;  zinc  and  copper  sheets. 

Electro-chemicals  for  the  preservation  of  iron  ships;  ventilation  of  the  frame. 
Various  fittings  for  casing,  pegging,  and  calking  ships. 

II.  Furniture  of  ships,  steamers,  and  yachts:  Cabins,  beds,  washing  stands, 
various  fittings  for  the  comfort  of  passengers;  tables,  various  seats,  beds,  ham- 
mocks. 

Carpets,  oilcloth;  looking-glasses, mirrors,  gilt  frames;  heating  apparatus;  glass; 
table  service,  china,  linen. 

Table  service  for  ships,  steamers,  and  yachts;  water-closets;  special  fittings  for 
emigrants. 

13.  Ships'  stores:  Preserved  victuals  of  all  kinds;  ship  bread;  icing  apparatus; 
apparatus  for  preserving  water;  demijohns;  drinks  and  liquids;  meats  of  all  kinds — 
salt,  dry,  cured,  smoked,  etc.;  eggs;  fish,  salt  or  smoked;  preserved  vegetables; 
potatoes:  fruits,  dry  or  preserved. 

13.  Sailors'  outfit:  Ready-made  clothes  for  sailors;  waterproof  clothes,  fur  and 
skin;  boots,  trunks,  and  outfits  for  sea  voyages. 

14.  Instruments  of  navigation,  light-houses,  and  signals:  Chronometers,  com- 
passes, charts,  barometers,  thermometers,  astronomical  instruments,  logs,  auto- 
matical and  electric  logs;  sounding  lines;  sandboxes,  loxodographs,  hygrometers; 
lightning  conductors. 

Light-houses,  beacons,  signals,  flags,  buoys;  telegraphs  for  light-houses,  sema- 
phores, watchhouses;  colored  lights,  revolving  lights,  electric  lights,  whistles,  fog 
bells,  electric  bells,  engine  bells;  shells  and  rockets  for  signals,  signal  guns,  tele- 
graphic indicator  of  the  position  of  the  rudder;  various  buoys;  electric  buoys  com- 
municating with  a  semap horic  station. 


104  INTERNATIONAL   MARITI^rE    EXHIBITION. 

15.  Hygiene,  pharmacy,  and  surgery:  Marine  hygiene,  medicine  chests,  physic; 
preservation  against  and  treatment  of  seasickness;  mechanical  apparatus  for 
fractures. 

Cleaning,  ventilating,  and  disinfection  of  a  ship. 
Preparations  and  apparatus  for  destroying  vermin. 

16.  Loading,  stowing,  landing,  transporting:  apparatus:  Tents  and  shelters; 
movable  and  permanent  cranes,  steam  cranes,  etc. 

17.  Salvage  apparatus,  lifeboats,  etc. ;  swimming  and  bathirg  apparatus:  Models 
and  drawings  of  lifeboats. 

Salvage  clothes,  waterproof  clothes,  life  belts,  schaphanders,  nautilus,  diving 
bell,  submarine  boats,  submarine  lights,  salvage  buoys,  carriages  for  lifeboats, 
rafts,  etc. 

Guns  and  rockets. 

Swimming  apparatus,  costumes,  etc. 

Models  and  drawings  of  swimming  baths. 

18.  Paddle  propellers:  Models  and  drawings  of  paddles;  feathering  apparatus, 
various  improvements. 

19.  Screw  propellers:  Various  screw  propellers:  various  propellers. 

20.  Moving  powers  of  all  kinds:  Models  and  drawings  of  steam  engines,  ether, 
dilated  air,  gas,  and  electric  motors. 

21.  Boilers,  generators,  combustibles:  Models  and  plans  of — 
Middle-pressure  and  high-pressure  boilers. 

Fireplaces,  safety-valves,  etc. 

Coals,  coke,  etc. 

Coal  places,  coal  shipping  and  landing  apparatus. 

22.  Various  parts  of  marine  engines  and  accessories:  Condensers;  air  pumps; 
taps  and  apparatus  of  injection;  valves,  etc..  (employed  with  condensers,  etc. 

23.  Ports  and  works;  ships'  repairs:  Models,  drawings,  and  plans  of  ports,  har- 
bors, piers,  jetties,  breakwaters,  docks,  wharfs,  various  drags;  bridges,  dock  gates; 
pontoons,  various  apparatus  for  cleansing  and  repairing  ships'  bottoms. 

GOODS. 

24.  Textile  materials,  cotton,  hemp,  flax,  jute,  etc.;  wool,  hair,  etc.:  Samples  of 
these  goods;  cotton  seed;  its  use. 

25.  General  produce:  Raw  and  refined  sugar,  molasses,  sirups,  cocoas,  coffees, 
teas,  vanilla,  cloves,  cinnamon,  ginger,  wax,  nutmeg,  peppers,  tobacco  leaf,  India 
rubber,  gutta-percha,  cauca  leaf. 

Beet-root  sugar,  molasses,  native  wax,  and  tobacco. 

Medical  herbs:  Rhubarb,  sarsaparilla,  ipecacuanha. 

Barks:  Quinine  and  others. 

Fruits:  Senna,  tamarind,  etc. 

Gums:  Camphor,  opium,  copaphine,  stjo'ax,  etc. 

26.  Corn,  flours,  fruits,  and  seeds. 

27.  Dye  materials  and  chemical  products. 

28.  Oils  and  greases. 

29.  Woods  for  building,  cabinetmaking,  etc.:  Cocoanut,  bamboos,  etc. 

30.  Metals  of  all  descriptions  and  metallic  salts. 

31.  Hides  and  skins,  bones,  whalebone,  horns,  ivory,  tortoise  shell,  mother-of- 
pearl. 

32.  Instruments  and  apparatuses  used  to  state  the  quality  and  adulteration  of 
goods:  Diagometers  (oils),  saccharometers,  alcometers, scales,  etc. 

33.  Packing:  Packing  of  every  description  for  export;  wood  and  tin  boxes;  bags, 
barrels,  cases,  etc. 

FISHING. 

34.  Whale  and  cachalot  fishing:  Models  and  drawings  of  ships. 

35.  Cod  fishing. 

36.  Coast  fishing:  Bottom  nets,  drag  fishing,  oyster  fishing. 
Fishing  boats  for  these  purposes. 

Making  and  preservation  of  the  nets. 

Floating  nets:  mackerel,  herring,  and  sardines,  etc. 

Permanent  nets  and  fisheries,  various  proceedings. 

37.  River  and  pond  fishing:  Outfit  for  river  and  pond  fishing;  the  angler's  outfit; 
models  and  drawings  of  boats,  punts,  etc. 

38.  Specialties  for  fishing:  Various  baits. 

Fishing  and  salting  on  board;  various  preparations;  salts,  casks,  etc. 
Models  of  works;  drying,  curing,  salting,  etc.;  various  fittings,  clothes,  etc. 


SHIP    CANALS    ACROSS    THE    ISTHMUS    OF    DAEIEN.  105 

AQUICULTURE. 

39.  Fresh  and  salt  waters:  Fittings  and  products:  various  systems  of  elevating; 
models  of  establishments  for  the  spawning  of  fish  and  crustaceans. 

COMPLEMENTARY  CLASSES. 

40.  Arts:  Special  art;  statues  and  busts  of  ships. 
Attributes  and  ornaments;  decorative  pictures. 
Models  of  ships  in  wood,  ivory,  metal,  glass,  etc. 

Arts:  Pictures,  studies,  water  colors,  drawings,  engravings,  lithographs,  marine 
photographs,  etc. 

41.  Books  on  any  marine,  fishing,  or  aquiculture  subject. 

42.  Expeiiments  and  contests:  Permanent  contest  between  the  French  and  for- 
eign ships  that  will  enter  the  port  of  Havre  from  the  1st  of  November,  1867,  to  the 
i31st  October,  18G8;  steamers  and  sailing  ships  mixed;  fishing  smacks  and  boats, 
tugs,  pilot  boats. 

These  ships  will  be  visited  during  that  time  by  a  special  commission  that  will 
inspect  the  building  of  ships,  their  condition  at  the  moment  of  their  arrival  (hull, 
rigging,  sails,  etc.). 

Rapidity  of  passage;  books;  hygiene  and  food  of  the  sailors,  passengers,  and 
emigrants. 

Prizes  will  be  awarded  to  the  shipowners,  captains,  mates,  and  sailors. 

Special  experiments:  Contests  between  the  engineers  and  workingmen  of  various 
marine  establishments. 

F.  Dennis, 
Agent  in  Liverpool,  7  Orosvenor  Buildings. 


[See  pp.  107,  135, 139,  141,  187,  40S,  410,  415,  457.] 

SPECIAL  SESSION.- 

May  16,  1881. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1.] 

Mr.  Burnside,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
resolution  on  the  construction  of  ship  canals  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  report: 

That  the  subject  embraced  in  the  resolution  is  one  of  great  national 
importance  and  worthy  of  the  most  careful  consideration.  The  reso- 
lution is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
the  welfare  and  security  of  their  Government,  are  so  involved  in  the  subject  of 
the  construction  of  ship  canals  and  other  ways  for  the  transportation  of  seagoing 
vessels  across  the  isthmus  connecting  North  and  South  America  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  with  the  frankness  which  is  due  to  all  other  peoples 
and  governments,  hereby  asserts  that  it  will  insist  that  its  consent  is  a  necessary 
condition  precedent  to  the  execiition  of  any  such  project,  and  also  as  to  the  rules 
and  regulations  under  which  other  nations  shall  participate  in  the  use  of  such 
canals  or  other  ways,  either  in  peace  or  in  war. 

Tills  resolution  was  unanimously  reported  from  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  by  the  Hon.  William  W.  Eaton,  its  chairman,  at 
the  last  session  of  the  Senate,  but  was  not  act'ed  upon  for  want  of 
time,  and  was  again  brought  before  the  Senate  at  this  session  by  the 
Senator  from  Alabama,  Mr.  Morgan. 

Certainly  the  United  States  can  not  remain  silent  and  acquiescing 
spectators  and  see  any  European  government  or  corporation  monopolize 
the  control  of  a  great  route  for  the  transportation  of  ships  across  the 


106  SHIP   0ANAL8    ACROSS   THE    ISTHMUS    OF    DARIEN. 

Istlimus  of  Darien.  It  is  an  affair  of  vital  importance  to  those  who 
dwell  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Pacific  coasts,  as  well  as  to  the  people 
of  our  whole  country. 

President  Monroe,  a  wise  and  discreet  man,  announced  in  a  public 
message  to  Congress,  in  December,  1823,  that  "the  American  conti- 
nents, by  the  free  and  independent  condition  which  Ihey  have  assumed 
and  maintained,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  consitlered  subjects  for 
future  colonization  by  any  European  power."  This  declaration  has 
since  been  known  as  the  "Monroe  doctrine,"  and  whilst  it  does  not 
directly  apply  to  the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  canal,  the  prin- 
ciple underlying  it,  which  principle  lies  at  the  ver^-  foundation  of  our 
public  welfare  and  safety,  leads  us  to  the  announcement  of  the  doc- 
trine contained  in  this  resolution. 

This  "Monroe  doctrine"  has  received  the  public  and  official  sanc- 
tion of  subsequent  Presidents,  as  well  as  of  a  very  large  majority  of 
the  American  people.  At  different  times  Great  Britain  has  attempted 
to  secure  a  foothold  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  which  it  is  now  pro- 
posed to  pierce  with  a  canal,  and  each  time  she  has  been  forced  to 
abandon  the  project,  so  earnest  and  firm  was  the  resistance  offered 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  The  Hon.  Reverdy  John- 
son, who  was  the  Attorney-General  of  President  Taylor,  thus  alludes 
to  one  of  these  attempts  to  found  a  British  colony  on  the  Isthmus,  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  Hon.  John  M.  Clayton  December  30,  1853: 

President  Taylor,  had  firmly  resolved,  by  all  constitutional  measures  in  his 

Eower,  to  prevent  such  aggression  it'  any  should  be  attempted,  considering,  as 
e  did,  that  all  the  passages  through  the  Isthmus  should  be  kept  free,  to  enable 
us  to  retain  our  possessions  in  the  Pacific. 

By  the  passage  of  tbis  resolution  we  simply  serve  a  notice  to  the 
world  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the 
peace,  safety,  and  general  welfare  of  this  Republic  require  that  it 
should  be  consulted  concerning  and  should  have  a  voice  in  the  man- 
agement of  anj'  canal  or  other  way  for  the  transportation  of  seagoing 
vessels  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien. 

We  do  not  express  any  doubts  as  to  our  rights  or  suggest  any  refer- 
ence of  the  subject  to  an  international  tribunal,  because  in  this  mat- 
ter we  are  absolutely  in  the  right.  We  simply  ask  nations  who  may 
directly  or  indirectly  send  their  subjects,  citizens,  or  capital  to  the 
Isthmus  that  they  obtain  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  as  the 
power  most  directly  interested,  and  that  the  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  government  of  this  interoceanic  highway  be  made  acceptable  to 
us,  whose  interests,  in  peace  as  in  war,  they  will  so  materially  affect. 

Another  reason  for  the  passage  of  this  resolution  is  that  companies 
have  been  and  others  may  be  formed  for  the  construction  of  projected 
routes  which  it  is  well  known  can  never  be  successfully  operated 
under  their  present  plans,  and  in  which  the  money  subscribed  will  be 
totally  lost.  Yet  many  of  the  subscribers  have  undoubtedly  been  led 
to  believe  that  the  United  States  Government  approved — indirectly, 
if  not  directly — the  scheme  in  which  they  have  invested.  I'his  should 
not  be.  No  one,  at  home  or  abroad,  should  be  beguiled  into  the 
investment  of  accumulated  proi^erty  or  of  hard  earnings  b)'  the  belief 
that  the  Government  of  .the  United  States  approved  the  jiroject.  A 
declaration  by  the  Senate  that  the  Government  would  insist  that  its 
consent  is  a  necessary  condition  precedent  to  the  execution  of  any 
such  scheme  would  be  a  warning  to  investors  not  to  take  any  stock  in 
an  unauthorized  enterprise.    The  honor  of  the  country  will  thus  be 


MAKITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  107 

protected  against  accusations  tliat  its  name  led  individuals  in  this  and 
other  lands  to  make  investments  which  were  to  them  total  losses. 

However  we  may  be  divided  on  political  questions,  and  however  we 
may  wrangle  on  matters  of  domestic  interest,  the  United  States  Senate 
has  never  failed,  when  a  matter  relating  to  foreign  complications  came 
before  it  involving  the  general  welfare  and  peace  of  the  country,  to 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  to  assert  what  tlie  public  interests 
demanded. 

We  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  resolution  already  pub- 
lished in  this  report. 


[See  pp.  105, 135, 139, 141, 187, 402, 410, 415, 457.] 
FORTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

April  4,  1882. 

[Senate  Report  No.  368.? 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  submits  the  following  report 
in  regard  to  Senate  bill  No.  550,  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  Nicaragua,  and  recommends  certain  amendments  returned 
with  the  bill. 

In  considering  this  measure  the  committee  has  been  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  the  proposed  work  to  our  interests,  national  and 
commercial. 

For  various  reasons  it  is  desirable  that  any  canal  determined  upon 
should  be  located  upon  that  route  the  nearest  to  our  territory  which 
offers  a  practicable  water  transit. 

The  committee  has  been  aided  in  its  inquiries  by  the  report  and 
accompanying  memorandum,  made  by  aboard  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent in  1872,  "to  consider  the  subject  of  communication  by  canal 
between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans."  The  report 
was  delayed  while  additional  surveys  were  made,  and  was  submitted 
February  7,  1876,  and  printed  by  order  of  the  Senate  (Forty-sixth 
Congress,  first  session,  Ex.  Doc.  No.  15). 

Regarding  the  Tehuantepec  route,  the  nearest  one  to  our  coast  line, 
reference  is  made  as  follows: 

It  has  a  summit  level  of  754  feet,  which  it  is  proposed  to  reduce  to  732  feet  at 
Tarifa.    A  harbor  must  be  constructed  on  each  coast. 

Tlie  Coatzacoalcos  River  must  be  improved  to  the  highest  point  of  the  river, 
which  could  be  utilized  for  navigation  about  35  miles.  Its  banks  are  low,  and 
during  freshets  entirely  overflowed.  One  hundred  and  forty-four  miles  of  canal 
must  be  built,  with  140  locks,  of  10.4  feet  lift,  with  a  feeder  27i  miles  long  (requir- 
ing primarily  to  dam  the  water  supply  to  an  elevation  of  86  feet) ,  having  four 
tunnels  of  an  aggregate  length  of  3.6  miles. 

There  is  some  question  as  to  the  efficiency  of  the  water  supply.  Assuming  a  com- 
mon standard  of  dimensions  of  canals  and  locks  and  prices  of  materials  and  labor 
for  all  the  routes,  the  estimated  cost  of  this  route  would  largely  exceed  that  of  the 
Nicaragua  route. 

These  existing  conditions  are  manifestly  such  as  to  preclude  hope 
for  the  construction  of  an  efficient  canal  across  that  isthmus. 

Nicaragua  offers  the  next  depression  to  the  south  of  Tehuantepec, 
across  the  American  isthmus,  over  which  a  canal  could  be  constructed. 

Of  this  route  the  board  reported  that  it  "possesses,  both  for  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  a  canal,  greater  advantages,  and 


108  MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY. 

offers  fewer  difficulties  from  enjriiieoring,  commercial,  and  economic 
points  of  view,  than  any  one  of  the  other  routes  shown  to  be  practi- 
cable by  surveys  sufficiently  in  detail  to  enable  a  judgment  to  be 
formed  of  their  relative  merits." 

Surveys  made  since  the  date  of  that  report  have  shown  the  entire 
practicability  of  modifications  in  the  line  of  location  reviewed  by  the 
board,  greatly  simplifying  the  construction  of  the  canal  and  rendering 
it  both  more  serviceable  and  less  costly. 

Considering  that  the  highest  elevation  above  tide  water  to  be  over- 
come is  110  feet;  that  the  deepest  cut  between  Lake  Nicaragua  and  the 
Pacific  is  but  41.6  feet  above  the  lake  level;  that  generally  the  canal 
wiU  be  at  the  surface  level  of  the  country  over  which  it  passes,  and 
will  nowhere  have  an  embankment  exceeding  5  feet  in  height;  that  the 
lake  with  an  area  of  2,700  square  miles,  and  a  drainage  basin  of  8,000 
square  miles,  forms  the  summit  level  and  offers  an  inexhaustible  sup- 
ply of  clear  and  pure  water  for  the  canal  throughout;  that  in  sections 
where  lowlands  might  create  sickness  the  excavation  can  be  done  by 
steam  dredge,  and  the  exposure  of  workmen  be  thus  avoided;  that  at 
the  summit  level  there  will  be  120  miles  of  open  and  free  navigation, 
leaving  but  53  miles  to  be  canalized,  and,  finally,  that  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son vessels  of  400  tons  now  steam  across  Nicaragua  through  the  San 
Juan  River  and  Lake  Nicaragua  to  within  12  miles  of  the  Pacific,  the 
committee  can  find  no  serious  difficult}"  in  the  construction  of  an 
entirely  efficient  and  secure  ship  canal  along  the  routes  proposed,  and 
believe  it  to  be  the  best  of  all  those  proposed  or  existing,  while  there 
is  no  element  of  uncertainty  or  of  experiment  about  it.  Locks  are  in 
use  in  ship  canals  in  this  country  and  abroad  with  entire  satisfaction 
and  security.  Canada  has  expended  a  large  sum  recently  in  the 
enlargement  of  the  Welland  Canal,  which  overcomes  an  elevation  of 
549  feet,  and  has  cost  altogether  152,000,000.  The  largest  lock  in  the 
world  is  at  St.  Marys  Falls  in  Michigan,  and  no  difficulties  are  expe- 
rienced in  its  working. 

The  geographical  situation  of  the  Nicaragua  route  presents  certain 
advantages  over  that  of  both  Panama  and  Tehuantepec.  It  is  central 
as  respects  the  American  Isthmus  and  will  facilitate  commerce  equally 
well  with  both  North  and  South  American  ports  in  the  Pacific,  while 
Tehuantepec  is  too  far  north  for  the  south-coast  carriage,  and  Panama 
is  too  far  south  for  the  best  results  to  the  North  Pacific  ports.  In 
other  words,  a  canal  across  Nicaragua  would  meet  all  the  requirements 
of  a  ship  transit  over  the  American  Isthmus  for  any  trade,  and  would 
therefore  remove  all  need  for  the  construction  of  any  other  transit, 
an  advantage  not  possessed  by  either  the  other  routes  named. 

In  point  of  distance  between  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports  Tehuan- 
tepec is  the  shortest  route  and  Panama  the  longer  of  the  proposed 
transits,  the  respective  sailing  distance  between  New  York  and  San 
Francisco,  as  reported  by  Commodore  J.  C.  P.  De  Krafft,  hydrographer, 
Navy  Department,  being  via  Tehuantepec,  4,109  miles;  via  Nicara- 
gua, 4,703  miles,  and  via  Panama,  5,260  miles.  The  canal  surveys 
over  the  isthmus  at  the  different  lines  of  transit  are,  respectivelj,  179 
miles,  173  miles,  and  45  miles.  Adding  these  to  the  sailing  distance 
it  appears  that  the  entire  distances  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco, 
are  as  follows: 

MOes. 

Via  Tehuantepec 4,288 

Via  Nicaragna 4,876 

Via  Panama 5,305 


b 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY!.  109 

The  distance  from  New  Orleans  to  San  Francisco  is  as  follows : 

Miles. 

Via  Tehuantepec 3,089 

Via  Nicaragua 4,158 

Via  Panama J 4,692 

Between  New  York  and  San  Francisco  the  Tehuantepec  route  is 
therefor*  588  miles  nearer  than  the  Nicaragua  line,  and  1,017  miles 
nearer  than  via  Panama. 

Between  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco  the  Tehuantepec  route  is 
1,069  miles  nearer  that  the  Nicaragua  route,  and  1,603  miles  nearer 
than  by  way  of  Panama. 

For  the  trade  of  Central  America  the  Nicaragua  line  is  central, 
while  it  has  a  direct  route  from  our  ports  on  the  eastern  side  to  the 
west  coast  of  South  America.  A  canal,  then,  will  place  New  York  3,000 
miles  nearer  to  the  ports  of  both  the  North  and  South  Pacific  than  the 
coast  of  Europe,  the  ports  of  which  now  possess  great  advantages  in 
geographical  position  for  voyages  around  Cape  Horn.  In  a  period  of 
more  than  thirty  years  of  our  occupation,  the  States  of  California  and 
Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  have  attained  a  population  of  but 
little  over  1,100,000,  while  capable  of  supporting  30,000,000  of  people 
if  populated  only  in  the  same  degree  as  some  of  the  Middle  States  on 
the  Atlantic  side.  Emigration  has  not  been  able  to  encounter  the 
risks  and  expense  of  reaching  that  remote  portion  of  our  territory, 
and  hence  single  States,  more  favorably  situated  and  of  compara- 
tively small  area,  have  gained  more  inhabitants  in  the  past  twenty 
years  than  the  present  population  of  the  entire  Pacific  slope.  Not- 
withstanding this  relative  paucity  of  population,  the  agricultural 
products  have  become  of  great  importance,  the  cereals  for  exporta- 
tion produced  in  a  single  year  having  been  1,500,000,000  tons,  while 
the  means  of  transportation  have  been  insufiicient,  and  the  conse- 
quent freight  charges  very  high.  Grain  is  now  carried  around  Cape 
Horn  on  a  voyage  of  nearly  14,000  miles. 

The  overland  railways  have  been  found  incapable  of  transporting 
freight  of  this  ordinary  character  across  the  continent,  and  therefore 
do  not  afford  the  relief  anticipated. 

The  Nicaragua  Canal  will  not  only  become  the  much-needed  outlet, 
but  will  also  open  a  direct  and  easy  line  of  emigration  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  one  as  inviting  and  but  little  more  expensive  than  by  line  of 
steamers  to  New  York.  In  viewing  the  subject  of  a  ship  transit  over 
the  isthmus,  the  political  and  commercial  importance  of  the  enter- 
prise to  this  country,  apart  from  a  mere  regard  to  the  coast  trade 
between  our  States  on  the  two  oceans,  or  to  the  transportation  of  the 
products  of  the  Pacific  slope  to  European  markets,  should  be  consid- 
ered as  conditions  of  gi-ave  import  to  arise  from  its  completion. 

Our  population  and  wealth  are  much  greater  than  the  population 
and  wealth  of  all  the  other  nations  of  the  two  Americas  combined, 
but  our  commercial  relations  with  these  people  are  of  a  secondary 
character.  It  is  supposed  a  ship  canal  would  greatly  increase  our 
commercial  intercourse  with  the  states  of  Central  and  South  America, 
with  whom  it  will  place  us  in  much  nearer  association. 

The  canal  will  become  an  important  channel  for  the  transfer  of  our 
naval  forces. 

The  canal  company  will  require  works  for  the  repair  of  vessels,  and 
can  offer  the  Government  every  requisite  for  the  repairs  of  its  ships. 

As  before  remarked,  this  scheme  presents  no  experimental  tests, 
while  it  imposes  no  obligations  upon  the  Government  until  the  canal 


110  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

is  constructed  and  open  to  the  passage  of  all  classes  of  mercantile 
vessels. 

The  committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  guaranty  of  3  per  cent  net 
earnings  provided  for  in  the  bill,  and  which  is  to  bc^'ome  operative 
only  after  the  completion  of  the  canal  and  to  continue  thereafter  for 
twenty  years,  will  impose  little,  if  any,  pecuniary  liability  upon  the 
Government.  • 

The  Suez  Canal  for  1881,  it  appears,  earned  gross  receipts  of 
10,000,052,  with  expenses  for  superintendence,  repairs,  and  all  costs 
attending  operating  the  canal  of  §876,751,  being  about  8.85  per  cent  of 
gross  receipts. 

The  outlay  for  repairs  in  that  canal  involves  a  large  amount  of  dredg- 
ing yearly,  both  in  the  harbor  of  Port  Said  and  within  the  canal  itself, 
and  a  seagoing  dredge  is  emploj'ed  outside  of  Port  Said. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  bill  as  amended,  the  United  States  might 
be  called  upon  to  make  good  receipts  falling  below  $3,250,000  yearly; 
but  at  $2.50  per  ton  for  all  charges  in  the  canal,  1,300,000  tons  of 
traffic  will  secure  the  required  amount,  while  the  cereal  productions 
of  the  Pacific  coast  for  exportation  are  more  than  equal  to  that  num- 
ber of  tons. 

Oregon  offers  a  vast  field  for  wheat  production,  hardly  yet  opened 
to  settlement,  and  a  large  increase  in  the  area  cultivated  in  that  State 
will  follow  upon  the  opening  of  an  economical  route  for  transportation 
to  markets. 

The  importance  of  the  undertaking  and  the  reasons  existing  for 
having  such  a  ship  transit  under  the  control  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  invite  careful  consideration  of  the  powers  and  duty  of 
Congress  in  the  premises. 

Copies  of  the  statements  made  by  the  Provincial  Interoceanic  Canal 
Society,  the  report  of  the  board  referred  to  herein,  and  the  letter  of 
Commodore  De  Krafft  relating  to  distances  to  the  several  proposed 
transit  routes,  are  appended  hereto. 


Statement  Respecting  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
introductory  remarks. 

The  course  of  events  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  has  brought  about 
changes  in  our  atfairs  which  to-day  present  questions  of  national  policy  in  aspects 
greatly  differing  from  those  in  which  they  were  viewed  by  many  of  our  people 
within  a  very  recent  period. 

The  timid  and  hesitating  policy  that  directed  our  foreign  relations  after  the 
acquisition  of  California  led  to  the  acceptance  of  a  treaty  concerning  Central 
America  that  to-day  menaces  our  peace  and  welfare;  it  caused  us  to  abandon 
claims  to  a  territory  which,  now  in  the  hands  of  anotner  people,  dividts  onr  pos- 
sessions on  the  Pacific;  it  postponed  the  final  settlement  of  grave  questions  con- 
nected with  the  interests,  safety,  and  prestige  of  this  country  in  the  western  world 
to  the  present  time. 

In  the  first  years  of  our  possession  California  was  regarded  as  a  country  rich  in 
the  precious  metals  and  as  capable  of  maintaining  a  sparse  population  of  herds- 
men, but  it  rounded  out  our  continental  outlines  on  the  Pacific  side.  It  was 
thought  that  the  construction  of  transcontinental  communications  wholly  within 
our  territory  would  inure  to  our  benefit  in  a  commercial  sense  and  secure  the 
safety  of  that  part  of  our  population  in  their  isolation  upon  a  distant  western 
shore.  But  the  necessities  of  our  people  and  the  growth  of  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  a  territory  so  remote  from  the  consumers  of  the  world— tiie  cereal  products 
for  exportation  of  the  Pacific  slope  for  the  past  year  having  amounted  to  about  one 
and  one- half  million  tons— have  demonstrated  the  inadequacy  of  the  existing  means 
of  transportation,  and  our  fellow-citizens  on  that  side  of  the  continent  are  every- 


I 


MARITIME    CAN'AL    COMPANY.  Ill 

where  now  petitioning  Congress  to  promote  the  construction  of  a  canal  over  Nica- 
ragua that  shall  reduce  by  one-half  their  distance  from  the  markets  of  the  Atlantic 
and  spare  them  the  stormy  seas  of  Cape  Horn.  The  commerce  of  the  world  is 
awakened  to  the  importance  of  such  a  communication  over  the  American  Isthmus 
between  the  east  and  the  west,  and  that  the  capital  of  the  world  is  interested  is 
shown  in  the  success  of  De  Lesseps  in  securing  money  for  his  almost  hopeless  task 
at  Panama. 

It  is  now  perceived  that  those  great  transcontinental  roads,  on  which  the  pub- 
lic treasure  and  public  lands  have  been  lavished,  have  for  their  real  mission  car- 
riage between  the  coasts  and  the  interior;  that  when  the  ports  on  the  Pacific  are 
provided  with  suitable  sea  transportation,  these  great  railway  lines  upon  either 
side  will  be  occupied  in  a  traffic  to  supply  the  wants  and  interests  of  a  great  inte- 
rior population  and  to  distribute  those  products  of  human  industry  which  human 
invention  has  rendered  possible.  There  will  be  some  point  in  the  interior  where 
the  cost  of  carriage  and  the  facilities  offered  will  meet  upon  equal  terms  from 
either  ocean  and  enter  into  earnest  rivalry  and  competition. 

Through  transportation  by  rail,  except  for  those  articles  of  great  value,  demand- 
ing rapid  transit,  will  become,  as  indeed  it  has  already  largely  become,  a  matter 
of  secondary  consideration  to  our  great  trunk  lines. 

We  are  now  fairly  confronted  with  a  vital  and  rapidly  growing  issue  that  should 
be  met  by  our  Government  in  a  spirit  of  broad  and  enlightened  statesmanship, 
while  yet  regarding  those  national  interests  which  it  is  a  first  duty  to  study  and 
to  promote. 

That  a  canal  will  be  constructed  over  some  point  of  the  Isthmus  must  be  accepted 
as  a  fact,  and,  indeed,  one  is  in  the  course  of  construction.  Whether  it  is  likely  to 
succeed,  in  view  of  its  costly  design  and  of  natural  obstacles,  will  not  affect  the 
issue  now  presented  for  consideration;  for  in  any  event  a  canal  is  felt  to  be  a 
necessity  of  the  day,  and  the  only  question  presented  to  us  is,  Under  what  aus- 
pices shall  it  be  constructed? 

The  interests  of  the  United  States  naturally  demand  its  location  as  near  our 
coasts  as  circumstances  make  practicable,  having  in  view  the  requirements  of  an 
efficient,  safe,  and  sure  transit  for  iall  classes  of  mercantile  vessels  of  the  world. 
This  line  of  inquiry  will  embrace  the  conditions  of  navigation  upon  either  side  of 
the  Isthmus  at  any  proposed  location  for  such  a  work,  the  cost  of  construction, 
and  the  consequent  tax  to  arise  upon  commerce  for  its  use.  These  conditions 
being  satisfactorily  met,  that  transit  the  nearest  to  our  territory  should  interest 
us  the  most. 

The  United  States  caused  surveys  to  be  made  of  every  known  or  supposed  depres- 
sion on  the  American  Isthmus.  It  was  ascertained  that  Tehuantepec,  the  first  in 
order  as  regards  proximity  to  us,  otlered  insuperable  obstacles  toan  efficient  canal 
construction.  Nicaragua  comes  next  in  order  and  was  shown  to  possess  all  the 
requisites  necessary  for  a  ship  canal.  The  Nicaragua  route  consequently  is  the 
preferable  one  for  us. 

Shall  the  United  States  now  secure  such  degree  of  control  over  that  line  of  transit 
as  may  be  thought  necessary  and  is  practicable?  Those  views  which  regarded 
that  security  for  our  Pacific  coast  arising  from  isolation,  and  from  remanding 
hostile  fleets  to  voyages  around  Cape  Horn,  will  find  expression  now  in  the  need 
to  Secure  control  over  the  new  route  of  approach. 

The  busy  world  demands  an  efficient  transit  and  has  no  time  for  those  delays 
needed  in  experiments.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Pacific  slope  have  settled  down  to 
the  conviction  that  a  canal  offers  to  them  a  sure  and  secure  ship  transit  and  one 
attended  with  no  risks  or  uncertainties,  and  are  therefore  united  in  their  petitions 
for  a  canal.  The  interests  and  influences  of  this  nation  in  the  affairs  ol'  the  western 
world  seem  to  demand  a  prompt  action  in  a  manner  that  will  command  respect 
as  promoting  a  practicable  and  reliable  enterprise  and  one  entirely  removed  from 
the  influences  of  theoretical  and  tentative  projects. 

An  American  society  holds  a  concession  embrac  ng  all  the  conditions  necessary 
to  the  construction  of  an  economical  and  absolutely  free  highway  for  the  com- 
merce of  the  world,  and  the  society  is  entirely  in  sympathy  with  those  views  that 
would  make  the  enterprise  as  wholly  national  as  in  the  nature  of  existing  circum- 
stances it  can  be  made.  Shall  the  opportunity  be  seized  upon  by  the  Government? 
Then  the  further  question  will  present  itself.  To  what  extent  will  it  be  thought 
necessary  to  secure  control  over  the  work  itself? 

The  opportunity  offers  to  the  United  States  to  assume  actual  control  by  taking 
a  majority  of  the  stock  upon  the  same  conditions  that  individual  subscribers 
enjoy,  and  the  proofs  that  will  be  submitted  will  show  that  an  occasion  is  now 
presented  the  Government  to  aid  in  promoting  commerce  between  the  States  by 
the  establishment  of  the  most  important  of  all  our  lines  of  transportation  without 


112  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

actnal  pecuniary  loss  or  risk.  In  this  it  differs  from  all  our  governmental  aid 
hitherto  given  to  lines  of  interior  communication,  in  which  many  millions  of  money 
and  still  more  millions  of  acres  of  land  have  been  contributed.  Yet,  with  all  the 
lavish  use  of  the  public  wealth,  the  means  established  are  wholly  insuflBcient  and 
unequal  to  the  demands  for  transportation  coming  from  our  Pacific  States  and 
Territories.  The  Cbmmittee  on  Commerce  of  this  Congress  are  now  considering 
measures  for  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  River  which  involve  many  mil- 
lions of  absolute  expenditure.  The  Government  has  abolished  tolls  on  its  canals 
around  falls  in  our  great  interior  lines  of  water  communication  in  the  interest  of 
cheap  carriage.  It  is  not  much  the  people  of  the  Pacific  coast  are  now  asking  to 
aid  them  in  the  prosecution  of  their  enterprising  and  expansive  growth,  interests 
quite  as  justly  calling  for  national  attention  as  any  now  receiving  it  and  as  rightly 
demanding  the  most  secure  and  economical  outlet  in  the  power  of  the  Government 
to  procure  for  them.  They  propose  and  expect  to  pay  reasonable  tolls  for  the  use 
of  this  outlet. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  adoption  by  the  Government  of  the  measures 
proposed  in  the  bill  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua 
would  greatly  discourage  efforts  at  construction  elsewhere;  and  should  it  be 
determined  to  take  part  of  the  shares,  such  action  would  arrest  work  in  other 
localities.  The  receipts  from  the  Nicaragua  Canal  enterprise  would  pay  much 
greater  returns  upon  the  investment  than  the  United  States  are  required  to 
give  in  interest  for  money,  and  hence  such  a  course  would  serve  at  once  both 
the  political  and  pecuniary  interests  of  the  Government  through  the  prosecu- 
tion of  a  safe  isthmus  policy  at  this  juncture,  while  giving  to  the  Pacific  empire 
a  means  of  transportation  imperatively  demanded  by  existing  conditions. 


Statement  of  the  Provisional  Interoceanic  Canal  Society  Respectino 
THE  Bill  Before  Congress  to  Incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  op 
Nicaragua. 

To  the  honorable  the  members  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 

House  of  Representatives  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs: 

In  making  such  remarks  as  may  assist  in  your  inquiries  concerning  the  pro- 
visions of  the  bill  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  it  is 
considered  important  to  briefly  state  upon  what  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise 
found  a  claim  for  the  support  of  Congress. 

In  1872  President  Grant  appointed  a  commission  to  consider  the  subject  of  com- 
munication by  canal  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans.  In 
1879  the  Senate  called  for  the  report  of  that  commission.  I  have  here  a  copy  of  it 
as  then  published,  Forty-sixth  Congress,  second  session,  Ex.  Doc.  No.  15. 

This  commission,  composed  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Coast  Survey,  and  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Navigation,  assembled  in  1874,  hav- 
ing been  delayed  in  meeting,  awaiting  the  completion  of  surveys.  At  the  request 
of  the  commission  a  survey  of  the  Panama  line  for  a  lock  canal  was  made. 

The  care  and  zeal  displayed  are  well  indicated  by  that  request  and  by  a  further 
one,  that  army  engineers  should  be  assigned  to  pass  over  two  of  the  proposed 
routes  for  a  personal  examination.  In  accordance  with  this  request.  Major 
McFarland  and  Captain  Heuer,  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  and  Prof.  Henry  Mitchell, 
of  the  Coast  Survey,  made  the  personal  examination  desired,  accompanied  by 
General  Ammen  and  D.  S.  Walton,  civil  engineers. 

After  the  completion  of  the  surveys  and  personal  examinations  requested,  the 
commission  was  enabled  to  make  its  report  February  7,  1876.  There  were  before 
the  commission  surveys  and  examinations  of  ten  proposed  routes. 

Briefly,  the  report  set  forth  that  the  Nicaragua  route  "possesses,  both  for  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  a  canal,  greater  advantages  and  offers  fewer 
difficulties,  from  engineering,  commercial,  and  economic  points  of  view,  than  any 
one  of  the  other  routes  shown  to  be  practicable  by  surveys  sufficiently  in  detail  to 
enable  a  judgment  to  be  formed  of  their  relative  merits." 

In  presenting  copies  of  the  grant  made  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  to  the 
Provisional  Interoceanic  Canal  Society,  the  translation  of  which  was  revised  by 
th«  official  translator  at  the  Department  of  State,  your  attention  is  invited  to  the 
remarks  of  the  commission,  found  on  pages  7,  8,  and  9  of  its  report,  as  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  conditions  of  the  grant  coincide  closely  with  the  requirements, 
as  outlined  by  the  commission,  of  the  privileges  needed  in  the  construction  of  a 
work  of  such  magnitude  aa  a  ship  canal. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  113 

**  In  1876,  at  a  meeting  of  a  commission  of  scientific  persons  called  by  M.  A.  P. 
Blanchet,  a  letter  from  M.  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  was  read,  in  which  he  declared 
that  he  considered  the  project  of  a  canal  via  Nicaragua  as  that  which  offered  the 
greatest  ease  of  execution  and  the  greatest  security  of  construction."  (Revue  de 
Deux  Mondes,  1st  August,  1879.) 

It  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
grant  was  obtained. 

In  the  winter  of  1879-80,  Admiral  Ammen,  upon  various  occasions,  represented 
the  difficulties  encountered  in  the  preliminary  measures  for  the  creation  of  a  com- 
pany to  construct  a  ship  canal  across  the  territory  of  Nicaragua.  Ascertaining 
that  no  grant  had  been  obtained,  which  certainly  was  the  first  step  necessary 
to  such  an  organization,  I  undertook  to  form  a  provisional  society,  composed  of 
responsible  and  influential  persons,  and  obtained  such  number  of  signatures  as 
appeared  desirable. 

Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  C.  E.,  United  States  Navy,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
Government  canal  surveys  on  the  Isthmus,  went,  as  the  representative  of  the 
society,  to  make  proposals  of  a  perfectly  frank  character  to  the  Government  of 
Nicaragua,  meeting  with  such  success  as  is  shown  in  the  concession  obtained— a 
grant  beyond  qiiestion  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  ever  acted  upon,  or  even 
considered,  by  any  of  the  States  whose  territory  includes  portions  of  the  American 
Isthmus. 

The  Congress  of  Nicaragua  was  convened  in  special  session  expressly  to  consider 
this  grant,  and  it  was  confirmed  in  terms  as  negotiated  with  President  Zavala, 
and  embraces  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  years  from  the  day  on 
which  the  canal  is  opened  to  traffic. 

The  grant  provides  that  the  canal  locks  shall  not  be  less  than  500  feet  long  and  28 
feet  deep.    They  will  be  made  still  longer. 

It  declares  the  canal  and  the  ports  at  its  entrances  neutral,  and  that  they  shall 
remain  so  even  when  Nicaragua  itself  is  engaged  in  war. 

It  is  given  solely  for  the  benefit  of  a  canal  company  to  be  organized  by  the  society, 
but  6  per  cent  of  the  capital  shares  are  to  be  set  apart,  one-fifth  to  reimburse 
Nicaragua  its  special  expenditures  in  connection  with  the  grant  and  the  canal 
construction,  and  four-fifths  to  enable  the  society  to  conduct  the  surveys  for  final 
location,  to  organize  the  company,  and  to  secure  the  assistance  of  capitalists.  In 
addition,  Nicaragua  is  to  receive  5  per  cent  of  the  capital  shares  in  consideration 
for  grant  of  lands  and  rights  connected  with  the  concession,  the  lands  amounting 
probably  to  1,200,000  acres. 

The  State  authorizes  the  company  to  overflow  lands,  to  divert  streams,  to  deposit 
excavations,  to  make  use  of  lakes,  islands,  ports,  roadsteads,  and  rivers,  to  adopt 
any  route,  and,  in  short,  to  do  all  things  necessary,  in  the  opinion  of  the  com- 
pany's engineers,  to  the  construction  of  the  canal. 

Lands  belonging  to  the  State  are  given  free,  as  are  all  materials  found  upon 
public  lands;  and  private  property  is  to  be  subject  to  use  of  the  company  upon  the 
same  conditions  the  State  would  enjoy. 

All  materials  imported  for  use  of  the  company,  and  the  vessels  carrying  them  or 
employed  by  the  company,  are  to  be  exempt  from  duties  and  charges,  and  the 
property  of  the  company  is  declared  free  of  all  forms  of  taxation. 

The  State  gives  to  the  company  the  benefit  of  all  port  charges  and  dues  upon 
vessels  traversing  the  canal. 

It  establishes  a  free  zone  along  the  canal  for  100  yards  in  width  on  either  side, 
and  makes  the  ports  at  its  entrances  free.  No  papers  or  manifests  of  vessels  pass- 
ing through  the  canal  are  required,  and  the  fullest  liberty  to  discharge,  reload, 
and  repair  vessels  is  given. 

All  the  ports  of  Nicaragua,  except  Corinto,  are  made  free  of  charge  to  vessels 
anchoring  in  them  while  en  route  to  traverse  the  canal. 

Nicaragua  has  left  nothing  undone  which  lies  in  its  power  to  encourage  and 
facilitate  the  construction  of  the  canal. 

The  bill  to  incorporate  the  company  has  been  prepared  with  a  view  to  placing 
such  safeguards  about  the  enterprise  as  our  national  interests  seem  to  require,  and 
yet  such  as  are  not  ( alculated  to  prevent  a  successful  creation  of  a  construction 
company.  The  society  believes  there  is  nothing  in  the  bill  not  immediately  appar- 
ent on  its  perusal.  Having  no  objects  except  a  perfectly  frank  business  presenta- 
tion, the  aim  has  been  to  prepare  a  bill  as  simple  in  form  as  should  be  consistent 
with  proper  security  for  both  the  Government  and  the  company,  and  having  due 
recognition  of  the  national  character  of  the  enterprise  and  the  consequent  rightful 
control  of  the  United  States  over  it. 

The  first  question  presenting  itself  relates  to  the  powers  of  Congress  to  create  a 
corporation;  and  then  the  exercise  of  this  power  in  incorporating  a  company  to 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 8 


114  MABITIME    CANAL   COMrANY. 

do  certain  things  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  United  States  and  within  the  terri- 
tory of  an  indei)endent  State.  Consideration  of  the  relation  of  the  e»iterprise  to 
the  existing  condition  of  affairs  on  the  Isthmus  will  doubtle-s  become  necessary, 
and  hence  the  appropriate  reference  of  the  bill  to  the  committees  charged  with 
the  foreign  affairs  of  the  Government. 

The  right  of  the  United  States  to  assist  in  the  construction  of  a  canal  across  the 
American  Isthmus  will  not  \>e  questioned  by  other  powers  unless  aid  be  given 
with  a  view  to  a  preference  or  to  an  exclusive  right  in  the  use  of  the  canal.  This 
not  being  supposable,  further  reference  to  this  branch  of  the  subject  would  not  be 
proper. 

It  would  seem  absurd  for  me  to  discuss  a  question  of  such  character  in  the 
presence  of  men  whose  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  direction  of  the  inquiry 
are  so  superior,  but  I  may  spare  the  committee  some  trouble  in  an  examination  as 
to  the  powers  of  Congress  by  presenting  such  points  as  I  found  some  time  since 
and  which  seen  applicable. 

As  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  create  a  corporation,  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  delivere<l  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  r.  State  of 
Maryland  (Whealon's  Reports.  4  United  States  Supreme  Court)  is  conclusive. 

It  affirms  the  power  of  Congress  to  adopt  any  legitimate  means  for  carrj'ing  into 
execution  its  given  powers.  If  conferring  certain  powers  ujkju  an  associate  body 
of  men  be  the  means  employed  for  the  execution  of  any  of  its  powers,  the  act  is 
constitutional. 

The  Chief  Justice  said: 

"  Let  the  end  be  legitimate,  let  it  be  vrithin  the  scope  of  the  Constitution,  and  all 
means  which  are  appropriate,  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that  end.  which  are 
not  prohibited,  but  consist  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  are  con- 
stitutional. 

*  *  *  "That  a  corporation  must  be  considered  as  a  means  not  less  nsual,  not 
of  higher  dignity,  not  more  requiring  a  particular  specification  than  other  means, 
has  l^en  sufficiently  proved.  If  we  look  to  the  origin  of  corporations,  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  have  been  framed  in  the  Government  from  which  we  have 
derived  most  of  our  legal  principles  and  ideas,  or  to  the  uses  to  which  they  have 
been  applied,  we  find  no  reason  to  suppose  that  a  constitution  omitting,  and  wisely 
omitting,  to  enumerate  all  the  means  for  carrying  into  execution  the  great  powers 
vested  in  government  ought  to  have  specified  this.  Had  it  been  intended  to  grant 
this  power  as  one  which  should  be  distinct  and  independent,  to  be  exercised  in  any 
case  whatever,  it  would  have  found  a  place  among  the  enumerated  powers  of  the 
Government.  Bat  being  considered  merely  as  a  means  to  be  employed  only  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  into  execution  the  given  powers,  there  could  be  no  motive 

for  particularly  mentioning  it. 

******  * 

"  The  power  of  creating  a  corporation  is  never  used  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  something  else.  No  sufficient  reason  is,  therefore,  perceived 
why  it  may  not  pass  as  incidental  to  those  powers  which  are  expressly  given,  if  it 
be  a  direct  mode  of  executing  them." 

In  this  opinion  the  Chief  Justice  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  First  Congress  had 
incorporated  a  bank,  and  also  to  the  frequency  with  which  the  power  had  been 
exercised,  and  the  general  acquiescence  by  the  people  and  by  the  legislative  and 
judicial  branches  of  the  Government  in  the  right  to  exercise  such  powers. 

Mr.  Hamilton,  when  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a  very  able  argument  sus- 
tained this  power  of  Congress  to  create  a  corporation  as  an  inherent  attribute  of 
its  sovereign  powers.  And  President  Madison,  in  1815,  while  declining  to  approve 
an  act  for  the  incorporation  of  the  United  States  Bank,  admitted  the  powers  of 
Congress  to  "create"'  corporations. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  accumulate  authorities  as  to  the  constitutional  powers 
of  Congress  in  this  respect. 

(2)  T?he  second  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  question  as  to  the  powers  of  Congress 
relates  to  the  incorporation  of  a  company  to  do  something  beyond  the  territorial 
limits  of  the  United  States. 

This  view  of  the  subject  involves  the  treaty-making  powers  of  the  Government 
and  the  grant  made  by  Nicaragua  for  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal. 

The  treaty-making  power  is  vested  in  the  President  and  Senate.  There  is  no 
limitation  in  the  exercise  of  this  power.  Whatever  the  President  may  determine 
upon  in  negotiations  with  the  governments  of  the  world,  if  ratified  by  a  two- thirds 
vote  of  the  Senate,  becomes  the  law  in  respect  to  the  relation  between  the  citizens 
of  the  nations  parties  to  the  treaty. 

In  the  exercise  of  this  power  the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua 
entered  into  a  treaty,  dated  June  21,  1867,  and  promulgated  the  13th  day  of  August, 
1867. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANr.  115 

Articles  14  to  19,  both  inclusive,  relate  to  the  right  of  transit  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  oceans  through  the  territory  of  Nicaragua  and  to  the  construction  of 
routes  of  communication  between  the  two  oceans. 

Article  15  binds  the  United  States  to  the  protection  of  all  such  routes  of  com- 
munication, and  in  consideration  of  such  protection,  amongst  other  enumerated 
advantages  to  be  enioyed,  is  the  right  to  the  transportation  of  troops  and  muni- 
tions of  war  in  their  own  vessels  or  otherwise,  and  of  mails,  without  obstruction 
and  free  of  charges  or  toils. 

in  article  17  the  United  States  reserve  the  riglit  to  withdraw  their  protection  to 
such  routes  of  communication  on  six  months'  notice,  if  dissatisfied  with  discrimi- 
nations made  or  with  the  exactions  and  toils  imposed. 

Article  18  provides  that  the  guaranty  and  protection  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  held  to  be  void  until  the  holders  of  grants  for  construction  of  interoceanic 
routes  shall  I'ecognize  the  concessions  mafle  by  the  treaty  to  the  United  States. 

Article  19  limits  the  dividends  to  be  enjoyed  by  any  company  constructing  an 
interoceanic  communication  through  the  territory  of  Nicaragua. 

In  the  grant  made  to  the  Provisional  Interoceanic  Canal  Society  for  the  Maritime 
Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  articles  7,  8,  D.  10.  and  50  of  which  relate  to  the 
organization  of  the  company  and  specify  how  it  may  be  organized,  care  was 
observed  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  to  make  all  the  stipulations  correspond 
to  the  existing  treaty,  and  to  the  observance  of  that  treaty  the  canal  company  is 
fully  committed. 

This  government  is  asked  for  grant  of  powers  to  do  what  the  company  needs  to 
do  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States;  that  is  to  say.  to  organize  a  company 
with  power  to  issue  stock  and  bonds  in  the  United  States,  and  to  sue  and  be  sued 
in  the  courts  of  the  United  States.  The  financial  management  of  the  company  is 
to  be,  and  will  remain,  in  the  United  States,  where  large  sums  are  also  to  be 
expended  for  machinery  and  supplies. 

The  United  States  will  become  in  some  sense  partners  with  Nicaragua  in  the 
proposed  canal,  and  in  the  exercise  of  their  treaty-making  power  have  imposed 
conditions  upon  the  parties  now  asking  grant  of  incorporate  powers,  and  in  doing 
this  have  exercised  powers  analogous  to  those  they  are  asked  to  exercise  in  grant- 
ing a  charter. 

And  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  they  will  act  in  harmony  with,  and  in  con- 
formity to,  the  rights  and  powers  already  conferred  by  Nicaragua,  the  other  party 
to  the  treaty. 

The  object  of  that  part  of  the  treaty  contained  in  the  stated  articles  was  to  pro- 
mote the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  route  of  communication,  and  to  protect 
the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  use  of  such  route. 

The  exercise  of  the  treaty-making  power  is  in  effect  legislation,  and  the  fact  that 
the  advantages  demanded  by  the  United  States  are  to  be  given  in  consideration  of 
protaction  to  be  extended  to  the  work  does  not  affect  this  character  of  the  power 
exercised  in  obtaining  so  much  of  control  over  a  work  to  be  executed  in  the  terri- 
tory of  another  people. 

If  Congress  has  not  power  to  confer  that  corporate  authority  necessary  to  the 
construction  of  a  canal  which,  while  contemplated  as  a  private  undertaking,  is  by 
the  terms  of  the  tnaty  made  f re  '  to  the  United  States  for  certain  uses,  then  it 
appears  the  President  and  Senate  together  can  impose  laws  upon  citizens,  and,  in 
a  sense,  appropriate  private  means  vested  in  a  work  designed  to  advance  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  while  the  President  and  Congress  combined  (.an  not  legislate  in  rela- 
tion to  the  same  matter  so  as  to  facilitate  the  operations  of  citizens  designing  to 
conform  to  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  and  to  carry  it  into  effect  by  constructing 
the  very  work  which  it  was  expected  to  promote. 

The  views  expressed  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall  and  Mr.  Hamilton  apply  with 
equal  force  to  the  powers  of  Congress  to  regulate  commerce  between  the  States. 
The  terms  used  in  the  Constitution  in  granting  this  power  to  Congress  are  "to 
regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  several  States,  and  with 
the  Indian  tribes.'" 

The  right  of  Congress  to  do  anything  necessary  to  facilitate  or  advance  the  inter- 
ests of  our  foreign  commerce  has  not  been  doubted,  and  Congress  continually 
adopts  means  not  specified  in  the  Constitution  in  the  execution  of  that  power. 

Whatever  it  may  do  in  respect  to  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  nation,  it  may 
with  the  same  degree  of  constitutional  effect  do  in  the  regulation  of  commerce 
between  States,  its  powers  as  to  both  being  identical.  If  it  can  promote  and 
advance  the  interests  of  one,  it  can  do  the  same  for  the  other. 

The  canal  will  become  the  thoroughfare  of  the  greatest  of  all  commerce  between 
the  States,  embracing  no  less  than  all  the  water-carried  trade  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  States. 


116  MARITIME   CANAL    COMPANY. 

It  was  in  view  of  the  importance  of  this  aspect  of  the  route  that  the  treaty  stip- 
ulations provide  for  free  ports  and  free  transit  for  commerce  and  limit  the  charges 
for  canal  tolls. 

To  facilitate  the  construction  of  this  highway  for  that  commerce  and  to  supple- 
ment the  action  of  Nicaragua,  already  had  in  granting  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
dependent  upon  her  action  to  carry  into  effect  the  object  and  purpose  of  the  treaty, 
would  be  to  create  a  means  for  the  execution  of  the  powers  of  Congress  in  respect 
to  commerce  between  the  States. 

It  would  be  a  legitimate  and  an  appropriate  means  adapted  to  that  end,  is  not 
prohibited,  and  "consists  in  letter  and  spirit  with  the  Constitution." 

Moreover,  it  would  be  the  creation  of  a  means  for  giving  effect  to  an  exercise  of 
the  treaty-making  power  of  the  Government. 

So  much  delay  had  occurred  before  the  society  was  in  condition  to  send  an  agent 
to  Nicaragua  and  the  length  of  time  then  required  to  secure  a  confirmation  of  the 
grant  by  the  Nicaragua  Congress,  that  the  Count  de  Lesseps  had  already  com- 
pleted a  financial  arrangement  in  Paris,  which,  while  ruinous  in  character,  enabled 
him  to  secure  subscriptions  to  the  Panama  Canal  enterprise.  That  success  has 
made  it  impracticable  to  secure  money  for  a  second  enterprise  unless  presented 
with  some  such  encouragement  as  is  proposed  in  this  bill. 

A  guarantee  of  3  per  cent  net  gains  upon  the  capital  shares  for  twenty  years 
would  not  appear  to  t>e  a  very  great  inducement  for  investors  who  must  wait  five 
or  six  years  for  this  guarantee  to  become  operative,  but  the  moral  support  secured 
by  such  a  guarantee  is  really  worth  more  than  the  percentage  pledged.  It  would 
give  a  promise  of  security  and  stimulate  the  projectors  and  investors  in  the  Amer- 
ican enterprise  in  a  degree  commensurate  with  the  discouragement  it  would  create 
for  competing  projects,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  superior  advantages  of  the  Nic- 
aragua route  would  become  so  manifest  shortly  after  the  commencement  of  work 
as  to  render  the  prosecution  of  work  elsewhere  quite  impracticable. 

It  is  considered  by  the  society  that  the  United  States,  in  the  assumption  of  the 
proposed  guaranty,  would  incur  no  pecuniary  liability  even  were  the  canal  at 
Panama  to  be  completed. 

To  show  on  what  foundation  this  opinion  rests,  the  following  statement  is  made: 

The  maximum  amount  of  the  capital  shares  of  the  canal  company  is  limited  in 
the  bill  to  .$100,000,000,  and  the  allowance  for  all  expenses  of  the  company  to 
$1,000,000;  consequently,  $4,000,000  must  be  earned  yearly  to  secure  the  United 
States  from  all  liability. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  being  furnished  with  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  canal  company  for  any  one  year  of  the  twenty, 
when  it  may  be  claimed  the  net  earnings  have  not  been  o  per  cent,  is  to  determine 
what  amount,  if  any,  the  United  States  become  responsible  for  under  the  pledge, 
and  he  will  have  the  sworn  statements  of  the  company's  officers,  verified  by  the 
Government's  representative  in  the  board  of  directors. 

The  Secretary  is  also  made  the  judge  of  when  it  may  become  necessary  to  reduce 
canal  charges,  as  provided  in  the  bill,  to  maintain  the  net  earnings  at  the  limita- 
tion of  10  per  cent  upon  the  capital  shares. 

The  provision  that  no  principal  of,  or  interest  upon,  any  indebtedness  of  the  com- 
pany shall  be  paid  out  of  canal  earnings  so  as  to  leave  the  United  States  in  any 
way  responsible  under  the  guarantee,  it  is  thought,  will  not  only  protect  the  Gov- 
ernment, but  will  also  be  a  notice  to  all  parties  proposing  to  become  creditors  of 
the  company. 

Assuming  that  the  capital  stock  will  be  $100,000,000,  which  may  happen,  the 
United  States  in  effect  would  promise  that  the  earnings  shall  be  .'*;4.000,000,  or 
between  $3,000,000  and  $4,000,000,  should  the  canal  expenses  not  reach  $1,000,000. 

The  inquiry  as  to  what  the  earnings  probably  would"  be  should  be  answered;  as 
also  should  one  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  $1,000,000  to  meet  the  yearly  expenses  of  a 
canal. 

Mr.  Nimmo,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  the  Treasury,  in  answer  to  a 
resolution  of  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  prepared  a  valuable 
paper  upon  the  probable  tonnage  then  offering  for  passage  through  a  ship  canal 
across  the  American  isthmus.  It  is  the  most  authentic  statement  existing  upon 
the  subject.  There  are  certain  influences,  not  of  a  legitimate  character,  operating 
to  divert  certain  of  the  carrying  trades  of  which  he  treated  to  channels  to  which 
he  in  consequence  assigned  them,  but  of  which  influences  he  was  not  cognizant. 
Correcting  his  statement  by  transfers  as  papers  necessary  from  this  cause,  and 
adding  to  it  for  the  increase  in  grain  production  on  the  Pacific  slope,  his  showing 
is  made  reliable  for  the  trade  existing  at  the  present  time,  that  might  pass  through 
a  canal  were  there  one  in  operation. 


MARITIME    OANAL   COMPANY.  117 

After  making  sundry  deductions  from  the  whole  tonnage  he  found  the  amount 
to  be  1,625,000  tons.  The  great  increase  in  grain  production  on  the  Pacific  side 
would  now  increase  the  amount  by  at  least  600,000  tons,  that  item  in  his  estimate 
being  included  in  an  amount  of  550,000  tons  (4),  while  the  total  grain  produced 
for  shipment  in  1880  reached  1,500,000  tons.  Considerable  of  the  trade  of  the 
southwest  coast  of  South  America,  credited  by  Mr.  Nimmo  to  the  route  via  Cape 
Horn,  would  seek  a  transit  over  the  isthmus,  if  not  too  far  north. 

The  carrying  capacity  of  sailing  vessels  exceeds  their  registered  tonnage  by  30 
to  40  per  cent,  and  that  of  steamships  also  largely  exceeds  their  registered  tonnage. 

These  facts  taken  into  account,  the  following  results  are  obtained: 

Tons. 

Amount  of  tonnage  found  by  Mr.  Nimmo 1,625,000 

Add  for  increase  in  grain  products 600,000 

Add  tonnage  from  coast  of  South  America 500,000 

Total  registered  tonnage _ 2,725,000 

Add  for  capacity  in  excess  of  registered  tonnage  25  per  cent 681, 250 

Number  of  tons  liable  for  tolls 3,406,250 

To  adopt  3,000,000  tons  is,  in  all  probability,  an  underestimate  for  the  trade  now 
awaiting  a  canal  at  Panama  or  Nicaragua. 

A  charge  of  $2.50  per  ton  on  that  business  would  produce  a  gross  amount  of 
$7,500,000,  a  sum  greatly  in  excess  of  that  required  to  secure  3  per  cent  on  the 
capital  shares. 

There  arises  the  possibility  of  the  Panama  Canal  being  completed.  In  such  an 
event  what  would  probably  be  the  trade  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal? 

To  rightly  estimate  for  this  condition  the  difficulty  of  approach  for  sailing  ves- 
sels, the  chief  carriers  of  the  great  grain  crops  of  California,  to  either  entrance  of 
the  Panama  Canal;  the  extreme  difficulty  of  keeping  open  so  deep  a  cut,  the  dan- 
gers in  its  navigation  because  necessarily  very  narrow,  the  delays  for  meeting  ves- 
sels, and  the  greater  distance  from  our  Pacific  ports  are  all  points  that  should  be 
considered,  as  they  are  influences  that  would  favor  Nicaragua;  and  there  is  still 
another  greater  advantage  to  its  credit  in  the  comparatively  small  tolls  required 
to  pay  a  return  upon  the  smaller  investment. 

Estimate  of  the  tonnage  that  would  pass  via  Nicaragua  Canal  in  preference  to  one 
in  operation  at  Panama,  as  derived  from  Mr.  Nimmo's  tables,  with  an  addition^ 
as  before,  for  the  increase  in  the  grain  trade. 

(1)  Trade  between  New  York  and  ports  in  Central  America  and  oar       Tons. 

Pacific  ports  via  Panama 60,735 

(2)  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  via  Cape  Horn 120, 683 

Estimated  increase 130,000 

(3)  New  York  and  Mexico,  Honduras,  Hawaiian  Islands,  China,  Japan, 

and  half  the  Australian  trade 270, 277 

(4)  Pacific  ports'  and  foreign  ports  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  including 

grain  carriage 1,200,000 

(5)  European  ports  with  Central  America 52,389 

(6)  European  ports  withNew  Zealand,  via  Cape  Horn-..._.„ 237,851 

(7)  European  ports  with  British  Columbia 22,331 

Total  tonnage 2,094,245 

Add  25  per  cent  for  carrying  capacity 523,561 

Probable  tonnage  for  tolls 2,617,806 

At  $2.50  per  ton  canal  charges  the  extreme  amount  of  business  requisite  to  earn 
the  guaranteed  3  per  cent  net  gains  would  be  1,600,000  tons,  or  an  amount  1,000,000 
tons  less  than  shown  in  the  above  estimate. 

From  this  it  is  manifest  that  the  United  States  can  not  incur,  in  any  event,  a 
serious  liability  through  adopting  the  proposed  measure. 

In  estimating  the  yearly  expenses  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  which,  exclusive  of 
locks,  will  be  51i  miles  long,  no  allowance  will  be  made  for  dredging,  as  the  water 
used  throughout  will  be  taken  from  the  lake  and  no  surface  drainage  admitted  to 
deposit  silt. 


118  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

The  anticipated  cost  of  management,  maintenance,  and  operating  the  canal  is 
derived  from  the  following  data: 

SUEZ  CANAL. 

This  canal  is  100.15  miles  lonpr,  and  cost  $92,273,907.    Vessels  are  towed  through- 
out.    The  yearly  expenses  are  now  about  $y;{4,000. 
For  the  year  1878  they  were  §882,505,  made  up  as  follows: 

Expenses  of  general  administration  in  Paris i. $164, 366 

Agencies  and  administration  in  Egypt 58, 300 

$222, 666 

659,161  cubic  yards  dredging  outside  of  and  within  the  basin, 

PortSaidHarbor,  at  15cents .- 98,874 

982,920  cubic  yards  dredging  in  canal,  at  15  cents 147,438 

246,313 

Other  expenses  for  maintenance  and  repairs 109, 270 

For  operating  the  canal,  including  pay  of  employee.?,  towage, 
towboats,  materials,  tools,  lights,  repairs,  etc 304, 257 

413,527 

Total  expenses 882,505 

Deduct  for  dredgmg 246,312 

Total  expenses,  exclusive  of  dredging 636, 193 

This  rate  of  expenditure  for  a  canal  5U  miles  in  length  would  amount  to: 

Expenses  for  5U  miles  of  canal,  no  locks $327,639 

Add  for  12  locks,  at  §20,000  each 240,000 

Add  for  harbor  expenses,  same  as  at  Suez 98,874 

Total  pro  rata  cost  for  Nicaragua  Canal 666,513 

The  large  item  charged  for  the  Paris  office  is  due  in  part  to  the  heavy  pensions, 
or  life  pays,  fastened  upon  the  company,  Count  de  Lesseps  alone  receiving  §25.000 
yearly  for  life.  The  cost  of  dredging  is  estimated,  the  rate  per  cubic  meter  not 
being  given. 

The  total  receipts  of  the  Suez  company  for  1878  were  $7,315,000,  and  the  expendi- 
tures for  all  purposes  were  therefore  11.4  percentof  gross  receipts.  Withaproper 
rate  of  expenditure  in  the  Paris  office  the  total  outlay  would  not  have  exceeded  10 
per  cent  gf  receipts. 

LOUISVILLE  AND  PORTLAND  CANAL. 

This  canal,  2.15  miles  long,  has  two  locks  372  feet  long  and  80  feet  wide,  with  12 
feet  and  14  feet  lifts.  The  lock.s  were  worked  by  hand  in  1879;  3,168  vessels  of  all 
classes  passed  through  the  canal  that  year.  A  towboat,  a  dock,  and  steam  dredges 
are  maintained. 

Expenses  for  1879  were,  less  $12,955.84  for  dredging,  §30,928.47.  This  is  at  the 
rate  of  $14,453  for  1  mile  of  canal  and  one  lock.  Taking  $12,000  for  cost  of  opei*- 
ating  the  lock,  there  remains  §2,453  per  mile  for  canal. 

For  5U  miles  of  canal  this  makes $126,330 

Add  for  12  locks,  at  $20,000  each 240,000 

Corresponding  amount  for  Nicaragua  Canal 366, 330 

Add  for  harbor  exi)en8e8,  same  as  at  Suez 98,874 

Total  for  the  expenses  of  Nicaragua  Company 465, 204 

ST.   MARYS  FALLS  CANAL. 

This  canal  is  slightly  over  1  mile  in  length.  There  are  two  locks  to  overcome 
the  same  elevation,  one  being  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  is  515  feet  in  length,  80 
feet  wide,  and  18  feet  lift.    Estimated  yearly  expense.  $25,000. 

Assuming  the  locks  to  cost  $20,000,  the  other  expenses  would  be  $5,000  per  mile. 
For  the  Nicaragua  Canal  these  rates  give: 

5U  miles  canal,  at  $5,000  per  mile $257,500 

12  locks,  at  $20,000  each 240,000 

Harbors,  as  before 98,874 

Total  for  expenses  of  the  Nicaragua  Company 596,374 


MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  119 

NORTH   SEA  CANAL. 

This  canal  is  16  miles  in  length  and  from  130  to  400  feet  in  width.  The  level  is 
below  that  of  the  sea.  There  are  two  sets  of  locks  of  large  dimensions  and  an  arti- 
ficial harbor,  constructed  under  great  difficulties.  The  depth,  originally  made  23 
feet,  is  to  be  increased  to  26  feet  by  1884.  In  1871)  vessels  of  23  feet  4  inches  draft 
passed  through  the  canal.  The  cost  of  the  work  was  27,000,000  florins,  or 
$10,800,000. 

From  November,  1877,  to  August,  1879,  4,862  vessels  passed  through  the  canal. 
The  expenses  for  operating  it  in  1877,  the  only  year  for  which  a  report  has  been 
found,  amounted  to  only  $75,569.45. 

As  there  are  two  sets  of  locks  and  16  miles  of  canal,  there  are  8  miles  of  canal  to 
each  lock  lift.  In  Nicaragua,  as  now  projected,  there  will  be  something  over  4 
miles  of  canal  to  each  lift. 

Assuming,  as  before,  each  set  of  locks  to  cost  yearly  $20,000,  there  remains  but 
$35,000  to  pay  all  the  other  expenses  of  16  miles  of  canal  and  of  an  artificial  harbor 
in  the  North  Sea.    Charging  it  all  to  the  canal  makes  the  expenses  per  mile  $2,185. 
Then- 
Expenses  of  5H  miles  canal,  at  $3,185  per  mile,  is $112,528 

Add  for  12  locks,  at  $20,000  each 240,000 

Add  for  harbor  expenses,  as  before. 98,874 

Total  for  Nicaragua  Canal,  pro  rata 451,503 

Strictly  the  item  for  harbor  expenses  should  have  been  omitted,  as  such  an 
expenditure  is  included  in  the  other  amounts. 

DES  MOINES  CANAL. 

This  canal  is  7.6  miles  long,  has  three  locks  suitable  for  the  largest  steamers  on 
that  river,  and  they  are  subject  to  overflow  in  freshets.  The  dredging  is  quite  large 
in  amount,  yet  the  yearly  expenses  are  usually  about  $30,000. 

These  results  grouped  are  as  follows: 

Expenses  for  Nicaragua  Canal,  as  derived  from  the  Suez  Canal  expendi- 
tures  _. - $666,513 

Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  expenditures 465,204 

St.  Marys  Falls  Canal  expenditures 596,374 

North  Sea  Canal  ex{)enditures 451,403 

The  average  yearl  y  expenditures  thus  shown  amount  to 544, 873 

From  the  foregoing  figures  it  would  appear  that  gross  earnings  amounting  to 
$3,545,000  would  give  a  net  gain  of  3  per  cent  on  $100,000,000  capital,  and  the  total 
tonnage  necessary  to  yield  that  amount  would  be  but  1,418,000  tons. 

On  such  a  business  the  expenses  would  be  about  15  per  cent  of  receipts,  but  a 
much  larger  tonnage  would  involve  but  little  additional  cost,  as  the  maintenance, 
management,  and  working  of  the  canal,  and  offices  would  be  much  the  same,  save 
in  the  one  item  of  towage— not  a  heavy  expense. 

It  is  thus  quite  evident  that  $1,000,000  will  more  than  meet  the  yearly  expendi- 
tures of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Company. 

Certainly  that  amount  is  in  excess  of  what  would  be  required  for  a  tonnage  so 
small  as  to  render  the  United  States  in  any  degree  liable  in  respect  of  the  proposed 
guarantee. 

The  purpose  in  the  preparation  of  the  bill,  as  before  stated,  has  been  to  make  the 
canal  enterprise  as  national  in  character  as  is  consistent  with  the  conditions  of  the 
grant,  and  the  bill  provides  that  the  company  shall  recognize  in  advance  all  those 
rights  of  control  the  Government  may  at  any  time  secure  by  treaty  or  otherwise. 
The  conditions,  so  far  as  the  company  is  concerned,  upon  which  the  Government, 
for  national  reasons,  may  take  temporary  possession  of  the  canal,  are  distinctly 
set  forth  in  the  bill. 

The  Government  is  to  appoint  one  of  the  directors.  Nicaragua  also  appoints 
one,  thus  leaving  nine  to  be  elected. 

The  shares  which  Nicaragua  is  to  have  are  to  be  5  per  cent  of  the  whole  number, 
and  are  to  be  nontransferable. 

Should  it  become  the  purpose  of  Congress  to  secure  for  the  United  States  a  fur- 
ther controlling  influence  over  the  work,  the  object  can  be  effected  by  directing 
subscriptions  to  be  made  for  such  number  of  shares  as  is  thought  necessary,  the 
Government  to  pay  the  same  as  individual  subscribers  and  to  enjoy  pro  rata  all  the 


120  MABITIME   CANAL   COMPANY. 

benefits  of  the  grant.  Aa  Nicaragua  is  to  have  ~)  per 'cent  of  the  shares,  should  the 
United  States  take  forty-six  oue-hundredths  of  them,  the  two  Governments  would 
together  have  the  majority  of  the  stock;  but  as  two  of  the  directors  are  appointed 
by  them,  their  shares  in  the  elections  for  directors  should  be  counted  in  the  ratio  of 
nine-elevenths  of  the  whole  number. 

Should  the  interest  taken  by  the  United  States  be  confined  to  that  limit,  it  is 
believed  the  people  of  Nicaragua  would  be  pleased.  The  grant  can  not  be  trans- 
ferred to  any  foreign  government,  but  there  is  no  prohibition  of  a  partnership  with 
one — no  limitation  upon  the  stock  subscriptions. 

Having  explained  so  much  of  the  purposes  and  provisions  of  this  bill,  as  viewed 
by  the  promoters  of  the  canal  enterprise,  there  remains  for  mention  the  estimated 
coste  of  the  work  and  the  basis  upon  which  it  is  proposed  to  organize  a  company. 

In  the  surveys  of  the  canal  route  made  by  direction  of  this  Government,  esti- 
mates were  based  upon  the  lines  then  measured,  and  the  total  amounted  to 
$62,577,718,  including  $10,952,057  for  improvement  of  harbors  and  river. 

By  direction  of  the  society  addition  surveys  have  been  made,  which,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  surveys  made  for  the  Nicaragua  Government  between  the  San  Juan 
River  and  Grey  Town,  have  enabled  Mr.  Menocal  to  relocate  portions  of  the  line 
with  results  highly  advantageous. 

The  adoption  of  the  Rio  Lajas  line  or  route  between  the  lake  and  Pacific  Ocean 
in  lieu  of  that  by  the  Rio  del  Medio,  whereby  the  maximum  cut  becomes  only  41 
feet  above  the  lake  or  canal  level,  has  reduced  the  cost  of  that  section  of  the  canal 
by  no  less  a  sum  than  87,053,721.  The  route  was  well  known  before,  but  the  entire 
practicability  of  turning  the  head  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande  had  not  been  ascer- 
tained until  the  society  had  the  surveys  made. 

In  lieu  of  several  dams  and  small  canals  around  them,  along  the  San  Juan  River, 
one  large  dam  has  been  located  upon  superior  foundation  above  the  mouth  of  the 
San  Carlos  River.  This  dam  will  hold  the  lake  and  river  at  one  level,  making  of 
the  latter,  in  fact,  an  estuary  of  the  former,  and  creating  for  a  distance  of  120  miles 
an  uninterrupted  line  of  free  navigation,  in  which  the  very  largest  steamships 
may  proceed  with  full  steam  power.  The  waters  of  the  lake  will  be  at  the  high- 
water  level  of  1878.  This  change  has  largely  reduced  the  estimated  cost  of  improve- 
ments both  in  the  river  and  lake.  After  passing  along  the  river  valley  to  a  point 
about  6  miles  below  the  dam,  the  new  canal  line  abandons  the  river  in  favor  of  a 
direct  route  to  Grey  Town,  thus  shortening  the  distance  7.4  miles.  The  aggregate 
of  estimated  cost  of  the  work  between  the  lake  and  Caribbean  Sea  is  reduced  by 
these  various  changes  $4,614,158,  making  the  total  reductions  amount  to  .$11,666,879 
and  the  resulting  estimated  cost  .$40,910,839. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  these  estimates  are  based  upon  measurements,  and  any 
changes  in  location  due  to  more  extended  examinations  could  hardly  result  other- 
wise than  to  diminish  the  amount  of  work.  It  is  also  important  as  a  factor  inthe 
estimates  that  at  least  half  of  the  33  miles  between  Greytown  and  the  dam  across 
the  San  Juan  River  can  be  dug  with  dredges. 

Assuming  the  sum  of  $41,000,000  as  the  estimated  cost,  the  final  outlay  can  hardly 
exceed  as  follows: 

Estimated  cost $41,000,000 

Add  50 per  cent  for  engineering  contingencies 20,500,000 

Add  20  per  cent  for  other  contingencies 8,200,000 

Esti mated  amount,  contingencies  included 69, 700, 000 

Add  6  per  cent  interest  during  construction,  say  five  payments,  time 

six  years,  to  be  allowed  in  stock  settlements 12, 964, 200 

Nicaragua's  shares 4, 644, 056 

Surveys,  expenses  of  organization  of  company,  and  Government  out- 
lays   5,572,868 

Totalamount 92.881,124 

This  is  probably  an  overestimate.  Should  thecapital  shares  not  exceed  $75,000,000, 
subscribers  would  be  secured  4  per  cent  by  the  Government  guaranty  for  twenty 
years  after  the  canal  should  be  completed. 

The  construction  of  this  canal  presents  no  serious  difficulties.  There  is  nothing 
new,  untried,  or  experimental  in  or  about  it.  Such  canals  are  in  daily  use,  on  a 
less  extended  scale,  and  the  locks  are  worked  without  danger  to  vessels.  Engi- 
neers of  high  repute,  suchas  Ashbel  Welch,  president  of  the  Society  of  Engineers, 
New  York;  General  Weitzel,  United  States  Engineers;  Mr.  E.  A.  Douglass,  engi- 
neer, and  others,  testify  to  the  facility,  celerity,  ease,  and  security  with  which,  by 
aid  of  steam  power,  the  largest  ships  can  be  passed  through  locks,  and  lifts  of  80 
feet  are  not  considered  extreme. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  121 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  in  New  York  in  August, 
1880,  Mr.  Welch  said: 

"  My  present  object  is  to  point  out  how  a  ship-canal  lock  of  the  most  extreme 
dimension  and  of  oO  feet  lift  can  be  made,  into  and  out  of  which  ships  of  the 
largest  size  can  be  hauled  quickly  and  in  which  they  can  be  held  and  handled 
safely  and  all  the  operations  of  the  lock  performed  surely  and  rapidly  by  a  steam 
engine  on  the  wall. 

"  This  mighty  agent,  in  its  present  matured  state  so  powerful,  so  controllable, 
so  instantaneously  and  so  exactly  obedient  to  human  command,  can,  with  suitable 
appliances,  which  I  propose  to  point  out,  be  made  to  perfoi'ui  all  the  haulingsand 
holdings  of  the  ships,  and  all  the  openings  and  shuttings  of  the  gates  and  valves, 
safely,  certainly,  and  quickly. 

"  Water  power  can  not  so  well  be  applied  directly,  for  its  changes  are  not  quick 
enough,  but  it  maybe  applied  through  hydraulic  engines  with  great  advantage. 

*  -x-  *  *  *  *  * 

"  It  appears,  from  the  advice  they  have  given,  that  some  of  the  most  eminent 
engineers  of  the  world  have  not  thought  of  this  plan,  or,  at  any  rate,  have  not 
thought  it  out,  and  that  for  want  of  considering  what  can  be  done  and  knowing 
what  has  been  successfully  done  already,  they,  as  well  as  most  persons  interested 
in  ship  navigation,  including  naval  officers  consider  locks  for  ship  canals  abso- 
lutely inadmissible.  I  repeat  what  I  have  already  said  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
that  if  locks  for  ships  could  be  operated  only  in  the  old  way,  I  would  no  more 
build  one  than  undertake  to  row  the  Great  Eastern  across  the  Atlantic  by  human 
hands.  Knowing  only  the  old  way,  those  engineers  were  right  in  advising  a  level 
canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  notwithstanding  its  enormous  cost,  its 
unavoidable  narrowness,  involving  great  delay  and  risk,  its  exposure  to  floodsonly 
imperfectly  diverted,  and  all  the  dangers  and  expenses  almost  always  incident  to 
deep  cuts.'  Some  of  those  risks  I  adverted  to  more  fully  on  a  former  occasion. 
******* 

"I  have  calculated  for  a  lift  of  30  feet.  Probably  that  is  as  high  as  the  ground 
will  permit  any  lock  to  be  made.  I  should  not  hesitate  to  go  higher  than  that  if 
the  situation  permitted. 

"Where  there  is  plenty  of  water,  or  where  water-saving  basins  are  used  for  the 
locks  of  large  lift,  there  is  no  necessity  for  the  traditional  Procrustean  rule  of 
making  the  locks  of  uniform  lift,  whether  that  fits  the  ground  or  not.  Mr. 
Douglass,  already  mentioned,  made  locks  of  33  feet  lift,  which  worked  easily, 
safely,  and  well  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  They  were  emptied  in  two  minutes. 
The  higher  the  lift  the  less  the  cost  of  construction  and  operation,  and  the  less  the 
detention  per  foot  lift." 

Mr.  Welch's  estimate  of  time  required  to  pass  a  vessel  weighing  40,000,000 
pounds,  much  heavier  than  anything  afloat  except  the  Great  Eastern  loaded: 

Minutes. 

"To  hook  on  the  hauling  and  breast  lines 1 

"To  give  velocity  of  3  feet  per  second  in  135  feet 1.5 

"To  move  540  feet  at  3  feet  per  second 3 

"To  stop  in  133  feet 1.5 

"To  shut  the  lower  gates 1 

"To  fill  the  lock  safely  (outside  calculation) 6 

"To  open  the  upper  gates... .- .. 1 

"To  overcome  the  inertia  and  move  810  feet 5.5 

20.5 

"Probably  in  almost  every  location  where  water  is  to  be  had  a  better  ship  canal 
can  be  made  with  a  few  locks,  and  at  a  far  less  cost  than  a  sea-level  canal.  A 
small  part  of  the  money  saved  by  the  locks  will  in  most  cases  make  a  broad  and 
deep  canq,l,  where  ships  can  go  safely  and  rapidly  and  pass  each  other  anywhere 
without  delay,  instead  of  narrow,  deep  cuts,  commonly  dangerous  and  always 
expensive,  where  ships  must  move  slowly  and  commonly  wait  to  pass  each  other. 

"  The  question  must  be  decided  in  each  case  whether  the  very  large  amount 
required  for  the  construction  and  operation  of  a  lock  will  save  a  larger  amount  in 

'  The  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal  has  a  deep  cut  about  a  mile  long— I  do  not 
know  the  figures,  but  I  suppose  that  first  and  last  the  maintenance  of  the  canal 
through  this  cut  has  coat  more  than  the  maintenance  and  operation  of  all  the  locks 
on  the  canal.  The  "Gap  Cut,"  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  gave  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  for  years  and  cost  a  good  deal  of  money. 


122  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

some  other  way.  and  whether  the  half  hour's  delay  at  each  lock  will  save  a  greater 
delay  in  some  other  way. 

'  *  The  plan  I  have  presented  of  the  construction  and  operation  of  a  ship-canal 
lock  is  so  simple  and  its  practicability  so  evident  your  mental  exclamations  have 
probably  so  often  been  '  Why,  of  course,"  that  1  feel  like  apologi/.ing  for  taking  up 
your  time  in  laying  it  before  you.  And  yet,  though  so  plain  when  once  presented, 
eminent  engineers  have  failed  to  see  it." 

The  largest  lock  in  the  world  is  the  one  at  St.  Marys  Falls.  The  approaches 
are  not  completed  and  cause  material  delays,  yet  lockages  do  not  occupy  half  an 
hour.  In  the  many  thousands  of  lockages  made  in  the  North  Sea  Canal  not  a  ves- 
sel has  been  injured. 

It  is  probable  the  number  of  locks  finally  built  to  overcome  the  110  feet  eleva- 
tion across  Nicaragua  may  be  materially  reduced  from  13  in  number,  as  now  pro- 
jected. The  one  tidal  lock  would  be  necessary  were  the  canal  at  sea  level,  and 
the  French  now  admit  one  must  be  adopted  at  Panama. 

The  Caledonian  Canal  across  Scotland,  exclusive  of  lakes,  is  23  miles  long  and 
cost  £1,023,628.  It  is  122  feet  wide  on  the  top  and  50  feet  on  the  bottom  and  has 
20  feet  depth.  The  slopes  are  covered  with  stone  as  a  protection,  and  steamships 
of  17  feet  draft  steam  along  this  canal  at  from  7  to  11  miles  per  hour,  a  fact  here 
stated  to  show  what  may  be  possible  as  an  attainable  speed  in  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  by  adopting  suitable  protection  for  the  work.     (Annual  Cyclopedia.) 

The  probable  time  of  transit  may  be  stated  thus: 

Hours. 

Passage  of  51J  miles  of  canal,  at  4  miles  per  hour 13 

120  miles  of  river  and  lake  navigation,  at  10  miles 12 

12  locks,  at  15  minutes  each  (more  than  General  Weitzel's  estimated  time) 3 

Deductions,  etc 8 

Total  time 36 

Hence,  two  days  would  be  an  outside  limit  for  the  transit.  The  time  may  be 
reduced  by  improvements  entirely  feasible  and  by  higher  speed  in  the  river  and 
lake. 

The  San  Juan  River  generally  is  from  600  to  1,200  feet  wide,  and  the  available 
width  will  be  increased  by  the  dam.  In  two  places,  where  the  water  is  deep,  the 
river  bed  contracts  to  a  width  between  400  and  500  feet.  There  is  no  point  where 
a  line  tangent  to  it  and  reaching  from  shore  to  shore  on  the  opposite  side  is  not 
at  least  :5, 200  feet  in  length.  The  dam  being  49  feet  above  the  usual  river  level, 
will  aflford  water  for  a  long  distance  over  the  points  and  bottomlands.  The  depth 
of  water  in  the  lake  is  considerable,  except  near  the  southeastern  shore,  where 
dredging  in  soft  mud  must  be  done  to  deepen  the  chaimel  to  the  canal  entrance. 

The  deepest  cut  in  the  divide  between  the  lake  and  Pacific  Ocean  is  41.6  feet 
above  the  lake  and  canal  summit  level,  an  elevation  not  half  that  of  the  hill  on 
which  this  Capitol  stands  above  the  Potomac,  and  the  cut  of  this  depth  is  less  in 
width  on  the  divide  than  the  length  of  some  steamers  that  will  traverse  the  canal. 
The  elevation  of  Lake  Nicaragua  above  the  ocean  is  less  than  that  of  the  Senate 
Chamber  floor  above  the  Potomac. 

The  improvement  of  the  harbors,  in  the  opinion  of  engineers  who  have  exam- 
ined them,  presents  no  great  difficulties  and  will  not  be  very  costly.  They  do  not 
in  any  degree  offer  the  difficulties  overcome  in  the  construction  of  the  harbor  of 
Y-Muiden,  at  the  entrance  of  the  North  Sea  Canal. 

Nicaragua  is  central  in  tropical  America,  and  is  capable  of  development  beyond 
the  imagination  of  those  who  have  not  passed  over  the  country  and  studied  its 
resources.  Under  the  stimulating  influence  of  such  a  highway  for  commerce  and 
outlet  for  the  products  of  that  region,  its  prosperity  would  be  assured,  and  the 
United  States  could  not  fail  to  reap  a  rich  return  for  their  encouragement  of  the 
canal  enterprise.  Our  national  influence  and  prestige  will  be  assured  and  our 
commercial  interests  with  Central  and  South  America  greatly  benefited.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  more  than  advert  to  the  importance  of  this  highway  to  the  Pacific 
States  and  to  the  interstate  trade  between  them  and  those  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  superior  situation  of  the  Nicaragua  line  in  connection  with  general  com- 
merce is  shown  as  follows: 

All  voyages  between  ports  in  either  ocean  north  of  the  latitude  of  Tehuantepec, 
so  far  as  regards  actual  distance  only,  would  be  favored  more  or  less  by  that  route, 
and  all  voyages  between  all  ports  in  the  Atlantic  and  those  to  the  south  of  Tehuan- 
tepec, in  the  Pacific,  would  be  favored  in  all  respects  via  Nicaragua. 


i 


MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 


128 


Table  1  (page  6,  Mr.  Nimmo's  report). 

Nuviher  of  vessels  and  amount  of  tonnage  ivhich  might  have  passed  through  the 
proposed  canal  if  it  had  been  constnicted. 

[N.B. — This  table  is  based  upon  statistics  of  the  latest  year  for  which  the  requisite  data  can  be 

obtained.] 


No.  of 
vessels. 


Tons. 


1.  Average  number  of  vessels  and  amount  of  tonnage  entered  at  and  cleared 
from  either  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  annually,  in  trade  with  all  na- 
tions»  (Appendix  3  and  3) 

2.  Vessels  entered  at  and  cleared  from  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  in 
trade  around  Cape  Horn  with  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  during 
the  year  ended  June  30. 1879^  (Appendix  4) 

3.  Vessels  entered  at  and  cleared  from  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  in 
trade  with  foreign  countries  west  of  Cape  Horn  during  the  year  ended 
June  30, 1879  (Appendix  5) - 

4.  Vessels  entered  at  and  cleared  from  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  in 
trade  with  foreign  countries  east  of  Cape  Horn  during  the  year  ended 
June  30,  1879  (Appendix  6). - 

5.  Vessels  entered  at  and  cleared  from  ports  of  the  several  countries  of  Europe 
in  trade  around  Capo  Horn  with  foreign  countries  other  than  the  United 
States  during  the  latest  year  for  which  the  data  can  be  stated  with  respect 
to  each  country  (Appendix  7) 

6.  Vessels  entered  at  and  cleared  from  ports  of  British  Columbia  in  trade 
with  countries  of  Europe  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1879 

Total 


75 
273 
455 

1,644 


533,000 
120,662 
247,567 
551,929 

1,462,897 
22,331 


2,818 


2,938,386 


lAn  estimate  from  the  report  of  the  United  States  consul  at  Panama  (Appendix  2),  and  from 
a  statement  compiled  from  British  consular  returns  (Appendix  3). 
"  Compiled  from  special  reports  by  collectors  of  customs. 

Table  2  (page  8). 

Showing  the  tonnage  engaged  in  guano  and  niter  carding  via  Cape  Horn,  a  busi- 
ness condvxited  by  sailing  vessels. 


Westward  passages  via  Cape  Horn 
Eastward  passages  via  Cape  Horn. 

Total 


810,000 


Table  3  (page  9). 

Showing  the  deductions  Mr.  Nimmo  estimates  shoidd  be  made  from  the  gross 
amount  of  trade  which  might  have  passed  through  a  canal,  as  shown  per  table, 
page  6,  amounting  to  2,938,386  tons. 


Vessels. 

Tons. 

(a)  Vessels  employed  in  trade  between  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States 
and  Australia 

79 

24 
372 

52 

810 

53,685 

(6)  Vessels  employed  in  trade  between  Atlantic  [ports  of  the  United  States 
and  Chile 

17,120 

(c)  Vessels  employed  in  trade  between  Europe  and  Chile 

(d)  One-half  of  the  tonnage  employed  between  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United 

States  and  China  and  Japan  (estimated ) 

368,193 
64,604 

(e)  Vessels  engaged  in  guano  and  nitrate  of  soda  trade  between  Atlantic 
ports  of  the  United  States  and  ports  of  Europe,  with  the  western  coast 
of  South  America r 

810.000 

Total 

1,337 

1,313,602 

Deducting  the  above  amount  from  2,938,386  tons,  he  arrives  at  1,624,784  tons  as 
representing  the  probable  business  of  the  canaL 


124 


MARITIME    OANAL   COMPANY. 


The  several  amounts  of  tonnage  in  Table  1,  with  the  exception  of  2  and  6,  con- 
tain items  of  carriage  between  ports  lying  to  the  north  or  to  the  south  of  Tehuan- 
tepec,  to  be  credited  to  each  of  the  routes,  as  follows: 

Item  1. — Traffic  over  Panama  Railroad  with  San  Francisco  (p.  19),  30,734  tons, 
credited  to  Tehuautepec. 

Item  ^.-^China  and  Japan  trade,  129,208  tons,  credited  to  Tehuantepec. 

Kem  >^.— Trade  with  Brazil  and  Africa  (Appendix  6),  18,568  tons,  credited  to 
Nicaragua. 

Item  5. — Trade  with  west  coast  of  Mexico  (Appendix  7),  11,438  tons,  credited  to 
•Tehuantepec. 

Distributing  the  amounts  according  to  the  indications  given  in  the  table,  and 
correcting  as  above,  the  following  results  are  obtained: 


Items. 

Tonnage  for 
which  Te- 
huantepec 
would  De 

the  shorter 
distance. 

Tonnage  for 

which 
Nicaragua 

would  be 
the  shorter 

distance. 

1 

Tons. 
30,734 
120,662 
129.208 
633,361 
11,438 
22,331 

Tons. 
503,266 

g 

3 

118,350 

4 

18,568 

5 

1,451,459 

6 

Total 

847,734 

2,090,652 

That  is,  of  the  total  carrying  trade  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports,  as 
■per  Mr.  Nimmo's  table,  five-sevenths  would  be  favored  by  the  Nicaragua  route. 

Mr.  Nimmo  made  deduction  as  per  Table  3,  by  which  he  reduced  the  probable 
business  of  a  canal  to  1,625,000  tons. 

In  these  deductions  one-half  the  carrying  trade  between  our  Atlantic  ports  and 
those  of  China  and  Japan  is  included,  and  in  order  to  ascertain  what  proportion 
of  1,625,000  tons  carrying  business  Tehuantepec  would  favor  in  distance,  that 
trade  must  be  deducted  from  the  amount  above  credited  to  the  route: 

Tons. 
Proportion  for  which  Tehuantepec  was  before  found  to  be  the  shorter 

distance 847,734 

Deduct  half  trade  with  China  and  Japan  (item  1 ,  page  9) 64, 604 

Carrying  trade  for  which  Tehuantepec  is  the  shorter  route 783, 130 

Total  Mr.  Nimmo's  estimated  traffic 1,625,000 

Carrying  trade  for  which  Nicaragua  would  be  the  shorter  route 841 ,  870 

In  further  discussion  of  this  subject  it  will  be  shown  that  Nicaragua  is  quite  as 
favorably  situated  as  Tehuantepec  for  all  this  carrying  business,  except  that 
between  our  own  ports  on  the  two  oceans  and  also  that  between  our  Atlantic  ports 
and  those  of  the  west  coast  of  Mexico. 

Assuming  this  to  be  the  case,  the  following  results  are  shown  by  Mr.  Nimmo's 
tables: 


Item. 

Tonnage  via 

Tehuan- 
tepec as  the 
shorter 
route. 

Tonnage  via 
Nicaragua 
as  the  short- 
er route. 

Tonnage 

which  might 

take  either 

route. 

1 

Tons. 
30,734 
120,662 

Tons. 
502,266 

Tons. 

2 

8 

118,359 

18,668 

1,451,459 

129,298 

4 

633,361 

6 

11,438 

♦22,331 

6 

Total 

162,834 

2,000,662 

684,900 

MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY, 


125 


Or,  on  the  basis  of  1,625,000  tons  carrying  trade — 


Item. 

Tonnage  via 
Tehuan- 

tepec  as  the 
shorter 
route. 

Tonnage  via 
Nicaragua 
as  the  short- 
er route. 

Tonnage 

which  might 

take  either 

route. 

1                       

Tons. 
30,734 
120,663 

Tons. 
602,366 

Tons. 

2       

3                          

118,359 

18,568 

138  093 

129,208 

4                                                                

533,361 

5          .             

11,438 

*23,331 

6                                                              

Total 

162,834 

777,266 

684,900 

Thus  it  appears  that  of  the  carrying  business  Mr.  Nimmo  found  for  a  canal 
162,824  tons  would  be  favored  by  Tehuantepec;  777,268  tons  by  Nicaragua,  and 
684,900  tons,  other  things  than  distance  being  equal,  would  take  either  route  with 
like  advantage. 

The  grain  carrying  from  the  Pacific  slope  would  make  much  larger  figures  for 
item  4,  Table  1,  than  Mr.  Nimmo  gives;  but  this  business  being  conducted  with 
European  ports  would  not  add  a  ton  to  the  list  favored  by  Tehuantepec,  but  would 
pass  to  the  third  column  above. 

A  canal  affording  a  safe,  rapid,  and  sure  transit  across  the  American  Isthmus 
to  every  class  of  commercial  vessel  found  upon  the  ocean  can  not  fail  to  exert  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  reestablishment  of  our  merchant  marine.  It  must 
greatly  increase  the  construction  of  both  wooden  and  iron  vessels,  for  the  voyages 
in  the  carriage  of  our  coast  trade,  which  then  would  be  continuous  for  4,000,  5,000, 
and  6,00*0  miles,  would  call  for  vessels  of  the  best  class,  both  as  regards  size  and 
construction. 

In  the  last  half  of  1881 ,  70  American  ships  sailed  from  the  Pacific  ports  grain 
laden,  the  smallest  cargo  having  been  1,270  tons  and  the  largest  3,300  tons  in 
weight;  but  the  whole  number  sailing  so  laden  was  303,  of  all  nationalities,  and 
carrying  cargoes  up  to  4.000  tons  each.  This  magnificent  fleet  sailed  around  Cape 
Horn  for  European  ports,  a  distance  of  13,710  miles,  whereas,  had  the  canal  been 
open,  the  distance  would  have  been  7,200  miles,  a  loss  of  6,500  miles  in  sailing  dis- 
tance for  each  vessel  and  an  aggregate  loss  of  1,969,500  miles;  an  expense  the 
wheat  growers  of  the  Pacific  slope  have  paid. 

The  cost  of  maintenance,  management,  and  operating  the  Suez  Canal  in  1880 
was  $852,080.    Its  gross  receipts  were  $7,943,596,  and  its  net  receipts  $7,091,516. 

Had  it  been  a  ship  railway  costing  50  per  cent  of  receipts  for  operating 

expenses,  its  outlay  would  have  been $3,971,798 

Actual  expenses  of  Suez  Canal 852,080 

Difference  in  favor  of  the  canal 3,119,718 

Because  profitable,  the  Suez  Canal  shares,  originally  costing  500  francs,  now  sell 
for  more  than  four  times  that  amount. 
All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  for  the  society. 

S.  L.  Phelps, 
Chairman  Executive  Committee  Interoceanic  Canal  Society. 


Washington,  March  16, 1882. 
Hon.  John  F.  Miller, 

United  States  Senator,  Cliairman  Subcommittee  of  Committee  on 

Foreign  Relations  on  Interoceanic  Canals. 
Hon.  Charles  G.  Williams, 

United  States  Representative,  Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs, 
Qentlemen:  I  have  now  received  a  statement  of  the  receipts  of  the  Suez  Canal 
Company  for  the  year  1881,  and  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  compara- 
tive exhibit.  I  also  avail  of  these  data  to  contrast  the  cost  of  operating  a  ship 
canal  and  a  ship  railway  by  taking  the  actual  experience  of  the  Suez  Canal  Com- 
pany and  the  conditions  for  a  ship  railway  as  proposed  in  the  bUl  now  before  the 
Senate. 


126  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

SUEZ   CANAL. 

Cosf.— This  canal  is  100.15  miles  long.  The  deepest  cut  is  70  feet  above  sea- 
level.  Total  cost,  $93,273,907.  For  a  long  period  excavation  was  carried  on  by 
hnman  hands,  the  dirt  being  taken  out  in  such  quantities  as  could  be  laid  upon 
the  carrier's  back  above  the  arms  crossed  over  it  to  form  a  barrow.  The  enter- 
prise, under  such  methods,  became  a  failure,  but  was  rescued  by  the  introduction 
of  dredges  of  not  very  eflficient  character. 

The  canal  could  to-day  be  constructed  for  half  the  amount  it  cost,  yet  the  stock 
of  the  company  has  sold  recently  for  more  than  five  times  its  par  value. 

Receipts  from  the  canal  business: 

Francs. 

1878.  Total  receipts,  less  land  and  water  rents 31,293,347 

1879.  Total  receipts,  less  land  and  water  rents 33, 500, 000 

1880.  Total  receipts,  less  land  and  water  rents 41.676,792 

1881.  Total  receipts,  less  land  and  water  rents 51,941,509 

Expenditures  for  maintenance,  management,  and  operation: 

1878.  Total  expenses,  less  those  for  lands  and  irrigation 4, 630, 139 

1879.  Total  expenses,  less  those  for  lands  and  irrigation 4, 389. 000 

1880.  Total  expenses,  less  those  for  lands  and  irrigation 4, 780, 713 

1881.  Total  expenses,  less  those  for  lands  and  irrigation 

Mean  of  three  years 4,599,9.50 

The  gross  expenditures  for  1881,  including  interest  on  obligations,  bonds,  and 
capital  shares,  were  28,000,000  francs.  For  1878  the  same  expenditures  were 
28,678,325  francs;  for  1879,  28,059,000  francs,  and  for  1880,  28,179,80/  francs. 
Hence,  the  mean  of  the  expenditures  for  maintenance,  etc.,  for  three  years  would 
be  a  large  amount  to  assume  for  the  year  1881.  but  I  adopt  it  (being  §870,751) 
because  the  itemized  expenditures  for  the  year  will  not  be  made  known  until  the 
meeting  of  the  canal  board  in  May  next. 

This  rate  of  expenditure  for  1881  is  8.85  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts.  During 
1880  old  appliances  were  discarded  and  new  ones  provided,  creating  an  increased 
expenditure  for  "  entretien." 

Expenditures  for  1880: 

Francs. 

For  administration  in  Paris  and  Egypt 1,143,619 

For  maintenance  and  repairs,  including  about  1,500,000  cubic  yards  of 

dredging  in  Port  Said  Harbor  and  the  canal .   2, 079, 875 

For  operating  the  canal,  including  towage,  towboats,  pay  of  employees, 

materials,  tools,  lights,  etc 1,558,219 

*rotal  expenditures 4,780.713 

Sir  Edward  J.  Reed,  in  his  statement  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Commerce, 
mentioned  the  serious  caving  in  of  the  sandy  banks  of  the  canal  and  the  difficul- 
ties in  its  navigation  as  observed  by  himself.  The  value  of  his  observations  will 
be  appreciated  by  reference  to  the  above  statements  of  receipts  and  expenditures. 
A  business  that  springs  in  one  year  from  33,000,000  francs  to  41,000,0i)0  and  the 
following  year  bounds  up  to  52,000,000  francs  does  not  indicate  apprehensions  on 
the  part  of  shipmasters,  owners,  or  shippers;  nor  does  a  rate  of  expenditure  for 
operating  and  maintaining  the  work  represented  by  8.85  per  cent  of  gross  receipts 
leave  a  margin  for  costly  repairs  or  expensive  working. 

Were  the  expenses  of  the  Paris  oflBce  (amounting  to  $104,000  of  a  total  expendi- 
ture of  .$876,751)  reduced  to  an  economical  ba.sis,  the  total  expenses  would  he  less 
than  7  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts. 

The  yearly  cost  of  maintaining  and  operating  railways  is  from  60  per  cent  of 
gross  earning  upward  to  their  full  amount.  The  great  trunk  lines  are  less  expen- 
sive than  ordinary  roads. 

In  1880  the  expenses  of  the  New  York  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  (very  low 
grades)  were  59.04  per  cent  of  gross  earnings;  of  the  Erie  road,  62.29  per  cent, 
and  of  the  Pennsylvania  road,  61.90  per  cent,  the  mean  being  about  61  per  cent. 

Captain  Eadss  bill  jirovides  that  50  per  cent  of  gross  receipts  shall  be  taken  as 
the  expenses  of  the  ship  railway. 

The  business  of  the  Suez  Canal  for  1881  amounted  to  $9,900,052.  Had  its  ex- 
penses been  5U  per  cent  of  earnings  its  account  would  have  stood  thus: 

1881.  Gross  earnings  of  canal , $9,900,052 

Expenses,  50  per  cent  of  receipts 4,950,026 

Net  earnings 1 4,950,026 


MARITIME    CATfAL    COMPA]SrT.  127 

The  company's  account  was  as  follows: 

1881.  Gross  receipts  of  canal $9,900,053 

Expenses  .- 876,751 

Net  earnings.  9 J  per  cent  on  cost 9,023,301 

Net  earnings,  based  on  railway  expenditures , 4,950,026 

Difference  in  favor  of  the  canal. 4,073,275 

Captain  Eads  estimates  the  cost  of  the  railway  at  $75,000,000.  Adding  for  con- 
tingencies would  nearly  double  this  amount;  but  take  his  estimate  without  an 
addition  of  any  kind: 

9|  per  cent  on  $75,000,000  would  be $7,352,500 

Add  for  expenditures  50  per  cent 7,252,500 

Total  earnings  necessary  for  ship  railway  to  give  same  net  amount 
as  the  Suez  Canal 14, 505, 000 

The  Nicaragua  Ship  Canal,  53.15  miles  long,  is  estimated  by  Government  officers 
to  cost,  including  harbor  and  river  improvements,  $41,000,000,  the  estimates  being 
based  on  actual  governmental  surveys  and  measurements. 

Assume  the  total  cost  to  be  $75,000,000: 

9|  per  cent  on  $75,000,000  would  be $7,253,500 

Expenditure,  based  on  the  cost  for  maintaining  and  operating  four  Ship 

canals' 600,000 

The  cost  of  maintenance,  management,  and  operating  the  Nicaragua  Caijal,  as 
derived  from — 

The  Suez  Canal  (yearly  cost  $876,751 ) ,  would  be $327, 639 

The  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  (y.early  cost  $80,928) ,  would  be 126, 330 

The  St.  Mary's  Falls  Canal  (yearly  cost  $25,000) ,  would  be 257, 500 

The  North  Sea  Canal  (canal  16  miles  long,  two  sets  locks,  and  artificial 

harbor,  yearly  cost  $75,000),  would  be 113,528 

Mean  result . 205,999 

Add  fori  3  locks,  at  $20,000  each  ..  240,000 

Add  for  harbor  expense,  same  as  Suez 98,874 

Total  yearly  expense  for  the  Nicaragua  Canal _ 544, 873 

Receipts  necessary  for  9^^  per  cent  net  earnings 7, 853, 500 

Receipts  necessary  for  9|  per  cent  net  earnings  for  ship  railway 14,505,000 

Difference  in  favor  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  . .   6, 653, 500 

The  railway  would  therefore  impose  a  tax  on  commerce  $6,653,500  greater  than 
a  canal  would  cause,  and  that  tax  would  fall  upon  shipping  of  a  small  class,  the 
railway  being  constructed  for  vessels  of  only  4,000  tons  displacement,  while  the 
estimates  for  the  canal  cover  a  construction  ecjual  to  the  carriage  of  larger  steamers 
than  any  now  employed  in  commerce,  although  some  entering  New  York  Harbor 
displace  up  to  13,500  tons. 

Very  respectfully,  S.  L.  Phelps. 


[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  15,  Forty-sixth  Congress,  first  session.] 

Message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  transmitting,  in  answer  to  a  Senate 
resolution  of  April  15,  1879,  a  copy  of  the  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by 
the  President  March  15,  1872,  relating  to  the  different  interoceanie  canal  surveys 
and  the  practicability  of  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  across  the  continent. 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States: 

In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  15th  instant,  I  transmit  here- 
with a  copy  of  the  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  President  on  the  15th 
of  March,  1872,  relating  to  the  different  interoceanlc-canal  surveys  and  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  across  this  continent. 

R.  B.  Hayes. 
Executive  Mansion, 

April  18,  1879. 

'There  will  be  no  dredging  in  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  In  the  Suez  Canal  it 
amounts  to  about  1,500,000  cubic  yards  annually. 


128  MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY. 

Report  of  the  Interoceanic-Canal  Commission. 

Washington  City,  February  7,  1876. 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

The  commission  appointed  by  you  to  consider  the  subject  of  communication  by 
canal  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Parific  oceans  aci'oss.  over,  or  near 
the  isthmus  connecting  North  and  South  America,  have  the  honor,  after  a  \oi)g, 
careful,  and  minute  study  of  the  several  surveys  of  the  various  routes  across  the 
continent,  unanimously  to  report: 

1.  That  the  route  known  as  the  "Nicaragua  route,"  beginning  on  the  Alantic 
Bide  at  or  near  Greytown.  running  by  canal  to  the  San  Juan  River;  thence  follow- 
ing its  left  bank  to  the  mouth  of  the  San  Carlos  River,  at  which  point  navigation 
of  the  San  Juan  River  begins,  and  by  the  aid  of  tliree  short  canals  of  an  aggregate 
length  of  3.5  miles  reaches  Lake  Nicaragua:  from  thence  across  the  lake  and 
through  the  valleys  of  the  Rio  del  Medio  and  the  Rio  Grande  to  what  is  known  as 
the  port  of  Brito,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  possesses,  both  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  a  canal,  greater  advantages  and  offers  fewer  difficulties  from 
engineering,  commercial,  and  economic  points  of  view  than  any  one  of  the  other 
routes  shown  to  be  practicable  by  surveys  sufficiently  in  detail  to  enable  a  judgment 
to  be  formed  of  their  relative  merits,  as  will  be  briefly  presented  in  the  appended 
memorandum. 

The  data  for  the  conclusions  of  the  commission  will  be  found  in  the  reports  of 
the  various  surveys  and  examinations  made  under  the  direction  and  auspices  of 
the  Navy  Department,  copies  of  which  are  transmitted  herewith. 

A  statement  relating  to  these  surveys  and  examinations,  with  a  brief  account  of 
the  characteristic  features  of  the  routes,  will  be  found  in  the  accompanying  memo- 
randum prepared  by  the  commission. 
We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servants, 

Andrew  A.  Humphreys, 
Brigadier-General,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A. ,  etc 
C.  P.  Patterson, 
Superintendent  United  States  Coast  Survey, 
Danl.  Am  men, 
Commodore  and  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Navigation, 

ACCOMPANYING  MEMORANDUM. 

At  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  the  commission  various  surveys  for  an  int«r- 
oceanic  ship  canal  across  this  continent  had  been  made  by  different  parties,  and 
others  were  in  progress  under  the  Navy  Department.  No  formal  meeting  occurred 
until  the  surveys  in  progress  were  completed  and  their  results  presented  in  the 
Bhai)e  of  reports,  maps,  and  plans  upon  the  routes  which,  as  presented,  appeared 
the  most  practicable. 

On  the  5th  day  of  February,  1874,  a  sitting  was  held.  General  information 
bearing  upon  the  subject  was  discussed,  as  well  as  that  derived  from  the  recent 
surveys  made  under  the  Navy  Department  as  far  as  then  executed. 

Captain  Shufeldt  and  Commanders  T.  O.  Selfridge  and  E.  P.  Lull,  of  the  Navy, 
were  invited  and  appeared  before  the  commission  for  the  purpose  of  making  verbal 
explanations  relating  to  the  different  surveys  of  which  they  had  charge.  Capt. 
R.  W.  Shufeldt  had  charge  of  those  on  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  Commander 
T.  O.  Selfridge  of  those  including  the  San  Bias  and  Chepo  route  and  all  lymg  south 
and  east  of  that  line,  and  Commander  E.  P.  Lull  of  those  via  the  Nicaragua  Lake 
and  afterwards  of  those  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  as  will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

It  was  agreed  to  take  up  the  discussion  of  the  routes  from  the  north  toward  the 
south  and  to  request  the  assignment  of  Army  engineers  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
over  and  making  a  personal  examination  of  the  relative  practicability  of  two  of 
the  proposed  routes,  and  also  to  examine  and  report  upon  whatever  related  prac- 
tically to  the  execution  of  the  works, 

The  commission  therefore  asked  the  aid  of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who  kindly  supplied  the  necessary  facilities  for  the  desired  examination  through 
our  naval  vessels.  The  proper  officers  who  had  been  engaged  on  those  surveys  were 
also  detailed  to  facilitate  the  examination,  and  several  civil  engineers  were  invited 
to  accompany  the  parties  and  to  report  their  views  after  personal  inspection. 

By  request  of  the  commission,  Maj.  Walter  McFarland  and  Capt.  W.  H.  Heuer, 
United  States  engineers,  and  Prof.  Henry  Mitchell,  of  the  United  States  Coast 
Survey,  made  the  personal  examination  desired,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Jacob 
Ammen  and  Civil  Engineer  D.  S.  Walton,  whose  observations  and  services  were 
not  the  less  valued  or  appreciated  because  they  were  honorary. 


MABITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  129 

The  reports  made  by  the  gentlemen  are  herewith  appended. 

A  (lisciission  of  the  Nicaragua  and  Atrato-Napipi  routes,  after  the  receipt  of  the 
preliminary  reports  of  these  gentlemen,  induced  the  commission  to  ask  a  close 
instrumental  survey  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  This  was  rendered  further  desir- 
able by  surveys  that  were  said  to  have  been  made,  the  reports  of  which  had  been 
asked  for  of  the  those  concerned  and  best  informed  without  obtaining  definite 
information.  The  commission  has  to  expres <  its  obligations  for  the  prompt  and 
efficcient  manner  in  which  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Navy  caused  this  survey 
to  be  made  by  Commander  E.  P.  Lull,  United  States  Navy,  a  corps  of  junior  officers, 
and  Civil  Engineer  A.  G.  Menocal,  United  States  Navy,  and  also  for  the  actual 
line  of  location  of  the  Atrato-Napipi  route  and  other  information  by  Lieut.  F.  Col- 
lins, United  States  Navy,  and  party,  who  had  previously  been  under  the  command 
of  Commander  T.  O.  Selfridge.  In  this  manner  the  collection  of  information  was 
completed  as  deemed  necessary  for  a  decision  upon  the  subject.  The  commission 
is  pleased  to  recognize  the  laborious  works  conducted  through  a  series  of  years  by 
naval  officers,  under  the  instructions  of  the  Navy  Department,  on  a  field  of  oper- 
ations extending  over  large  tracts  of  territory  and  believed  to  preclude  the  exist- 
ence of  as  favorable  lines  for  the  construction  of  an  interoceauic  ship  canal  as  those 
herein  particularly  presented  for  consideration. 

Geographically  from  the  north  end  toward  the  south  they  are  situated  in  the  fol- 
lowing order:  (I)  The  Isthmus  of  Tehuautepec;  (2)  the  Nicaragua  route  via  Lake 
Nicaragua;  (8)  the  Isthmus  of  Panama;  (4)  the  San  Bias  and  Chepo  route;  (5)  Cal- 
edonian and  Morti  routes;  (6)  Caledonian  and  Sucubti  routes;  (7)  the  so-called 
"De  Paydt"  route;  (8)  the  Cacarica  and  Tuyra  route;  (9)  the  Atrato  and  Fer- 
nando route;  (10)  the  Atrato-Napipi  route, 

THE  TEHUANTEPEC  ROUTE. 

This  route  has  been  sufficiently  examined  by  Capt,  R.  W.  Shufeldt,  U.  S.  N., 
aided  by  a  corps  of  junior  officers  and  Civil  Engineer  A,  G.  Tuertes,  to  admit  of 
a  satisfactory  general  discussion  and  comparison  of  its  character  and  merits  with 
those  of  other  routes.  It  has  a  summit  level  of  754  feet,  which  it  is  proposed  to 
reduce  to  732  feet  at  Tarifa.    A  harbor  must  be  constructed  on  each  coast. 

The  Coatzacoalcos  River  must  be  improved  to  the  highest  point  of  the  river, 
which  could  be  utilized  for  navigation  about  35  milts.  Its  banks  are  low  and 
during  freshets  entirely  overflowed.  One  hundred  and  forty-four  miles  of  canal 
must  be  built,  with  140  locks  of  10.4  feet  lift;  with  a  feeder  27^  miles  long  (requir- 
ing primarily  to  dam  the  water  supply  to  an  elevation  of  86  feet),  having  four 
tunnels  of  an  aggregate  length  of  3.6  miles.  There  is  some  question  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  water  supply.  Assuming  a  common  standard  of  dimensions  of 
canal  and  locks  and  of  price  of  materials  and  labor  for  all  the  routes,  the  esti- 
mated cost  of  this  route  would  largely  exceed  that  of  the  Nicaragua  route. 

THE  NICAEAGUA  ROUTE. 

Commander  E.  P.  Lull,  U.  S.  N.,  with  a  corps  of  junior  officers  and  Civil  Engi- 
neer A.  G.  JMenocal,  made  the  survey  of  this  route.  The  summit  level  is  designed 
to  be  107.62  feet  above  the  two  oceans— the  surface  of  Lake  Nicaragua  being  main- 
tained at  the  highest  water  mark  by  a  dam  at  Castillo. 

Two  harbors  must  be  constructed,  one  at  or  near  Grey  town,  the  other  at  Brito, 
on  the  Pacific. 

The  eastern  division  is  108.5  miles  long,  of  which  42  miles  is  canal,  extending 
from  the  proposed  harbor  on  the  eastern  coast  to  and  along  the  San  Juan  River  to 
the  mouth  of  the  River  San  Carlos,  at  which  point  slack- water  navigation  of  the 
San  Juan  begins,  and,  by  the  aid  of  three  short  canals,  having  an  aggregate 
length  of  3.5  miles,  around  the  proposed  dams  in  the  San  Juan  (four  in  number), 
reaches  to  Lake  Nicaragua,  a  distance  of  63  miles  of  slack- water  navigation. 

The  four  dams  alluded  to  are  located  as  follows,  with  dimensions  as  given: 
No.  1,  Castillo.  940  feet  long,  21  feet  high;  No,  2,  Balas,  1,196  feet  long,  31,9  feet 
high;  No.  3,  Machuca,  824  feet  long,  34  feet  high;  No.  4,  San  Carlos,  1,000  feet 
long,  31  feet  high. 

Ten  lift  locks  are  required,  of  an  average  lift  of  10.76  feet  each.  They  are  all 
located  on  hard  ground,  and  only  at  one  location  are  two  locks  placed  together. 

Different  parts  of  the  San  Juan  River,  utilized  by  means  of  dams  for  slack- 
water  navigation,  must  be  deepened  by  dredging,  and  to  a  small  extent  excavated 
in  rock. 

Owing  to  the  great  extent  of  Lake  Nicaragua  (2,800  superficial  miles,  to  be 
further  increased  through  the  Castillo  dam),  which  receives  the  silt  of  the  water- 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 9 


130  '  MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY. 

sheds  that  drain  into  it,  the  flow  of  water  in  the  river  is  nearly  equalized  through- 
out the  year,  so  as  effectually  to  prevent  floods  or  freshets.  This  is  an  important 
consideration  in  its  bearinj?  upon  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  inter- 
oceanic  canal  works.  The  watersheds,  too.  bordering  on  the  upper  San  Juan,  by 
reason  of  the  trends  of  the  San  Carlos  and  other  rivers,  are  shown  to  be  of  limited 
extent  and  do  not  seriously  affect  the  rise  of  the  San  Juan.  The  water  supply  is 
sufficient  for  any  possible  contingency. 

A  later  reconnoissance  shows  that  a  shorter  and  better  location  of  the  lower 
portion  of  the  eastern  division  can  undoubtedly  be  found. 

The  middle  division  comprises  the  lat-e  navij^ation.  a  distance  of  56.5  miles,  with 
channels  of  approach  at  either  tud  requiring  dredging  and  other  work. 

The  western  division,  extending  from  Lake  Nicaragua  to  Brito,  is  16.33  miles 
long,  and  requires  10  lift  locks,  one  tide  lock,  and  a  new  channel  for  a  part  of  the 
Rio  Grande. 

The  deepest  cutting  is  through  a  mere  crest  134  in  height,  and  the  excavations 
are  not  of  extraordinary  magnitude  on  this  division. 

The  commission  has  derived  much  advantage  from  the  reports  of  Maj.  Walter 
McFarland,  Corps  of  Engineers.  United  States  Army.  Gen.  Jacob  Ammen,  and 
Prof.  Henry  Mitchell,  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  reports  based  upon  relia- 
ble information  and  personal  observation  in  their  inspection  of  the  country  and  of 
various  points  on  the  line  as  located. 

Whatever  differences  may  exist  between  the  reports  of  Civil  Engineer  Menocal 
and  those  of  the  gentlemen  referred  to,  it  is  conceded  that  the  surveys  are  suffi- 
cient to  make  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  amount  and  character  of  the  work 
necessary  to  construct  the  canal. 

The  questions  relating  to  the  enlargement  of  the  works  deemed  necessarj'  by 
Major  McFarland,  the  construction  of  more  extensive  harbors,  the  relative  cost  of 
labor  and  mater^l  there  as  compared  with  the  rates  in  our  country,  as  well  as  the 
determination  of  the  best  location  possible,  will  doubtless  engage  the  careful  atten- 
tion of  those  concerned  in  its  construction. 

Respecting  the  magnitude  of  the  harbors,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  on  the  west 
coast  the  port  of  San  Juan  del  Sur  would  serve  as  a  convenient  port  to  await 
entrance  to  the  canal,  the  actual  distance  apart  being  about  5  miles. 

The  sea  is  usually  so  smooth  and  bad  weather  so  unusual  that  vessels  can 
anchor  off  Brito  itself,  in  the  open  sea,  to  await  the  opportunity  of  entering  the 
canal.  Gales  of  wind  are  almost  if  not  wholly  unknown  in  that  region,  and  squalls 
are  off  the  land,  in  no  degree  endangering  the  safety  of  a  vessel  at  anchor  off  the 
coast.  Nevertheless  a  heavy  ocean  swell  rolls  in,  rendering  ample  breakwaters 
necessary  to  secure  smooth  water  at  the  entrance  to  the  canal. 

More  difficulties  exist  on  the  eastern  coast,  and  a  smooth  anchorage  would  be 
desirable  for  vessels  awaiting  transit,  but  even  there  the  anchorage,  although  dis- 
agreeable without  shelter,  would  be  regarded  as  safe.  Here,  as  on  the  west  coast, 
it  is  requisite  that  the  entrance  to  the  canal  should  have  smooth  water,  which  can 
only  be  secured  by  the  construction  of  ample  breakwaters. 

Respecting  the  length  of  locks  proposed  ( 400  feet) ,  the  canal  should  be  built  for 
the  class  of  vessels  best  adapted  to  extended  navigation,  which  class  would  in  gen- 
eral follow  the  routes  of  prevailing  winds.  Extreme  length  should  be  discouraged 
as  well  for  a  true  economy  as  for  safety  of  passengers.  Vessels  of  exceptional 
length  can  go,  as  now,  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

No  doubt  exists  as  to  the  entire  practicability  of  constructing  an  interoceanic 
ship  canal  via  Lake  Nicaragua.  If  the  work  were  conducted  with  ability  and 
honesty,  it  would  be  completed  within  a  moderate  period  of  time,  and  at  a  cost 
that  would  prove  commercially  profitable  by  the  payment  of  tolls,  moderate  when 
compared  with  the  loss  or  time,  wear  and  tear,  deterioration  of  cargo,  insurance, 
etc.,  that  belongs  to  a  voyage  via  Cape  Horn  or  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  The  cost 
of  construction  of  the  canal  and  harljors,  with  all  their  necessary  adjuncts— locks 
400  feet  in  length  and  26  feet  depth  of  water— may  be  set  down  as  at  least 
$100,000,000. 

THE  PANAMA  ROUTE. 

At  the  request  of  the  commission,  for  reasons  previously  stated,  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  caused  a  careful  instrumental  survey  of  this  route  to  be 
made  in  the  vicinity  of  the  line  of  the  Panama  Railroad. 

The  proposed  route  is  41,7  miles  long;  has  a  summit  level  of  123.7  feet  (surface 
of  canal  above  the  ocean);  requires  a  dam  and  feeder  10.5  miles  long;  a  retained 
dam  at  Obispo  Station:  an  aqueduct  across  the  Chagres  River;  a  deep  cut  at  the 
summit  level  4.^1  miles  long  with  a  mean  depth  of  lO'i  feet  and  greatest  depth  of 
197  feet;  the  construction  of  the  lift-locks  necessary  to  overcome  the  summit  level, 


MAEITIME    CAISAL    COMPANY.  131 

and,  what  is  common  to  all  of  the  routes,  the  construction  of  harbors  on  each 
coast.  The  deep  cut  would  probably  be  subject  to  landslides,  from  which  the 
Panama  Railroad  has  suffered  si-riously,  and  the  canal  would  be  exposed  to  seri- 
ous injury  from  flood.  The  excavation  of  the  cut,  involving  the  handling  and 
trai.sport  of  millions  of  cubic  yards  of  materials,  is  of  itself  a  very  great  under- 
taking, especially  in  such  a  climate  as  that  of  the  Isthmus. 

The  cost  of  the  whole  work,  including  that  necessary  in  the  harbor  of  Panama 
and  at  Aspinvvall,  is  estimated  to  exceed  by  nearly  50  per  cent  that  of  the  Nicara- 
gua route. 

THE  ATRATO-NAPIPO  ROUTE. 

The  additional  surveys  which  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Navy  directed  to 
be  made  last  winter  by  Lieutenant  Collins,  and  an  actual  line  of  location,  gauging 
the  water  supply,  and  the  estimates  relating  thereto,  enable  the  commission  to 
form  a  more  definite  opinion  of  the  approximate  amount  of  labor  necessary  to  exe- 
cute this  work. 

The  construction  of  a  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  the  Urala  (one  of  the  mouths  of 
the  Atrato)  is  supposed  to  be  practicable  at  a  moderate  expense;  thence  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Napipi,  a  distance  of  160  miles,  the  navigation  is  unimpeded  for  j^ny 
class  of  commercial  vessels. 

The  proposed  interoceanic  canal  begins  at  the  month  of  Napipi  River,  and  for 
a  distance  of  21.4  miles  no  special  obstacle  exists  to  its  construction.  At  this 
point  it  is  proposed  to  cross  the  Napipi  by  means  of  a  dam  and  basin  at  a  surface 
level  of  li'S  feet  above  the  oceans. 

The  Napipi  at  this  point  is  a  mountain  stream,  subject  to  extreme  floods,  and 
bearing  along  at  such  times  large  quantities  of  debris.  The  deep  cutting  in  the 
valley  of  the  Doguado  begins  about  7,000  feet  after  crossing  the  Napipi.  The  mean 
depth  of  cut  from  the  crossing  of  the  river  to  the  entrance  of  tunnel  is  90  feet  a 
distance  of  4.8  miles;  a  maximum  depth  of  this  cut  being  245  feet,  and  at  entrance 
of  tunnel  235  feet. 

The  proposed  tunnel  has  a  length  of  3.5  miles.  The  material  through  which  it 
must  be  opened  is  not  determined. 

The  tunnel  opens  abruptly  on  the  Pacific,  giving  a  linear  distance  of  4,500  feet 
measured  on  the  line  of  location  of  the  locks,  making  a  continuous  flight  necessary. 

After  the  canal  has  left  the  Atrato  and  reached  the  Napipi  River  at  the  point 
where  it  is  proposed  to  cross  that  stream,  the  execution  of  the  remainder  of  the 
work  will  require  the  greatest  skill  in  engineering;  and  its  cost  can  not  be  esti- 
mated in  advance  with  any  accuracy,  though  it  must  necessarily  be  extraordinarily 
great. 

The  rainfall  and  the  duration  of  the  rainy  season  upon  this  route  are  greater  than 
upon  the  Panama  route,  and  are  much  greater  than  the  downfall  and  duration  of 
the  rainy  season  upon  the  Nicaragua  route. 

Unlike  all  of  the  other  routes  for  which  estimates  have  been  made,  for  this  route 
supplies  of  every  kind,  as  well  as  laborers  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  would 
have  to  be  brought  from  considerable  distances,  still  further  swelling  the  cost. 

Finally,  were  the  work  actually  built,  the  cost  of  its  permanent  maintenance 
would  be  greater  than  upon  the  other  routes.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  work 
upon  the  same  basis  of  cost  of  material  and  labor  exceeds  by  at  least  50  per  cent 
the  estimated  cost  of  the  canal  by  the  Nicaragua  route. 

TENTATIVE  SURVEYS. 

Commander  T.  O.  Selfridge,  with  a  corps  of  junior  officers,  four  assistants  of  the 
Coast  Survey,  a  considerable  working  party,  and  a  large  guard  of  marines,  made 
tentative  surveys  of  all  the  watersheds  from  the  Bay  of  San  Bias  to  the  head  waters 
of  the  Chepo  River;  from  Caledonia  Bay  to  the  Morti,  and  from  the  same  vicinity 
on  the  eastern  coast  to  the  Sucubti  across  the  divide;  and  the  following  season, 
with  a  different  organization  of  parties,  the  "Du  Puydt  route,"  and  that  of  the 
Cacarica  and  Tuyra  rivers. 

None  of  these  routes  affords  a  practicable  location  (as  shown  by  these  attempts) 
for  the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal. 

The  survey  by  Michler  and  Craven  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  Tonando  route" 
shows  that  a  broad  mountain  range  divides  the  two  oceans  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
render  impracticable  the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal  within  that 
watershed  at  any  reasonable  cost. 

The  examinations  made  byTrautewine  and  others,  whenever  proper  instruments 
for  surveying  were  used,  over  the  long  distances  from  the  Gulf  of  San  Bias  toward 
the  south  and  east  to  the  Atrato-Niipipi  route,  demonstrate  the  impracticability  of 
all  the  proposed  routes  across  it. 


132  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANl 


ACCOMPANYINO  PAPERS. 


The  commission  accompany  their  report  with  certain  reports  and  maps  (printed 
and  manuscript),  a  list  ot  which  is  appended. 

1.  Report  of  Major  McFarland  (written). 

2.  Report  of  General  Amman  (written). 

3.  Report  of  Professor  Mitchell  ^written). 

4.  Report  on  the  Tehuantepec  route  (printed). 

5.  Report  on  the  Nicaragua  route  (printed). 

6.  Report  on  the  Panama  route  (printed). 

Be^aorts  on  the  Atrato-Napipi  route, 

7.  Report  of  CJommander  Selfridge  (printed). 

8.  Report  of  Lieutenant  Collins  (printed). 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servants, 

Andrew  A.  Humphreys, 
Brigadier- Cfeneral.  Chief  of  Em/ineers,  U.  S.  A. 
C.  P.  Patterson, 
Superintendent  United  States  Coast  Survey. 
Dan'l  Ammen, 
Commodore,  and  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Navigation, 

MEMORANDUM. 

This  memorandum  briefly  alludes  to  the  salient  points  that  pertain  to  the  several 
routes  more  particularly  mentioned.  The  question  was  in  its  nature  competitive, 
the  most  important  points  being  economy  of  construction  and  maintenance,  with 
a  sufficient  water  supply  to  meet  whatever  demand  might  be  made  in  the  future 
upon  its  capacity.  No  doubt  whatever  exists  that  the  Nicaragua  route  will  fulfill 
these  conditions  more  completely  than  any  other  route  considered. 

In  relation  to  building  material  and  relative  cost  of  construction  for  a  given 
amount  of  work,  with  any  route  named  the  Nicaragua  will  compare  with  advan- 
tage. The  transportation  of  material  can  be  effected  with  economy  and  facility 
along  the  proposed  line,  and  whatever  is  required  in  wood,  lime,  and  stone  may 
be  said  to  be  at  hand.  Tfee  country  abounds  in  wholesome  food,  and  would  fur- 
nish a  considerable  number  of  the  laborers  that  would  be  reciuired  for  the  con- 
struction of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal. 

So  far  as  our  national  interests  are  concerned,  obviously  the  shorter  coast  route 
between  California  and  our  eastern  coast  would  be  the  best.  But  the  difficulties 
to  be  met  at  all  points,  and  the  great  cost  of  construction  at  even  the  most  favor- 
able, narrows  the  question  to  a  commercial  consideration. 

The  "  coasting  trade"  and  outlet  to  European  markets  for  the  productions  of  our 
west  coast  give  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  special  value  to  us  nationally. 
Were  an  interoceanic  ship  canal  built  a  great  stimulus  would  be  given  to  the 
wheat  production  of  our  Pacific  coast,  which  might  furnish  an  abundant  food 
supply  to  European  markets  at  remunerative  prices. 

Apart  from  local  interests  we  have  one  in  common  with  the  great  commerce  of 
the  world.  It  would  be  superfluous  to  disctiss  the  effect  of  the  construction  of  this 
interoceanic  canal.  It  is  obvious  that,  with  moderate  tools  and  amply  capacity  to 
meet  the  wants  of  transportation,  an  interoceanic  ship  canal  would  change  the 
routes  of  commerce  of  the  world  in  a  greater  degree  than  any  work  that  has  been 
constructed.    It  should  therefore  be  regarded  with  favor  by  the  civilized  world. 

The  towage  dues  should  be  reduced  as  the  commerce  increased  to  allow  only  a 
liberal  interest  on  the  cost  of  construction,  and  no  discriminating  advantages 
should  be  allowed  between  the  vessels  of  those  nations  that  subscribed  to  the  neces- 
sary guaranties  of  neutrality. 

The  Nicaraguan  Government  has  given  all  possible  aid  to  our  officers  and  their 
parties  who  were  engaged  in  making  the  surveys  through  her  territory,  and  has 
expressed  a  desire,  as  is  known  to  us  unofficially,  to  forward  the  work  of  construc- 
tion of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal  in  whatever  way  within  the  limits  of  her 
resources. 

In  the  common  interest  of  all  nations  and  peoples,  and  to  insure  the  security  of 
Nicaragua  and  adjacent  States,  as  well  as  for  the  security  and  interests  of  the  con- 
structors of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal,  a  guaranty  of  neutrality  and  protection 
seems  necessary  on  the  part  of  all  nations  who  wish  its  benefits,  making  neutral 
approaches  so  wide  and  so  well  defined  as  to  forbid  a  close  or  effective  blockade, 


MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  133 

ami  that  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  should  guarantee  that  both  ports  adjacent 
to  the  sea  should  be  free  and  without  port  charges  or  let  or  hindrance. 

It  seems  necessary  also  that  that  Government  should  condemn  such  private 
property,  whether  lands,  timber,  lime,  stone,  etc.,  for  the  location,  construction, 
and  maintenance  of  an  interoceanic  ship  canal,  paying  a  fair  valuation  for  the 
same  to  the  owners,  to  be  reimbursed  by  the  constructors,  and,  in  addition,  to 
receive  a  stipulated  amount  of  stock  in  perpetuity  for  that  Government,  which 
could  not  be  hypothecated  beyond  the  term  of  one  year. 

It  would  be  essential  that  the  constructors  should  maintain  an  armed  police  to 
preserve  order  on  the  neutral  territory  during  the  period  of  construction,  and  that, . 
should  laborers  or  others  pass  beyond  the  neutral  belt  into  adjacent  territories,  at 
the  request  of  the  Government  concerned  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  constructors 
to  pursue,  apprehend,  and  bring  to  justice  marauders  or  other  culprits,  but  under 
no  other  condition  to  cross  over,  trespass,  or  interfere  in  any  way  beyond  the 
limit  of  the  neutral  territory. 

If  necessary  to  preserve  order,  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  would  doubtless 
require  passports  from  persons  going  into  her  territory,  and,  if  found  advisable, 
would  call  upon  the  constructors  to  expel  persons  who  were  lawless,  or  bring  to 
justice  those  who  had  committed  greater  crimes,  if  not  able  to  do  so  herself  with- 
out raising  and  maintaining  an  extraordinary  force  for  that  purpose. 

Should  the  constructors  fail  to  comply  with  this  requisition  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  of  territories  adjacent  to  the  neutral  belt,  it  would  seem  to  be  the 
duty  of  our  Government  to  propose  as  a  security  to  the  peace  and  repose  of  those 
territories  that  she  should  assume  the  responsibilitj'  of  protecting  them  against 
armed  marauders. 

When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  those  territories  are  sparsely  populated,  and  that 
the  ease  of  living  on  natural  productions  might  throw  into  the  country  so  large  a 
population  of  turbulent  and  idle  men,  disposed  to  live  partly  by  plunder  and  com- 
mit acts  of  disorder  and  violence,  it  seems  only  reasonable  to  guarantee  the  adja- 
cent Governments  against  the  onerous  expenses  and  grave  disorders  which  they 
might  otherwise  have  to  endure.  It  is  thought  worthy  of  consideration  whether 
it  might  not  serve  as  a  guarantee  to  stockholders,  as  well  in  relation  to  the  prog- 
ress of  the  work,  as  to  the  proper  application  of  the  means  employed  for  its  execu- 
tion, if  the  nations  specially  interested  in  the  construction  of  the  canal  were  to 
appoint  "examiners,"  who  should  form  part  of  the  board  of  directors  or  honorary 
members  of  it — these  examiners  to  be  officers  of  the  respective  Governments,  paid 
by  them,  and  not  allowed  to  receive  any  compensation  from  the  canal  construction. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect,  your  obedient  servants, 

Andrew  A.  Humphreys, 
Brigadier-Oeneral,  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A. 
C.  P.  Patterson, 
Superintendent  United  States  Coast  Survey. 
Danl.  Ammen, 
Commodore  and  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Navigation. 


Bureau  of  Navigation,  Navy  Department, 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  17, 1882. 
Sir:  In  obedience  to  your  order.  Master  W.  H.  H.  Southerland  and  myself  have 
made  careful  measurement  of  the  following  distances,  on  the  charts  published  by 
this  office: 

Miles. 

From  New  York  to  Aspinwall 2,000 

From  Panama  to  San  Francisco 3,260 

From  New  York  to  Greytown 2,028 

From  Brito  to  San  Francisco 2,675 

From  New  York  to  Coatzacoalcos _ 2,004 

From  New  Orleans  to  Aspinwall 1,387 

From  New  Orleans  to  Greytown 1,310 

From  New  Orleans  to  Coatzacoalcos 805 

From  Ventosa  to  San  Francisco 2,105 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Jas.  G.  Green, 
Lieutenant-Commander,  U.  S.  N,,in  Charge  Chart  Division. 

Commodore  J.  C.  P.  de  Krafft,  U.S.N., 

Hydrographer,  Bureau  of  Navigation. 


134  COMMON    PRIME    MERIDIAN. 

FOBTy-SEVENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

[See  p.  138.] 

July  18,  1882. 

[Senate  Report  No.  840.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
Submitted  the  followin«:  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
joint  resolution  (H.  Res.  209)  to  authorize  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  call  an  international  conference  to  fix  on  and  recommend 
for  universal  adoption  a  common  prime  meridian  to  be  used  in  the 
reckoning  of  longitude  and  in  the  regulation  of  time  throughout  the 
world,  have  considered  the  same,  and  respectfully  report: 

That  they  have  examined  all  the  memorials  and  papers  referred  to 
them  in  relation  to  a  commission  for  establishing  a  zero  of  longitude 
and  a  standard  of  time  throughout  the  globe. 

These  papers  present  two  principal  phases : 

First.  The  establishment  of  a  prime  meridian  from  which  longitude 
shall  be  reckoned  for  all  sea  charts,  which  shall  therefore  have  a 
quality  of  universal  usage. 

Second.  Standard  time  for  the  use  of  railroads,  etc.,  through  dif- 
ferent countries. 

The  committee  recognize  the  practical  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
having  a  common  zero  of  longitude  for  the  charts  of  all  commercial 
nations,  and  believe  that  in  the  course  of  years  a  single  line  of  depar- 
ture would  be  adopted.  Yet  it  seems  very  important  that  its  estab- 
lishment should  be  hastened  by  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the 
various  commercial  nations.  It  would  appear  as  necessary  as  the 
universal  reckoning  of  latitude  from  the  equator.  At  all  events,  a 
question  which  has  so  long  occupied  the  attention  of  men  of  science 
and  which  provokes  earnest  discussion  of  its  practical  phases  may  as 
well  be  settled.  The  promulgation  of  such  a  prime  meridian  would 
be  analogous  to  the  promulgation  of  the  Gregorian  calendar,  giving 
the  smaller  countries  an  opportunity  to  avail  themselves  of  it  with- 
out compromising  their  dignity. 

ITie  committee  recognize  the  fact  that  most  of  the  great  commercial 
nations  adopt  the  meridian  of  Greenwich  as  the  zero  of  longitude,  but 
that  the  longitude  is  reckoned  east  and  west  therefrom  to  the  one 
hundred  and  eightieth  meridian.  This  single  circumstance  involves 
the  liability  of  those  navigators  near  the  zero  and  near  the  one  hun- 
dred and  eightieth  degree  of  making  in  their  calculations  a  mistake 
in  sign  which  may  place  them  on  the  wrong  side  of  those  meridians. 
The  gravity  of  this  point  is  appreciated  when  we  remember  that  the 
zero  of  longitude  through  Greenwich  crosses  the  track  of  an  immense 
commerce  along  the  dangerous  coasts  of  western  Europe. 

The  committee  therefore  feel  the  advisability  of  counting  the  longi- 
tude through  360  degrees  or  twenty-four  hours  from  the  prime  merid- 
ian, and  thus  avoid  the  possibility  of  falling  into  the  foregoing  errors, 

A  source  of  danger  to  navigation  in  the  use  of  several  prime  merid- 
ians is  where  two  vessels  signal  each  other  under  stress  of  weather, 
and  the  one  which  has  had  no  observation  for  longitude  receives  and 
uses  a  longitude  from  the  other  vessel  based  upon  a  different  zero  from 
her  own,  and  may  proceed  to  her  destruction.  The  same  may  happen 
to  a  vessel  approaching  a  strange  coast  line. 

In  order  to  ascertain  generally  what  commercial  nations  are  using 


COMMON   PRIME    MERIDIAN MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.     135 

a  common  meridian,  the  committee  have  obtained  from  the  charts  at 
the  office  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  the  following  enumeration : 

COUNTRIES  USING  THE  GREENWICH  MERIDIAN  FOR  CHARTS. 

Great  Britain,  with  India,  Australia,  Dominion  of  Canada,  British 
Columbia,  and  all  the  dependencies,  together  with  survey  of  dan- 
gers, harbors,  etc.,  all  over  the  world. 

The  United  States. 

Germany  (the  topographical  maps  use  Berlin,  13°  23'  53"  east  of 
Greenwich). 

Russia  (also  uses  Paris,  2°  20'  15"  east  of  Greenwich;  St.  Peters- 
burg, 30°  20'  east  of  Greenwich;  but  gives  Greenwich  preference). 

The  Netherlands  (also  uses  Amsterdam,  4°  53'  east  of  Greenwich). 

PER  CONTRA*. 

France  uses  Paris,  2°  20'  15"  east  of  Greenwich. 

Spain  uses  San  Fernando,  6°  20'  east  of  Greenwich. 

Denmark  uses  Copenhagan,  12°  34'  east  of  Greenwich. 

Portugal  has  no  strictly  geographical  charts. 

Italy,  no  specimen  of  sea  charts.  On  the  topographical  maps  she 
uses  Turin,  Milan,  and  San  Fernando. 

Upon  the  consideration  of  adopting  a  universal  standard  of  time 
for  all  countries  the  committee  believe  that  the  acceptance  of  such  a 
proposition  by  any  convention  is  extremely  doubtful.  At  different 
periods  there  have  been  so  many  chimerical  schemes  proposed,  and 
no  thoroughly  practical  one  suggested,  that  the  committee  can  not 
urge  this  as  a  reason  for  supporting  the  recommendation  of  a  con- 
vention. The  gi"eat  railroad  corporations  of  each  country  will  nat- 
urally solve  this  problem  for  themselves,  with,  perhaps,  local 
legislation,  but  the  committee  believe  that  the  adoption  of  number- 
ing the  hours  from  0  at  the  prime  meridian  or  zero  of  longitude  to  24, 
consecutively,  will  afford  a  basis  of  local  action  and  hasten  the  estab- 
lishment of  common  railroad  time  in  the  different  countries. 

Beyond  the  demands  of  the  railroad  traffic  it  seems  absolutely 
necessary  that  local  time  shall  be  retained,  because  of  the  many 
industries  and  trade  customs  and  legal  questions  involved.  It  would 
appear  to  be  as  difficult  to  alter  by  edict  the  ideas  and  habits  of  the 
people  in  regard  to  local  time  as  to  introduce  among  them  novel  sys- 
tems of  weights,  measures,  volumes,  and  money. 

Upon  a  careful  weighing  of  all  the  evidence  before  them  the  com- 
mittee believe  that  the  question  of  establishing  simply  a  prime  merid- 
ian for  all  nations  and  reckoning  the  longitude  therefrom  through  360 
degrees  and  through  twenty-four  hours,  consecutively,  is  of  such 
practical  importance  to  commerce  and  navigation  as  to  justify  the 
calling  of  the  proposed  convention,  and  they  therefore  recommend 
the  passage  of  the  joint  resolution  with  the  amendment  agreed  upon 
by  the  committee. 

FOBTY-SEVENTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSIOIT. 

[See  pp.  105,  139,  141,  187,  402,  410,  415,  457.] 
January  31,  1883. 
[Senate  Report  No.  952.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report: 
The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  recommitted 


13G  CONSULAR    AND    DIPLOMATIC    SERVICE. 

Senate  bill  550,  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nica- 
rajrua,  beg  leave  to  report  the  same  back  with  sundry  amendments, 
and  recommend  its  passage  as  amended. 

[See  Senate  Report  368,  Forty-seventh  Congress,  first  session,  p.  107.] 


FORTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

AprU  10,  1884. 
[Senate  Report  No.  432.] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  delations  beg  leave  to  report  the  accom- 
panying amendment,  which  they  propose  to  the  bill  making  appropria- 
tions for  the  consular  and  diplomatic  service  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1885,  in  lieu  of  bills  S.  347,  594,  and  1700,  which  bills  the  commit- 
tee recommend  be  indefinitely  postponed,  and  ask  that  the  amend 
ment  herewith  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Appropriations.  The 
subject-matters  embraced  in  the  above-mentioned  bills  have  been 
carefully  considered  by  the  committee,  and  their  views  are  contained 
in  the  letter  from  the  Department  of  State,  dated  March  26,  1884, 
hereto  appended  and  made  a  part  of  this  report. 


Departsient  op  State, 

Waskiiu/ton ,  March  26,  ISS4, 

Sm:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  5th  instant, 
inclosing  copies  of  two  proposed  amendments  to  the  consular  and  diplomatic  bill 
for  an  appropriation  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  conference  of  independent  Ameri- 
can nations  to  promote  commerce  and  general  peace,  and  in  which  you  inform  me 
of  the  courtesy  of  the  committee  in  submitting  the  amendments  for  my  considera- 
tion, with  the  request  that  if  the  President  approve  of  the  proposition,  to  place  it 
within  his  power,  so  far  as  expenses  are  concerned,  to  invite  such  a  conference 
that  I  submit  a  draft  of  an  amendment,  such  as  I  regard  as  proper,  or  that  I 
indicate  which  of  the  two  I  prefer. 

I  am  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  advisability  of  knitting  closely  our  relations 
with  the  States  of  this  continent,  and  no  effort  on  my  part  shall  be  wanting  to 
accomplish  a  result  so  consonant  with  the  constant  policy  of  this  country,  and  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  which,  in  excluding  foreign  political  interfer- 
ence, recogrnizes  the  common  interest  of  the  States  of  North  and  South  America. 
It  is  the  history  of  all  diplomacy  that  close  political  relations  and  friendship 
spring  from  unity  of  commercial  interests.  The  merchant  or  trader  is  the  fore- 
runner and  aid  to  diplomatic  intimacy  and  international  amity.  With  the  spirit 
of  the  proposed  amendments  1  am  in  harmony. 

But  certain  practical  objections  to  the  mode  suggested  occur  to  me.  I  fear  that 
a  congress  so  soon  to  meet,  without  previous  conference  with  the  several  govern- 
ments, and  without  the  preparation  of  a  well-digested  programme  for  discussion, 
might  be  unable  to  acomplish  a  valuable  result.  The  views  of  the  States  which 
are  to  be  parties  to  the  conference  should  be  obtained,  their  wishes  and  aims  care- 
fully considered,  and  thereupon  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  congress  carefully 
defined  and  outlined  in  the  invitation. 

The  disadvantage  of  summoning  a  congress  without  some  definite  assurance  of 
general  accord,  and  without  an  announcement  of  its  programme,  was  shown  in 
ISb'O,  when  the  Colombian  Government  convoked  a  congress  of  Spanish- American 
States  at  Panama  to  concert  measures  for  preserving  peace  between  them  by  means 
of  international  arbitration.  Few  States  were  represented,  and  the  conference 
failed  to  develop  unity  of  views,  and  broke  up  without  accomplishing  anything, 
except,  perhaps,  a  prejudice  against  the  renewal  of  the  project. 

Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  the  other  States— certainly  the  smaller  and  less 
powerful  among  them — would  desire  a  treatv  of  aUiance,  requiring  of  the  United 


CONSULAR   AND    DirLOMATIC    SERVICE.  137 

States  protection  and  defense  in  case  of  attack,  not  only  by  European  powers,  but 
by  their  more  powerful  neighbors  on  this  continent.  Material  aid  also  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  railroads  and  other  similar  public  works  wonld  be  expected, 
neither  of  which  propositions  could  be  entertained  by  us.  In  the  conference  the 
smallest  State  would  have  a  voice  equal  to  that  of  the  United  States;  and  while 
we  need  not  necessarily  be  bound  by  the  conclusions  reached,  it  would  weaken 
rather  than  strengthen  our  influence  with  these  countries  if  we  should  feel  forced 
to  reject  measures  adopted  by  the  conference. 

Considerations  of  much  this  character  influenced  the  failure  of  the  notable  project 
for  an  American  congress  at  Panama  during  Mr.  Adams's  Administration,  in 
1828-29.  The  congress  was  proposed  by  the  South  American  States,  then  recog- 
nized by  us  as  independent,  but  still  nominally  at  war  with  Spain.  Its  purposes 
were  mutual  alliance  and  preservation  of  peace  among  them.  President  Adams 
and  Mr.  Clay  favored  the  project,  but  continued  opposition,  in  and  out  of  Con- 
gress, developed  the  general  belief  that  the  only  result  would  be  to  make  the 
United  States  the  responsible  protector  of  the  whole  republican  system  of  the  con- 
tinent, thus  giving  the  minor  States  the  benefit  of  a  special  protection  which  the 
United  States  did  not  need  for  themselves  and  could  not  adequately  expect  from 
the  rest.  The  United  States  commissioner,  although  appointed,  did  not  attend 
the  congress,  and  owing  to  the  disordered  condition  and  conflicting  interests  of 
the  Spanish- American  States  it  attained  no  result.  (See  note  to  Dana's  Wheaton, 
p.  99,  et  seq.) 

The  true  plan,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  make  a  series  of  reciprocity  treaties  with  the 
States  of  Central  and  South  America,  taking  care  that  those  manufactures,  and  as 
far  as  is  practicable  those  products  which  would  come  into  competition  with  our 
own  manufactures  and  products  should  not  be  admitted  to  the  free  list.  By  these 
treaties  we  might  secure  for  valuable  consideration,  so  as  not  to  violate  the  most- 
favored  nation  clause  of  other  treaties,  further  substantial  advantages,  such,  for 
example,  as  the  free  navigation  of  their  coasts,  rivers,  and  lakes. 

Indiscriminate  reduction  of  duties  on  materials  peculiarly  the  production  of 
Central  and  South  America  would  take  from  us  the  ability  to  offer  reciprocity, 
and  we  would  thus  lose  the  opportunity  to  secure  valuable  trade.  Removal  of 
duties  from  coffee,  without  greatly  cheapening  its  price,  deprived  us  of  the  power 
to  negotiate  with  the  coffee-growing  countries  of  Spanish  America  highly  advan- 
tageous reciprocity  treaties,  and  indiscriminate  reduction  of  duties  on  sugar  would 
complete  our  inability  to  establish  favorable  commercial  relations  with  those 
countries  which  form  our  natural  market,  and  from  which  we  are  now  almost 
entirely  excluded.  If  we  confine  the  reduction  of  duties  on  such  articles  as  sugar 
and  coffee  to  those  Spanish- American  countries  which  are  willing  to  negotiate 
with  us  treaties  of  reciprocity  we  cheapen  these  products  for  our  own  people,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  gain  the  control  of  those  markets  for  the  products  of  our  fields 
and  factories. 

Another  point  seems  well  worthy  of  consideration.  The  United  States  are  great 
producers  of  silver,  and  every  market  which  can  be  opened  for  this  vahiable  prod- 
uct is  to  our  direct  advantage.  Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  strives  to  dis- 
parage and  exclude  it  as  a  means  of  exchange:  for  its  use  in  this  way  depreciates 
her  wealth  and  works  to  her  disadvantage.  The  States  of  Central  and  South 
America  are  also  silver  i)roducers,  with  interests  like  ours.  It  would,  therefore, 
be  advantageous,  and  is  probably  practicable,  to  agree  upon  a  common  silver  coin 
equal  in  value,  say,  to  our  gold  dollar,  or  to  some  other  appropriate  standard, 
which,  under  proper  regulation  as  to  coinage,  etc.,  should  be  current  in  all  the 
countries  of  this  continent.  Thus  value  would  be  given  to  our  silver  products, 
and  commerce  with  these  countries  wou'd  be  aided. 

I  suggest  that  it  would  be  well  to  make  an  appropriation,  giving  to  the  Presi- 
dent power  to  appoint  a  commission  to  carefully  consider  what  the  best  interests 
of  North  and  South  America  and  the  Isthmus  require;  to  send,  if  found  advisable, 
delegates  to  confer  with  the  Governments  of  the  other  countries,  and,  after  this 
commission  has  made  its  report  upon  the  most  feasible  means  of  carrying  out 
measures  of  mutual  advantage,  then  empowering  the  President,  if  he  sees  proper, 
to  call  the  convention.  A  body  so  convened  would  meet  with  its  general  object 
and  scope  marked  out,  and  would  know  beforehand  what  wishes  of  the  other 
States  this  Government  is  unable  to  comply  with,  thus  avoiding  what  might  seem 
a  rebuff  should  we  feel  obliged  to  decline  a  project  matured  by  the  congress  with- 
out our  assent. 

I  inclose  herewith  a  draft  of  an  amendment  embodying  these  views,  which  meet 
the  President's  approval. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Hon.  John  F.  Miller, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate, 


138  INTERNATIONAL    CONFERENCE. 

FOBTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  p.  134.] 

February  7,  1885. 

[Senate  Report  No.  118&] 

Mr.  Miller,  of  California,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report  : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  in  submitting  the  resolution 
to  authorize  and  request  the  President  to  "communicate  to  the  Gov- 
ernments of  all  nations  in  diplomatic  relations  with  the  United  States 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  International  Conference  held  at  Wash- 
ington in  October,  1884,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  a  prime  meridian 
and  a  universal  day,  and  to  invite  their  accession  to  the  same,"  beg 
leave  to  ask  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  following  statement,  viz: 

By  an  act  of  Congress  approved  August  3,  1882,  the  President  of . 
the  United  States  was  authorized  and  requested  to  call  an  Interna- 
tional Conference  to  fix  on  and  recommend  for  universal  adoption  a 
common  prime  meridian  to  be  used  in  the  reckoning  of  longitude  and 
in  the  regulation  of  time  throughout  the  world.  In  pursuance  of  the 
object  sought  to  be  attained  by  this  act,  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  a 
circular  note  dated  October  23,  1882,  inquired  of  the  several  Govern- 
ments of  foreign  States  whether  they  would  be  disposed  to  take  part 
in  such  a  conference  if  invited  thereto;  to  which  inquiry  a  favorable 
answer  was  returned  in  the  majority  of  cases,  and  the  formal  invita- 
tion of  the  President  to  send  delegates  to  an  International  Conference 
to  meet  at  Washington  on  October  1,  1884,  "for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing, and  if  possible,  fixing  upon  a  meridian  proper  to  be  emplo^^ed 
as  a  common  zero  of  longitude  and  standard  of  time  reckoning 
throughout  the  globe,"  was  communicated  to  the  several  foreign  Gov- 
ernments with  which  the  United  States  maintain  relations,  by  means 
of  a  circular  note  dated  December  1, 1883,  and  issued  by  the  Secretary 
of  State. 

In  response  to  this  invitation,  delegates  appointed  on  behalf  of  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia,  Costa  Rica,  France,  Germany, 
Great  Britain,  Guatemala,  Hawaii,  Italy,  Japan,  Liberia,  Mexico, 
Netherlands,  Paraguay,  Russia,  San  Domingo,  San  Salvador,  Spain, 
Sweden,  Switzerland,  Turkey,  Venezuela,  and  the  United  States  of 
America,  met  in  Washington  on  the  1st  of  October,  1884,  in  confer- 
ence, for  the  purposes  set  forth  in  the  said  invitation;  and  after  dis- 
cussing and  considering  the  subject  in  several  conferences,  adopted, 
on  the  22d  of  October,  1884,  certain  resolutions  reciting  the  conclusions 
they  had  reached.  On  the  day  last  named  the  conference  referred  to 
unanimously  adopted  the  following  resolution,  viz: 

That  a  copy  of  the  resolations  passed  by  this  conference  shall  be  communicated 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  at  whose  instance  and  within 
whose  territory  the  conference  has  been  convened. 

The  said  resolutions  have  been  communicated  to  Congress  by  the 
President,  together  with  the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  confer- 
ence. 

The  committee  desire  to  submit  also  the  following  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  consideration  in  this  connection,  viz: 

Department  of  State, 
Wcuihington,  February  5,  1885. 
Sir:  Permit  me  to  call  to  your  attention  the  snbject  of  the  late  Prime  Meridian 
Conference  held  in  October  last,  of  which  the  full  protocols,  in  French  and  Eng- 


INTERNAIIONAL    C0NFERP:NCE MARITIME    CANAL    CO.        139 

lish,  were  transmitted  to  C  )ngress  by  the  President  on  the  4th  of  December  last, 
and  printed  as  House  Executive  Document  No.  14. 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  perusal  of  the  final  act  of  that  conference  (doc.  cit.,  pp. 
111-113)  that  its  conclusions  were  embodied  in  a  series  of  abstract  recommenda- 
tions or  resolutions,  seven  in  number,  only  one  of  which  makes  any  proposal  to 
the  Governments  represented.  The  sense  of  the  conference  was,  in  fact,  that  no 
general  proposal  should  be  made  by  it  to  the  Governments  represented,  but  that 
the  initiative  should  be  left  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  which  had 
called  the  conference. 

[  have  had  the  honor  to  consult  with  the  President  on  this  subject,  and  he  is  of 
theoi)inion  that  in  his  annual  message,  and  in  communicating  to  Congress  the 
record  of  the  conference,  he  had  done  all  that  is  necessary  to  bring  the  matter 
ag  lin  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Congress  (where  the  project  originated),  and  that 
it  is  ojjen  to  that  body  to  signify  its  wish  as  to  whether  the  conclusions  reached  by 
the  cnnference  shall  be  brought  by  this  Government  formally  to  the  notice  of  other 
governments,  with  an  invitation  to  adopt  them  for  universal  use  by  means  of  a 
general  international  convention  to  that  end. 

The  accompanying  draft  of  a  joint  resolution  in  this  sense  is  submitted  for  the 
consideration  of  your  committee. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

Hon.  John  F.  Miller, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Senate. 

The  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 


FORTY-NINTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105,  107,  135,  141,  187,  403,  410,  415,  457.J 

January  6,  1887. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1628.] 

Mr.  Edmunds,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  was  referred  Senate 
bill  2G36,  entitled  "A  bill  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua,"  respectfully  reports: 

That  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee  the  bill  ought  to  pass  amended 
as  herewith  reported. 

The  committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  instance  must  be  rare  and 
exceptional  when  it  should  recommend  Congress  to  pass  any  act  of 
incorporation  other  than  for  local  purposes  within  the  District  of 
Columbia  or  in  some  Territory,  but  it  thinks  that  for  great  national 
objects  and  for  specific  purposes,  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  people 
of  all  the  States,  that  Congress  may  rightfully  and  properly  create  a 
corporation  to  effectuate  the  same  public  objects  that  Congress  might 
by  law  provide  for  being  done  by  the  Government  itself. 

The  committee  is  of  opinion  that  this  is  a  case  within  the  principle 
just  laid  down. 

The  means  of  water  transit  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans 
at  or  near  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  is  obviously  a  matter  of  the  great- 
est interest  to  the  industrial,  commercial,  and  political  welfare  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is,  the  committee  thinks,  equally 
clear  that  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  desirable,  so  far  as  may  be  done 
consistently  with  their  obligations  to  other  powers,  that  this  transit 
should  be  under  the  influence  if  it  can  not  be  under  the  control  of  the 
United  States. 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  and  her  sister 
Central  American  republics  have  a  strong  disposition  to  affiliate  their 
interests  with  those  of  our  Republic,  inasmuch  as  their  political  insti- 


140      MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY TERRITORY    OF   ALASKA. 

tutions  are  based  upon  the  same  theory  as  our  own,  and  from  geo- 
graphiciil  proximity  we  are,  or  should  be,  their  natural  friends  and 
allies,  desiring  to  promote  in  the  largest  degree  their  safety,  inde- 
pendence, and  welfare,  which  must  necessarily  be  in  every  resiject 
consistent  and  in  harmony  with  our  own. 

It  is  well  known  that  for  a  long  time  past  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua 
has  been  willing  and  desirous  that  a  ship  canal  should  be  built 
between  the  two  oceans  through  her  territory  and  in  such  a  way  and 
under  such  conditions  as  should  promote  the  common  prosperity  of 
all  the  American  republics.  From  one  cause  or  another  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  desire  has  been  continually  postponed  until  at  last, 
it  seems  clear  to  the  committee,  it  can  hardly  be  expected  that  our 
sister  Republic  will  much  longer  refrain  from  doing  what  she  can 
toward  the  building  of  this  canal  by  seeking  aid  from  nations  or  other 
people  whose  commercial  and  political  interests  are  not  altogether  in 
accord  with  ours.  It  seems  to  the  committee,  therefore,  that  the  least 
the  United  States  can  do  is  to  authorize  a  corporation  composed,  as 
it  is  believed  the  names  mentioned  in  the  bill  do,  of  highly  respectable 
and  responsible  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  be  a  corporation  for 
the  purpose  of  building  this  canal  under  any  concessions  or  authority 
that  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  may  concede  to  them.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  bill,  as  proposed  to  be  amended,  provides  rigorous 
security  for  the  due  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  corporation 
and  for  the  prevention  of  the  diversion  of  its  funds  to  other  purposes 
than  those  intended  by  the  act,  and  that  it  also  provides  for  the  com- 
plete authority  of  Congress  to  amend  or  repeal  it  as  the  public  good 
may  require.  It  will  also  be  observed  that  the  bill  as  amended  does 
not  draw  into  question  the  existence  or  extent  of  any  supposed  treaty 
obligation  of  the  United  States  with  any  power. 

Looking,  therefore,  t-o  the  large  benefits,  not  only  to  the  United 
States  and  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  and  her  sister  republics,  but 
also  to  the  commerce  and  intercommunication  of  the  whole  sisterhood 
of  civilized  governments  on  the  globe,  the  committee  recommends  the 
passage  of  the  bill  with  the  amendments  proposed,  in  the  hope  that 
the  resources  and  enterprise  of  private  citizens  of  our  country  may 
be  enabled  to  accomplish  this  great  work  even  if  our  Government  itself 
is  not  yet  readj'  to  undertake  it. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Geo.  F.  EDinjNDS, 
For  tlie  Committee. 


FIFTIETH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSIGM". 
February  1,  1888. 

[Senate  Report  No.  158.] 

Mr.  Frye,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted  the 
following  report: 

Your  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  have  considered  the  bill 
(S.  841)  to  facilitate  the  settlement  and  develop  the  resources  of  the 
Territory  of  Alaska,  etc. ,  and  report : 

That  from  the  present  sources  of  information  open  to  them  they  are 
inclined  to  the  opinion — 

(1)  That  the  proposed  line  of  railroad  runs  through  a  region  utterly 
unfit  for  agriculture  both  in  Alaska  and  in  British  Columbia. 

(2)  That  no  line  of  railroad  can  be  built  along  the  Pacific  coast  of 
Alaska.    It  was  determined  by  the  company  examining  in  1865, 1866, 


TERRITORY    OF   ALASKA MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.      141 

and  1867,  touching  the  feasibility  of  a  telegraph  line,  that  such  a  line 
was  impossible  from  Vancouver's  Island  to  Mount  Saint  Elias. 

(3)  To  build  a  railroad  line  down  from  the  interior  of  Alaska  along 
the  line  of  the  peninsula  would  involve  an  immense  outlay  and  require 
extraordinary  engineering  skill. 

(4)  Such  a  line  built  could  not  possibly  run  six  months  in  the  year. 
The  intense  cold  of  the  interior,  from  40°  to  60°  below  zero  for  weeks, 
and  some  years  for  months,  deep  snows,  terrible  gales  drifting  and 
blocking  it,  sudden  fresliets  pouring  the  melted  snow  and  ice  over  the 
eternally  frozen  earth,  destroying  sections  of  the  road,  seem  to  make 
a  railroad  entirely  impracticable. 

(5)  Along  the  line  of  road  indicated  by  this  bill  no  stock  or  cattle 
can  be  kept. 

(6)  No  amount  of  expenditure  of  money  could  build  a  branch  of  this 
road  to  Sitka. 

(7)  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  public  convenience  and  necessity 
require  this  road. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  your  committee  report  that  the  bill 
ought  not  to  pass. 

FIFTIETH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105,  107,  135,  139,  187,  402.  410,  415,  457.] 

February  9,  1888. 

[Senate  Report  No.  221.] 

Mr.  Edmunds,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  was  referred  Senate 
bill  1305,  "A  bill  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of 
Nicaragua,"  respectfully  report  the  same  back  with  the  recommenda- 
tion that  it  do  pass,  with  the  amendments  as  marked  in  the  bill. 

The  committee  does  not  deem  it  at  all  necessary  to  go  into  any 
discussion  of  the  great  importance  to  the  United  States  and  to  the 
general  interests  of  civilized  nations  of  the  proposed  work.  The  com- 
mittee therefore  contents  itself  with  reporting,  in  connection  with 
this  bill,  the  minutes  of  the  interview  between  the  committee  and 
some  of  the  gentlemen  named  as  incorporators,  when  the  bill  was 
under  consideration,  and  also  a  copy  of  the  concession  made  by  the 
Republic  of  Nicaragua  to  this  association  of  gentlemen. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

George  F.  Edmunds, 

For  Committee. 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicabaqua. 

[Minutes  of  an  interview  between  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate, 
and  Hon.  Charles  P.  Daly,  Hon.  Joseph  E.  McDonald,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Cap  t.  Henry  C.Taylor, 
Alexander  T.  Mason,  and  A.  G.  Menocal.  on  the  part  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  Nicaragua,  on  the  25th  day  of  January,  1888,  the  committee  having  under  con- 
sideration Senate  bill  1305,  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua.] 

THH  KARITIMB  CANAL  COMPANY  OF  NICARAGUA. 

Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 

United  States  Senate, 

January  25,  1888. 
The  committee  met  pursuant  to  call. 

Present, Messrs. Sherman  (chairman), Edmunds,  Frye,  Evarts,  Dolph,  Morgan, 
Brown,  Saulsbury,  Payne. 
The  chairman  laid  before  the  committee,  as  pending  business,  the  following 


142  MARITIME    CANAL   COMPATTT. 

Senate  bill,  and  stated  that,  in  obedience  to  instructions  of  the  committee,  Hon. 
Charles  P.  Daly  and  his  associates  were  present  at  his  request. 

Senate  i:W5.  Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session,  a  bill  to  incorporate  the  Maritime 
Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

Senator  Edmunds.  I  corresponded  with  Judge  Daly,  who  drew  up  the  charter 
of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  and  said  to  him  that  I  thought  that  it  would  be 
desirable  for  him  to  make  a  brief  statement  to  the  committee  of  substantially  who 
the  gentlemen  are  who  are  engaged  in  this  enterprise  proposed;  whether  it  is  a 
real  thing  and  got  some  bottom  and  "go" in  it. and  means  business  and  respecta- 
bility; and  how  far  they  have  succeeded  in  what  they  are  now  doing,  and  what  they 
wish  to  accomplish*  if  they  can  have  this  charter.  That  is  what  I  saggested  to 
him  that  probably  the  committee  would  like  to  know. 

Judge  Daly.  I  may  first  say  in  respect  to  myself  that  I  have  been  for  twenty- 
five  years  president  of  the  American  (geographical  Society,  and  the  subject  of  a 
canal  to  connect  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  has  been  one  to  which  I  have  given  a 
great  deal  of  attention.  Before  the  Panama  route  was  undertaken,  or,  I  should 
say,  decided  upon  by  M.  De  Lesseps,  the  American  Geographical  Society  instituted 
an  investigation  to  ascertain  which  of  the  proposed  routes  was  the  most  desirable. 
It  invited  i)ersons  interested  in  the  various  routes  to  take  part  in  this  discussion, 
and  representatives  or  advocates  of  each  were  fully  heard.  There  were  many  sit- 
tings, lasting  over  several  weeks,  at  which  I  presided.  A  stenographic  report  of 
everything  that  was  said  was  taken  down,  which  the  society  published  as  part  of 
its  proceedings.  The  conclusion  at  which  I  arrived  from  this  investigation  was 
that  what  is  known  as  the  Nicaragua  route  was  the  most  feasible,  the  least  expen- 
sive, and  from  all  points  of  view  the  most  desirable. 

In  respect  to  the  inquiry  as  to  the  character  of  the  gentlemen  who  ask  for  this 
charter,  and  whose  names  are  embraced  in  the  bill,  I  do  not  know  them  all  indi- 
vidually, but  I  know  of  them,  and  know  those  who  are  especially  active.  They 
are  persons  of  character  without  exception.  There  is  no  person  on  the  whole  list 
whose  character  is  not  such  as  should  be  associated  with  .such  an  enterprise. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Are  all  these  gentlemen  who  are  named  in  the  charter  actually 
and  afiirmatively  concerned  in  the  business,  or  is  it  true,  as  sometimes  we  have 
known  in  our  lives,  that  these  names  are  put  in  as  ornamental? 

Judge  Daly.  I  will  answer  that  question  very  satisfactorily.  We  thought  this 
ought  to  be  a  Government  undertaking;  at  least  I  did,  and  very  many  agreed  with 
me;  but  when  we  found  that  the  Panama  Canal  was  culminating  toward  a  point 
we  felt  assured  it  would  reach,  and  that  our  Government  was  not  taking  any 
action,  we  thought  from  information  we  had  received  that  the  Nicaragua  route 
would  probably  be  underta'-cen  by  some  German  or  English  organization,  and  if 
the  canal  was  not  to  be  built  by  our  Government,  that  it  ought  to  be  built  by 
American  citizens.  This  was  the  reason  of  our  organi^.ing.  We  organized  at  first 
somewhat  imperfectly  to  undertake  to  get  a  concession.  We  thought  the  proper 
way  to  do  was  to  get  a  certain  sum  of  money  together,  and  we  arranged  what 
might  be  called  a  syndicate  in  which  $300,000  was  paid  in  by  gentlemen  whose 
names  are  in  the  bill.  Having  that  amount  we  went  down  to  Nicarag^ua  and  got 
a  concession,  which  was  accompanied,  of  course,  by  a  pecuniary  deposit  as  an 
assurance  of  good  faith.  Having  obtained  the  concession,  we  organized  a  survey- 
ing party  of  forty  engineers  who  are  now  making  a  final  or  axial  survey,  and  we 
have  expended  already,  or  will  have  expended,  alx)ut  the  amount  we  have  raised. 
We  are  able,  however,  to  raise  a  further  amount  from  the  ability  of  the  persons 
of  the  organization.  I  think  I  will  have  sufficiently  answered  the  question  when 
I  say  that  every  gentleman  on  that  list  has  contributed  a  part  of  this  amount. 
Most  of  us  subscribed  $5,0C0  apiece  and  paid  it,  and  there  is  no  one  who  has  not 
paid  $1,000. 

The  enterprise  is  undertaken  in  entire  good  faith.  It  is  undertaken  in  connec- 
tion with  parties  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  whenever  we  are  prepared  by 
a  charter  to  launch  the  enterprise  we  have  very  little  doubt  of  succeeding  in 
obtaining  the  money  to  construct  the  canal.  As  your  time  is  short  I  wish  to  be 
very  brief  upon  this  point. 

Assuming  it  to  be  an  undertaking  of  a  national  character,  all  we  want  upon  the 
part  of  the  Government  is  something  in  the  form  of  national  recognition.  We  do 
not  ask  the  Government  to  give  any  money  toward  it.  We  do  not  because  we 
think  we  can  raise  the  sum  to  build  it.  We  have  so  much  confidence  in  the  work 
itself  that  we  entertain  no  doubt  of  our  ability  to  satisfy  the  monej-  centers  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe,  in  which  money  is  obtained  for  such  an  undertaking,  that 
it  is  entirely  practical  and  a  good  investment.  We  feel  that  the  money  wil  be 
forthcoming  in  due  time;  but  we  deem  it  essential  that  there  should  be  something 
like  a  national  indorsement  of  it.  and,  as  the  Government  has  heretofore  incorpo- 
rated companies  that  have  been  organized  for  national  purposes,  we  simply  de.sire 
such  an  incorporation  and  nothing  more. 


MARITIME   CANAL    COMPANY.  143 

Now,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  certain  provisions  in  the  act  of  incor- 
poration that  will  satisfy  persons  abroad,  from  whom  a  large  part  of  the  money 
should  be  raised.  There  is  nothing  more  difficult  in  enterprises  of  this  kind  than 
to  get  money.  It  is  the  hardest  thing  to  get,  and  it  is  obtained  only  upon  a  thor- 
ough security.  Now,  Mr.  Menocal  has  made  an  estimate  of  $64,000,001)  for  build- 
ing this  canal.  I  am  not  an  engineer  or  financier,  but  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
we  will  probably  have  to  expend  §100,000,000  for  this  canal,  and  that  it  can  be 
built  for  that  amount;  that  is  why  we  propose  to  have  the  company  organized  for 
that  amount  in  the  act  of  incorporation. 

Now,  when  we  go  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  in  addition  to  what 
can  be  obtained  in  our  own  country — for  we  shall  not  attempt  to  raise  it  there 
until  we  have  obtained  a  substantial  part  of  the  sum  here — the  question  whether 
we  will  be  success!  ul  or  not  in  a  foreign  loan  will  be  determined  by  three  circum- 
stances. 

They  will  first  inquire  whether,  as  an  engineering  project,  the  canal  can  be  con- 
structed. I  say  they  will  ask — they  will  inquire — but  they  will  not  depend  upon  us 
for  information  upon  this  point.  They  will  next  inquire  whether  it  will  be  a  good 
security  for  the  money  advanced.  If  they  are  satisfied  as  to  that,  the  next  inquiry 
will  be  whether  the  canal  will  be  sufficiently  profitable  to  justify  the  risk  in  making 
the  loan,  and  for  which  they  will  require  an  additional  pecuniary  consideration. 

Being  satisfied  upon  all  these  points  they  will.  I  think,  loan  the  money. 

The  way  it  is  done  in  enterprises  of  this  kind,  and  I  know  of  no  exception- 
enterprises  that  involve  a  large  amount  of  money — is  to  issue  bonds  in  the  nature 
of  mortgage  bonds.  They  are  a  security  upon  the  work  as  it  is  finished,  and  are 
paid  only  as  the  work  progresses,  and  not  otherwise.  They  are  not  paid  in 
advance;  and  as  a  compensation  for  the  risk,  in  addition  to  the  interest  on  the 
loan,  a  certain  amount  of  the  stock  will  have  to  be  given.  That  is  the  way  it  has 
invariably  been  done.  That  has  been  the  way  with  our  great  Western  undertak- 
ings to  the  Pacific.  One  of  the  first  questions  they  will  ask  will  be  whether  we 
have  lawful  authority  to  issue  bonds  as  a  corporation.  If  we  should  tell  them 
what  our  laws  are,  they  wonld  answer  at  once:  "We  know  nothing  about  your 
laws,"  and  it  is  to  guard  against  this  that  we  have  incorporated  in  the  charter  the 
right  to  issue  bonds. 

The  next  question  would  be  whether  the  stock  issued  for  the  work  as  it  pro- 
gresses would  be  regarded  as  paid-up  stock,  and  for  that  reason  a  provision  to  that 
effect  is  made  in  the  bill. 

Those  are  the  only  two  important  provisions  we  have  inserted  in  the  bill.  We 
can  then  say,  there  is  the  charter  which  authorizes  us  to  issue  bonds,  and  also 
authorizes  stock  to  be  issued  for  property  and  work  done.  Now,  those  are  the 
two  essential  things  to  put  in  the  charter.  Beyond  that  we  ask  nothing  but  the 
recognition  which  is  implied  by  the  granting  of  the  charter. 

I  am  so  considerate  of  your  time,  gentlemen,  that  I  do  not  propose  to  extend  it 
further  than  to  say  that  if  the  Government  is  willing  to  take  the  work  off  our 
hands,  we  are  quite  willing  to  gi\e  it  up.  I,  however,  speak  only  for  myself,  and 
say  that  I  am  more  interested  in  the  success  of  this  enterprise  than  any  pecuniary 
advantage  I  may  derive  from  it.  I  have  been  familiar  with  it  and  thought  over  it 
for  many  years.  I  do  hope  I  may  live  long  enough  to  see  this  great  enterprise 
accomplished.  I  attach  more  importance  to  it  than  many  do.  I  consider  it  one 
of  the  great  enterprises  of  the  century.  I  consider  it  more  important  even  than 
the  Suez  Canal,  in  the  future.  I  do  not  think  we  have  begun  to  measure  its  great 
advantages  to  the  world  and  to  our  country.  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  pecuniary 
success,  but  I  am  not  a  financier  and  anything  on  that  subject  I  may  say  may  not 
have  much  weight. 

Senator  Edmunds.  You  say  you  have  engineers  at  work.  I  would  like  to  know 
definitely  where  those  engineers  are  and  what  they  have  been  doing.  We  have 
sometimes  been  told  that  a  scheme  of  this  kind  was  in  progress,  etc.,  and  then, 
on  inquiry,  it  was  only  in  progress  on  paper.  I  should  like  to  know  precisely,  in  a 
general  way.  what  you  have  done  about  sending  out  engineers,  and  whether  they 
have  gone  there  and  are  now  there. 

Judge  Daly.  That  is  a  very  practical  question,  and  I  will  give  a  practical  answer 
to  it.  We  have  sent  out  a  corps  of  engineers  under  Mr.  Menocal,  the  chief  engi- 
neer here,  under  a  second  assistant  in  charge,  with  about  40  engineers  and  1^0 
laborers.  We  have  sent  them  out  at  an  expense  of  about  $100,000,  and  we  will 
have  to  pay  a  much  larger  amount  than  that  as  the  work  goes  on.  They  have 
commenced  the  work,  and  at  last  advices  they  have  surveyed  10  miles.  What  is 
called  the  canal  surveys  have  already  been  made.  You  know  very  well  this  sur- 
vey has  been  made  several  times  by  our  Government.  But  before  the  work  can 
be  begun  there  must  be  a  final  or  axial  survey,  and  they  are  engaged  now  in  that 
service.  They  are  very  practical  and  experienced  men.  They  arrived  there  safely, 
and  were  very  warmly  received  by  the  authorities  of  Nicaragua,  through  which 


144  MARITIME   OANAL   OOMPAHT. 

State  the  principal  portion  of  the  canal  runs.    A  small  portion  passes  through 
Costa  Rica.     They  are  engaged  now  in  Nicaragua. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Do  the  Co.sta  ilicans  recognize  your  building  this  canal? 

Judge  Daly.  I  have  advised,  as  acting  counsel  of  the  organization,  that  we  had 
better  not  go  into  the  controversy  between  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua  as  to  the 
right  to  a  certain  portion  of  the  route  through  which  the  canal  may  pass;  that 
we  had  better  obtain  a  concession  from  Costa  Rica  on  the  same  terms  that  we 
have  from  Nicaragua. 

Senator  Edmunds.  The  bill  provides  for  that. 

Judge  Daly.  Yes.  And  if  it  should  turn  out  that  Costa  Rica  and  not  Nicaragua 
has  the  right  to  the  disputed  territory  it  will  be  the  same  to  us,  having  the  conces- 
sion from  both,  for  we  do  not  think  we  can  allow  the  enterprise  to  de,  end  upon  an 
uncertainty  of  that  kind.  If  we  succeed  in  getting  an  act  of  incorporation  from 
the  present  Congress,  we  will  go  at  once  to  the  moneyed  centers  of  the  world  and 
commence  the  work. 

Senator  Edmunds.  The  Costa  Rican  minister  called  on  me  the  other  day  for  a 
copy  of  this  bill,  and  expressed  himself  as  entirely  satisfied  with  its  provisions,  as 
the  company  did  not  undertake  to  claim  jurisdiction  resting  solely  upon  either  one 
of  these  Governments.  Have  you  a  copy  of  the  Nicaragua  concession  here,  and 
can  you  file  it  with  the  committee? 

Judge  Daly.  Yes.  I  might  with  propriety  urge  that  we  have  to  give  a  certain 
consideration,  an  oflEer  of  stock,  to  Nicaragua  for  the  concession,  and  we  would 
have  to  do  the  same  for  Costa  Rica.  We  thought  it  better  not  to  go  into  that  ques- 
tion in  dispute  between  them.  We  should  give  Costa  Rica  as  much  as  she  now 
claims,  a  matter  of  17  miles  on  the  south  bank  of  the  San  Juan  River.  We  would 
give  as  much  in  proportion  as  we  give  Nicaragua.  If  it  turned  out  she  had  nothing, 
it  would  be  the  same  to  us.  We  thought  that  would  be  a  better  business  way  of 
treating  the  matter.  I  have  read  all  their  briefs  and  seen  their  maps  submitted  to 
the  Government,  and  have  my  own  impression  about  the  result.  But  we  have 
not  considered  that  at  all,  and  do  not  mean  to.  We  have  considered  this  entirely 
as  a  business  enterprise. 

Senator  Morgan.  You  stated  that  you  were  willing  the  Government  should 
take  this  enterprise  off  your  hands.  Would  you  be  willing  that  tlie  Government 
should  have  the  option  to  take  it  off  the  hands  of  the  company  at  any  time? 

Judge  Daly.  I  can  only  answer  for  myself  individual!}'.  I  think  we  should  all 
be  willing.  We  are  doing  a  good  deal  of  hard  work;  we  have,  the  most  of  us,  put 
in  individually  $5,000,  which  is  a  small  amount  comparatively.  We  feel  we  will 
not  lose  that,  but  make  a  good  investment  of  it.  If  the  Government  would  under- 
take it,  I  think  we  would  all  be  delighted. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Yes;  but  to  get  at  exactly  what  I  infer  Senator  Morgan  may 
have  in  his  mind,  suppose  we  would  insert  in  this  charter  a  clause  that  at  any 
time  within  twenty  years,  or  in  some  time  after  twenty  years,  or  in  any  way  we 
might  put  it  in,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  have  the  right  to  take 
the  work  off  your  hands,  making  a  reimbursement  for  your  actual  outlays,  etc., 
how  would  such  a  charter  and  such  a  general  provision  satisfy  the  objects  that  you 
have  in  view? 

Judge  Daly.  I  can  not  answer  for  any  other  pei-son  than  myself  at  present.  I 
can  answer  after  consultation  and  give  the  answer  to  the  committee.  Individur 
ally  I  should  be  exceedingly  gratified  by  the  Government  taking  the  undertaking 
off  our  hands,  making  the  necessary  arrangement  for  so  doing;  but  such  a  pro- 
vision would  be  no  aid  to  our  enterprise. 

Senator  Edmunds.  The  only  question  it  made  upon  my  mind  was  what  effect  it 
would  have  upon  your  borrowing  money  on  bonds. 

The  Chairman.  Such  a  thing  would  have  a  great  restraint  upon  your  borrowing 
money  on  bonds.  They  expect  some  extraordinary  profit  on  a  transaction  of  this 
kind. 

Judge  Daly.  Mr.  Chairman,  capital  ia  very  timid,  as  you  know,  and  we  would 
be  embarrassed,  as  you  are  aware. 

Senator  Edmunds.  If  it  should  be  a  mere  loan  of  money  at  a  fixed  rate  of  interest 
for  a  fixed  time,  say  fifty  or  one  hundred  years,  then  I  can  not  see  that  the  mort- 
gagee would  care  whether  during  that  time  or  at  the  end  of  it  the  United  States 
should  take  up  the  work,  for  he  certainly  would  receive  his  principal  and  interest 
according  to  the  stipulation,  which  would  still  exist;  but  if  the  stock  question 
came  in,  each  bondholder  having  a  certain  amount  of  stock  given  to  him,  then  of 
course  each  bondholder  would  have  an  interest  besides  that  of  a  mere  creditor, 
and  would  have  his  chance  of  profits  in  the  other  earnings  of  the  enterprise. 

Judge  Daly.  I  probably  have  not  understood  the  full  bearing  of  the  question 
As  a  business  enterprise  I  should  be  unwilling  to  risk  such  a  provision  in  the  bill. 
I  think  Senator  Sherman  has  had  some  experience  in  these  things  in  the  West, 
have  you  not? 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  145 

The  Chairman.  Yes;  in  the  Western  railroads.  It  is  only  a  recent  plan,  how- 
ever, to  give  stock  with  bonds — within  tweiity  years. 

Mr.  Daly.  I  would  like  some  time  for  reflection  and  to  consult  some  financial 
gentlemen  aboiit  it;  but  my  present  impression  is  that  it  would  be  prejudicial. 

Senator  Morgax.  Is  there  anything  which  authorizes  the  Government  of  Nic- 
aragua to  take  up  this  work? 

Judge  Daly.  No. 

Senator  Morgan.  What  length  of  time  does  the  concession  run? 

Judge  Daly.  Ninety-nine  years. 

Senator  Morgan.  At  the  end  of  that  time  your  charter  would  expire? 

Judge  Daly.  Yes. 

Senator  Morgan.  But  it  would  be  for  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  to  make 
such  extension  or  concession  as  they  think  right? 

Judge  Daly.  Mr.  Meno  al  calls  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  provision 
in  the  concession  for  another  extension. 

Senator  Evarts.  Is  there  anything  in  your  concession  that  precludes  this  Gov- 
ernment undertaking  the  work? 

Judge  Daly.  I  think  not.    You  mean  the  Government? 

Senator  Evarts.  I  mean  this  Government.  Is  there  anything  in  the  concession 
from  Nicaragua  that  would  preclude  this  Government  from  undertaking  the  work? 

Judge  Daly.  You  ask  a  very  pertinent  and  very  important  question  that  my 
attention  has  not  been  called  to.  My  hasty  impression  is  that  there  would  be  an 
embarrassment  in  the  terms  of  the  concession.  This  Government  could  not  come 
in  under  our  concession. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Unless  through  negotiation  and  arrangement  with  Nicaragua 
herself.  Whether  in  the  raising  of  the  money  it  might  not  be  admissible  to  make 
a  provision  that  the  United  States  and  Nicaragua,  as  they  might  mutually  agree, 
might  take  up  the  work,  might  be  worthy  of  consideration,  but,  as  the  concession 
now  stands,  not  preclude  us  making  a  provision  of  the  kind  solely  on  the  authority 
of  the  United  States. 

Judge  Daly.  The  more  I  think  of  it  I  do  not  see  how  we  could.  We  could  not 
do  it  under  the  concession  as  it  is. 

Senator  Saulsbury.  On  the  issue  of  stock  the  money  will  be  raised  in  Europe, 
What  will  be  the  effect  of  a  majority  of  that  stock  falling  into  the  hands  of  citi- 
zens of  European  governments  and  continuing  as  an  American  corporation? 

Judge  Daly.  TJaey  could  not,  by  being  mere  stockholders,  change  its  American 
character.  They  would  be  acting  as  members  of  an  American  corporation.  There 
are  a  great  many  persons  who  have  advanced  money  for  American  corporations 
who  have  representation  in  the  board  ot  directors,  but,  as  a  matter  of  common 
experience,  they  do  not  interfere  much  with  American  corporations.  They  leave 
it  in  the  hands  of  persons  organizing  it. 

Senator  Saulsbury.  Still  the  power  will  be  in  the  majority  of  the  stockholders 
to  change  the  direction  of  the  company,  I  suppose. 

Judge  Daly.  There  is  one  consideration  in  that  point  of  view;  our  association 
will  be  large  stockholders  by  virtue  of  the  concession  made  to  us  by  Nicaragua, 
and  the  State  of  Nicaragua  will  al.so  be  a  large  stockholder  by  virtue  of  the  con- 
cession. If  a  large  proportion  of  the  bonds  is  taken  up  in  Europe,  the  amount  of 
stock  given  to  the  foreign  bondholders  will  be  comparatively  small.  Practically, 
as  a  general  result,  they  might  have  control,  but  that  would  only  be  in  cooperation 
with  American  holders.    I  presume  that  would  be  the  case  here. 

Hon.  J.  E.  McDonald.  The  committee  will  notice  that  the  fifth  section  of  this 
charter  reserves  at  all  times  to  Congress  the  power  to  alter,  amend,  or  repeal. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Yes;  kept  within  Congressional  control,  according  to  our 
modern  phrase. 

Mr.  McDonald.  The  concession  under  which  this  company  proposes  to  organize 
undoubtedly  contemplates  the  construction  of  this  work  by  a  private  company, 
not  by  a  government,  and  this  instrument  that  the  company  asks  by  Congress  as 
a  charter  in  a  very  brief  instrument.  While  it  is  comprehensive  in  its  provisions, 
it  is  very  brief  in  its  terms,  and  simply  confers  upon  this  company  the  necessary 
corporate  powers  to  undertake  such  work. 

.Judge  Daly.  I  made  it  as  simple  as  possible.  We  merely  wanted  a  national  rec- 
ognition as  an  incorporation,  and  I  inserted  nothing  in  it  beyond  our  right  to  issue 
l>onds  and  our  right  to  issue  stock  for  work  or  property.  I  embraced  nothing  else 
in  it  for  that  reason. 

Mr.  McDonald.  The  Government  is  not  passing  this  out  from  under  its  control 
at  all. 

AdjOurned. 

S.  "Doc.  231,  pt  4 10 


146  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Concession  and  decrees  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  to  the  Nicaragvxi  Canal  Asso- 
ciation of  New  York. 

The  President  of  the  Republic  to  the  inhabitants  thereof.    Know  ye 
That  Congress  has  ordered  as  follows: 
The  Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  do  hereby 

DECREE. 

Only  Article. — The  contract  for  a  maritime  interoceanic  canal,  entered  into 
the  2M  of  March  ult.,  between  Dr.  Adan  Cardenas,  commissioned  especially  by  the 
Supreme  Government,  and  Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  member  and  representative  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Association  organized  in  New  York,  is  hereby  ratified.  This 
contract  shall  be  a  law  of  the  Republic  if  Mr.  Menocal  accepts  it  as  soon  as  he  be 
nctified,  with  the  following  modifications  and  upon  the  following  terms: 

The  undersigned,  Adan  Cardenas,  commissioner  of  the  Government  of  the 
Republic,  party  of  the  first  part,  and  Aniceto  G.  Menocal,  representative  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  party  of  the  second  part,  both  having  sufficient 
powers,  have  entered  into  the  following  contract  for  the  excavation  of  an  inter- 
oceanic canal  through  the  territory  of  Nicaragua. 

Article  L 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  grants  to  the  aforesaid  Nicaragua  Canal  Association, 
and  Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  representative  of  the  said  association,  accepts  on  its  behalf, 
for  the  purposes  set  forth  in  Article  VII,  the  exclusive  privilege  to  excavate  and 
operate  a  maritime  canal  across  its  territory,  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans. 

Article  II. 

The  canal  shall  be  of  sufficient  dimensions  for  the  free  and  commodious  passage 
of  vessels  of  the  same  size  as  the  large  steamers  used  for  ocean  navigation  in  Europe 
and  America,  provided  that  no  locks  used  in  said  work  shall  be  less  than  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  (550)  feet  in  length  and  thirty  feet  in  depth. 

Article  III. 

The  State  declares  this  work  to  be  one  of  public  utility. 

Article  IV. 

The  duration  of  the  present  privilege  shall  be  for  ninety-nine  (99)  years,  to  be 
counted  from  the  day  the  canal  shall  be  opened  to  universal  traffic.  During  the 
aforesaid  jjeriod  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  construct  and  operate  a  rail- 
way along  the  whole  extent  of  the  canal,  or  those  parts  of  the  same  that  may  be 
considered  convenient  for  the  better  service  and  operation  of  the  said  work. 

Article  V. 

The  State  binds  itself  not  to  make  any  subsequent  concession  for  the  opening  of 
a  canal  between  the  two  oceans  during  the  term  of  the  present  concession,  and  also 
to  abstain  from  granting  a  concession  for  a  railroad,  stich  as  might  compete  with 
the  canal  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise,  during  the  same  period;  but  noth- 
ing in  this  article  shall  prevent  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  from  constructing 
or  permitting  the  construction  of  such  railways  as  it  may  deem  advisable  for  com- 
merce and  internal  traffic.  Said  Government  also  to  have  the  right  to  construct 
or  permit  the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  railway  if,  in  course  of  time,  it  be 
demonstrated  that  the  canal  is  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  traffic 
of  all  nations. 

The  grantee  company  shall  have  the  right  to  establish  such  telegraph  lines  as  it 
may  deem  necessary  for  the  construction,  management,  and  operation  of  the 
canal.  The  Government  shall  have  the  right  to  occupy  these  lines  for  the  public 
service  without  any  remuneration  to  the  company. 

Abtiole  VI. 

The  Government  of  the  Republic  declares,  during  the  term  of  this  concession,  the 
jKjrts  at  each  extremity  of  the  canal,  and  the  canal  itself,  from  sea  to  sea,  to  be 
neutral,  sand,  that  consequently  the  transit  through  the  canal  in  case  of  war  between 


.  MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  147 

two  powers,  or  between  one  or  more  and  Nicaragua,  shall  not  be  interrupted  for 
such  cause;  and  that  merchant  vessels  and  individuals  of  all  nations  of  the  world 
may  freely  enter  the  ports  and  pass  through  the  canal  without  molestation  or 
detention. 

In  general,  all  vessels  may  pass  through  the  canal  freely,  without  distinction, 
exclusion,  or  preference  of  persons  or  nationality,  provided  they  pay  the  dues  and 
observe  the  regulations  established  by  the  grantee  company  for  the  use  of  the  said 
canal  and  its  dependencies.  The  transit  of  foreign  troops  and  vessels  of  war  will 
be  subjected  to  the  prescriptions  relating  to  the  same  established  by  treaties 
between  Nicaragua  and  other  powers  or  by  international  law.  But  entrance  to 
the  canal  will  be  rigorously  prohibited  to  vessels  of  war  of  such  powers  as  may  be 
at  war  with  Nicaragua  or  with  any  other  of  the  Central  American  Republics. 

Nicaragua  will  endeavor  to  obtain  from  the  powers  that  are  to  guarantee  the 
neutrality,  that  in  the  treaties  that  shall  be  made  for  that  purpose  they  shall  agree 
also  to  guarantee  a  zone  of  land  parallel  to  the  canal,  and  also  a  maritime  zone  in 
both  oceans,  the  dimensions  of  which  will  be  determined  in  such  treaties. 

Article  VIL 

This  present  agreement,  with  all  its  charges  and  advantages,  shall  be  the  object 
of  a  company  of  execution  in  agreement  with  Articles  I,  X,  and  those  following 
thereafter. 

Said  company  shall  be  the  grantee,  and  whenever  said  name  is  used,  in  this 
present  contract,  reference  is  made  to  it. 

Article  VIIL 

The  present  concession  is  transferable  only  to  such  company  of  execution  as 
shall  be  organized  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  and  in  no  case  to  govern- 
ments or  to  foreign  public  powers.  Nor  shall  the  company  cede  to  any  foreign 
government  any  part  of  the  lands  granted  to  it  by  this  contract;  but  it  may  make 
transfers  to  private  parties  under  the  same  restriction. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  can  not  transfer  its  rights  or  shares  by  selling  them 
to  any  government. 

Article  IX. 

The  people  of  all  nations  shall  be  invited  to  contribute  the  necessary  capital  to 
the  enterprise,  and  it  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  requirement  to 
publish  an  advertisement  for  thirty  (30)  consecutive  days  in  one  of  the  princip^ 
daily  papers  of  each  of  the  cities— New  York,  London,  and  Paris. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  final  company  shall  be  composed  of  shares,  bonds,  or 
obligations  of  any  other  kind  in  such  proportion  as  it  may  deem  convenient.  The 
issue  and  transfer  of  these  obligations  shall  bo  exempt  from  stamp  dues  and  from 
any  other  imposts  or  taxes  established  or  that  may  be  hereafter  established  in  the 
Republic. 

Of  the  capital  with  which  the  company  shall  organize,  and  which  it  proposes  to 
distribute  among  the  different  countries  interested  in  the  enterprise,  there  shall 
be  reserved  at  least  five  (5)  per  cent  for  the  Central  American  Gorernments  and 
citizens  that  may  desire  to  subscribe. 

As  soon  as  the  company  is  ready  to  open  subscription  books  it  shall  advise  the 
Government  of  Nicaragua,  which  will  invite  the  other  governments,  and  through 
them  private  parties,  to  subscribe.  All  such  shares  not  taken  within  six  months 
following  the  date  on  which  the  Government  shall  have  been  advised  of  that  cir- 
cumstance shall  remain  subject  to  the  free  disposition  of  the  company. 

Article  X. 

The  company  shall  be  organized  in  the  manner  and  under  the  conditions  gener- 
ally adopted  for  such  companies.  Its  principal  office  shall  be  in  New  York,  or 
where  it  may  be  deemed  most  convenient,  and  it  may  have  branch  offices  in  the 
different  countries  of  Europe  and  America  where  it  may  consider  it  expedient. 

Its  name  shall  be  the  "Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  and  its  board 
of  directors  shall  be  composed  of  persons,  one-half  at  least  of  them  shall  be  chosen 
from  the  promoters  who  may  yet  preserve  their  quality  as  such. 

Article  XI. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua,  in  its  character  of  shareholder  in  the  company 
of  execution,  as  hereinafter  provided,  shall  have  the  perpetual  right  of  naming 


148  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

one  director,  who  shall  be  an  integral  part  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  com- 
pany, with  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  advantages  conferred  upon  them  by  the 
statutes  of  the  company  and  the  laws  of  the  country  under  which  it  shall  organize. 
The  Government  shall  also  have  the  right  in  its  aforesaid  capacity  of  shareholder 
to  take  part  in  such  elections  as  the  company  may  hold. 

Article  XIL 

The  company  is  bound  to  keep  a  representative  in  Nicaragua  vested  with  all 
powers  necessary  for  the  proper  conduct  of  the  service  and  for  the  transaction  of 
its  business  with  the  Government. 

Article  XIII. 

The  canal  will  follow  the  valley  of  the  River  San  J  nan  to  Lake  Nicaragua,  through 
which  will  be  designated  the  most  convenient  route  for  communication  with  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  In  any  event  the  company  shall  have  the  most  ample  freedom  to 
select  the  route  which  it  considers  most  convenient  between  the  two  oceans  for 
the  excavation  of  the  canal  and  its  dependencies  and  its  ports,  particularly  those 
serving  for  entrance  and  exit  on  both  oceans.  The  company  shall  have  the  same 
liberty  to  adopt  the  route  which  may  be  deemed  most  advantageous  and  econom- 
ical for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  after  the  final  survey  by  a  commission  of 
competent  engineers. 

However,  should  the  company,  after  the  survey  of  the  River  San  Juan,  find  it 
necessary  t-o  abandon,  in  any  place,  the  bed  of  the  river  and  cut  a  lateral  canal, 
the  Government  of  Nicaragua  reserves  the  right  of  reqniring  from  the  company 
the  duty  of  establishing  a  communication  between  the  i)art  of  the  San  Juan  not 
used  for  canal  purposes  and  the  dividing  level  of  the  canal  by  means  of  a  lock,  or 
a  series  of  locks,  suitable  for  the  navigation  of  ships  of  six  feet  dratt.  As  soon  as 
the  final  plans  are  adopted  and  laid  before  the  Government,  it  shall  notify  the 
company  within  one  month  after  their  receipt  whether  or  not  they  meet  with  its 
approval,  in  order  that  the  company  may  proceed  in  accordance  therewith.  It  is 
undei-stood  that  this  duty  does  not  in  any  manner  compel  the  company  to  place  or 
to  maintain  in  navigable  condition  for  small  craft  the  lower  part  of  the  river 
which  these  locks  may  be  intended  to  place  in  communication  with  the  canal. 

Article  XIV. 

Within  three  years,  to  be  counted  from  the  commencement  of  the  work  upon  the 
interoceanic  canal,  the  company  shall,  at  its  own  expense,  construct  a  navigable 
canal  between  Lake  Managua  and  the  navigable  part  of  the  Tipitapa  Kiver,  near 
Pasqmer,  of  suilicient  dimensions  to  admit  of  the  free  passage  of  vessels  drawing 
six  feet  and  of  150  feet  in  length.  When  completed,  this  canal  shall  be  taken  pos- 
session by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua,  and  will  be,  after  that  date,  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Republic,  which,  by  virtue  of  its  ownership,  shall  be  bound  to  bear  all 
expenses  required  in  the  future  for  the  service,  maintenance,  repair,  and  opera- 
tion of  the  canal.  But  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  make  use  of  it  for  all 
purposes  useful  for  the  maritime  canal  enterprise,  and  to  pass  through  it  freely 
with  its  vessels  and  those  belonging  to  contractors  employed  in  the  service  of  the 
interoceanic  canal  during  the  term  of  this  concession  without  being  subject  to 
any  charge  whatever,  or  to  pay  tolls  or  contributions  of  any  kind  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Nicaragua,  or  to  any  person  or  company  that  may,  through  any  cause,  be 
in  charge  of  the  adminintration  and  operation  of  the  work  and  its  dependencies. 

The  Government  of  Nicara^iia  will  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  company,  free 
of  all  expenses  and  charges,  all  the  lands  that  may  be  required,  as  well  as  the 
materials  found  thereon,  or  on  those  belonging  to  the  Government  and  that  may 
be  utilized  by  the  company  in  the  execution  of  this  work. 

Article  XV.. 

All  expenditures  for  surveys,  construction,  maintenance,  and  operation  of  the 
Interoceanic  Maritime  Canal  shall  be  borne  by  the  concessionary  company,  with- 
out any  subvention  in  money  nor  guaranty  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  Republic, 
nor  other  concessions  than  those  specified  in  the  present  agreement. 

Article  XVI. 

The  company  shall  construct,  at  its  expense,  and  maintain  in  good  condition 
two  large  ports,  one  in  the  Atlantic  and  one  in  the  Pacific,  to  serve  as  termini  of 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  l49 

the  canal,  each  of  them  to  have  a  light-house  of  the  first  order.  It  shall  also  con- 
struct at  thw  two  points  on  the  borders  of  the  lake  where  the  canal  disembogues 
two  ports  of  lesser  size,  w  th  the  respective  light-houses. 

The  company  is  also  obliged  to  maintain  and  improve  said  ports  by  means  of 
dredges,  dikes,  piers,  embankments,  or  any  other  works  it  may  deem  advisable, 
having  always  in  view  the  good  service  of  the  traffic  through  the  canal. 

It  may.  for  this  purpose,  select  on  the  coasts  of  the  two  oceans,  within  the  ter- 
ritory of  Nicaragua,  the  localities  which  the  surveys  made  indicate  as  preferable. 

Article  XVII. 

All  the  space  necessary,  whether  on  the  mainland,  in  the  lake  and  its  islands, 
at  the  ports,  roadsteads,  or  rivers  of  the  two  oceans  for  the  establishment  of  the 
canal,  its  paths,  and  embankments,  for  depositing  the  materials  from  the  excava- 
tions and  cuttings  for  the  necessary  spaces  to  be  occupied  by  water  after  raising 
the  dams  which  are  to  be  constructed  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  for  all  necessary 
deviations  of  streams,  as  well  as  for  reservoirs,  dikes,  spaces  about  the  locks,  sta- 
tions, lights,  and  beacons,  storehouses,  buildings  and  workshops,  deposits  for 
materials,  and  also  all  those  spaces  necessary  for  the  routes,  service  railways,  and 
canals  of  the  same  nature  for  the  transportation  of  the  materials  to  the  line  of  the 
work  and  for  feeders  for  the  canal;  in  short,  all  lands  and  places  necessary  to  the 
construction  and  operation  of  the  canal,  as  laid  down  in  the  drawings  and  plans 
made  by  the  engineers  of  the  company,  shall  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  com- 
pany by  the  State,  under  the  conditions  set  forth  in  the  following  articles: 

Article  XVIII. 

Said  lands  belonging  to  the  State  will  be  given  to  the  company  without  any 
compensation  whatever;  and,  with  regard  to  those  belonging  to  private  parties, 
the  State  charges  itself  with  their  expropriation  if  the  company  so  requests.  The 
compensation  which  may  be  required  in  this  case  shall  be  paid  by  the  company. 

Article  XIX. 

In  all  relating  to  the  expropriation  that  may  be  made  in  conformity  with  the 
preceding  article,  the  company  shall  enjoy  all  the  immunities  and  privileges 
which  the  laws  of  the  country  accord  to  the  State,  so  that  in  no  case  shall  the 
company  be  obliged  to  pay  more  than  the  State  would  under  similar  circumstances. 

Article  XX. 

The  Government  obliges  itself  to  place  the  company,  within  six  months  after 
its  request,  in  possession  of  up  to  one  thousand  (1,000)  manzanas  of  land  between 
the  lake  and  the  Pacific  at  such  places  as  the  company  shall  designate,  but  they 
are  to  serve  exclusively  for  cutting  the  canal,  its  havens,  ports,  and  other  acces- 
sory works.  The  Government  shall  on  its  own  account  cause  the  necessary  expro- 
priation to  be  made,  and  the  company  shall  pay  to  it  for  all  indemnity  the  sum  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  (§50,000)  American  gold.  This  payment  to  be  made  by  the 
company  in  Managua  within  four  months  after  the  date  of  its  request. 

Article  XXI. 

The  company  shall  have  the  right  to  take,  free  of  charge,  from  the  public  lands 
for  the  purpose  of  construction,  operation,  and  maintenance  of  the  canal,  what- 
ever materials  may  be  found  on  them,  especially  timber  for  construction  and  for 
fuel,  the  lime,  stone,  clay  for  bricks,  and  earth  for  fillings,  as  may  be  necessary. 
As  regards  materials  found  on  private  lands,  the  company  shall  pay  for  what  it 
may  need  thereof,  enjoying  in  this  respect  the  same  rights  and  privileges  which 
the  State  enjoys  according  to  law. 

Article  XXII. 

Should  the  company  require  to  occupy,  temporarily  and  during  the  construc- 
tion of  the  canal,  lands  in  the  territory  of  Nicaragua  which  are  not  included  in 
those  designated  in  articles  17,  18,  and  21,  it  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay  any 
indemnity  for  them  if  they  are  public  lands;  and  the  State  shall  not  have  the 
right  to  sell  or  dispose  of  them  in  any  other  manner  after  the  company  has  deter- 
mined to  occupy  them,  unless  under  the  reservation  of  this  right,  whose  limit  shall 
be  the  completion  of  the  works  on  the  Interoceanic  Canal.    Should- the  lands 


150  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

belong  to  private  parties,  the  company  shall  enjoy,  in  regard  to  their  temporary 
occupation,  all  the  rights  and  privileges  whit-h  the  law  accords  to  the  State,  with 
the  special  privilege  of  occnpying  them  immediately  after  the  deflaration  of  neces- 
sity and  utility  and  after  paying  the  compensation,  which  sliall  not  exceed  that 
which  the  State  should  be  compelled  to  pay  in  a  similar  case. 

Akticub  XXIII. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua,  desiring  to  assist  the  company  eflRcacionsly  in  the 
construction  of  the  Interoceanic  Canal,  a  work  in  which  it  takes  the  deepest 
interest,  cedes  in  fee  simple  to  the  said  company  the  public  lands  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, in  alternate  lots  with  other  similar  ones  which  it  reserves  to  itself,  and  of 
the  dimensions  and  in  the  places  as  spec  ified  hereinafter: 

1st.  On  the  left  bank  of  the  River  San  Juan,  from  the  Atlantic  to  Castillo  Viejo, 
lots  of  three  miles  frontage  on  the  canal  and  six  miles  in  depth  from  the  banks  of 
the  river.  Where  the  canal  diverges  more  than  six  miles  from  the  banks  of  the 
river  the  lots  are  to  be  measured  on  both  sides  of  it  and  shall  be  three  miles  wide 
and  six  miles  deep.  And  where  this  distance  is  less  than  six  miles  the  lots  shall 
be  three  miles  front  and  three  miles  deep,  and  they  shall  be  measured  from  the 
bank  of  the  canal  to  the  river,  taking  what  may  be  lacking  from  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  canal. 

2d.  Three  miles  distant  from  Castillo  upstream,  on  the  right  bank  and  up  to  the 
lake,  lots  of  two  miles  in  depth  and  two  of  frontage  on  the  canal.  From  the  lake 
along  its  south  shore  to  the  River  Sapofi  and  thence  to  the  River  Lajas,  lots  of  one 
mile  frontage  and  one  mile  depth.  On  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  from  a  point  in 
front  of  Castillo  and  up  to  the  lake,  lots  of  three  miles  of  frontage  on  the  canal 
and  four  miles  in  depth. 

3d.  On  the  north  shore  of  the  lake  as  far  as  the  River  Tule,  lots  of  two  miles 
frontage  on  the  lake  and  two  miles  deep. 

4th.  In  the  places  which  the  company  selects  in  accordance  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  existing  public  lands,  forty  (40)  lots,  each  four  miles  frontiige  by  five 
miles  deep,  reserving  always  the  acquired  rights. 

It  is  understood  that  the  Gtovernment  reserves  around  each  of  the  forts  Castillo 
and  San  Carlos  the  lands  included  in  a  circle  of  one  and  one-half  (U)  miles  radius, 
whose  center  shall  be  the  respective  fortresses. 

As  a  general  rule,  at  the  extremities  of  the  Interoceanic  Canal  and  at  its  points 
of  contact  with  the  lake,  the  opposite  lots  will  be  allotted  one  to  the  Government 
and  one  to  the  company,  but  if  this  be  not  possible,  the  first  will  belong  to  the 
Government. 

From  the  Atlantic  to  the  lake,  that  part  of  the  river  bed  occupied  by  the  canal 
shall  be  considered  as  part  of  the  latter  for  all  purposes  of  this  article. 

The  measurement  and  setting  out  of  all  lands  ceded  by  this  contract  shall  be 
made  at  the  expense  of  the  grantees  under  the  supervision  of  the  Government. 

The  State  shall  vest  in  the  company  the  possession  of  said  lands  so  soon  as  the 
said  company  shall  begin  operations  on  the  canal.  Operations  shall  be  regarded 
as  begun  when  the  provisions  set  forth  in  article  47  shall  have  been  complied  with. 
The  final  title  deeds  shall  not  be  granted  except  as  the  work  of  the  canal  progresses 
and  in  due  proportion. 

Article  XXIV. 

In  the  unforeseen  case  that  a  new  survey  should  show  the  necessity  of  adopting 
another  line  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  which  varies  wholly  or  in  part  from 
the  line  set  forth  in  article  13,  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  the  lands  and 
other  elements  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  according  to  articles 
16,  17,  18,  19,  21,  and  22. 

The  company  shall,  in  that  event,  also  have  the  right  to  the  lands  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  article  in  the  same  proportions,  conditions,  and  dimensions  therein 
established,  with  the  single  proviso  that  if  it  alter  the  line  the  localities  whence 
these  lands  shall  be  taken  shall  be  altered  accordingly. 

Article  XXV. 

The  State  reserves  the  right  to  occupy  in  the  several  lots  of  land  granted  the 
company  such  places  as  it  may  need  for  such  roads  and  public  buildings  as  it  may 
deem  convenient.  In  the  same  manner  it  may  use  timber  and  other  building 
materials  found  on  such  lands  whenever  they  may  be  necessary  for  any  work 
upon  which  it  may  determine.  However,  these  lands,  with  all  their  products, 
v^etable  and  mineral,  shall  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  country  so  soon  as  they 


MABITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  151 

become  the  property  of  individual  citizens  by  transfer  from  the  company,  and 
then,  should  the  State  need  them  for  the  ends  set  forth  in  this  article,  or  for  any 
others,  it  shall  make  compensation  to  their  owners  according  to  law,  without  any 
right  on  the  part  of  the  expropriated  owners  to  reclaim  against  the  company. 

Should  the  company  have  improved  the  lands  so  taken  for  purposes  of  use, 
ornament,  or  pleasure,  the  State  shall  be  bound  to  reimburse  it  for  such  damages 
as  it  may  have  suifered,  according  to  the  assessment  of  experts. 

Article  XXVI. 

Mines  of  coal,  stone,  gold,  silver,  iron,  or  other  metals  situated  in  the  lands 
granted  to  the  company,  shall  belong  to  it  by  right,  without  need  of  previous 
"denunciation,"  it  having  the  right  to  work  them  when  considered  expedient, 
subject  to  the  laws  of  the  country. 

Article  XXVII. 

The  company  shall  also  have  the  right  to  utilize  for  its  account,  for  sale  or  expor- 
tation, the  lumber  in  the  forests  situated  in  the  lands  ceded  to  it  by  the  State,  from 
the  time  they  enter  into  possession  of  them  in  accordance  with  this  contract — that 
is,  from  the  time  of  commencement  of  the  works— always  saving  the  acquired 
rights. 

Article  XXVIU. 

From  the  day  on  which  the  present  concession  is  ratified  by  Congress  the  public 
lands  included  in  those  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  can  not  be  sold, 
nor  can  any  of  those  ceded  to  the  company  on  the  banks  of  the  canal,  by  article 
23,  nor  can  they  be  leased  to  the  prejudice  of  the  company. 

Article  XXIX. 

The  company  shall  have  the  right,  throughout  the  extent  of  the  canal,  as  well 
as  at  its  mouths  on  both  oceans,  and  in  the  lake  and  throughout  the  extent  of  the 
lands  ceded  by  virtue  of  articles  16, 17, 23,  and  23,  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  locat- 
ing, leveling,  excavating,  dredging,  and  in  general  any  other  work  of  whatsoever 
nature  that  may  be  judged  useful  for  the  establishment  and  feeding  of  the  canal, 
or  for  its  operation,  preservation,  and  maintenance.  The  company  is  specially 
authorized  to  execute  along  the  canal  line  and  on  the  banks  of  the  River  San  Juan 
and  its  affluents,  within  the  territory  of  Nicaragua,  and  also  on  the  tributaries  of 
Lake  Nicaragua,  the  lakes  or  water  courses  which  can  be  utilized  in  their  flow  to  the 
Pacific,  the  system  of  dikes,  rectifications,  dredgings,  embankments,  dams,  cuts, 
location  of  buoys,  and  in  general  all  the  works  that  in  the  opinions  of  the  engineers 
of  the  company  are  deemed  indispensable  for  the  construction,  feeding,  naviga- 
tion, and  operation  of  the  canal.  The  company  may  also  do  all  works  of  like 
character  deemed  necessary  at  the  entrances  of  the  canal  into  Lake  Nicaragua,  as 
well  as  in  the  lake  itself,  in  accordance  with  the  route  that  may  be  determined 
upon  in  order  to  secure  in  it  easy  navigation,  and  as  may  be  found  necessary  in 
the  other  lakes  or  lagoons  that  are  to  be  traversed. 

The  embankments,  fillings,  and  dikes  formed  in  the  mouths  of  the  canal,  in  the 
lake,  and  in  the  ports  on  the  oceans,  by  deposits  of  materials  resulting  from  the 
excavations  of  the  canal,  shall  belong  in  fee  simple  to  the  company;  the  Govern- 
ment having  the  right  to  use  them  if  necessary,  after  compensation  made.  But  it 
may  never  obstruct  said  ports  nor  widen  the  beaches  in  front  of  them,  unless 
there  is  absolute  necessity  to  do  so,  and  in  this  case  the  embankments  and  fillings 
that  it  may  be  necessary  to  construct  in  front  of  the  ports  shall  belong  to  the 
Republic. 

In  general,  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  use  all  the  lakes  and  rivers  of 
Nicaragua,  the  waters  of  which  may  be  necessary,  in  the  judgment  of  the  engi- 
neers of  the  company,  for  the  construction  and  supply  of  the  canal  and  for  main- 
taining its  operations.  It  being  understood  that  the  damages  caused  to  private 
parties  by  the  deviation  of  the  water  courses  shall  be  compensated  for  by  the 
company  according  to  a  just  assessment  by  experts  in  agreement  with  the  laws  of 
the  Republic. 

Article  XXX. 

The  company  shall  not  import  merchandise  into  the  territory  of  the  Republic 
for  the  purpose  of  trafficking  without  paying  the  import  duties  established  by  law. 
But  it  may  import  free  of  custom  duties,  and  of  any  tax  whatsoever,  the  articles 


152  MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY. 

needed  for  the  works  of  the  enterprise,  such  as  snrvej-s.  examination  of  localities, 
constrnction,  use,  oijeration.  maintenance,  repairs,  and  improvements  of  the  canal; 
for  the  telegraphic  service  and  for  that  of  the  railways:  for  running  the  workshops 
the  company  may  keep  in  operation:  and  such  articL  s  may  consist  of  tools, 
machinery,  apparatus,  coal,  limestone  of  all  clas-ses,  lime,  iron,  and  other  metals, 
raw  or  manufactured,  mining  powder,  dynamite,  or  any  other  analogous  sub- 
stance. These  articles  may  be  transported  between  whatever  points  they  may  be 
required  during  the  works  of  opening  of  the  canal,  and  be  discharged  and  stored 
free  of  all  local  taxes. 

The  company  may  import  free  of  dutie.s  and  taxes,  during  the  work  on  the  canal, 
provisions  and  medicines  absolutely  necessary  for  its  own  consumption.  Goods 
the  commerce  of  which  is  not  free  are  excepted  from  the  privileges  contained  in 
this  article,  which  goods,  excepting  powder,  dynamite,  and  other  explosives, 
remain  subject  to  the  requisites  and  duties  prescribed  by  the  laws. 

^  Articlk  XXXI. 

The  vessels  employed  by  the  company  as  tugboats  or  for  the  service  of  the  canal 
shall  be  free  from  all  duties,  and  also  the  materials  for  their  repair  and  the  fuel 
they  use.  The  vessels  and  appurtenances  from  whatever  place  they  may  be  coming 
for  the  use  of  the  company  shall  also  be  exempt  from  all  duties. 

Article  XXXn. 

The  Government  will  establish  such  regulations  as  it  may  judge  necessary  to 
prevent  smuggling  and  to  maintain  public  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal. 

The  company  is  bound  to  lend  its  assistance  for  the  enforcement  of  such  regula- 
tions. But  in  the  free  zone  along  themargin  of  the  canal,  as  hereinafter  provided, 
measures  for  the  prevention  of  f-muggling  shall  be  limited  to  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  the  employe  or  employes  whom  it  may  concern  without  any  further  measures 
being  taken  against  passengers,  vessels,  or  their  cargoes,  except  when  an  attempt 
at  smuggling  is  discovered:  it  being  the  intention  of  the  State  that  there  should  be 
the  most  ample  liberty  of  transit  by  the  canal  for  persons  and  property,  with  the 
sole  limitations  established  by  this  contract.  Consequently  the  company  shall 
have  the  right  to  discharge  and  reload  ships  in  transit  at  such  points  as  may  be 
necessary  in  order  to  make  repairs,  lighten  the  vessel,  shift  cargo,  or  on  account  of 
any  a-  cident  that  rei'.ders  it  absolutely  necf  ssarj-.  without  being  subject  to  search, 
exactions,  or  contributions  of  any  kind,  provided  that  in  each  case,  and  before 
beginning  operations,  the  nearest  custom-house  authorities  shall  be  notiiied. 

Aeticle  XXXUI. 

The  Government  shall  lend  its  protection,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the 
country,  to  the  engineers,  contractors,  employes,  and  laborers  engaged  in  the  pre- 
liminary surveys,  or  in  the  work  of  construction  and  operation  of  the  canal. 

Article  XXXIV. 

The  company  shall  be  exempt  from  all  forced  loans  and  military  exactions  in 
time  of  peace  and  of  war.  The  foreign  agents  and  employes  shall  likewise  be 
exempt  from  direct  contributions,  forced  loans,  and  military  exactions  during  the 
time  they  are  in  theservic-e  of  the  canal,  but  they  shall  pay  the  taxes  established 
by  the  laws,  if  they  acquire  real  property. 

Article  XXXV. 

The  company  may  freely  introduce  immigrants  into  the  lands  ceded  to  it.  and 
the  employes  and  workmen  needed  in  its  works  and  workshops.  Asiatics,  how- 
ever, are  excepted.  Both  the  immigrants  and  the  employes  and  workmen  will  be 
subject  to  the  laws  of  the  Republic  and  the  regulations  of  the  company.  The 
Government  assures  them  aid  and  protection,  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights 
and  guarantees  in  conformity  with  the  constitution  and  the  national  laws  during 
the  time  they  remain  on  Nicaraguan  territory. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  153 

Article  XXXVI. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua  assures  to  the  company  and  its  agents,  tinder 
the  laws  of  the  country  as  it  does  to  the  other  inhabitants,  the  full  enjoyment  of 
the  guarantees  and  rights  which  the  constitution  and  the  same  laws  grant  to  them. 
And  reciprocally  the  company  and  its  agents  bind  themselves  strictly  to  respect  the 
laws  and  regulations  that  are  in  force  in  Nicaragua,  and  especially  to  comply  with 
the  executory  judgments  of  the  tribunals  without  considering  themselves  vested 
with  other  rights  than  those  which  the  laws  concede  in  favor  of  the  Nicaraguans. 

Art  CLE  XXXVII. 

The  Government  shall  establish  all  along  the  Une  of  the  canal,  including  between 
the  two  terminal  ports,  such  polite  stations  and  revenue  offices  as  in  its  judgment 
are  necessary  to  preserve  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal,  and  for  the  observ- 
ance of  the  fiscal  laws  of  the  Republic.  All  expenses  incident  to  this  service, 
including  those  of  buildings,  endowments,  salaries  and  allowances  of  employes, 
and  transportation  of  the  forces,  shall  be  paid  to  the  Government  by  the  company 
on  such  terms  and  conditions  as  may  be  established,  taking  into  consideration  the 
requirements  and  necessities  of  such  sersice.  The  company,  however,  !-hall  have 
the  power  to  establish  guards  and  watchmen  for  the  service  of  the  canal  and  the 
enforcement  of  its  regulations. 

Article  XXXVIII. 

Contracts  for  labor  on  the  canal  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  which  the  laws  of  the 
country  afford  to  agricultural  contracts,  provided  they  be  clothed  with  the  for- 
malities that  the  laws  require  in  such  contracts.  And  the  contracts  m  regard  to 
canal  labor  that  the  company  execute  in  foreign  countries  shall  be  valid  and  law- 
ful m  Nicaragua  during  the  term  stipulated  in  them,  provided  they  do  not  violate 
the  laws  of  the  Republic;  provided  also  the  documents  containing  them  be  pre- 
sented to  the  proper  authorities,  with  due  authentication,  that  they  may  be 
registered. 

Article  XXXIX. 

The  company  shall  be  exempt  during  the  period  of  this  concession,  in  peace  and 
in  war,  from  all  manner  of  taxes  upon  the  real  property  it  may  acquire  by  virtue 
of  this  contract,  and  from  every  kind  of  direct  contributions,  local  taxes,  or  any 
other  tax  relating  to  the  property  and  use  of  the  canal,  its  buildings  and  construc- 
tions appertaining  thereto,  in  its  entire  length,  including  those  that  are  situated 
in  the  ports  and  maritime  establishments  on  the  two  oceans,  as  also  the  lands  con- 
ceded to  the  company  for  the  whole  term  of  the  privilege.  This  franchise  is  not 
assignable  to  those  who  buy  the  real  estate  which  the  company  may  dispose  of  by 
virtue  of  this  concession. 

Article  XL. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  shall  not  establish  any  tonnage,  anchorage,  pilot, 
light-house  dues,  or  charges  of  any  kind  whatsoever  upon  vessels  of  whatever  class, 
or  upon  the  merchandise,  baggage,  and  passengers  which  may  pass  through  the 
canal  from  one  ocean  to  the  other,  all  such  dues  being  reserved  for  the  benefit  of 
the  company,  as  hereinafter  set  forth  in  Article  XL  111. 

But  all  such  merchandise  as  shall  be  loaded  or  discharged  at  any  point  of  the 
canal,  intended  for  sale,  shall  pay  the  import  and  export  duties  fixed  by  the  rev- 
enue laws  of  the  State. 

Article  XLI. 

With  the  view  of  securing  the  most  ample  freedom  in  the  transit  of  persons  and 
property,  and  in  order  to  remove  as  far  as  possible  occasions  for  disagreeable  ques- 
tions, there  shall  be  on  each  side  of  the  canal  a  free  zone,  the  extent  of  which  shall 
be  one  hundred  yards,  measured  from  the  water's  edge  in  the  canal,  it  being  under- 
stood that  the  borders  of  the  lake  shall  not  be  considered  as  margin  of  the  canal 
for  the  purposes  of  this  stipulation. 


154  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

All  traffic  declared  illegal  by  the  laws  of  the  Republic  shall  be  prohibited  within 
the  said  zone,  and  the  revenue  authorities  charged  with  watching  and  preventing 
smuggling  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  stipulations  in  Article  XXXII. 

It  is  expressly  agreed  that  every  vessel  that  passes  through  the  canal  shall  carry 
on  board  an  officer  named  by  the  Gk)vernmsnt  when  the  authorities  think  it  neces- 
sary, and  this  employe  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  law  in  case  he  discovers 
its  infringement. 

The  two  ports  to  be  constructed  for  the  entrance  and  exit  of  the  canal  on  the 
two  oceans  shall  be  de;'lared  free  ports,  and  they  shall  be  recognized  as  such  from 
the  beginning  of  the  work  to  the  termination  of  this  concession. 

The  Government  in  agreement  with  the  company  shall  establish,  by  special 
decree,  the  limits  of  the  freedom  of  these  ports,  which  limits  shall  not  extend  the 
waters  of  the  port,  which  are  those  included  between  the  mouth  of  the  canal  and 
the  entrance  to  the  said  ports. 

Article  XLII. 

For  the  proper  administration  of  the  canal  and  its  appurtenances",  and  in  order 
to  facilitate  its  construction  and  operation,  the  company  shall  establish  the  neces- 
sary regulations,  which  shall  be  binding  on  all  persons  found  in  its  waters  or  its 
appurtenances,  the  sole  reservation  being  that  the  rights  and  sovereignty  of  the 
State  be  respected. 

It  being  understood  that  the  company  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  by 
this  article  may  not  make  other  regulations  than  those  necessary  for  the  adminis- 
tration and  particular  management  of  the  canal,  and  that  before  executing  and 
enforting  these  regulations  they  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Government  for 
approval,  the  State  will  lend  the  aid  of  its  authority  for  the  enforcement  of  these 
regulations. 

Article  XLIII. 

By  way  of  compensation  for  the  expense  of  surveys,  construction,  maintenance, 
and  operation  of  the  canal,  which  under  the  present  con(  ession  shall  be  at  the  cost 
of  the  company  during  the  period  of  said  privilege,  it  shall  have  the  right  to  estab- 
lish and  collect  for  the  passage  of  all  kinds  of  vessels,  travelers,  and  merchandise 
through  the  canal,  and  in  the  waters  and  ports  pertaining  to  it,  taxes  on  naviga- 
tion, tonnage  and  pilotage,  towage,  storage,  lay  days,  anchorage,  light,  roadstead 
dues,  wharlage,  hospital  dues,  and  any  other  similar  charges  in  conforniity  with 
the  tariff  t(j  be  established  by  it  in  accordance  with  Article  LII  of  this  contract. 

These  tariffs  may  be  modified  by  the  company  at  any  time  on  condition  that  all 
modifications  that  may  be  introduced  shall  previously  be  communicated  to  the 
Government,  which,  in  case  of  finding  them  within  the  limits  established  by  the 
said  Article  LII,  shall  cause  them  to  be  complied  with  as  if  they  were  regulations 
enacted  by  itself. 

The  payment  of  all  the  tariff  dues  shall  be  exacted  without  any  exception  or  pref- 
erence, and  under  identic-al  conditions,  from  all  vessels,  whatever  be  the  place 
they  come  from  or  their  nationality,  with  the  exception  stipulated  in  the  following 
article: 

Article  XLIV, 

As  compensation  for  the  privileges  and  concessions  that  Nicaragua  grants  by 
this  contract,  it  is  hereby  stipulated  that  the  Republic  shall  enjoy  the  special  privi- 
lege that  Nicaraguan  vessels  sailing  under  the  Nicarauuan  flag  may  navigate  the 
canal  at  a  reduction  of  fifty  (oO;;)  per  centum  from  the  general  tariff  while  engaged 
in  the  coasting  trade  or  in  the  reciprocal  trade  with  the  other  Republics  of  Central 
America.  It  is  declared  that  the  vessels  referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph 
mnst  be  exclusively  of  the  register  of  the  Republic,  and  they  must  not  be  owned, 
either  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  citizens  of  other  countries. 

A  reduction  of  fifty  (50;?)  per  cent  from  the  general  tariff  is  also  granted  to  ves- 
sels that  begin  their  voyage  for  a  foreign  country  in  any  of  the  i)orts  belonging  to 
the  Republic,  with  a  cargo  wholly  composed  of  products  of  the  country.  All  the 
privileges  to  which  this  article  refers  shall  be  extended  to  the  other  Republics  of 
Central  America  whenever  Nicaragua  shall  find  itself  free  from  international  obli- 
gations which  may  prevent  it,  or  whenever  one  or  more  of  the  said  Republics  shall 
form  a  single  nation  with  Nicaragua.  The  company  can  not  collect  any  navigation 
dues  whatever  upon  vessels  and  craft  navigating  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua  and  its 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  155 

prolongations  without  passing  out  of  the  locks.  The  Nicaraguan  vessels  of  war, 
and,  in  the  case  above  provided,  those  of  the  Republic  of  Central  America,  shall 
not  i^ay  any  dues  on  passing  through  the  canal. 

Article  XLV. 

In  case  it  may  be  possible  to  utilize  the  waters  of  the  canal  and  its  dependencies 
for  irrigation  of  plantations,  gardens,  and  streets,  or  for  the  supply  of  towns  that 
may  be  without  it,  or  as  motive  power  for  private  enterprises,  the  company  shall 
have  power  to  supply  it,  collecting  dues  in  proportion  to  the  amount  furnished, 
according  to  the  tariff  that  it  may  establish  in  agreement  with  the  Government. 

Article  XL VI. 

In  view  of  the  existence  of  an  exclusive  privilege  granted  by  the  Republic  in 
favor  of  Mr.  F.  Alf.  Pellas,  by  a  contract  ratified  on  the  10th  of  March,  1877,  for 
the  navigation  by  steam  on  the  lake  and  river  for  the  purposes  of  the  internal  com- 
merce of  the  Republic,  the  canal  company  shall  have  the  right  of  expropriation 
against  Mr.  Pellas,  as  regards  his  rights  and  properties,  on  just  assessments  by 
experts,  after  making  a  corresponding  compensation  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
Republic. 

It  is  also  stipulated  that  the  company  binds  itself  to  pay  to  the  G-overnment  of 
the  Republic  all  it  may  from  now  on  expend  in  any  way  for  the  improvement  of 
the  navigation  of  the  river  and  the  port  of  San  Juan  del  Norte.  This  payment 
shall  be  made  within  six  mouths  of  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  works  of  the 
canal,  and  according  to  the  original  accounts  of  the  corresponding  office. 

Article  XL VII. 

The  company  shall  undertake  at  its  expense  the  final  surveys  of  the  ground  and 
the  location  of  the  line  of  the  canal  by  a  commtssion  of  competent  engineers,  two 
of  whom  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Government  of  the  Republic,  which  shall  protect 
as  far  as  it  may  the  said  commission. 

There  is  granted  to  the  concessionary  company  a  term,  not  exceeding  one  year, 
in  which  to  commence  the  final  surveys  for  the  canal,  and  one  year  and  one-half 
additional  for  completing  them,  to  organize  the  executing  company  and  commence 
the  work  of  construction.  Said  terms  shall  begin  to  be  counted  from  the  date  of 
the  ratification  of  the  present  contract  by  the  Nicaraguan  Congress,  published  in 
the  official  paper,  which  shall  be  construed  as  notification.  Furthermore,  said 
terms  are  not  to  be  extended,  and  it  is  understood  that  operations  are  not  consid- 
ered to  have  been  begun  if  during  the  first  year  of  the  work  two  million  dollars 
($3,000,000)  are  not  expended  on  it. 

Article  XL VIII. 

A  term  of  ten  years  is  also  granted  to  the  company  for  the  construction,  comple- 
tion, and  opening  of  the  canal  for  maritime  navigation.  However,  should  events 
of  main  force  arise  duly  justified,  and  sufficient  to  impede  the  regular  progress  of 
the  works  during  the  period  of  the  said  ten  years,  an  extension  shall  be  granted 
equal  in  duration  to  the  time  that  may  have  been  lost  by  such  delays. 

If,  at  the  expiration  of  the  ten  years  aforesaid,  the  works  should  not  be  completed 
so  as  to  have  the  maritime  communication  between  the  two  oceans  opened,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  great  capital  the  company  may  have  invested  in  the  enterprise, 
and  of  the  good  will  and  ability  it  may  have  shown,  and  the  difficulties  encoun- 
tered, the  Republic  binds  itself  to  concede  a  new  extension. 

Article  XLIX. 

As  a  guaranty  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations  which  the  company  incurs  in 
accordance  with  article  47  it  shall  deposit  to  the  order  of  the  Government  of 
Nicaragua,  in  a  bank  or  in  a  mercantile  house  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  the 
Government  may  designate,  and  within  sixty  (60)  days  from  the  date  of  the 
ratification  of  this  contract,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  ($100,000)  dollars, 
American  gold,  which  the  company  shall  forfeit  to  the  Republic  if  it  do  not  fulfill 


156  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

the  said  obligations,  and  which  snm  otherwise  shall  be  considered  an  advance  to 
the  Government  on  account  of  the  necessary  expenses  of  payment  of  the  police  of 
the  canal,  according  to  the  stipulations  set  forth  in  article  37.  This  deposit,  as 
soon  as  made,  shall  l>e  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government. 

Article  L. 

.  In  consideration  of  the  valuable  privileges,  franchises,  and  concessions  granted 
to  the  company  by  this  contract,  the  Republic  shall  receive  in  shares,  bonds,  certif- 
icates, or  other  securities  which  the  company  may  issue  to  raise  the  corporate 
capital,  six  per  centum  of  the  total  amount  of  the  issue. 

Su!-h  shares,  bonds,  certificates,  or  other  securities  shall  be  free  of  all  payment 
on  the  part  of  the  Republic,  being  considered  as  paid  in  full.  The  six  per 
centum  shall  in  no  event  be  less  than  four  million  dollars  ($4,000,000);  that  is  to 
say,  forty  thousand  shares  or  obligations  of  whatsoever  kind  of  one  hundred  ($100; 
dollars  each. 

Of  said  shares,  bonds,  certificates,  or  securities  of  whatsoever  class,  two-thirds 
shall  not  be  transferable:  but  all  shall  participate  in  the  benefits,  interests,  parti- 
tions, dividends,  sinking  fund,  rights,  privileges,  and  In  all  the  advantages  given  to 
paid-up  shares  without  any  distin  -tion.  The  Government,  m  its  capacity  of  share- 
holder, shall  besides  have  the  right  t  >  appoint  one  director,  who  shall  represent  its 
interest  in  the  board  of  directors  of  the  canal  company  from  the  time  of  its  definite 
establishment.  The  shares  referred  to  in  this  article  shall  be  delivered  to  the 
agent  the  Government  may  appoint  to  receive  them,  and  as  soon  as  the  company 
shall  be  ready  to  issue  the  certificates  for  its  capital. 

Article  LI. 

In  order  that  the  canal  association  may  indemnify  itself  for  the  expenses  it  may 
have  had  to  incur  for  the  verifications,  preparations,  explorations,  and  survey's 
hereinljelore  mentioned,  and  for  all  other  expenditures  that  it  will  have  to  make 
until  the  definite  organization  of  the  company,  it  shall  have  the  right  from  the 
time  of  the  organization  of  said  company  to  six  per  cent  in  shares,  bonds,  certif- 
icates, or  other  securities  which  the  company  may  issue  for  the  purpose  of  rais- 
ing the  corporate  capital,  and  which  are  to  be  issued  in  excess  of  the  capital  to  be 
8u:  scribed. 

These  bonds,  shares,  or  securities  shall  be  identically  like  the  subscription 
shares,  and  issued  from  the  same  register  or  stock  book.  As  a  consequence  they 
shall  participate  in  all  benefits,  interests,  partitions,  dividends,  sinking  fun(i. 
rights,  privileges,  and  of  all  the  advantages  given  to  the  paid-up  shares,  bonds,  or 
secnrities  without  any  distinction  whatever. 

Article  LII. 

From  the  receipts  of  the  enterprise  the  company  shall  take  in  the  first  place  the 
necessary  amount  to  cover  all  the  expenses  for  maintenance,  operation,  and  admin- 
istration: all  the  sums  necessary  to  secure  the  interest,  which  shall  not  exceed  six 
per  centum,  and  the  amortization  of  the  obligations  and  of  the  shares,  and  what 
remains  shall  form  the  net  profits,  of  which  at  least  eighty  per  centum  (80  per 
centum)  shall  be  divided  among  the  shareholders,  it  being  agreed  that  after  the 
lapse  of  ten  years  after  the  completion  of  the  canal  the  company  shall  not  divide 
among  the  shareholders  in  payments  of  dividends,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  issue 
of  shares  or  otherwise,  more  than  15  per  centum  ^15  per  centum)  annually  or  in 
this  proportion,  from  d'les  collected  from  the  aforesaid  canal;  and  where  it  shall 
appear  that  these  dues  yield  a  greater  profit,  they  shall  be  reduced  to  the  fixed 
limit  of  fifteen  per  cent  per  annum. 

Article  Lin. 

The  present  concession  shall  he  forfeited: 

1st.  Through  the  failiire  on  the  part  of  the  company  to  comply  with  any  of  the 
conditions  contained  in  articles  8,  40.  47,  48,  and  49. 

'2d.  If  the  service  of  the  canal,  after  its  completion,  be  interrupted  for  six 
months,  except  in  case>  of  main  force. 

When  the  concession  shall  have  been  declared  forfeited,  from  whichever  of  these 
causes,  the  public  lands  granted  by  this  convention  will  revert  to  the  Republic,  in 
whatsoever  state  they  may  be  and  without  compensation  even  in  the  case  that 
buiidings  may  have  been  erected  thereon. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY.  157 

Such  lands  shall  be  excepted  as  may  have  been  alienated  to  private  parties  by 
the  company,  with  the  formalities  prescribed  by  law,  provided  that  such  aliena- 
tions shall  not  have  taken  place  within  the  six  months  precedinj^  the  date  on  which 
the  company  may  have  become  legally  liable  to  the  penalty  herein  established. 

Article  LIV. 

On  the  expiration  of  the  ninety- nine  years  stipulated  in  this  concession,  or  in  the 
event  of  the  lorfeiture  contained  in  the  preceding  article,  the  Republic  shall  enter 
upon  possession  in  perpetuity  of  the  canal,  of  works  of  art,  light-houses,  store- 
houses, stations,  deposits,  stores,  and  all  the  establishments  used  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  canal,  without  being  obliged  to  pay  any  indemnity  to  the  company. 

There  shall  be  excepted  from  this  condition  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  com- 
pany, its  stores  of  coal  and  other  materials,  its  mechanical  workshops,  its  floating 
capital,  and  reserve  fund,  as  also  the  lands  ceded  to  it  by  the  State,  excepting  those 
in  which  are  establishtd  the  works  indicated  in  the  first  part  of  this  article,  and 
which  will  revert  to  the  State,  together  with  their  immediate  appurtenances,  as  nec- 
essary for  the  service  of  the  canal  and  as  an  integral  part  of  the  same. 

But  tlie  company  shall  have  the  right  at  the  exp  ration  of  the  aforesaid  term  of 
ninety-nine  years  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  free  use  and  control  of  the  canal  in 
the  capacity  of  lessee,  with  all  the  privileges  and  advantages  granted  by  the  said 
concession  and  for  another  term  of  ii  nety-nine  years,  on  the  condition  of  paying 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  annual  net  profits  of  the  enterprise  to  the  Government 
of  the  Republic,  besides  the  dividends  due  to  it  for  its  shares  in  the  capital  stock. 

The  company  furthermore  shall  have  the  right  to  fix  at  its  discretion  the  dues 
referred  to  in  article  48  of  this  concession,  so  that  the  shareholders  still  receive 
dividends  not  to  exceed  ten  per  centum  per  annum  on  the  whole  capital  alter 
deducting  the  payment  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  net  gains  to  the  Government. 

At  the  expiration  of  this  second  term  of  ninety-nine  years  the  Government  shall 
enter  into  peri^etual  possession  of  the  canal  and  other  properties  referred  to  in  the 
first  part  of  this  article,  including  a' so  in  this  possession  all  that  which  is  excluded 
in  the  said  first  part,  with  the  exception  of  the  reserve  and  amortisation  funds. 
The  failure  to  complj'  with  any  of  the  terms  of  the  lease  shall  terminate  it,  and  tlie 
State  shall  enter  into  possession  of  the  canal  and  other  works  belonging  to  it  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  precedirg  paragraph. 

Article  LV. 

-Any  misunderstanding  that  may  arise  between  the  State  of  Nicaragua  and  the 
company  in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the  present  stipulations  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  a  court  of  arbitrators  composed  of  four  members,  two  of  which  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  State  and  two  by  the  company. 

These  arbitrators  shall  be  designattd  by  each  of  the  paities  within  the  period  of 
four  months  from  the  day  on  which  one  of  the  contracting  parties  shall  have 
informed  the  other  in  writing  of  the  want  of  agreement  on  the  point  at  issue. 
Should  one  of  the  parties  allow  the  aforesaid  term  to  pass,  it  shall  be  considered  as 
assenting  to  the  opinion  or  claim  of  the  other. 

The  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  arbitrators  shall  decide  finally  and  without 
recourse.  In  case  of  a  tie  vote  the  arbitrators  shall  select,  by  mutual  consent,  a 
fifth  person,  who  shall  decide.  If  unable  to  agree  to  such  nomination,  they  shall 
draw  by  lot  the  names  of  the  diplomatic  representatives  accredited  to  Nicaragua, 
and  the  first  one  drawn  out  shall  exercise  the  functions  of  the  fifth  arbitrator;  he 
shall  either  adoi)t  the  opinion  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties  to  the  controversy, 
or  render  his  opinion  between  these  extremes,  and  his  decision  shall  be  final  and 
without  any  appeal  whatever;  the  fifth  arbitrator  failing,  the  second  person  drawn 
shall  exercise  these  functions,  and  so  on  successively  until  a  decision  is  reached. 

Prior  to  the  initiation  of  the  works  of  opening  the  canal  the  Government  shall 
formulate,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  company,  rules  to  be  observed  by  the  arbi- 
trators in  all  matters  relating  to  procedure. 

C^uestions  between  the  company  and  individuals  residing  in  Nicaragua  shall  be 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  Nicaragua,  in  conformity  with 
the  legislation  of  the  country.  In  matters  pertaining  to  nonresidents  of  Nicaragua 
the  rules  of  international  private  law  will  be  observed. 

In  witness  of  the  foregoing  stipulations  we  have  signed  two  instruments  of  the 
same  tenor  in  Managua  on  the  23d  day  of  March,  one  tjiousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-seven. 

Ad.  Cardenas. 
A.  G.  Menocal. 


158        MARITIME  CANAL  COMPANY — PARIS  EXHIBITION  OF  1889. 

The  Government  finding  the  foregoing  contract  in  conformity  with  the  instruc- 
tions transmitted,  determines  to  approve  it  in  all  its  parts  and  to  snbmlt  it  to  Con- 
gress for  its  ratification. 

Managnia,  April  twelfth,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-seven. 

E.  Cauazo. 

The  acting  subsecretary  of  the  interior. 

Canton. 

Done  in  the  hall  of  sessions  of  the  chamber  of  deputies,  Managua,  April  20, 1887. 

Tom  AS  Akmijo. 
Leopold  M.  Monteneqbo. 
Luis  E.  Saenz, 
To  the  S.  E.  P.,  hall  of  the  Senate, 
Managua,  April  23,  1887. 

Joaquin  Zavala. 
S.  Morales. 

Eliodobo  Biyas. 

Therefore,  be  it  executed.    Managua,  April  24, 1887. 

E.  Carazo. 

The  subsecretary  of  the  interior  in  charge  of  the  office. 

Alejandro  Canton, 

Accepted  on  the  same  date. 

Canton.  A.  Q.  Menocal. 

I  do  hereby  certify  the  preceding  signature  of  the  subsecretary  of  the  interior, 
which  reads  Alejandro  Canton,  to  be  genuine. 
Managua,  April  25,  1887. 

Joaquin  Elizondo, 


FIFTIETH  CONGBESS,  FIBST  SESSION 

March  22,  1888. 

[Senate  Report  No.  726.] 

Mr.  Payne,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  House 
joint  resolution  No.  83,  beg  leave  to  report  the  same  and  recommend 
its  passage  with  certain  amendments. 

The  amendments,  providing  for  an  increased  allowance  for  salary 
and  personal  expenses  of  the  commissioner-general  and  associate 
commissioner-general  and  of  the  scientific  experts,  are  based  upon 
the  consideration  that  their  services  will,  presumptively,  extend 
through  a  period  of  the  greater  part  of  two  years.  The  sums  named 
in  the  House  resolution  were  framed  according  to  the  corresponding 
provisions  for  these  services  at  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  and 
attendance  upon  which,  in  representation  of  the  United  States,  occu- 
pied less  than  a  year. 

Another  amendment  omits  the  provision  for  the  appointment  of  hon- 
orary commissioners  by  the  governors  of  the  respective  States.  The 
experience  of  this  arrangement,  as  carried  out  at  the  exposition  of 
1878,  was  such  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  should  not  lead  to 
its  renewal  at  the  exposition  now  to  be  provided  for. 

Another  amendment  omits  the  provision  for  transportation  to  and 
from  France  free  of  cost,  in  public  vessels,  of  articles  to  be  offered  for 


PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889.  159 

exhibition  by  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  experience  as  to  this 
use  of  public  vessels  has  shown  that  it  was  extremely  expensive  to  the 
Government  and  attended  by  inconvenience  and  embarrassment  to 
all  interests. 

Upon  these  two  last-mentioned  amendments  the  committee  have 
found  very  instructive  the  suggestions  of  Commissioner-General  Mc- 
Cormick  on  these  points,  made  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
upon  the  conduct  and  results  of  the  exposition  of  1878,  and  in  making 
these  amendments  the  committee  have  given  great  weight  to  the  fol- 
lowing observations  in  that  report: 

The  clause  in  the  resolution  of  Congress  authorizing  the  President,  in  his  discre- 
tion, to  assign  one  or  more  of  the  public  vessels  to  transport  to  and  from  France, 
free  of  cost,  articles  offered  for  exhibition  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  was 
doubtless  inserted  from  good  motives  and  in  respect  to  the  popular  sentiment  that 
it  would  be  a  graceful  act  to  employ  the  Government  vessels  in  the  international 
service  in  the  interest  of  peace  and  industry. 

It  proved,  however,  to  be  a  costly  mistake.  The  first  class  vessels  of  our  limited 
Navy  were  all  engaged  in  important  service.  Beyond  the  small  steamer  Wyoming, 
sailing  ships  only  could  be  assigned  to  the  duty.  These  were,  without  exception, 
old  and  poorly  adapted  to  freight.  The  expenditure  of  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  was  necessary  to  prepare  them  for  sea,  asnd  when  made  ready  they  were 
found  to  be  difficult  to  load  and  stow. 

Taking  into  account  the  expense  to  the  Government  in  preparing  the  ships  for 
sea,  the  inconvenience  of  keeping  them  for  many  months  at  Havre,  and  the  serious 
delays  in  transporting  the  goods  of  exhibitors  to  and  from  Europe,  it  would  have 
been  far  better  and  cheaper  for  Congress  to  have  given  authority  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  freight  by  mail  steamers.  Goods  would  have  been  in  transit  but  a  few 
days  instead  of  many  weeks,  and  our  department  at  the  exposition  would  have 
been  in  condition  much  sooner  than  it  was,  and  the  business  of  the  office  of  the 
commissioner-general  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  might  have  been  completed  some 
months  earlier. 

The  provision  in  the  Congressional  legislation  relating  to  our  representation  in 
Paris  in  1867,  and  also  to  our  representation  in  Vienna  in  1873,  by  which  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  large  number  of  honorary  commissioners  was  authorized,  had  so  clearly 
proven  an  impolitic  one,  that  it  was  surprising  to  all  who  had  given  the  subject 
attention  that  it  should  have  been  reenacted  in  the  resolution  touching  the  expo- 
sition of  1878. 

After  the  additional  commissioners  who  were  selected  to  prepare  reports  upon 
the  exposition,  the  sending  of  24  honorary  commissioners,  under  direct  appoint- 
ment of  the  President,  might  have  been  understood,  but  the  sending  of  2  more 
from  each  State,  on  the  nomination  of  the  governors,  and  of  still  another  class 
chosen  by  the  governors  without  Presidential  approval  (of  which  class  50  came  to 
Paris  during  the  summer  and  autumn )  was,  to  the  exposition  authorities,  an  almost 
inexplicable  procedure,  no  other  country  having  sent  nearly  so  large  a  number. 

Simply  to  receive  them  and  their  traveling  companions  consumed  much  of  my 
time  and  that  of  my  clerks,  which  should  have  been  given  to  the  exhibitors  and 
jurors.  In  scarcely  an  instance  could  they  render  any  service,  and  realizing  what 
an  empty  honor  their  appointment  conferred,  and  how  reluctant  the  authorities 
were  to  recognize  them,  their  position  was  anything  but  a  pleasant  one.  More- 
over, their  coming  was  not  without  expense  to  the  Government,  for,  while  under 
the  resolution  of  Congress  they  were  not  allowed  pay  or  compensation,  their  pres- 
ence necessitated  certain  increased  expenditures  in  the  way  of  office  accommoda- 
tions, stationery,  etc.,  and  to  obtain  admission  for  them  to  the  official  entertain- 
ments was  at  times  a  difficult  matter. 

The  increase  of  the  appropriation  for  the  coming  exposition,  and  the 
proper  representation  of  the  United  States  there,  to  $300,000  is  based 
upon  the  consideration  already  mentioned,  that  the  preparation, 
attendance,  and  subsequent  expenses  upon  this  occasion  will  occupy 
quite  twice  as  long  as  in  1878,  and  upon  the  experience  and  instruc- 
tion gained  by  the  representation  of  this  Government  at  that  exposi- 
tion and  communicated  by  the  valuable  report  thereon  of  Commissioner- 
General  McCrrmiok. 

The  last  aiiendment,  by  which  the  House  resolution  providing  spe- 


160  PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889. 

cific  arrangements  in  reference  to  a  special  (however  iinpoi-tant)  inter- 
est in  the  products  of  this  country  is  omitted  needs  no  further  obser- 
vation than  that  the  committee  regarded  it  as  inappr<){)riate  to  the 
occasion  in  which  the  Republic  of  France  is  celebrating  tlic  centennial 
of  the  great  political  event  of  the  fall  of  the  Bastile  in  1789 — an  event 
which  that  great  and  most  friendly  Republic  marks  for  the  date  of 
its  celebration  of  French  liberties,  as  the  United  States  have  marked 
the  4th  of  July,  1776,  as  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  our  liberty  and 
independence. 

The  committee  include  as  a  part  of  this  report  the  House  report 
which  accompanied  the  House  resolution,  and  recommend  the  passage 
of  the  joint  resolution  in  the  si)irit  of  a  cordial  acceptance  of  the  invi- 
tation of  the  French  Republic  to  participate  in  this  centennial  cele- 
bration, and  in  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  interests  of  agriculture, 
manufactures,  and  commerce  of  the  United  States. 


[House  Report  No.  135,  Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session.] 

Mr.  Belmont,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  submitted  the  following 
report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  to  whom  were  referred  a  message  from  'he 
President  of  the  United  Stutes  (Ex.  Doc.  G9)  iransmitting  a  report  from  the  Secie- 
tary  of  State  relating  to  an  invitation  from  the  Government  of  France  to  partici- 
pate in  the  international  e^hit  ition  to  le  held  in  Paris  in  1889,  and  also  a  joint 
resolution  (H.  Res.  H'S),  respectfully  report  tiiereon  as  follows: 

On  the  6th  of  April  lasi,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Forty-ninth  Congress,  the 
Government  of  the  French  Republic,  through  its  legation  in  Washington,  for- 
mally asked  the  cooperation  of  this  Government  in  the  celeVjration  of  a  worlds 
exhibition  to  be  opened  in  Paris  on  the  5tl)  of  May,  1889,  The  general  pnrpo>e.s 
of  this  exhibitifjn  are  such  as  should  enlist  the  earnest  sympathy  r)f  the  United 
States.  Its  primary  object  is  to  receive  the  works  of  art  and  the  productions  of 
the  industry  and  agriculture  of  all  nations.  The  exhibition  i.s  to  be  divided  into 
nine  groups: 

(1)  Works  of  art;  (2)  education,  and  processes  used  therein;  (3)  plain  and  deco- 
rative house  furniture;  (4)  textile  fabrics;  (5)  the  raw  and  manufactured  prod- 
ucts of  mining,  forestry,  chemistry,  etc.;  (6)  apparatus  and  methods  of  me;hanical 
industries;  (7)  food  products;  (8)  agriculture,  vine  culture,  and  fish  culture;  (9) 
horticulture. 

In  nearly  all  these  branches  of  industry  it  is  believed  that  the  United  States  has 
made  great  progre.'-s  since  its  participation  in  l  he  W( .rid  s  Exposition  held  in  Piiris 
in  1878.  If  no  other  considerations  presented  themselves  it  would  therefoiel.e 
desirable  for  the  advancement  of  the  comu:ercial  interests  of  the  United  States 
that  the  invitation  thus  extended  by  the  F;ench  Republic  should  be  accepted. 
But  there  are  other  reasons  which  can  properly  be  regarded  by  the  Congr*  ss  of 
the  United  States.  This  nation  can  nnt  fo  get  its  obligations  to  France  f  >v  the 
ai^sistance  rendered  in  its  early  struijgle-!  for  freedom.  On  many  occasions  sin  e, 
not-ibly  in  the  presentation  by  the  French  people  of  th  >  Statue  of  Lib^ity  which 
now  adorns  New  York  Harbor,  the  8ym]'athy  and  good  will  of  the  French  nation 
toward  the  United  States  and  its  Governii.ent  have  been  m  mifesti  d. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  wat  bed  with  gratification  the  fiimness  of 
purpose  and  selt-control  with  which  the  French  na'.ion  has  maintained  and 
increased  its  hold  upon  rejtublican  institutions  in  recent  times  of  menace  and 
peril.  The  year  1889  will  be  the  centennial  <>f  events  in  Fran-e  which  gave  impe- 
tus to  the  establishment  of  republican  institutions  through*  ut  the  world.  It  is 
clearly  the  duty  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  promptly  take  action  upon 
the  invitation  extended  and  thus  to  proclaim  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  its 
approval  of  this  important  project.  Your  coninittee  therefore  recommend  that 
the  invitation  of  the  Government  of  France  to  participate  in  the  International 
Exhibition  to  be  held  in  Paris  in  1889,  transmitted  to  Congress  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States  in  his  message  of  the  12th  instant,  hereto  annexed,  be  accepted, 
and  in  order  that  such  acceptance  may  be  carried  out  in  a  bec<  miug  manner  they 
iu!  tiur  recommend  the  passage  of  the  accompanying  joint  resolution  as  amended. 


PAEIS    EXHIBITION   OF   1889.  161 

[Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session.    H.  Bes.  83.] 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  French  Republic  to  take  part  in  an  inter- 
national exposition  to  oe  held  in  Paris  in  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-nine. 

Whereas  the  United  States  have  been  invited  by  the  Eepublic  of  France  to  take 
part  in  an  exposition  of  works  of  art  and  the  products  of  manufactures  and  agri- 
culture of  all  nations,  to  be  held  in  Paris,  commencing  the  fifth  day  of  May  and 
closing  the  thirty-first  day  of  October,  in  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-nine: 
Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  said  invitation  is  accepted,  and  that  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  several  States  and  Territories  be,  and  are  hereby,  requested  to  invite 
the  people  of  their  respective  States  and  Territories  to  assist  in  the  proper  repre- 
sentation of  the  productions  of  our  industry  and  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
country,  and  to  take  such  further  measures  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  secure 
to  their  respective  States  and  Territories  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  this 
beneficent  undertaking. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
shall  appoint  a  commissioner-general  to  represent  the  United  States  in  the  proposed 
exposition,  and,  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  in  reference  to  the  c  ontributions  from  this  country 
and  to  control  the  expenditures  incident  to  the  proper  installation  and  exhibition 
thereof;  the  pay  of  jurors,  and  the  preparation  of  the  reports  on  the  exposition,  and 
the  general  results  thereof;  and  an  assistant  commissioner-general,  who  shall  per- 
form the  duties  ot  commissioner-general  in  case  of  his  death  or  disability;  and  that 
the  President  may  also  appoint  nine  subcommissioners,  and  said  subcommissioners 
shall  be  scientific  experts,  corresponding  to  and  specifically  assigned  to  the  nine 
groups  into  which  the  exposition  will,  under  the  ofificial  regulations,  be  divided; 
that  the  allowance  to  said  commissioner-general  for  salary  and  personal  expenses 
shall  not  exceed  five  thousand  dollars  for  his  whole  term  of  office;  that  the  allow- 
ance of  said  assistant  commissioner-general  for  salary  and  personal  expenses  shall 
not  exceed  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for  his  term  of  office,  and  the  allowance  of 
the  nine  subcommissioners  for  salary  and  personal  expenses  shall  not  exceed  twelve 
hundi-ed  dollars  each,  not  including  such  clerical  service  as  may  be  allowed  by  the 
commissioner- general,  which  shall  not  exceed  fifteen  thousand  dollars;  and  the 
governors  of  the  several  States  may  nominate  and  the  President  appoint  one  hon- 
orary commissioner  from  each  of  the  several  States,  and  the  President  may  appoint 
one  honorary  commissioner  from  each  of  the  several  Territories,  which  said  hon- 
orary commissioners  may  report  upon  such  special  subjects  as  the  commissioner- 
general  may  direct,  and' shall  serve  without  pay  or  other  expense  to  the  United 
States:  Provided,  That  no  person  appointed  by  virtue  of  this  resolution  shall  have 
any  pecuniary  interest,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  any  article  exhibited  for  compe- 
tition or  act  as  the  agent  for  any  exhibitor. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  President  be  authorized,  in  his  discretion,  to  assign  one  or  more 
of  the  public  vessels  to  transport  to  and  from  France,  free  of  cost,  under  regula- 
tions to  be  prescribed  by  the  commissioner- general,  such  articles  as  may  be  offered 
for  exhibition  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  4.  That  in  order  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  above  authorized,  and  for 
the  proper  installation  of  the  exhibition,  and  the  expenditures  of  the  commissioner- 
general,  made  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  with  his  approval, 
and  not  otherwise,  there  be,  and  hereby  is,  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  not  otherwise  appropriated  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  purposes  herein 
specified,  which  sum  shall  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State; 
and  out  of  such  amount  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  is  hereby  authorized  to 
collect  and  prepare,  as  far  as  practicable  and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  suit- 
able specimens  of  the  agricultural  productions  of  the  several  States  and  Territories 
of  the  Union  for  exhibition  at  the  Paris  exposition. 

Sec.  5.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  transmit  to  Congress 
a  detailed  statement  of  the  expenditures  which  may  have  been  incurred  under  the 
provisions  of  this  resolution,  together  with  all  reports  called  for  under  section  two 
of  this  resolution,  which  report  shall  be  prepared  and  arranged  with  a  view  to 
concise  statement  and  convenient  reference. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 11 


162  PARIS    EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

[House  Ex.  £>oc.  No.  69,  Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session.] 

Message  from  the  President  of  tlie  United  States,  transmitting  a  report  from  the 
Secretary  of  State,  relating  to  an  invitation  from  the  Government  of  France  to 
participate  in  the  international  exhibition  to  be  held  at  Paris  in  1889. 

To  the  Senate  and  the  Hoiise  of  Representatives: 

I  transmit  herewith  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State  in  relation  to  the  invita- 
tion from  the  Government  of  France  to  this  Government  to  participate  in  the  inter- 
national exhibition  which  is  to  be  held  at  Paris  in  1889. 

GROYER  CLEVBLiAND. 

Executive  Maj^sion, 

Washington,  January  12, 1888. 


To  the  President: 

I  transmit  herewith  a  translation  of  a  note  from  Mr.  Ronstan,  the  minister  of 
France  at  this  capital,  extending  an  invitation  to  this  Government  to  participate 
in  the  international  exhibition  which  is  to  be  held  at  Paris  in  1889. 

The  benefits  which  the  commerce,  the  manufactures,  the  sciences,  and  the  arts 
of  this  country  derived  from  the  taking  part  in  the  great  international  exhibitions 
which  have  heretofore  been  held  at  Paris  are  so  numerous  and  obvious  as  to  com- 
mend to  this  Government  the  propriety  of  accepting  the  present  invitation.  That 
the  popular  interest  in  the  proposed  exhibition  is  very  great  is  manifest  from  the 
numerous  inquiries  relative  to  it,  representing  the  most  important  business  inter- 
ests, which  have  been  received  by  the  Department  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

I  therefore  recommend  that  the  accompanying  papers  be  laid  before  Congress, 
and  that  that  body  be  asked  to  enact  a  law  authorizing  the  President,  by  and  with 
the  advice  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  a  commissioner -general  to  represent  the  United 
States  in  the  proposed  exhibition,  and,  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  in  reference  to  the  contributions 
from  this  country,  and  to  control  the  e.xpenditures  incident  to  the  proper  installa- 
tion and  exhibition  thereof,  and  to  the  preparation  of  the  reports  on  the  exhibition. 

I  furthermore  recommend  that  the  sum  of  $200,000  be  appropriated,  out  of  any 
money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  to  be  expended,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  in  defraying  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  proper 
installation  of  the  exhibits  of  American  citizens  and  the  expenditures  of  the  com- 
missioner-general, made  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  with  his 
approvad. 

I  also  recommend  that  provision  be  made  by  law  for  the  reentry,  free  of  duty, 
under  such  rejjulations  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  prescribe,  of  all  arti- 
cles and  merchandise  which  may  be  sent  from  this  country  to  the  exhibition  in 
question. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

T.  F.  Bayard. 

Department  op  State, 

Washington,  January  12, 1888. 


No.  1. 
Mr.  Boustan  to  Mr.  Bayard. 

[Translation.] 

Legation  op  the  French  Republic, 

Washington,  April  6,  1887. 

Mr.  Secretary  op  State:  By  a  decree  bearing  date  of  November  8, 1884,  the 
I*re8ident  of  the  Republic  decided  that  a  world's  exhibition  should  be  opened  at 
Paris  on  the  5th  of  May,  1889,  and  closed  on  the  31st  of  October  following. 

I  am  instructed  by  my  Government  to  notify  you  of  the  opening  of  this  inter- 
national exhibition,  and,  in  view  of  the  deep  interest  that  is  felt  in  having  all 
nations  participate  in  this  enterprise  of  peace  and  labor,  to  ask  the  cooperation  of 
the  United  States  Government. 

To  this  effect,  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  to  you  two  copies  of  a  pam- 
phlet containing  the  general  regulations  and  the  text  of  sundry  ofiScial  documents 


PARIS    EXHIBITION   OF    1889.  163 

having  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  various  branches  of  the  exhibition  and 
to  the  admission  of  productions;  also  the  text  of  the  lav?  of  July  6,  1886,  relative  to 
financial  guaranties. 

I  should  be  very  grateful  to  you,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  if  it  were  possible  for 
you  to  enable  me  soon  to  make  known  at  Paris  the  decision  adopted  by  the  United 
States  Government. 

Be  pleased  to  accept,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  the  assurances  of  my  very  high  con- 
sideration. 

Th.  Roustan. 

Hon.  T.  F.  Bayakd, 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 


WORLD'S  EXHIBITION  OF  1889. 

LAW  OF  JULY  6,  1886. 
Article  I. 

The  convention  concluded  by  the  minister  of  commerce  and  industry,  represent- 
ing the  State;  the  prefect  of  the  Seine,  representing  the  city  of  Paris,  authorized 
by  the  decision  of  the  municipal  council  of  March  31,  1886,  and  the  governor  of 
the  Credit  Foncier,  acting  for  the  Guarantee  Association,  which  is  to  be  estab- 
lished for  the  World's  Exhibition  of  1889.  is  hereby  approved. 

No  expense  shall  be  incurred  beyond  the  amount  of  43,000,000  francs,  for  which 
provision  is  made  by  Article  I  of  this  convention,  unless  provision  shall  previously 
have  been  made  therefor  by  a  special  law. 

Such  proceeds  as  may  accrue  from  payments  required  of  exhibitors  for  the  space 
assigned  to  them  shall  not  enter  into  the  computation  of  the  receipts  provided  for 
by  Article  V  of  the  convention  beyond  the  amount  necessary  to  make  the  total 
receipts  18,000,000  francs. 

Article  IL 

The  State  shall  contribute  to  the  expense  of  the  exhibition  of  1889  by  an  appro- 
priation of  17,000,000  francs. 

This  appropriation  shall  be  charged  (to  the  amount  of  12,693,635  francs)  to  the 
loan  of  80,000,000  francs  made  to  the  State  by  the  Bank  of  France  in  pursuance  of 
the  convention  of  March  29,  1878,  approved  by  act  of  the  30th  of  June  following. 

In  case  the  expenses  shall  amount  to  less  than  the  sum  of  43,000,000  francs, 
which  is  provided  for  by  Article  I  of  the  convention,  the  saving  effected  shall 
inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  State  alone. 

Article  III. 

The  sum  of  12,693,635  francs  shall  be  allowed  by  way  of  an  extraordinary  appro- 
priation to  the  minister  of  commerce  and  manufactures  on  the  fiscal  year  1886, 
over  and  above  the  allowances  made  by  the  financial  act  of  August,  1 885.  This 
allowance  shall  form  a  special  chapter  entitled  "No.  43.  Amount  contributed  by 
the  State  to  the  expenses  of  the  exhibition  of  1889." 

This  extraordinary  appropriation  shall  be  paid  from  the  source  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  article. 

Article  IV. 

The  appropriations  necessary  for  the  expenses  of  the  years  1887, 1888,  1889,  and 
the  following,  shall  be  made,  within  the  limits  of  the  allowance  above  fixed,  by  the 
annual  appropriation  laws. 

Nevertheless,  during  the  recess  of  the  chambers,  in  pursuance  of  Article  V  of  the 
act  of  December  14,  1879,  such  appropriations  may  be  made  by  decrees  approved 
by  the  council  of  ministers.  These  decrees  shall  be  submitted  to  the  chambers  for 
their  sanction  within  the  first  fortnight  after  their  next  meeting. 

Article  V. 

All  moneys  for  the  exhibition  shall  be  received  and  expended  by  the  officers  of 
the  treasury,  and  shall  be  submitted  to  the  court  of  accounts  for  inspection. 

The  subsidy  alkjwed  by  the  city  of  Paris,  together  with  all  receipts  accruing 
from  the  World's^xhibition  of  1889,  shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury  as  funds  for 
public  expenses,  according  to  article  13  of  the  act  of  June  6, 1843. 


164  PARIS   EXHIBITION    OF    1889. 

Aeticle  VL 

Plans  of  all  kinds  relative  to  the  constrnction.  arrangement,  and  manajjeinent 
of  the  exhibition  of  188'.)  shall,  before  being  put  into  execution,  be  submitted  to 
the  minister  of  commerce  and  manufactures  for  his  approval. 

Article  VII. 

A  detailed  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  World's  Exhibition 
of  18Si>  shall  be  presented  to  the  Presi'lent  of  the  Rejjublic  in  a  report  which  shall 
be  published  and  distributed  among  the  senators  and  members  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies. 

A  report  published  in  the  same  way  shall  annually  make  known  the  state  of 
advancement  of  the  work,  and  shall  furnish  a  statement  of  the  expenses  incurred. 

Akticle  VIII. 

The  instruments  designated  in  article  1 ,  paragraph  9,  of  the  act  of  February  28, 
1872,  and  approved  by  the  minister  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  in  pursuance 
of  this  act,  shall  be  subjected  to  a  fixed  duty  of  'S  francs.  This  act  having  been 
adopted  bv  the  Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies,  shall  be  executed  as  a  law  of  the 
State. 


MINISTRY   OF  COMMERCE  AND   MANUFACTURES— WORLD'S 
EXHIBITION  OF  1S89,  AT  PARIS. 

GENERAL  REGULATIONS. 

Ministerial  order  of  August  S6, 18S6, 

Article  I. 

In  pursuance  of  the  decrees  issued  by  the  President  of  the  French  Republic,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  minister  of  commerce  and  manu''acture8  and  of  the  minister 
of  public  instruction,  fine  arts,  and  worship,  an  International  World's  Exhibition 
shall  be  optned  at  Paris  on  the  5th  day  of  May,  1889,  and  shall  be  closed  on  the 
31st  of  October  following. 

No  production  shall,  however,  be  admitted  in  the  exhibition  after  April  1, 1889. 

Article  II. 

This  exhibition  shall  receive  works  of  art  and  productions  of  the  industry  and 
agfriculttire  of  all  nations. 

It  shall  be  held  principally  in  the  Champ  de  Mars,  in  the  unoccupied  space 
between  Lamothe-Piijuet  avenue  and  the  square  situated  near  the  quay.  It  may 
extend — 

( 1 )  On  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  over  the  causeway  and  the  steeps  of  the  quay, 
in  the  parts  comprised  between  the  Champ  de  Mars  and  the  esplanade  of  the 
Invalides.  and  over  the  Esplanade  of  the  Invalides. 

(2)  On  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  in  the  Trocadero  Park  and  the  available 
parts  of  the  Trocadero  Palace,  in  the  Palace  of  Industry,  and  on  the  grounds  situ- 
ated between  that  palace  and  the  Seine. 

Article  III. 

general  organization. 

An  advisory  commission,  consisting  of  300  members,  and  styled  the  "grand 
council  of  the  World's  Exhibition  of  1889,"  shall  be  appointed  under  the  presi- 
dency of  the  minister  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  who  shall  likewise  be  the 
commissioner-general  of  the  exhibition. 

Article  IV. 

The  grand  council  shall  be  convoke!  and  presided  over  by  the  minister,  who 
shall  fix  the  order  of  its  daily  proceedmgs. 


PAEIS   EXHIBITION    OF   1889.  165 

Article  V. 

It  shall  be  subdivided  into  twent}'-two  advisory  committees,  to  wit:  The  com- 
mittee on  superintendence  and  finance,  on  contested  claims,  buildings,  festivals 
and  ceremonies,  transportation,  the  fine  arts,  agriculture,  colonies  and  countries 
under  protectorate,  military  and  maritime  exhibitions,  education,  the  liberal  arts, 
hyiciene,  the  third  group  (furniture,  etc.),  the  fourth  group  (textile  fabrics,  wear- 
ing apparel,  etc.),  the  fifth  group  (manufacture  of  extracts,  raw  and  manufac- 
tured productions),  the  sixth  group  (mechanical  instruments  and  processes  in 
meclianical  industry),  the  seventh  group  (articles  of  food),  electricity,  the  press, 
musical  and  theatrical  pieces,  congresses  and  conferences,  the  retrospective  exhi- 
bition of  worl£. 

Article  VI. 

The  advisory  committee  on  superintendence  and  finance,  which  is  to  be  appointed 
by  a  decree  of  the  President  of  the  Republic,  shall  be  presided  over  by  the  minis- 
ter, or,  in  his  absence,  by  one  of  the  three  vice-presidents,  each  in  his  turn. 

It  shall  be  convoked  by  the  minister,  who  shall  fix  the  order  of  its  daily  pro- 
ceedings. 

Article  VII. 

This  commission  shall  be  consulted  by  the  minister  on  all  questions  having  refer- 
ence to  the  financial  management  of  the  exhibition.  Its  advice  shall  be  acted  upon 
in  all  cases  in  which  questions  are  concerned  relating  to  receipts  of  all  kinds  to  be 
collected  on  the  occasion  of  the  exhibition. 

Article  VIII. 

The  other  committees  may  subsequently  be  completed  by  the  addition  of  new 
members,  to  be  appointed  by  ministerial  orders. 

Their  chairmen  shall  be  appointed  by  the  minister. 

Their  vice-chairmen  and  secretaries  shall  be  designated  by  the  committees  them- 
selves, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  minister. 

They  may  be  sxibdivided  into  subcommittees,  with  the  approval  of  the  minister, 
who  shall  designate  the  new  chairmen. 

Article  IX. 

The  minister  shall  lay  suitable  matters  directly  before  the  committee  and  sub- 
committees. 

Article  X. 

The  directors-general,  who  are  to  be  appointed  in  the  manner  provided  by  the 
decree  of  July  2«,  >88(),  shall  be  charged,  each  in  that  which  concerns  him,  with 
the  preparation  and  submission  to  the  minister,  commissioner-general,  of  the  plans 
relative  to  the  construction,  arrangement,  and  management  of  the  exhibition. 
They  shall  be  admitted  to  all  sessions  of  the  committee  on  superintendence  and 
finance,  and  to  the  sessions  of  the  committees  having  charge  of  matters  connected 
with  their  respective  branches.  They  shall  at  these  sessions  have  the  right  of  dis- 
cussion, but  not  that  of  voting. 

ADMISSION  AND  CliASSIFICATION  OF  PRODUCTIONS. 

Article  XI. 

A  departmental  committee,  appointed  by  the  minister  of  commerce  and  manu- 
factures, shall  be  instituted  in  each  department  of  the  French  Republic.  The 
duties  of  this  commission  shall  be — 

(1)  To  make  known  throughout  the  department  the  regulations  concerning  the 
organization  of  the  exhibition,  and  to  distribute  the  blank  forms  of  applications 
for  admission,  together  with  all  other  documents  relating  to  the  exhibition. 

(2)  To  furnish,  with  as  little  delay  as  jiossible.  the  names  of  the  principal  artists, 
agriculturists,  and  manufacturers  whose  admission  to  the  World's  Exhibition  shall 
seem  particularly  calculated  to  promote  the  success  of  that  enterprise. 

(3)  To  promote  the  exhibitions  of  industrial,  agricultural,  and  horticultural  pro- 
ductions of  the  department. 


166  PABIS    EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

(4)  To  promote  and  organize,  if  deemed  desirable,  the  collective  grouping  of 
similar  productions  of  the  department,  and  to  accredit  a  delegate,  whose  duty  it 
6hall  be  to  represent  each  collective  exhibition. 

(5)  To  prepare, if  thisshall  bethoughtdesirable,  by  way  of  subscription  or  other- 
wise, the  establishment  of  a  special  fund,  designed  to  facilitate  the  examination 
and  Btudy  of  the  World's  Exhibition  by  a  certain  number  of  master- workmen, 
workmen,  and  cultivators  of  the  department. 

Article  XIL 

Foreign  commissions  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  French  Government  are 
urged  to  send  their  delegates  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 

The  duty  of  each  delegate  shall  be  to  discuss  such  questions  as  may  interest  his 
countrymen,  and  especially  such  as  relate  to  the  distribution  of  the  entire  space 
among  the  different  countries  and  to  the  method  of  installation  of  each  national 
section.  Conse(iuently,  the  minister,  commissioner-general,  will  not  correspond 
directly  with  foreign  exhibitors,  and  all  productions  presented  by  foreign  producers 
shall  be  admitted  only  through  the  agency  of  their  respective  commissioners. 

Article  XIII. 

The  departmental  committees  appointed  by  the  minister  and  the  foreign  com- 
missioners regularly  accredited  to  him  shall  enter  into  direct  relations  with  the 
director-general  of  the  management. 

The  foreign  commissioners  shall  receive  from  him  all  sugi^estions  and  plans  with 
regard  to  the  most  advantageous  installation  of  the  productions  of  their  nations, 
together  with  all  information  concerning  the  conditions  of  general  circulation  and 
of  public  order  to  which  they  shall  be  obliged  to  conform. 

They  shall  have  recourse  to  him  for  all  changes  of  space  from  country  to  country. 

Article  XIV. 

In  each  section  devoted  to  the  productions  of  the  same  nation  the  articles  exhib- 
ited shall  be  divided  among  the  nine  groups  following: 
First  group:  Works  of  art  (class  1  to  5). 

Second  group:  Education,  instruction, materials  and  processes  used  in  the  lib- 
eral arts  (class  6  to  16). 
Third  group:  Furniture,  etc.  (class  17  to  29). 

Fourth  group:  Textile  fabrics,  wearing  apparel,  etc.  (class  30  to  40). 
Fifth  group:  Manufacture  of  extracts,  raw  and  manufactured  articles  (class 

41  to  47). 
Sixth  group:  Instrtunents  and  processes  nsed  in  mechanical  industry — elec- 
tricity (class  48  to  G6). 
Seventh  group:  Articles  of  food  (class  67  to  73). 

Eighth  group:  Agriculture,  vine  culture,  and  pisciculture  (class  74  to  77). 
Ninth  group:  Horticulture  (class  78  to  83). 
Each  of  these  groups  shall  be  divided  into  classes  according  to  the  system  of 
general  classification  appended  to  these  regulations  (Annex  No.  1). 

That  document  shall  comprise  for  each  class  a  compendious  enumeration  of  the 
articles  which  it  is  to  include. 

Article  XV. 

A  methodical  and  complete  catalogue  of  the  productions  of  all  nations  shall  be 
prepared  in  the  French  language.  This  catalogue  shall  state  the  places  to  be  occu- 
pied by  said  productions  in  the  halls,  the  parks,  or  the  gardens,  together  with  the 
names  of  the  exhibitors. 

Each  nation  shall,  moreover,  have  the  right  to  prepare  at  its  own  expense,  but 
only  in  its  own  language,  a  special  catalogue  of  the  productions  exhibited  in  its 
section. 

Article  XVI. 

Neither  French  nor  foreign  exhibitors  shall  be  obliged  to  pay  any  rent  for  the 
space  occupied  by  them  in  the  exhibition. 

They  shall  have  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  installation  and  decoration  in  the 
halls,  parks,  or  gardens.  These  expenses  shall  in  the  main  comprise  the  furnish- 
ing and  putting  in  place  of  the  floors,  and  the  tents  or  ceilings  in  the  halls,  and  also 
of  the  special  earthworks  and  trees  or  plants  set  out  in  the  parks  or  gardens  in  the 


PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889.  167 

vicinity  of  and  within  the  limits  of  the  special  buildings  authorized  by  the  minister 
commissioner-general. 

The  floors  shall  be  constructed  in  good  condition  for  use  in  all  the  interior  pas- 
sages through  which  the  public  is  to  pass. 

Article  XVII. 

No  work  of  art  and  no  article  exhibited  in  the  halls,  parks,  or  gardens  shall  be 
drawn,  copied,  or  reproduced  in  any  manner  whatever  without  an  authorization 
from  tlie  exhibitor  bearing  the  vise  of  the  director-general  of  the  management. 

The  director-general  of  the  management  may,  however,  authorize  the  reproduc- 
tion of  views  of  sundry  articles  together. 

Article  XVIII. 

No  work  of  art  and  no  article  exhibited  can  be  withdrawn  before  the  close  of  the 
exhibition  without  special  authorization. 

Article  XIX. 

Within  the  time  allowed,  and  on  the  terms  provided  by  the  act  of  May  23, 1868, 
relative  to  the  guaranty  of  inventions  susceptible  of  being  patented,  and  of  designs 
for  manufactured  articles,  exhibitors  shall  enjoy  the  rights  and  immunities  granted 
by  the  aforesaid  act.     (Annex  No.  2.) 

Article  XX. 

In  pursuance  of  the  decree  issued  on  the  25th  of  August,  1886  (Annex  No.  3), 
the  exhibition  is  to  be,  in  fact,  a  bonded  warejiouse;  consequently  articles  exhib- 
ited are  to  be  exempted  from  the  payment  of  city  dues  and  from  search  by  the 
municipal  atathorities  of  Paris,  and  also  from  the  payment  of  duties  at  the  French 
custom-house  and  from  search  there. 

Article  XXI. 

Subsequent  regulations  shall  in  due  time  determine  the  methods  of  shipment, 
of  reception,  and  of  installation  of  the  productions,  the  method  of  admission  to 
the  premises  of  the  exhibition,  and  the  formation  of  the  international  jury  on 
premiums  whose  duties  shall  begin  as  soon  as  the  exhibition  is  opened. 

SPECIALi  PROVISIONS  REIiATIVE  TO  WORKS  OP  ART. 

Article  XXII. 

The  works  of  French  and  foreign  artists  executed  since  May  1, 1878,  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  exhibition. 

Article  XXIII. 

Such  works  shall  comprise  the  seven  kinds  below  mentioned: 

1.  Paintings. 

2.  Drawings:  Water-colors,  pastels,  miniatures,  enamel,  porcelain,  and  cartoons, 
not  including  those  which  represent  subjects  of  ornamentation  only. 

3.  Sculpture. 

4.  Engravings  on  medals  and  precious  stones. 

5.  Architecture. 

6.  Engraving. 

7.  Lithography. 

Article  XXIV. 

The  following  shall  be  excluded: 

1.  Copies,  even  such  as  reproduce  a  work  in  a  style  different  from  that  of  the 
original. 

2.  Unframed  paintings  or  drawings. 

8.  Sculptures  in  unbaked  clay. 

Article  XXV. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  a  special  jury  to  decide  concerning  the  admission  of  works 
of  art. 


168  PABIS   EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

Abticie  XXVI. 

The  requirements  to  be  fulfilled  for  applications  for  admission  shall  be  fixed  by 
subsequent  regulations.  Another  regulation  shall  also  indicate  the  method  of 
shipment  and  of  reception  of  works  of  art. 

Article  XXVII. 

Decision  shall  be  given  hereafter  with  regard  to  the  number  and  nature  of  the 
premiums  to  be  awarded,  and  also  concerning  the  appointment  of  an  international 
jury  for  the  award  of  premiums. 

SPECXAIi  PROVISIONS  RELATIXG  TO  rNDUSTRLAJL  AND  AGRICXTLTTTRAL 

PRODUCTIONS. 

Article  XXVIII. 

All  manufactured  and  agricultural  productions  shall  be  admissible  to  the  exhi- 
bition, with  the  exceptions  and  reservations  mentioned  in  the  following  article: 

Article  XXIX. 

Detonating  and  fulminating  articles  and,  in  general,  all  matters  regarded  as 
dangerous,  shall  be  excluded. 

Spirits  or  alcohols,  oils  and  essences,  corrosive  substances,  and  in  general  any 
articles  that  may  injure  other  productions  with  which  they  may  come  in  contact, 
or  that  may  incommode  the  public,  shall  not  be  received  otherwise  than  in  solid 
vessels  suitable  for  containing  them,  and  of  small  dimensions. 

Percussion  caps,  fireworks,  chemical  matches,  and  other  similar  objects  shall 
not  be  received.  Imitations  thereof  may,  however,  be  received,  provided  that  they 
contain  no  inflammable  matter. 

Article  XXX. 

Exhibitors  of  injurious  productions  or  those  calculated  to  impair  the  health  of 
human  beings  must,  at  all  times,  conform  to  such  precautionary  measures  as  may 
be  prescribed. 

Article  XXXI. 

The  director-general  of  the  management  may  at  all  times  cause  the  removal  of 
all  articles,  no  matter  what  may  be  their  origin,  which,  owing  to  their  nature  and 
their  appearances,  may  appear  to  be  objectionable  or  incompatible  with  the  object 
or  the  decorum  of  the  exhibition. 

Article  XXXII. 

Blench  applications  for  admission  must  be  drawn  up  according  to  the  form 
appended  to  these  regulations.     (Annex  No.  4.) 

Applif-ations  from  Paris  and  the  department  of  the  Seine  are  to  be  sent  directly 
to  the  mmister  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  commissioner-general.  No.  85 
Quai  d'Orsay,  Paris,  or  to  the  director- general  of  the  management.  No.  80  rue  de 
Varenne. 

Those  from  the  departments  are  to  be  received  by  the  departmental  committees, 
who  will  forward  them  to  the  same  addresses. 

All  applications  of  French  citizens,  thus  centralized,  shall  be  submitted  by 
classes  to  the  examination  of  committees  on  admission,  appointed  by  the  minister, 
and  from  whose  decisions  there  shall  be  no  appeal.  It  is  essential  that  all  appli- 
cations be  handed  in  as  speedily  as  possible. 

The  printed  blank  forms  of  applications  for  admissions  shall  be  furnished  to  the 
public  gratuitously,  at  the  following  places: 

(1)  At  Paris:  At  the  ministry  of  commerce  and  manufactures.  No.  25  Quai 
d'Orsay,  and  No.  244  boulevard  Saint  Germaine:  at  the  buildings  of  the  manage- 
ment of  the  exhibition  (avenue  de  La  Bourdonnaye  and  rue  de  Varrenne,  No.  80) ; 
at  the  tribunal,  and  at  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

(2)  In  the  departments:  At  the  prefectures,  subprefectures,  chambers  of  com- 
merce, tribunals  of  commerce,  advisory  chambers  of  arts  and  manufactures,  and 
at  the  locations  of  the  departmental  committees,  as  well  as  at  such  places  of  dis- 
tribution as  may  be  designated  by  the  said  committees. 


PARIS   EXHIBITION   OF   1889.  169 

Article  XXXIII. 

Constructors  of  apparatus  requiring  the  use  of  water,  gas,  or  steam,  must  state, 
either  at  the  time  of  makinc:  their  application  for  admission  or  through  the  foreign 
delegates,  the  «iuantity  of  water,  gas,  or  steam  that  they  require. 

Those  desiring  to  set  macliinery  in  motion  shall  state  the  exact  velocity  of  such 
machinery  and  the  motive  power  which  it  will  require. 

Article  XXXIV. 

Water,  gas,  steam,  and  motive  power  for  the  machinery  galleries  shall  be  fur- 
nished gratuitously. 

The  power  shall  be  taken  from  the  vehicle  of  general  transmission. 

The  establishment  of  all  intermediate  transmissions  shall  be  at  the  cost  of 
exhibitors. 

PROVISIONS   RELATIVE   TO   MANAGEMENT. 

Article  XXXV. 

Articles  shall  be  exhibited  in  the  name  of  the  signer  of  the  application  for 
admission.    From  this  requirement  there  shall  be  no  deviation. 

Article  XXXVI. 

Exhibitors  are  authorized  to  enter,  after  their  own  names  or  the  names  of  their 
firms,  the  names  of  such  cooperators  of  all  kinds  and  all  grades  as  have  contributed 
to  the  utility  of  the  articles  exhibited. 

Article  XXXVII. 

Exhibitors  are  expressly  requested  to  state  the  market  price  of  the  articles 
exhibited,  both  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  labor  of  the  jury  and  of  edify- 
ing visitors. 

Article  XXXVIII. 

Articles  sold  shall  not  be  removed  before  the  close  of  the  exhibition,  unless  by 
special  authorization. 

Article  XXXIX. 

The  State  shall  take  measures  to  protect  articles  exhibited  from  all  injury,  but 
it  will  in  nowise  be  responsible  for  any  accidents,  or  for  fire,  or  for  any  damage 
that  they  may  suffer,  be  the  cause  thereof  what  it  may.  Exhibitors  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  insure  their  goods  directly,  at  their  own  expense,  if  they  shall  thmk 
proper  to  do  so. 

Article  XL. 

A  general  surveillance  shall  be  established  in  order  to  protect  goods  from  theft 
and  embezzlement. 

Foreign  commissions  shall  have  full  control  as  regards  the  custody  of  their 
respective  sections.  The  officers  designated  by  them  for  the  performance  of  this 
duty  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  commissioner-general.  They  shall  wear  a  uni- 
form or  a  distinctive  badge;  they  may,  under  all  circumstances,  apply  for  assist- 
ance to  the  French  officers  and  policemen  who  shall  walk  through  the  passages 
open  to  the  public,  or  who  shall  l)e  stationed  there. 

In  the  French  section  the  exhibitors  of  each  class  shall  make  arrangements  for 
the  organization  of  a  collective  system  of  guardianship,  independent  of  the  gen- 
eral surveillance.  The  special  officers  of  this  class  shall  be  commis-ioued  by  the 
minister  commissioner-general;  they  shall  wear  badges  indicating  the  number  of 
the  class  whose  rooms  they  are  to  watch. 

Article  XLI. 

It  is  expressly  understood  that  the  State  disclaims  all  responsibility  for  any 
thefts  and  embezzlements  that  may  be  committed. 


170  PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF   1889. 

Article  XLII. 

No  article  shall  be  advertised  by  means  of  handbills,  prospectuses,  etc.,  within 
the  exhibition,  by  exhibitors,  holders  of  concessions,  or  any  other  person,  without 
regular  authorization  and  prepayment  of  such  fees  as  may  be  required. 

Article  XLIII. 

All  communications  relative  to  the  exhibition  must  be  addressed  to  the  Minister 
of  Commerce  and  Manufactures,  Commissioner-General,  No.  2.")  Qnai  d"Orsay, 
Paris,  and  must  bear  on  the  envelope  the  words  "World's  Exhibition  of  188y." 
(Exposition  universelle  de  1889.) 

XLIV. 

Both  French  citizens  and  foreigners,  by  becoming  exhibitors,  declare  by  that 
very  fact  that  they  adhere  to  the  provisions  contained  in  Articles  XI-XLU  of 
these  regulations. 

Edouard  Lookroy, 
Minister  of  Commerce  and  Manufactures^  Commissioner-QenerdU 
Paris,  August  se,  1886, 

[Annex  No.  LI 
SYSTEM  OF  GENERAL  CI^ASSIFICATION. 

FIRST  GROUP. 

WORKS  OF  ART. 

Class  1. — Oil  paintings. 

Paintings  on  canvas,  panels,  and  on  various  preparations. 

Class  2. — Paintings  of  different  kinds,  and  drairings. 

Miniatures;  paintings  in  water  colors;  pastel,  and  drawings  of  all  kinds;  pa3nt- 
inga  on  enamel,  china,  and  porcelain;  cartoons  for  windows  and  frescoes. 

Class  S.—Sctdpture,  and  engraving  on  medals. 

Sculpture  in  full  relief,  bas-relief,  punctured  and  chiseled  sculpture.  Medals, 
cameos,  and  engraved  stones.    Inlaid  enamel  work. 

Class  4. — Dratvings  and  models  for  buildings. 

Studies  and  fragments.  Representations  and  plans  of  buildings.  Restorations 
from  ruins  or  documents. 

Class  5. — Engraving  and  lithographing. 

Engravings  in  black;  polychromatic  engravings.  Lithographs  in  black,  in 
crayon,  and  in  pencil;  chromolithography. 

SECOND  GROUP. 

EDUCATION  AND  INSTRUCTION.— MATERIALS  AND  PROCESSES  USED  IN  THE  LIBERAL 

ARTS. 

Class  6. — Education  of  very  young  children. — Primary  instruction. — Instruc- 
tion of  adults. 

Plans  and  models  of  infant  asylums,  schools  for  mothers,  orphan  asylums,  rooms 
and  gardens  for  the  care  of  children;  aiTangement  and  furniture  of  such  estab- 
lishments.   Materials  for  instruction  calculated  to  promote  the  physical,  moral, 


PARIS    EXHIBITION   OF   1889.  l7l 

and  intellectual  development  of  a  child  until  the  age  when  it  is  proper  for  him  to 
enter  school. 

Plans  and  models  of  city  and  country  school  buildings;  arrangements  and  fur- 
niture of  such  buildings.     School  articles,  books,  maps,  apparatus,  models,  etc. 

Plans  and  models  of  schools  for  adults  and  for  industrial  training.  Arrange- 
ment and  instruction  in  such  establishments.  Articles  used  in  the  instruction 
of  adults  and  in  industrial  training.  Articles  used  in  elementary  instruction  in 
its  various  branches.  Articles  for  elementary  instruction  in  geometrical  and  land- 
scape drawing. 

Articles  for  the  instruction  of  the  blind,  and  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 

Articles  made  by  pupils  of  both  sexes. 

Books  and  publications. 

Class  7. — Organization  of  secondary  instruction  and  articles  used  therein. 

Plans  and  models  of  establishments  for  secondary  instruction;  lyceums  for  boys 
and  girls,  gymnasiums,  colleges,  and  industrial  and  commercial  schools.  Arrange- 
ment and  furniture  of  such  establishments. 

Collections,  standard  books,  maps,  and  globes;  articles  used  in  technological  and 
scientific  instruction,  or  instruction  in  the  arts,  and  in  drawing,  music,  and  singing. 

Apparatus  and  methods  used  in  teaching  gymnastics,  fencing,  and  military 
exercise. 

Class  8.— Organization  and  methods  of  superior  instruction  and  articles  used 

therein. 

Plans  and  models  of  academies,  universities,  medical  and  practical  schools,  tech- 
nical schools,  and  those  for  application,  agricultural  schools,  observatories,  scien- 
tific museums,  amphitheaters,  and  laboratories  for  instruction  and  experiment. 

Furniture  and  arrangement  of  such  establishments. 

Apparatus,  collections,  and  materials  used  in  superior  education  and  in  scientfic 
research. 

Special  exhibitions  of  learned,  technical,  agricultural,  commercial,  and  indus- 
trial institutions  and  societies. 

Scientific  expeditions. 

Class  9. — Printing  and  bookselling. 

Specimens  of  typography,  autographic  proofs,  lithographic  proofs  in  black  and 
colors;  proofs  of  engravings. 

New  books,  and  new  editions  of  books  already  known;  collections  of  works 
forming  special  libraries;  periodicals.    Drawings,  atlases,  and  albums. 

Class  10. — Stationery,  bookbinding,  and  articles  used  in  painting  and  drawing. 

Paper,  cards,  and  cardboards;  ink,  chalk,  crayons,  pastels,  desk  furniture,  arti- 
cles used  in  offices,  inkstands,  letter  scales,  etc.,  and  copying  presses. 

Articles  made  of  paper — such  as  shades,  lanterns,  tlowerxjot  screens,  etc. 

Record  books,  copy  books,  albums,  and  notebooks;  bindings,  movable  bindings, 
cases,  etc. 

Various  articles  for  washes  and  water  colors;  paints  in  cakes,  in  pastels,  in  blad- 
ders, tubes,  and  shells. 

Instruments  and  apparatus  for  the  use  of  painters,  designers,  and  modelers. 

Class  11. — Ordinary  application  of  the  arts  of  designing  and  modeling. 

Industrial  designs:  designs  obtained,  reproduced  or  reduced  by  mechanical  pro- 
cess. Decorative  paintings,  lithographs,  chromolithographs,  or  engravings  to  be 
used  in  manufactures.    Models  for  figures,  ornaments,  etc. 

Molded,  stamped,  chiseled,  and  carved  articles.  Cameos,  seals,  and  various 
articles  decorated  by  means  of  engraving.  Industrial  decorative  plastic  goods 
made  by  mechanical  process;  reductions,  etc. 

Class  12. — Photographic  proof  s  and  apparatus. 

Photographs  on  paper,  glass,  wood,  cloth,  enamel,  etc.  Heliographic  engrav- 
ings, lithographic  proofs,  litho-photographic  proofs,  photographic  cliches,  stere- 
oscopic proofs  and  stereoscopes.    Proofs  obtained  by  amplification.    Photochromy. 

Instruments,  apparatus,  and  raw  material  used  in  photography.  Articles  used 
by  photographers. 


172  PARIS   EXHIBITION    OF   1889. 

Class  13. — Musical  instruments. 

Nonmetallic  wind  instruments,  with  single  moxithpiece,  with  bee  de  sifflet,  with 
ree<l8,  with  or  without  air  reservoirs. 

Metallic  wind  instruments,  single,  with  extensions,  with  slides,  with  pistons, 
with  keys,  and  with  reeils. 

Wind  instruments  with  keys:  Organs,  accordions,  etc. 

Stringed  instruments  played  with  the  fingers  or  with  a  bow,  without  keys. 

Stringed  intruments  with  keys:  Pianos,  etc. 

Pulsatile  instruments,  or  those  played  by  means  of  friction.  Automatic  instru- 
ments: Hand  organs  and  bird  organs. 

Detached  pieces  and  articles  used  in  orchestras. 

Class  14. — Medicine  and  surget-y — Veterinary  and  eomiMrative  medicine. 

Articles,  instruments,  and  apparatus  used  in  anatomical,  histological,  and  bac- 
teriological work. 

Normal  and  pathological  anatomical  specimens:  histological  and  bacterioscop- 
ical  preparations. 

Instruments  for  medical  examinations,  both  general  and  special. 

Apparatus  and  instruments  used  in  general,  local,  and  special  surgery. 

Apparatus  used  lor  dressing  wounds. 

Apparatus  used  in  plastic  and  mechanical  prothesis:  orthopedic  apparatus; 
apparatus  used  in  hernial  surgery;  balneatory  and  hydrothera]ieutical  apparatus; 
apparatus  used  in  medical  gymnastics;  articles,  instruments,  and  apparatus  used 
in  special  therapeutics. 

Articles  used  in  dental  surgery. 

Miscellaneous  articles  for  the  use  of  the  infirm,  the  sick,  and  the  insane. 

Accessory  articles  used  in  the  medical,  surgical  and  pharmaceutical  .service  of 
hospitals  or  infirmaries. 

Cases  for  instruments  and  meilicines  for  the  use  of  army  and  navy  surgeons. 
Articles  for  use  in  succoring  thp  wounde'l  on  lattlefields. 

Appliances  for  resuscitating  the  drowned  and  the  asphyxiated. 

Special  articles,  instruments,  and  appliances  used  by  veterinary  surgeons. 

Class  15. — Philosophical  instruments. 

Philosophical  apparatus  and  instruments. 

Apparatus  and  instruments  used  in  practical  geometry,  surveying,  topography, 
and  geodesy,  compasses,  calculating  machines,  levels,  mariners'  compasses,  barom- 
eters, etc. 

Measuring  apparatus  and  instruments,  verniers,  micrometric  screws,  dividing 
machmes.  etc.,  and  philosophical  balances. 

Instruments  used  in  ordinary  optics.  Astronomical  instruments.  Physical  and 
meteorological  instruments,  etc.  Instruments  and  apparatus  for  laboratories  and 
observatories. 

Measures  and  weights  of  different  countries.    Coins  and  medals. 

Class  16. — Geographical  and  cosmographical  maps  and  apparatus— Topogra- 
phy— Models,  plans,  and  designs  for  civil  engineering  and  public  works. 

Geographical,  geological,  hydrographic.  and  astronomical  maps  and  atlases. 

Physical  maps  of  all  kinds.    Plain  or  raised  topographical  maps. 

Terrestrial  and  celestial  globes  and  spheres.  Statistical  works  and  tables. 
Tables  and  ephetnerides  for  the  use  of  astronomers  and  navigators. 

Models,  plans,  and  designs  for  public  works,  such  as  bridges,  viaducts,  aque- 
ducts, drains,  canal  bridges,  locks,  dams,  etc. 

Models,  plans,  and  designs  for  public  buildings  to  be  used  for  special  purposes: 
municipal  buildings,  hotels,  and  tenement  houses;  houses  for  the  occupancy  of 
the  working  classes. 

Models,  plans,  and  designs  for  stations,  car  houses,  and  sundry  buildings 
required  by  railways. 

THIRD  GROUP. 

FURNITURE,  ETC. 

Class  17. — Cheap  and  fancy  furniture. 
Buffets,  bookcases,  tables,  toilet  tables,  beds,  sofas,  chairs,  billiard  tables,  etc. 


PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF   1889.  173 

Class  18. — Tapestry  and  decorative  work. 

Cushions,  upholstered  chairs,  canopies,  curtains,  hangings,  and  tapestry. 

De(;orative  articles  and  furniture.  Molded  pulp  and  decorative  articles  of  plas- 
ter, statuary  pasteboard,  papier  mache,  etc.  Frames.  Paintings  and  decorations 
for  churches. 

Class  19. — Glass  articles  and  window  glass. 

Vases  and  goblets;  carved,  double,  and  mounted  crystals,  etc.  Ordinary  vases 
and  goblets.  Common  glassware  and  bottles.  Glass  for  windows  and  mirrors. 
Highly  finished,  enameled,  iiligreed,  and  tempered  glass,  etc. 

Glasses  for  optical  purposes;  articles  for  ornament,  etc.  Stained  glass  for  win- 
dows.   Mirrors,  looking-glasses,  etc. 

Class  20. — Ceramics. 

Semivi trifled  porcelain,  hard  and  brittle  porcelain.  Fine  painted  china,  etc. 
Semivitrified  china.  Baked  clay.  Enameled  lava.  Bricks  and  squares.  Ceramic 
stones. 

Class  21. — Carpets,  tapestry,  and  other  fabrics  iised  in  house  furnishing. 

Carpets,  moquettes,  and  tapestry,  velvety  or  with  flock  surface.  Carpets  of  felt, 
mats,  etc.    India-rubber  carpets,  etc. 

Fabrics  used  in  furnisliing,  such  as  cotton,  wool,  or  silk,  plain  or  figured.  Fab- 
rics of  horsehair,  vegetable  leather,  moleskin,  etc.  Leather  used  for  hangings 
and  furniture.    Oilcloths  and  linoleums. 

Class  22. — Decorated  paper. 

Printed  paper.  Paper  with  velvety  surface,  marbled,  grained  paper,  etc.  Paper 
for  bookbinders'  boards,  binding,  etc.  Artistic  papers.  Enameled  and  varnished 
paper.    Imitations  of  wood  and  leather.    Pamted  or  printed  blinds. 

Class  23. — Cutlery. 

Knives,  penknives,  scissors,  razors,  etc.    Various  articles  of  cutlery. 

Class  24. — Silverware. 

Silverware  for  use  in  churches;  decorative  and  table  silver;  articles  of  silver  for 

the  toilet,  for  office  use,  etc. 

Class  25.— Bronzes,  cast-iron  articles  iised  in  the  arts,  repoussd  work  in  metals. 

Statues  and  bas-reliefs  in  bronze,  cast-iron,  zinc,  etc.    Cast  metals  with  metallic 
coatings. 
Repousse  work  in  copper,  lead,  zinc,  etc. 

Class  2Q.— Watches  and  clocks. 

Detached  pieces,  both  large  and  small,  used  in  the  manufacture  of  clocks  and 
watches. 

Watches,  chronometers,  pedometers,  sundry  reckoners,  etc.  Mantel  and  other 
clocks;  regulators  and  metronomes. 

Astronomical  clocks,  chronometers  for  the  Navy,  traveling  clocks,  alarm  clocks, 
etc.    Water  clocks  and  hourglasses. 

Class  27. — Apparatus  and  processes  used  in  warming  buildings — Apparatus  and 
processes  used  for  lighting  otherwise  than  by  electricity. 

Hearths,  fireplaces,  stoves,  and  furnaces.  Accessory  appliances  for  heating 
houses.    Stoves  and  apparatus  for  heating  and  cooking  with  gas. 

Apparatus  for  heating  by  means  of  hot  water,  steam,  and  hot  air. 

Lamps  for  lighting  by  means  of  sundry  oils  and  essences. 

Accessory  articles  for  lighting.  Matches.  Accessory  appliances  and  apparatus 
for  lighting  by  gas.    Apparatus  for  lighting  by  means  of  magnesium,  etc. 


174  PARIS   EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

Class  2^.— Perfumery. 

Cosmetics  and  pomatums;  perfume  oils,  extracts,  and  scented  waters;  aromatic 
vinegar;  sdmond  paste,  powders,  pastiles,  and  perfume  sachets;  perfumes  for 
burning  toilet  soaps. 

Class  29. — Morocco  goods,  toys,  baskets,  and  brushes. 

Workboxes,  and  small  fancy  articles  of  furniture;  liqueur  cases  and  glove  cases. 
Fancy  boxes. 

Cases  and  bags,  jewel  boxes.  Portemonnaies,  pocketbooks,  notebooks,  and  cigar 
cases. 

Turned,  machine- turned,  carved,  and  engraved  articles  of  ivory,  shell,  etc. 
Pipes,  and  tobacco  boxes. 

Fancy  combs;  fine  toilet  brushes. 

Miscellaneous  lacquer  articles. 

Fancy  baskets;  dlssages  and  fine  esparto  goods. 

Coarse  brushes  and  feather  dusters. 

Paint  brushes. 

FOURTH  GROUP. 

FABRICS,  WEARING  APPAREL,  ETC. 

Class  30. — Thread  and  cotton  fabrics 

Prepared  and  spun  cotton. 

Fabrics  of  pure  cotton,  plain  or  figured. 

Fabrics  of  mixed  cotton. 

Cotton  velvet. 

Cotton  ribbons. 

Class  31. — Thread  and  fabrics  of  heinp,  flax,  etc 

Flax,  hemp,  and  other  vegetable  fibers,  span. 

Canvas  and  drilling. 

Cambric. 

Fabrics  of  thread,  with  a  mixture  of  cotton  or  silk. 

Fabrics  of  vegetable  fibers,  other  than  those  of  cotton,  fiax,  and  hemp. 

Class  82. — Threads  and  fabrics  of  combed  wool — Threads  and  fabrics  of  carded 

wool. 

Combed  wool,  threads  of  combed  wool. 
Mousselines,  Scotch  cassimeres,  merinos,  serges,  etc. 
Woolen  ribbons  and  laces  mixed  with  cotton  or  thread,  silk,  or  floss  silk. 
Fabrics  of  hair,  pure  or  mixed. 
Woolen  shawls,  pure  or  mixed. 
Cashmere  shawls. 

Carded  wool;  threads  of  carded  wool. 
Cloths  and  otiier  fabrics  of  carded  wooL 
Blankets. 

Felt  of  wool  or  hair,  for  carpets  and  hats. 
Socks. 

Fabrics  of  carded  wool,  unfulled  or  slightly  fulled:  such  as  flannels,  tartans, 
swanskins,  etc. 

Class  33. — Silks  and  silk  fabrics. 

Raw  and  thrown  silks:  threads  of  floss  silk. 

Fabrics  of  pure  silk,  plain,  highly  finished,  figured. 

Fabrics  of  silk  mixed  with  gold,  silver,  cotton,  wool,  thread,  etc. 

Fabrics  of  floss  silk,  pure  or  mixed. 

Velvets  and  plushes. 

Ribbons  of  pure  or  mixed  silk. 

Shawls  of  pure  or  mixed  silk. 


PAEIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889.  l75 

Class  34. — Laces,  tulles,  embroidery,  and  lace  work. 

Laces  of  thread  or  cotton,  made  with  the  spindle,  the  needle,  or  by  mechanical 
process. 

Laces  of  silk,  wool,  or  goats'  hair. 

Silver  or  gold  lace. 

8ilk  or  cotton  tulle,  plain  or  figured. 

Embroidery  in  tambour  work,  crocheting,  etc. 

Embroidery  in  gold,  silver,  and  silk. 

Sacerdotal  vestments. 

Embroidery,  tapestry,  and  other  hand  work. 

Laces  of  silk,  floss  silk,  wool,  goats'  hair,  sundry  kinds  of  hair,  horse  hair,  thread, 
and  cotton;  braids,  etc. 

Fine  and  imitation  lace  work.    Special  lace  work  for  military  equipments. 

Class  35. — Articles  of  hosiery  and  underclothing — Other  articles  of  wearing  apparel. 

Hosiery  of  cotton,  thread,  wool,  or  silk  cashmere,  or  of  floss-silk,  pure  or  mixed. 
Elastic  fabrics;  knit  goods.  Gentlemen's,  ladies',  and  children's  furnishings;  baby 
linen.  Flannel  goods  and  other  woolen  fabrics.  Corsets,  cravats,  gloves,  gaiters, 
garters,  suspenders,  fans,  screens,  umbrellas,  parasols,  canes,  etc. 

Class  36. — Wearing  apparel  for  both  sexes. 

Men's  clothing,  women's  clothing. 

Hats  and  head  gear  for  both  sexes;  artificial  flowers  and  feathers. 

Wigs  and  hair  work. 

Boots,  shoes,  etc. 

Childrens  furnishings. 

Special  garments  for  different  occupations. 

Popular  costumes  of  different  countries. 

Class  37. — Jewelry  and  trinkets. 

Jewels  of  precious  metals,  carved,  filigreed,  adorned  with  ijrecious  stones,  etc. 

Plated  and  imitation  jewelry. 

Trinkets  of  jet,  amber,  coral,  mother-of-pearl,  steel,  etc. 

Diamonds,  precious  stones,  pearls,  and  imitations. 

Class  38. — Portable  arms — Hunting, 

Defensive  weapons:  Cuirasses,  helmets. 
Blunt  weapons:  Clubs,  bludgeons,  etc. 

Side  arms:  Swords,  sabers,  bayonets,  spears,  axes,  and  hunting  knives. 
Missile  weapons:  Bows,  crossbows,  etc. 
Firearms:  Guns,  carbines,  pistols,  revolvers. 

Other  articles  made  by  gunsmiths.    Filled  or  hollow  projectiles,  explosives. 
Caps,  priming  tubes,  cartridges. 
Hunting  eciuipments;  instruments  used  in  training  dogs. 
Articles  used  in  fencing. 

Class  39. — Articles  for  traveling  and  camping  out. 

Trunks,  valises,  saddlebags,  etc.  Traveling  cases.  Miscellaneous  articles. 
Traveling  rugs;  cushions;  head  gear;  waterproof  garments;  iron-bound  staffs; 
grapnels;  parasols. 

Portable  articles  specially  designed  for  travelers  and  persons  going  on  scientific 
expeditions;  cases  and  baggage  for  the  use  of  geologists,  mineralogiste,  naturalists, 
settlers,  pioneers,  etc. 

Tents  and  articles  for  use  in  camp,  such  as  beds,  hammocks,  seats,  folding 
chairs,  etc. 

Class  4:0.— Toys. 

Dolls  and  toys:  also  wax  figures. 

Games  intended  for  the  amusement  of  children  or  adults. 

Instructive  and  scientific  toys. 


IVG  PAEI8   EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

FIFTH  GROUP. 

BXTRACTIVE  ARTS,  RAW   AND  MANUFACTURED  PRODUCTS. 

Class  41. — Products  of  mining  and  metallurgy. 

Collections  and  specimens  of  ronks,  minerals,  and  ores:  ornamental  rocks;  bard 
rocks:  refractory  substances:  earths  and  clays:  various  mineral  products;  raw 
Bulphnr:  rock  salt,  salt  from  salt  springs;  mineral  fuel,  various  coals,  residua,  and 
agglomerates;  asphalts  and  asphaltic  rocks:  bitumen,  coal  tar,  unrefined  i)etro- 
leam,  etc. 

Un wrought  metals:  Sraeltings.  iron,  steel,  iron  in  process  of  conversion  to  steel, 
copper,  lead;  silver,  zinc,  etc.;  metallic  alloys. 

Products  of  the  art  of  the  leacher  of  ashes,  and  of  the  refiner  of  precious  metals, 
of  the  gold  beater,  etc. 

Products  of  the  manufac  tnre  of  unwrought  metals:  Castings,  bells,  commercial 
iron  (pig  iron):  special  kinds  of  iron;  sheet  iron  and  tin;  sheet  iron  for  sheeting 
and  building  purposes,  etc. 

Sheet  iron  coated  with  zinc  and  coated  with  lead,  etc.;  copper,  lead,  and  zinc 
sheets,  etc. 

Wrought  metals:  Forge  work  and  large  iron  work;  wheels  and  tires:  unsoldered 
tubes,  chains,  etc. 

Products  of  wire  drawing:  Needles,  pins,  metallic  cables,  lattices,  wire  gauzes, 
punched  sheets. 

Hardware,  edge  tools,  manufactures  of  iron,  of  copper,  of  sheet  iron,  iron  ware, 
and  tinware. 

Various  wrought  metals. 

Class  42. — Products  of  forest  growth  and  forest  industries. 

Specimens  of  forest  species. 

Wood  for  ornamental  work,  fuel,  and  building  purposes.  Wood  prepared  for 
naval  purposes,  clapboards,  split  wood. 

Cork;  textile  barks;  substances  for  tanning,  dyeing,  scenting,  and  resinous  sub- 
stances, etc. 

Products  of  forest  industries:  Woods  dried  by  fire  and  charcoals;  i)otash  in  the 
raw  state:  articles  manufactured  by  the  cooi>er,  the  basket  maker,  manufactures 
of  esparto,  wooden  shoes,  etc. 

Class  43. — Products  of  the  chase — Products  of  the  fisheries,  apparatus  and  instrw- 
mcntsfor  fishing,  and  for  gathering  fruits  of  natural  growth;  products  of  the 
latter. 

Collections  and  drawings  of  amphibious  animals,  birds,  eggs,  fishes,  cetacea, 
mollusks.  and  crnstacea. 

Products  of  the  chase:  Furs  and  skins,  hair,  horsehair,  feathers,  down,  horns, 
teeth,  ivory,  bones,  shells,  musk,  castoreum,  and  similar  products 

Products  of  the  fisheries:  Whale  oil.  spermaceti,  etc.:  whalebone,  ambergris, 
mollusk  shells,  pearls,  mother-of-i)earl,  sepia,  purple,  corals,  sponges,  etc. 

ProunctR  of  fruit  growth  or  of  crops  obtained  without  cultivation:  Mushrooms, 
truffles,  wild  fruits,  lichens  used  in  dyeing,  for  food,  or  forage;  fermented  sai)s: 
quinquinas;  useful  barks  and  filaments,  wax,  gum  resins,  caoutchouc  in  the  raw 
state,  gutta-percha,  etc. 

Snares  and  apparatus:  Lines  and  hooks,  harpoons,  nets,  apparatus  and  bait  for 
fishing. 

Apparatus  and  instruments  for  harvesting  products  obtained  without  cultivation. 

Class  44. — Agricultural  products  not  used  for  food. 

Textile  substances:  Raw  cotton,  flax  and  hemp,  dressed  and  undressed:  textile 
vegetable  fibers  of  every  kind;  wool  in  the  raw  state,  washed  and  unwashed;  silk- 
worm cocoons. 

V^arious  agricultural  products  employed  in  industry,  in  pharmacy,  and  in 
domestic  economy;  oleaginous  plants,  oiis,  wax.  resins. 

Leaf  or  manufactured  tobacco.    Touchwood. 

Tanning  and  dyeing  substances. 

Stored  forage  and  substances  specially  intended  for  feeding  animals. 


PARIS    EXHIBITION   OF    1889.  177 

Class  45. — Chemical  and  pharmaceutical  products. 

Acids,  alkalis,  salts  of  all  kinds,  sea  salts,  and  products  resulting  from  the  treat- 
ment of  mother- waters. 

Various  products  of  the  chemical  industries;  wax  and  fat  bodies;  soaps  and  can- 
dles; elementary  bodies  of  perfumery;  resins,  tar,  and  derived  bodies;  essences  and 
varnishes;  various  glazes;  blacking. 

Elementary  bodies  of  pharmacy;  simple  and  compound  medicines. 

Products  of  the  caoutchouc  and  gutta-percha  industries;  dyeing  substances  and 
colors. 

Products  derived  from  the  treatment  of  mineral  matters  utilized  for  light. 

Class  46. — Chemical  methods  of  bleaching,  dyeing,  printing,  and  finishing. 

Specimens  of  threads  and  stuffs  bleached  and  dyed.  Samples  of  dyeing  prepa- 
rations. 

Specimens  of  printed  or  dyed  cloths,  of  cotton  prints,  pure  or  mixed.  Specimens 
of  woolen  prints,  pure  or  mixed,  combed  or  carded. 

Specimens  of  silk  prints,  pure  or  mixed. 

Specimens  of  printed  felt  or  cloth  carpet;  of  oil-cloth. 

Class  47. — Leathers  and  skins. 

Elementary  substances  employed  in  the  preparation  of  skins  and  leather. 

Green  skins,  salted  skins,  tanned  leather,  curried  leather,  pressed  leather,  or 
dyed  leather;  varnished  leather. 

Morocco  and  sheepskins;  Hungary-dressed  skins;  shamoy-dressed  skins:  tawed 
skins;  dressed  or  dyed  skins;  skins  prepared  for  gloves;  peltry  and  furs,  dressed 
or  dyed;  parchments. 

Articles  of  gut  work:  Cords  for  musical  instruments;  gold-beater's  skins;  liga- 
ments of  the  ox,  etc. 

SIXTH  GROUP. 

APPARATUS  AND  METHODS  OF  THE  MECHANICAL  INDUSTRIES— ELECTRICITY. 

Class  48. — Apparatus  and  methods  of  working  mines  and  of  metallurgy. 

Apparatus  for  search  borings  for  artesian  wells,  and  for  wells  in  long  tubular 
sections. 

Models,  plans,  and  sketches  of  the  working  of  mines  and  quarries. 

Methods  of  utilizing  the  flow  of  mineral  waters. 

Machines  and  apparatus  intended  for  lifting— for  carrying  down  and  bringing 
up  the  workmen  from  the  mine. 

Machines  for  drainage;  pumps. 

Machinery  for  pumping  in  air;  ventilators. 

Safety  lamps;  safety  apparatus;  parachutes;  signals. 

Apparatus  for  the  mechanical  preparation  of  ores  and  mineral  fuel. 

Apparatus  for  compressing  fuel. 

Apparatus  for  carbonizing  fuel;  fiurnaces  and  metallurgic  blasts;  smoke-con- 
suming apparatus. 

Plant  of  metallurgical  shops. 

Special  plant  of  forges  and  foundries. 

Plant  of  shops  for  working  up  the  metals  under  all  forms. 

Class  49. — Apparatus  and  methods  of  farming  and  forestry. 

Plans  for  cultivation,  distribution,  and  management  of  crops. 

Plant  and  works  of  agricultural  engineering:  Surface  drainage,  subsoil  drain- 
age, irrigation. 

Plans  and  models  of  agricultural  buildings. 

Tools,  instruments,  machines,  and  apparatus  serving  for  plowing  and  other 
diessinufs  given  to  the  ground  for  sowing  and  planting,  harvesting,  preparing,  and 
preserving  the  products  of  cultivation. 

Various  agricultural  machines  moved  by  teams  or  steam. 

Plant  for  carts  and  agricultural  conveyances. 

Movable  steam  engines  for  special  purposes  and  horse  gins. 

Fertilizers  of  organic  or  mineral  origin. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 12 


178  PAEIS   EXHIBITION   OF   1889. 

Apparatus  for  the  physical  and  chemical  study  of  soils. 

Plans  of  methods  of  replanting,  managing,  and  cultivating  forests. 

Plant  for  forest  work  and  forest  industries. 

Plant,  instruments,  and  machines  for  the  manufacture  of  tobacco. 

Class  60. — Plant  and  methods  of  agricultural  manufactories  and  food  industries. 

Plant  for  agricultural  manufactorips;  manufactories  of  artificial  fertilizers,  of 
drainage  pipes;  cheese  factories,  dairies,  flour  mills,  farina  mills,  starch  mills,  oil 
mills,  breweries,  distilleries,  sugar  mills,  refineries,  mills  for  the  manufacture  of 
textile  substances,  silk-worm  nurseries,  etc. 

Plant  for  the  manufacture  of  food  products:  Bread  beaters  and  mechanical 
ovens  for  l)akers;  pastry  and  confectionery  utensils. 

Apparatus  for  the  manufacture  of  doughs  for  food,  sea  biscuit,  etc.;  machines 
for  making  chocolate;  apparatus  for  drying  coffee. 

Preparation  of  ices  and  sherbets;  manufacture  and  keeping  of  ice. 

Class  51. — Plant  of  tJie  chemical  arts,  pharmacy,  and  tanning. 

Laboratory  utensils  and  apparatus;  enameling  lamps;  blowpipes. 

Apparatus  and  instruments  designed  for  industrial  and  oommercial  experiments. 

Plant  and  apparatus  of  the  manufactories  of  chemical  products;  soaps  and 
candles. 

Plant  and  methods  of  the  manufacture  of  essences,  varnishes,  articles  of  caout- 
chouc and  gutta-percha. 

Plant  of  factories  using  the  mineral  substances  useful  for  light. 

Plant  and  methods  of  bleaching  factories. 

Plant  for  the  preparation  of  pharmaceutical  products. 

Plant  of  factories  for  tanning  and  tawing  leather. 

Plant  and  methods  of  glass  factories  and  manufactories  of  ceramic  products. 

Class  52. — Machines  and  apparatus  of  general  mechanics. 

Detached  pieces  of  machinery:  Supports,  rubblesones,  sliding  rods,  eccentrics, 
gearing,  coupling  rods,  parallelograms  and  joints,  pulleys,  belts,  funicular  sys- 
tems, etc.:  couplings,  monkeys,  etc.;  regulators  and  moderators  of  motion;  appa- 
ratus for  greasing. 

Indicators  and  registers;  dynamometers,  manometers,  weighing  apparatus; 
gauging  apparatus  for  liquids  and  gases. 

Machines  used  for  handling  heavy  masses. 

Hydraulic  lifting  machines:  Norias,  pumps,  tympanums,  hydraulic  rams,  etc 

Hydraulic  receivers:  Wheels,  turbines,  water-pressure  engines. 

Hydraulic  presses. 

Engines  moved  by  steam:  Stationary  engines,  stationary  and  movable  engines, 
movable  engines,  boilers,  steam  generators,  and  accessory  apparatus. 

Apparatus  for  condensing  vapors. 

Engines  moved  by  other  vapors  than  steam;  by  combined  vapors. 

Gas,  hot-air,  and  compressed-air  engines. 

Apparatus  for  the  transmission  of  force  by  water  and  by  air. 

Windmillfl  uai pananemones  (wind  vanes?). 

Balloons. 

Class  53. — Machine  tools. 

Machine  tools  used  for  working  up  wood:  Planes,  toupies  (molding  cones?  turn- 
ing lathes?);  circular  and  belt  saws;  mortise  cutters,  etc.;  machines  for  making 
casks;  machines  for  cutting  cork. 

Turning  lathes  and  fine  boring  and  planing  machines;  mortise-cutting  machines, 
piercing  machines,  cutting  presses,  circular  saw  cutting  machines  (?)  (machineH  d 
f raiser),  machines  for  cutting  out  curves  (?)  (machines  d  decolleter),  punching 
machines,  screw-cutting  machines,  riveting  machines,  etc.;  drills;  various  toofi 
of  shops  of  mechanical  construction. 

Stones  for  whetting,  scraping,  polishing,  etc. 

Tools,  machines,  and  apparatus  used  for  pressing,  crushing,  kneading,  sawing, 
polishing,  etc.    Special  machine  tools  in  the  various  industries. 

Class  54*— Plant  and  methods  of  rope  spinning. 

Plant  of  hand  spinning.  Detached  pieces  belonging  to  the  plant  of  spinning 
mills.  Machines  and  apparatus  used  in  the  preparation  and  spinning  of  textile 
substances.    Apparatus  and  methods  used  in  the  operations  complementary  to 


PARIS    EXHIBITION   OF   1889.  179 

these:  Drawing,  dividing,  twisting  throwing;  mechanical  preparations.    Appara- 
tus for  drying  and  determining  the  thickness  and  length  of  the  threads. 

Plant  of  rope-spinning  mills,  round  cables,  flat  cables,  cables  diminues  (short 
cables?),  ropes,  strings,  wire  cables,  cables  with  a  metal  core,  fuses,  quick 
matches,  etc. 

Class  55.~~Apparatus  and  methods  of  weaving. 

Machines  for  warping,  winding.  Stretching  machines.  Ordinary  and  mechan- 
ical frames  for  the  manufacture  of  close  tissues.  Frames  for  the  manufacture  of 
figured  and  etnbroidered  stuflt's;  damask  looms. 

Frames  for  manufacturing  carpets  and  tapestries. 

Frames  with  meshes  for  the  manufacture  of  hosiery  and  tulles.  Plant  for  the 
manufacture  of  lace.    Plant  of  lace- work  factories. 

High-warp  tapestry  frames,  and  methods  of  figuring  by  means  of  pirns  (?) 
(esponlinage).  Accessory  apparatus:  Machines  for  fulling,  mangling,  diapering, 
watering,  measuring,  folding,  etc. 

Class  56. — Plant  and  methods  of  sewing  and  making  articles  of  clothing. 

Ordinary  tools  of  sewing  and  finishing  shops.  Machines  for  sewing,  stitching, 
seaming,  and  embroidering. 

Saws  for  cutting  stuffs  and  leathers  for  the  manufacture  of  articles  of  clothing 
and  boots. 

Machines  for  making,  pegging,  and  screwing  shoes. 

Machines  for  utilizing  caoutchouc. 

Class  57. — Plant  and  methods  of  manufacture  of  articles  of  furniture  and  of 

building  material. 

Machine  for  cutting  up  wood  for  veneering.    Saws  for  cutting  up  and  profile 

cutting,  etc. 

Machines  for  making  moldings,  borders  for  frames,  floor  plates,  furniture,  etc. 
Turning  lathes  and  different  apparatus  of  the  joiner's  and  cabinetmaker's  shops. 

Machines  for  stamping  and  chasing,  machines  and  apparatus  for  working  in 
stucco,  pasteboard,  ivory,  bone,  horn,  etc. 

Machines  for  bringing  to  a  point  (d  mettreau  point),  sculpturing,  chiseling  down 
statues,  engraving,  engraving  in  waved  lines,  etc. 

Brick  machines,  tile  machines.     Machines  for  making  artificial  stones. 

Machines  for  sawing  and  polishing  hard  stones,  marbles,  etc. 

Class  58.— Plant  and  methods  of  paper  manufacture,  dyeing,  and  printing. 

Plant  and  products  of  the  manufacture  of  paper  pulp  of  wood,  straw,  alfa,  etc. 

Methods  and  products  of  the  bleaching  of  ligneous  fiber. 

Plant  of  the  manufacture  of  paper  by  the  vat  and  by  machine. 

Apparatus  for  satining,  glazing,  watering,  diapering,  filigreeing,  and  ruling 
paper. 

Machines  for  cutting  up,  cutting  and  stamping  paper,  etc. 

Plant  for  bleaching,  coloring,  and  finishing  paper  and  tissues. 

Plant  for  printing  paper  hangings  and  tissues. 

Machines  for  engraving  the  printing  rollers. 

Plant,  apparatus,  and  products  of  foundries  for  types,  stereotype  plates,  etc. 

Machines  and  apparatus  employed  in  printing,  stereotyping,  engraving,  auto- 
graphy, lithography,  engraving  on  copper,  engraving  on  zinc,  chxomo-lithography, 
etc. 

Machines  for  setting  up  and  sorting  type. 

Printing  of  bank  notes,  stamps,  etc. 

Class  59. — Machines,  instruments,  and  methods  used  in  various  occupations. 

Coining  presses;  machines  used  in  the  manufacture  of  buttons,  pens,  pins,  letter 
envelopes;  machines  for  packing,  making  brushes  and  cards;  manufacturing  cap- 
sules; leading  goods;  corking  bottles,  etc. 


180  PARTS   EXHIBITION   OF    1889. 

Tools  and  methods  of  manufactare  of  articles  of  clockwork,  toys,  moeaic  work, 
basket  work.  etc. 
Machines  for  binding;  writing  machines. 

Class  60. — Carriage  and  wagon  making,  harness  making,  and  saddlery. 

Detached  pieces  of  wagon  and  carriage  manufacture;  wheels,  tires,  axles,  wheel 
boxes,  iron  work,  etc.    Springs,  and  various  systems  of  suspension. 

Methods  of  harnessing;  bits. 

Products  of  the  wagon- building  industry:  Wagons,  carts,  drays,  vehicles  destined 
for  special  purposes. 

Products  of  carriage  building:  Carriages  for  hire,  state  carriages,  private  car- 
riages, sedan  chairs,  litters,  sledges,  etc.,  velocipedes. 

Articles  of  harness  and  saddlery;  pack  saddles,  sad<lle3.  stretchers  for  convej'ing 
the  wounded  on  the  backs  of  mules:  bridlesandharnessfor  riding  animals;  beasts 
of  burden  and  draught;  stirrups,  spurs,  whips,  and  riding  whips. 

Class  61. — Plant  for  railroads. 

Detached  pieces:  Springs,  buffers,  brakes,  etc. 

Fixed  plant:  Rails,  chairs,  fish  plates,  side  tanks,  switches,  turntables;  rubber 
buffers;  cranes  for  supplying  fuel  and  water  tanks;  optical  and  acoustic  signals. 
Various  kinds  of  safety  apparatus,  of  blocking  trains. 

Fixed  plant  for  tramw..ys. 

Rolling  stoclv:  Passenger  cars,  construction  cars,  freight  cars,  cattle  cars,  loco- 
motives, tenders. 

Self-movable  carriages  and  road  engines. 

Special  machines  and  tools  for  shops  of  maintenance  and  repair  and  the  construc- 
tion of  plant. 

Plant  and  machines  for  inclined  planes  and  self-movable  planes;  models  of  ma- 
chines of  systems  of  traction,  of  apparatus  relating  to  railways. 

Rolling  stock  for  tramways  of  various  kinds. 

Class  62.— Electricity. 

Production  of  electricity:  Static  electricity,  piles  and  accessories,  magrneto-elec- 
trical  and  dynamo-electrical  machines,  accumulators. 

Transmission  of  electricity:  Cables,  wires,  and  accessories;  lightning  rods. 

Electrometry :  Apparatus  serving  for  electrical  gauges.    Registers  of  electricity. 

Applications  of  electricity:  Telegraphy,  signals,  telephony,  microphonj-,  photo- 
phony,  electric  light,  electric  motors,  electrical  locomotion,  conveyance  and  dis- 
tribution of  force  transmuters.  Medical  elecricity,  electro  chemistry.  Electro- 
magnets and  magnets,  compasses.    Electrical  clockwork. 

Various  kinds  of  apparatus. 

Class  63. — Plant  and  methods  of  civil  engineering  of  public  works  and  architec- 
ture. 

Building  materials:  Rocks,  woods,  metals,  ornamental  stones;  limestone,  mor- 
tars, cements,  artificial  stones  and  concretes;  draining  tiles,  bricks,  paving  tiles; 
slates,  roofing  paper  and  felts  for  roofs. 

Plant  and  products  of  ihe  methods  employed  for  the  preservation  of  wood. 
Apparatus  and  instruments  for  testing  building  material. 

Plant  for  earthworks;  excavators.  Apparatus  for  construction  shops.  Tools 
and  methods  of  the  trimmer,  of  the  cutter  of  stones,  of  the  mason,  carpenter, 
roofer,  locksmith,  joiner,  glazier,  plumber,  painter  of  buildings,  etc. 

Fine  locksmith's  work:  Lotks,  padlocks,  gratings,  balconies,  balustrades,  etc. 

Plant  and  engines  for  building  foundations:  Pile  drivers,  piles,  screw  piles, 
pumps,  pneumatic  apparatus,  dredgt^s,  etc. 

Plant  for  hydraulic  works  in  seaports,  canals,  rivers. 

Plant  and  apparatus  serving  for  the  distribution  of  water  and  gas.  Plant  for 
maintaining  roads,  plantations,  walks. 

Light-houses. 

Special  plant  for  telegraphing  by  compressed  air. 


PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889.  181 

Class  64. — Hygiene  and  public  works. 

Plant  instruments  and  apparatus  used  in  hygiene  investigations. 

Plant  and  methods  for  rendering  salubrious  private  houses,  buildings,  and  cities; 
methods  of  renewing  the  air  directly;  warming,  ventilating,  lighting  in  their  rela- 
tion with  health:  methods  of  carrying  off  water  and  sewerage  by  gutters,  drains, 
and  sewers;  receiving  reservoirs,  hydraulic  siphons,  water-closets,  public  and  pri- 
vate urinals, 'sinks,  close-stools,  night-soil  apparatus,  sanitary  plumbing,  walls, 
bricks,  roofs,  flooring,  etc. 

Apparatus  for  carrying  off,  receiving,  and  treating  sewerage. 

Apparatus  and  methods  for  filtering  water. 

Apparatus  intended  for  the  prevention  of  infectious  diseases;  methods,  prod- 
ucts, and  instruments  for  purifying,  destroying  germs,  and  disinfecting. 

Apparatus  and  instruments  for  interring  and  destroying  dead  bodies  in  ceme- 
teries and  on  battlefields;  cremation. 

Plans,  models,  and  documents  of  health  offices,  national,  departmental,  and 
communal. 

Plant  and  methods  of  industrial  and  professional  hygiene. 

Plans,  models,  arrangement,  and  furniture  of  hospitals,  various  asylums,  houses 
of  refuge,  of  retreats,  insane  asylums,  infant  asylums,  etc. 

Pians,  models,  specimens  of  civil  and  military  ambulances. 

Mineral  waters  and  waters  charged  with  natural  or  artificial  gases. 

Class  65. — Plant  of  navigation  and  life-saving. 

Drawings  and  models  of  stocks,  refitting  basins,  floating  docks,  etc. 

Drawings  and  models  of  buildings  of  all  kinds  used  for  river  and  maritime  navi- 
gation. Plans  and  models  of  systems  of  construction  adopted  in  the  merchant 
and  war  services,  torpedo  boats,  ship's  boats,  and  small  craft. 

Plant  of  ship's  rigging;  cranes,  capstans.  Vireurs  (steam  capstans?),  steering 
gear. 

Equipment. 

Flags  and  signals.  Apparatus  intended  to  prevent  collisions  at  sea;  buoys, 
beacons,  etc. 

Instruments  and  methods  of  swimming,  diving,  and  life-saving;  life-preservers, 
swimming  belts,  etc.;  diving  bells,  nautiluses,  diving  armor,  etc.;  submarine 
boats,  instruments  for  the  maritime  life-saving  service;  mortars  for  casting  lines; 
lifeboats,  etc.;  instruments  for  life-saving  in  case  of  fire  and  other  accidents. 

Pleasure  boats. 

Class  66. — Instruments  and  methods  of  the  art  of  war. 

Works  of  military  engineering;  fortifications. 
Artillery,  arms,  gun  carriages,  and  projectiles  of  all  kinds. 
Equipment,  clothing  material,  and  material  for  camps. 
Plant  used  for  military  transport. 
Military  topography  and  geography. 

SEVENTH  GROUP. 

FOOD  PRODUCTS. 

Class  67. — Cereals.    Farinaceous  products,  with  their  derivatives. 

Wheat,  rye,  barley,  rice,  maize,  millet,  and  other  cereals  in  the  grain,  and  when 
ground. 

Hulled  grain  and  oatmeal. 

Potato  starch,  rice  starch,  lentil  starch,  etc.,  gluten. 

Tapioca,  sago,  arrowroot,  various  starches,  mixed  farinaceous  products. 

Italian  paste,  semolino,  vermicelli,  macaroni. 

Preparations  of  food  intended  to  take  the  place  of  bread,  noules  (pastry),  pap, 
pastry  of  domestic  make. 


182  PAEIS   EXHIBITION    OF    1889. 

Class  68. — Products  of  the  bakery  and  pastry  sJiop, 

Various  kinds  of  bread,  leavened  and  unleavened;  fancy  breads  SLndpainsfagonves 
(bread  worked  into  figures?) ;  pressed  bread,  for  traveling,  military  campaigns, 
etc. .  sea  biscuit. 

Different  products  of  pastry  belonging  to  each  country.  Spice  bread  and  dry 
cakes  fit  for  keeping. 

Class  69. — Fat  bodies  used  for  food,  milk  products,  and  eggs. 

Fat  and  oils  for  food. 

Fresh  milk,  condensed  milk;  salt  and  fresh  butter;  cheeses. 

Eggs  of  all  kinds. 

Class  70. — Meats  and  fishes. 

Salt  meats  of  every  kind.  Meats  preserved  by  various  processes.  Meat  and 
soup  tablets.    Hams  and  preparations  of  meat. 

Poultry  and  game. 

Salt  fish,  packed  fish,  codfish,  herrings,  etc.;  fish  cured  in  oil;  sardines,  jnckled 
mackerel,  etc. 

Crustacea  and  shellfish:  Lobsters,  shrimps,  oysters,  pickled  oysters,  ancho- 
vies, etc. 

Class  71. — Vegetables  and  fruits. 

Roots,  potatoes,  etc. 

Dry  farinaceous  vegetables:  Beans,  lentils,  etc. 

Green  vegetables  for  boiling:  Cabbage,  etc. 

Vegetable  roots:  Carrots,  turnips,  etc. 

Spice  vegetables:  Onions,  garlic,  etc. 

Salads,  cucurbitaceous  plants,  pumpkins,  melons,  etc. 

Vegetables  preserved  by  various  processes. 

Fruits  in  the  fr&sh  state;  fruits  dried  and  prepared;  prunes,  figs,  raisins,  etc. 

Fruits  preserved  without  the  aid  of  sugar. 

Class  73. — Condiments  and  stimulants;  sugars  and  products  of  confectionery. 

Spice:  Pepper,  cinnamon,  allspice,  eta 
Table  salt. 
Vinegar. 

Condiments  and  compounded  stimulants:  Mustard,  karis,  sauces,  etc. 
Teas,  coffees,  and  aromatic  drinks;  coffees  of  chickory  and  sweet  acorns. 
Chocolates. 

Sugars  intended  for  domestic  and  other  uses. 

Various  products  of  confectionery:  Sugarplums,  sugar  bonbons,  foridants  (a 
kind  of  bonbon),  nougat, angelica,  anise,  sweetmeats,  and  jellies. 
Conserves. 
Brandied  fruits. 
Sirups  and  snga.vd  liquors. 

Class  1Z.— Fermented  drinks, 

Vin  ordinaire,  red  and  white. 

Cordials  and  vin  cuits  (wines  treated  by  fire?). 

Sparkling  wines. 

Ciders,  perry,  and  other  drinks  extracted  from  cereals. 

Fermented  drinks  of  every  kind. 

Brandies  and  alcohols. 

Spiritons  liquors,  gin,  mm,  tafia,  kirschwasser,  etc 


PAEIS   EXHIBITION   OF   1889.  183 

EIGHTH  GROUP. 

AGRICULTURE,  CULTIVATION  OF  THE  VINE,  AND  FISH  CULTURE. 

Class  74. — Specimens  of  farm  improvements  and  factories  of  agricultural 

products. 

Plans  of  farm  buildings  of  various  countries. 

Plans  of  stables,  cow  stables,  sheep  sheds  and  folds,  pigsties,  and  buildings  fit 
for  raising  and  fattening  animals. 

Material  for  stables,  cow  stables,  kennels,  etc. 

Apparatus  for  preparing  food  for  animals. 

Agricultural  machines  in  operation:  Steam  plows,  reapers,  mowers,  haymakers, 
thrashers,  etc. 

Plans  of  agricultural  manufactories:  Distilleries,  sugar  mills,  refineries,  brew- 
eries, flour  mills,  fecula  and  starch  factories,  silkworm  nurseries. 

Cider  presses,  oil  presses. 

Plans  for  poultry  houses,  pigeon  coops,  pheasant  coops. 

Apparatus  for  artificial  hatching. 

Plans  of  kennels. 

Class  75.— Viticulture. 

Plans  of  buildings  used  in  viticulture. 

Plant  used  in  the  cultivation  of  the  vine. 

Plant  of  wine  vaults,  cellars,  and  vats.    Presses. 

Courses  and  methods  employed  in  fighting  diseases  of  the  vine. 

Collections  of  vines. 

Class  76. — Useful  and  injurious  insects. 

Bees,  silkworms,  and  various  kinds  of  hornbyx. 

Cochineal. 

Material  for  raising  and  preserving  bees  and  silkworms. 

Material  and  methods  used  in  the  destruction  of  injurious  insects. 

Class  77. — Fish,  Crustacea,  and  mollusks. 

Useful  aquatic  animals  in  the  live  state. 

Aquariums,  methods  of  pisciculture. 

Material  for  rearing  fish,  mollusks,  and  leeches. 

NINTH  GROUP. 

HORTICULTURE. 

Class  78. — Conservatories  and  material  used  in  horticulture. 

Tools  of  the  gardener,  nursery  gardener,  and  cultivator  of  flowers. 

Apparatus  for  watering,  keeping  up  turf. 

Large  conservatories  and  their  appurtenances. 

Small  room  conservatories  and  window  conservatories. 

Aquariums  for  aquatic  plants. 

Fountains  and  apparatus  for  the  ornamentation  of  gardens. 

Class  79. — Flowers  and  ornamental  plants. 

Species  of  plants  and  specimens  of  cultivation  Indicating  the  characteristic 
types  of  the  gardens  and  the  natives  of  every  country. 

Class  80. — Kitchen  gardens. 

Species  of  plants  and  specimens  of  cultivation  indicating  the  characteristic 
types  of  the  kitchen  gardens  of  every  country. 


184  PARIS   EXHIBITION    OF    1889. 

Class  81. — Fruits  and  fruit  trees. 

Species  of  plants  and  specimens  of  the  products  of  cultivation  indicating  the 
characteristic  types  of  the  orchards  of  every  country. 

Glass  82. — Grains  and  plants  of  forest  species. 

Species  of  plants  and  specimens  of  the  products  of  cultivation  indicating  the 
methods  of  forest  planting  in  use  in  every  country. 

Class  83. — Plants  grown  under  glass. 

Specimens  of  the  methods  of  cultivating  in  use  in  various  countries  for  pleasure 
or  utility. 


[Annex  No.  2.] 

Law  of  May  SS,  1868,  relating  to  the  guaranty  of  inventions  capable  of  being  pat- 
ent, and  of  industrial  designs,  which  shall  be  admitted  to  public  expositions 
authorized  by  the  Government  throughout  the  whole  Empire. 

Akticle  1. 

Every  Frenchman  or  foreigfuer,  author  of  a  discovery  or  invention  capable  of 
being  patented  under  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  July  5,  1844,  or  of  an  industrial 
design  which  may  be  registered  conformably  with  the  law  of  March  18,  1806,  or 
his  representatives  may,  if  admitted  to  a  public  exposition  authorized  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, cause  the  delivery  to  them,  by  the  prefect  or  the  subprefect  of  the  depart- 
ment or  arrondissement  in  which  the  exposition  is  opened,  of  a  certificate  describ- 
ing the  object  exhibited. 

Article  2. 

This  certificate  assures  to  its  receiver  the  same  rights  which  a  patent  of  inven- 
tion or  a  legal  registration  of  an  industrial  design  would  grant,  dating  from  the 
day  of  admission  and  extending  to  the  end  of  the  third  month  following  the  closing 
of  the  exposition,  \vithout  prejudice  to  the  patent  which  the  exhibitor  may  receive 
or  to  the  registration  he  may  effect  before  the  expiration  of  this  period. 

Article  3. 

The  request  for  this  certificate  is  to  be  made  within  the  first  month,  at  very 
latest,  from  the  opening  of  the  exposition. 

It  is  to  be  addressed  to  the  prefecture,  or  subprefecture,  and  to  be  accompanied 
by  an  accurate  description  of  the  thing  to  be  guaranteed,  and,  if  there  be  occasion, 
by  a  plan  or  drawing  of  the  said  article. 

The  requests  as  well  as  the  decisions  made  by  the  prefect  or  subprefect  are  to  be 
recorded  in  a  special  register,  which  shall  be  afterwards  transmitted  to  the  depart- 
ment of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  public  works,  and  communication  of  its  con- 
tents shall  be  made,  without  charge,  on  every  re  luest. 

The  delivery  of  the  certificate  shall  be  free  of  costs. 


[Annex  No.  8.] 

Decree  issued  on  the  report  of  the  minister  of  commerce  and  industry  declaring  the 
premises  appropriated  to  the  Universal  Exposition  of  1889  to  be  a  Government 
customs-house. 

The  President  of  the  French  Republic: 

In  view  of  the  decree  of  November  8,  1884,  and  the  law  of  July  6,  1886,  author- 
izing the  opening  at  Paris  of  a  universal  international  exposition  in  1S89; 

In  view  of  article  84  of  the  law  of  December  17,  1814; 

In  view  of  article  4  of  the  law  of  July  5, 1836; 


PARIS    EXHIBITION    OF    1889.  185 

On  the  report  of  the  minister  of  commerce  and  industry  and  of  the  minister  of 
finance: 

DECREES. 

Article  1. 

The  premises  appropriated  to  the  Universal  Exposition  of  1889  are  declared  to  be 
a  Government  customs-house. 

Article  2. 

Articles  intended  for  the  Universal  Exposition  shall  be  forwarded  directly  to  the 
palace  of  the  exposition,  under  the  conditions  of  international  transit  or  of  ordi- 
nary transit,  according  to  the  choice  of  the  interested  parties,  by  all  the  offices 
opened  to  this  transit,  and  free  from  statistical  duty  (droit  de  statist ique). 

Transmission  by  international  transit  shall  be  made  without  examination. 

Transmission  by  ordinary  transit  shall  give  occasion  only  to  a  brief  examination, 
and  the  seals  of  the  custom-house  shall  be  affixed  without  charge. 

Article  3. 

Goods  admitted  to  the  Universal  Exposition  which  shall  be  offered  for  consump- 
tion shall  be  subjected,  of  whatever  origin  they  may  be,  only  to  the  duties  appli- 
cable to  similar  products  of  the  most  favored  nation. 

Article  4. 

The  minister  of  commerce  and  industry  and  the  minister  of  finance  shall  be 
charjijed,  so  far  as  each  may  be  concerned,  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree. 
Done  at  Mont-sous- Vandrey,  August  25,  1«8G. 

Jules  Gkevy. 
By  the  President  of  the  Republic. 
The  minister  of  commerce  and  industry: 

fiooUAKD  LOCKHOY. 

The  minister  of  finance: 
Sadi-Carnot. 


[Annex  No.  4.] 


Department  of  Commeece  and  Indus- 
try. 


Department  of 
Group  No.  — 
Class  No.  — 


Universal  Exposition  of  1889. 

FRENCH   SECTION. 

Request  for  admission. 

I,  the  undersigned  ' ,  residing  at^ ,  request  to  exhibit 

the  products  described  below  •' ,  for  the  exhibition  of  which  I  shall 

need  space  corresponding  to  the  following  dimensions^: 

Breadth, ;  height, ;  depth, .    By  these  presents  I  declare  that 

I  am  informed  of  the  general  regulation  and  accept  it. 


[Signature.] 


'Name,  Christian  names,  firm. 

*  Give  the  exact  residence  in  the  cities;  name  carefully  the  commune,  canton,  and 
arrondissement  where  the  factories  and  isolated  establishments  are  situated. 

''Give  as  complete  details  as  possible  of  the  articles  offered;  state  whether  it  is 
intended  to  exhibit  machines  or  other  objects  demanding  foundations  or  special 
constructions,  and  furnish,  as  far  as  possible,  an  annexed  sketch  of  these  founda- 
tions or  constructions,  with  their  cost.  In  case  it  is  desired  to  exhibit  apparatus 
demanding  the  employment  of  water,  gas,  or  steam,  it  is  requested  that  the  quan- 
tity and  pressure  of  gas  or  of  vapor  necessary  shall  be  stated.  If  it  is  desired  to 
put  the  machines  in  motion,  it  is  necessary  to  give  information  of  the  rapidity  of 
each  and  of  the  motive  force  needed,  expressed  in  horsepower. 

-These  dimensions  should  comprise  those  of  the  cases,  furniture,  or  platforms 
necessary  for  the  exhibition  of  the  articles. 


186  PARIS   EXHIBITION    OF    1889. 

[Extract  from  the  general  regulations.] 

Article  31. 

The  director-general  of  the  management  can  always  direct  the  withdrawal  of 
articles  of  any  origin  which  by  their  nature  or  appearance  may  appear  injurious 
to  or  incompatible  with  the  purpose  of  the  exposition  or  its  properties. 

Article  82. 

•  ***••• 

Applications  for  admission  from  Paris  and  the  department  of  the  Seine  are  to  be 
Bent  directly  to  the  minister  of  commerce  and  industry,  the  commissioner -general 
at  Paris,  Quai  d'Orsay,  25,  or  to  the  director-general  of  the  management,  Rue  de 
Varenne,  80, 

Applications  from  the  departments  will  be  received  through  the  departmental 
committees,  which  will  forward  them  to  the  same  addresses. 

All  French  applications  thus  collected  are  to  be  submitted  according  to  their 
class  to  the  examination  of  the  committees  on  admission  appointed  by  the  minister 
and  deciding  without  appeal. 

It  is  essential  that  all  applications  should  be  forwarded  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

The  printed  forms  of  applications  for  admission  shall  be  put  without  charge  at 
the  disposition  of  the  public: 

(1)  In  Paris:  At  the  department  of  commerce  and  industry,  Quai  dOrsay,  25, 
and  boulevard  St.  Gtennain,  344;  at  the  administrative  buildings  of  the  exposition 
(avenue  de  la  Bourdonnaye  and  rue  de  Varenne,  80),  at  the  tribunal  and  tlie 
chamber  of  commerce. 

(2)  In  the  departments:  At  the  prefectures,  subprefectures,  chambers  of  com- 
merce, tribunals  of  commerce,  consultative  chambers  of  the  arts  and  manufac- 
tures, and  at  the  places  where  the  departmental  committees  sit,  as  well  as  at  the 
places  of  distribution  which  they  shall  have  designated. 


No.  2. 

Mr.  Bayard  to  Mr.  Roustan, 

Department  op  State, 

Washington,  April  IS,  1887. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  6th  instant 
in  which  you  invite  this  Government  to  participate  in  the  international  exposition 
which  is  to  be  held  at  Paris  in  1889. 

The  matter  will  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  Congress  at  its  next  session,  with 
a  recommendation  that  provi.sion  be  made  for  the  participation  of  this  country  in 
the  proposed  exhibition. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  F.  Bayard. 
Hon.  The.  Roustan. 


WIOAEAGUA    OANAL   COMPANY.  187 


PIFTY-FIBST  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105, 107, 135, 139, 141, 402, 410, 415, 457.] 

January  10,  1891. 

[Senate  Eeport  No.  1944.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
tiio  followiug  report: 
To  the  Senate  : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  respectfully  report  that  on  the 
11th  day  of  April,  1890,  the  Senate,  in  executive  session,  adopted  a 
resolution  in  the  following  terms : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Belations  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  directed 
to  inquire  into  what  steps  have  been  taken  under  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An 
act  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  20th  Feb- 
ruary, 1889,  and  what  are  the  present  conditions  and  prospects  of  the  enterprise  ;  and 
to  consider  and  report  what,  in  its  opinion,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  may  re- 
quire in  respect  of  that  interoceanic  communication. 

In  obedience  to  this  direction  of  the  Senate  the  committee  entered 
upon  an  investigation  and  consideration  of  the  subject,  which  they 
have  diligently  and  exhaustively  pursued,  and  now  submit  their  report 
thereon  with  an  accompanying  bill,  the  passage  of  which  we  earnestly 
recommend. 

Columbus,  in  his  last  voyage  in  1502,  believed  that  he  would  find  a 
strait  in  Central  America  which  would  give  his  vessel  a  passage  through 
the  continent,  which  he  then  supposed  to  be  a  vast  island,  to  waters  at 
the  westward  which  should  bring  him  into  immediate  communication 
with  the  shores  of  Asia.  He  therefore  examined  the  coast  of  Central 
America  from  the  bay  of  Honduras  to  the  Spanish  Main.  He  sought 
that  which  did  not  exist  in  physical  geography.  Irving,  in  referring  to 
his  search,  says : 

He  had  been  in  pursuit  of  a  chimera  of  a  splendid  imaginatidn  and  penetrating 
judgment.  If  he  was  disappointed  in  his  expectations  of  finding  a  strait  through  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien  it  was  because  nature  herself  was  disappointed.  For  she  appears 
to  have  attempted  to  make  one,  but  to  have  attempted  in  vain. 

Nature,  however,  was  not  much  disappointed  in  her  efforts  between  the 
two  seas  at  Nicaragua.  There  is  the  lowest  continental  divide  (148  feet) 
between  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  in  latitude  5S°-4P  south,  and  the  perpet- 
ual and  all-pervading  ice  that  forms  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Eng* 


188  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

lisli  Possessious,  in  latitude  70°  north,  between  which  is  a  space  of  126 
«l'->j:ree8  of  latitude,  equal  to  nearly  0,000  miles. 

Almost  four  centuries  have  passed  since  ColumUns  was  biifiQ«^d  in 
his  efforts  to  reach  the  tranquil  sea  and  to  open  direct  coaimunication 
westward  from  Europe  to  Eastern  Asia,  while,  durinjf  ail  this  time, 
beni^n^nt  nature  has  placed  wiihin  the  reasonable  capaciiy  of  civilized 
man  the  means  of  making  such  communication  practical  an<l  beiiencent. 

I>ut  the  ^reat  desirability  of  communication  was  not  lost  si^ht  of. 
In  1551  the  Spanish  historian  Goniara  proposed  the  construction  of  a 
passage  thiouj^h  the  isthmus  and  urged  on  Philip  II  the  attfiiijjt 
to  accomplish  it  on  some  one  of  the  three  routes  that  have,  in  recent 
times,  been  so  often  considered  and  in  some  respects  attempted,  viz, 
Tehuantepec,  Nicaragua,  aud  Panama. 

Later,  and  in  comparatively  recent  times,  surveys  and  reconnois- 
sances  have  been  carried  on  or  attemi)ted  over  almost  t-very  part  of  the 
Isthmus.  Time,  research,  and  experiment  h:jve,  we  think,  now  demon- 
strated that  the  only  adequate,  efficient,  and  pr.tcticable  passage  is  that 
by  way  of  Lake  Nicaragua.  And  it  is  due  to  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua 
to  say  that  in  the  year  18J5  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  that  coun- 
try addressed  Mr.  Clay,  then  uur  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  subject,  and 
appealed  to  the  United  Stales  to  assist  in  executing  the  work  of  a  canal 
there.  He  stated  that  his  new-born  republic  was  in  the  first  period  of 
its  existence,  aud  said  that — 

Nothing  would  be  nmre  grateful  to  it  than  a  cooperation  by  this  generons  nation, 
whose  noble  conduct  baH  been  a  model  and  the  protection  to  all  thu  AincricaH;  it 
would  »e  highly  eatisfactory  to  have  a  participator  not  only  of  the  merit  of  the  enter- 
prise, bat  of  the  great  advantages  which  that  canal  of  communication  must  produce, 
by  means  of  a  treaty  which  would  perpetually  secuie  the  possession  of  it  to  the  two 
nations. 

The  executive  administration  of  the  United  States  entered  with  in- 
terest into  the  consideration  of  the  subject,  and  Nicaragua  was  informed 
that  the  then  newly  appointed  United  States  charge  d'affjiires  to  that 
country  would  investigate  the  subject  and  communicate  information 
u|)on  it  to  the  United  States,  and  that  it  would  then  be  necessary  to 
c()n>»ult  Congress.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  diplomatic  officer  of  the 
United  States  obtained  any  definite  information  in  respect  of  the  feasi- 
bility of  the  enterprise.  But  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  letter  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  United  States  to  the  Congress  of  Panama,  observed : 

A  canal  for  navigation  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  should  form  m 
proper  subject  of  consideration  at  the  Congress.  The  vast  object,  if  it  should  ever  be 
accomplished,  will  be  interesting  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to  all  parts  of  the  world; 
but  especially  to  this  continent  will  accrue  its  greatest  benetits ;  aud  to  Columbia, 
Mexico,  Central  America,  Peru,  and  the  United  States,  more  than  any  other  of  the 
American  nations. 

It  is  evident  to  the  committee  that  it  was  the  want  of  precise  infor- 
mation, such  only  as  careful  engineering,  surveys,  and  estimates  could 
famish,  which  left  the  project  nnattempted  at  that  time  or  soon  after. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  189 

But  the  hungry  instincts  of  commerce,  as  well  as  a  deliberate  com- 
prehension of  its  interests  and  necessities,  led,  from  time  to  time,  to 
enterprises  of  one  kind  and  another,  inaugurated  to  accomplish  the 
passage  of  the  Isthmus  by  a  ship  waterway. 

A  new  and  more  })owerful  impulse  and  interest  arose  when,  shortly 
before  1850,  the  northern  portion  of  Mexico  bordering  upon  the  Pacific 
became  a  part  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  the  discovery  of  the  enormous  resources  of  the  country,  not 
only  in  the  precious  metals,  but  in  all  those  aspects  of  nature  best 
adapted  to  the  support  and  development  of  self-sustaining,  civilized, 
and  populous  communities. 

The  construction  of  such  a  canal  as  is  now  proposed  appeared  to  be 
an  immediate  and  somewhat  urgent  necessity.  The  British  had  ob- 
tained a  narrow  foothold  through  so-called  negotiations  with  the  Indian 
chiefs  of  the  Mosquito  coast  (a  geographical  phrase  of  almost  unlimited 
elasticity).  British  subjects  had  a  ^'settlement"  at  the  Belize  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  and  carrying  away  mahogany  and  other  wood 
products  under  an  ancient  license  from  Spain. 

The  British  Government  had  also  seized  the  country  at  the  mouth  of 
the  San  Juan  Ixiver,  which  was  the  necessary  Atlantic  end  of  the  canal 
via  Nicaragua.  It  may  be  fairly  concluded  that  Her  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment was  solicitous  that  the  United  States  should  not  be  the  control- 
ling party  in  interest  in  the  construction  of  the  then  impending  enter- 
prise of  a  canal ;  and  that  the  United  States  were  quite  as  solicitous  that  a 
Government  of  another  continent  and  not  republican  should  not  estab- 
lish itself  by  conquest,  colonies,  or  dependencies  or  spheres  of  influ- 
ence in  the  midst  of  any  of  the  Republics  of  Central  America.  Such 
considerations  doubtless  led  the  two  Governments  to  conclude  the  Con- 
vention of  1850  known  as  the  Clayton  Bulwer  Convention. 

That  convention  was,  as  stated  in  its  opening  paragraph,  one  in 
which  the  two  Governments  were  to  set  forth  and  fix  "  their  views  and 
intentions  with  reference  to  any  means  of  communication  by  ship 
canal,"  etc,  across  the  isthmus. 

The  convention  then  proceeds  to  declare  that  neither  of  the  Govern- 
ments will  ever  obtain  for  itself  any  exclusive  control  over  the  canal 
"or  colonize  or  assume  or  exercise  any  domain  over  Nicaragua,  Costa 
Eica,  the  Mosquito  Coast,  or  any  part  of  Central  America^^  etc. 

It  provided  for  the  exertion  of  the  influence  of  the  two  Governments 
in  facilitating  the  construction  ot  the  work  by  every  means  in  their 
power.  It  provided  that  after  completion  they  will  defend  its  neu- 
trality, with  the  privilege  of  withdrawing  such  guaranty  on  notice.  It 
provided  for  inviting  other  Governments  to  come  into  the  same  arrange- 
ment. It  provided  that  each  party  should  enter  into  treaty  stipula- 
tions with  such  of  the  Central  American  States  as  they  might  deem 
advisable  for  carrying  out  the  great  design  of  the  convention. 


190  KICABAGUA  CANAL   COMPANY. 

It  declared  that  no  time  should  be  unDecessarily  lost  in  commencing 
and  constructing  the  canal  and,  therefore,  that  the  two  Governments 
would  give  their  support  and  encouragement  to  such  persons,  etc.,  as 
might  first  ofter  to  commence  the  same  with  the  necessary  capital,  etc., 
and  that,  if  any  i)erson8  then  already  had  obtained  the  right  to  build 
it  from  the  Central  American  Government  and  should  fail,  each  of  the 
two  Governments  should  be  free  to  afibrd  their  protection,  etc.,  to  any 
other  company  that  should  be  prepared  to  proceed  with  work. 

All  these  declarations  of  views  and  stipulations  concerning  them  were 
made  forty  years  ago. 

During  all  this  time  do  practical  and  efiective  steps  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  canal  have  been  taken  until  the  passage  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress of  February  20,  1889,  incorporating  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  I^icaragna. 

We  think  it  can  be  justly  affirmed  that  the  convention  of  1850  has 
become  obsolete,  for  the  convention  was,  based  upon  the  idea  of  an  im- 
mediate prosecution  of  the  enterprise  of  creating  this  great  interna- 
tional water  highway,  and  that  neither  Government  would  be  found, 
80  far  as  it  regarded  the  particular  question,  apart  from  other  con- 
siderations, to  consider  its  stipulations  as  longer  binding. 

Not  only  this  consideration  is  to  be  taken  into  view,  for  the  course  of 
events  in  the  enterprise  and  operations  of  nations  has  changed  entirely 
the  grand  commercial  situation  of  the  world.  The  Suez  Canal  has  been 
constructed  and  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  has  become,  in  sub- 
stance and  effect,  its  dominant  and  controlling  proprietor,  thus  secur- 
ing to  that  Government,  in  a  very  large  degree,  the  control  of  the  east 
and  west  commerce  of  the  world  between  the  southern  and  eastern 
shores  of  Asia  and  the  whole  of  Europe  and,  to  a  conisderable  degree, 
the  eastern  shores  of  the  United  States  and  the  other  American  Be- 
publics. 

We  think  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  had  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain,  in  1850,  been  in  possession  of  the  Suez  Canal,  the  United  States 
would  never  have  consented  that  any  canal  across  the  American  isth- 
mus should  be  under  the  joint  control  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  or  under  any  other  European  control.  In  this  respect,  there- 
fore, the  immediate  declarations  and  engagements  of  1850  between  the 
two  Governments,  in  regard  to  an  isthmian  canal,  have  become  entirely 
inapplicable,  and  justly  entitle  the  United  States  to  give  its  separate 
aid  and  encouragement  to  the  construction  of  such  a  canal.  But  this 
is  not  all. 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  convention  of  1850  most  important  to 
the  United  States  and  to  the  preservation  of  the  republican  governments 
on  this  continent  was  that  which  declared  that  neither  party  to  the  con- 
vention should  "occupy  or  fortify  or  colonize  or  assume  to  exercise 
any  dominion  over  Nicaragua,  Costa  Kica,  the  Mosquito  coasts  or  any 
part  of  Central  America.'" 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  191 

At  that  time  the  "settlement"  of  British  subjects,  as  it  was  called, 
at  the  Belize,  on  the  coast  of  Central  America,  was  of  the  smallest 
dimensions,  and  had  no  substance  or  form  of  a  territorial  dominion. 
British  woodcutters  were  there  under  an  ancient  Spanish  license  of 
timber  cutting,  and  nothing  more.  These  settlers  in  a  country  not 
belonging  to  the  British  Crown  had,  off  and  on,  attempted  to  form  a 
kind  of  local  government  for  preserving  order  among  themselves,  and, 
after  going  through  various  phases,  had  reached  the  point,  in  1850,  of 
some  local  magistrates  and  an  imperial  superintendent,  merely  and 
clearly  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  internal  order  among  the  English 
adventurers  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade  in  that  foreign  country. 

This  was  substantially  the  condition  of  things  when  the  convention 
of  1850  was  entered  into. 

The  next  step  taken,  after  the  convention  of  1850,  was  in  1853,  when 
a  legislative  assembly  was  constituted  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the 
settlement.  This  was  followed  by  a  convention  between  Great  Britain 
and  Guatemala,  in  1859,  for  the  establishment  of  the  boundaries  be- 
tween what  the  treaty  chose  to  call  "Her  Britannic  Majesty's  settlement 
and  possessions  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras  "  and  the  territories  of  Guate- 
mala. The  country,  or  the  largest  part  of  it,  belonged  to  Guatemala  as 
the  successor  to  all  the  sovereign  territorial  rights  of  Spain  in  that  re- 
gion ;  but  by  this  treaty  that  which  was  before  a  licensed  industrial  es- 
tablishment became  instantly  a  possession  of  the  British  Crown.  The 
settlement  government  continued  until  1862  when  the  settlement  was 
declared  a  colony  of  the  British  Crown  and  a  regular  colonial  establish- 
ment was  set  on  foot ;  and  so  from  that  time  to  this,  the  form  and  sub- 
stance of  a  regular  colonial  government  as  a  part  of  Her  Majesty's  do- 
minions has  continued.  It  is  understood  that  its  geographical  dominion 
has  been  vastly  enlarged  from  the  licensed  wood-cutting  limitations  and 
boundaries  that  existed  in  1850.  All  this  has  taken  place  systematic- 
ally and  persistently  notwithstanding  the  declaration  of  Her  Majesty's 
Government  that  it  should  not  "colonize  or  assume  or  exercise  any 
dominion  over  *  *  ♦  the  Mosquito  coast  or  any  port  of  Central 
America  ". 

If  these  proceedings  of  her  Majesty's  Government,  in  respect  of  one 
of  the  most  important  subjects  of  the  convention  and  in  absolute  op- 
position to  it,  do  not  discharge  the  United  States  from  all  and  every  of 
their  declarations  and  engagements  stated  in  that  convention,  it  is  im- 
possible to  conceive  what  could. 

In  view  of  all  these  considerations  the  committee  is  of  opinion  that 
the  United  States  is  at  present  under  no  obligation,  measured  either 
by  the  terms  of  the  convention,  the  principles  of  public  law,  or  good 
morals,  to  refrain  from  promoting,  in  any  way  that  it  may  deem  best 
for  its  just  interests,  the  construction  of  this  canal,  without  regard  to 
anything  contained  in  the  convention  of  1850. 

These  observations  are  submitted  as  a  part  of  the  historical  and 


192  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

dip]omati<5  consideration  of  the  subject,  the  omission  of  which  miglit 
lead  to  the  implication  that  the  committee  are  opinion  that  the  con- 
vention of  1850  is  still  in  force  and  of  binding  obligation  on  the  United 
States,  but  we  think  there  is  nothing  in  the  provisions  of  the  bill  now 
reporte<l  which  is  inconsistent  with  any  of  the  engagements  of  the 
United  States  entered  into  in  1850,  as  stated  in  that  convention. 

In  view  of  some  of  the  events  following  the  convention  of  1850  the 
United  States  in  1867  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  Republic  of  Nica- 
ragua by  which  that  Republic  granted  to  the  United  States,  for  its 
citizens,  the  right  of  transit  between  the  two  oceans,  on  any  route  of 
communication,  natural  or  artificial,  whether  of  land  or  water,  that 
might  be  constructed,  to  be  used  upon  equal  terms  by  the  citizens  of 
the  two  Republics. 

This  treaty  ot  1867  is  still  in  force  and  would,  we  think,  of  itself  jus- 
tify the  United  States  in  undertaking  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  Nic- 
aragua Canal.  In  1884  the  President  of  the  United  States  negotiated 
a  treaty  with  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  providing  for  the  construction 
of  the  canal  by  the  United  States  and  under  arrangements  that  pre- 
served the  sovereignty  of  Nicaragua  and  secured  to  all  the  Central 
American  Republics,  as  well  as  the  United  States,  the  benefits  of  the 
enterprise. 

That  treaty  was  submitted  to  the  Senate  in  December,  1884,  but  be- 
fore its  final  disposition  it  was  withdrawn  by  the  President  on  the  13th 
of  March,  1885,  for  further  consideration,  and  has  not  been  again  sub- 
mitted to  the  Senate  for  reasons  stated  by  him  and  mentioned  further 
ou.  Afterwards,  in  1887,  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua,  supposing,  appar- 
ently, that  the  treaty  which  had  been  negotiated  would  not  go  into 
effect,  made  a  concession  of  the  right  to  build  the  canal  to  a  private 
association  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  (known  as  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Association),  through  Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  who  had  been  one  of 
the  engineers  employed  by  the  United  States  in  making  surveys  there. 

That  concession  explicitly  provided,  first,  for  the  exclusive  privilege 
to  build  and  operate  the  canal  for  ninety  nine  years.  It  provided  that 
the  concession  might  be  taken  by  a  company  of  execution  to  be  organ- 
ize<l  by  the  association,  which  is  the  company  chartered  by  Con- 
gress February  20,  1889.  It  provided  that  the  people  of  all  nations 
should  be  invited  to  contribute  capital  on  a  certain  notice,  which  notice, 
the  committee  understands,  has  long  since  been  given.  It  provided  for 
a  reservation  of  5  per  cent,  of  the  subscriptions  to  the  Central  Ameri- 
can Republics.  It  provided  that  shares  not  so  taken  should  be  sub- 
ject to  the  free  disposition  of  the  company.  It  provided  the  respective 
terms  and  time  within  which  work  shouhl  be  commenced  and,  in  gen- 
eral, the  rapidity  with  which  it  shoul  I  be  carried  on.  It  provided  that 
the  Government  of  Nicaragua  should  receive  6  per  cent,  of  the  total 
amount  of  the  issue  of  the  stock,  etc.,  as  compensation  for  the  grant. 

It  made  other  provisions  in  respect  of  detail,  protection,  management, 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  193 

ete.,  analogous  to  those  usual  in  statutes  granting  corporate  privileges 
for  public  works.  Later  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica  assented  to  the 
arrangement  so  far  as  her  interests  were  concerned. 

Pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  concession  Mr.  Menocal  and  his 
associates,  all  citizens  of  the  United  States,  became  incorporated  as 
the  Maritime  Canal  Comi)any  of  Nicaragua,  under  the  act  of  Congress 
of  February  20,  1889. 

This  last-named  company  has  since  proceeded  with  the  work  in  con- 
formity with  the  terms  of  the  concession  and  with  the  act  of  incorpo- 
ration. The  extent,  nature  and  physical  characteristics  of  the  work  are 
stated  in  another  part  of  this  report.  In  immediate  connection,  how- 
ever, with  the  preceding  meager  historical  statement,  it  may  be  most 
convenient  to  state  the  general  geographical,  commercial,  and  political 
situation  of  the  subject  viewed  in  its  broader  aspects. 

It  is  self-evident  from  climatic  considerations  that  the  great  bulk  of 
the  commerce  and  intercourse  of  the  world  must  move  on  eastward 
and  westward  lines.  A  glance  at  any  modern  map  of  the  world  on 
Mercator's  projection  will  show  the  geographical  relations  of  seas  and 
continents  and  the  arrangement  of  the  present  commercial  lines  of 
ocean  and  land  transit ;  it  will  show  how  perfectly  correlative,  in  these 
respects,  the  Central  American  isthmus  is  to  the  Isthmus  of  Suez. 

It  will  be  seen  also  that,  while  the  Suez  Canal  is  immediately  moat 
important  to  the  commert;e  of  the  whole  of  Europe  with  southern  and 
western  Asia,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  is  immediately  and  most  largely  im- 
portant to  the  great  body  of  the  Republics  of  North,  Central,  and  South 
America. 

The  Nicaragua  canal  will  bring  into  the  utmost  possible  near  com- 
munication the  eastern  and  western  shores  of  North  America,  and,  in 
like  manner,  it  will  bring  into  the  utmost  possible  short  communication 
the  eastern  and  western  shores  of  South  America,  and  it  will  bring  the 
western  shores  of  South  America  into  direct  communication  with  the 
eastern  shores  of  North  America,  and  the  eastern  shores  of  South 
America  into  direct  communication  with  the  Western  shores  of  North 
America,  thus  making  the  short  passage  of  the  Isthmus  the  grand  key 
and  common  gateway  of  friendly  communication  between  the  republics 
that  now  occupy  substantially  the  whole  of  the  habitable  parts  of  both 
the  continents  of  North  and  South  America. 

Not  only  will  this  be  accomplished,  but  the  great  lines  of  the  world's 
trade  by  sea  will  be,  by  tliis  canal,  very  much  shortened,  and  the  perils 
of  navigation  and  the  asperities  of  climate  will  both  be  immensely  di- 
minished. We  submit  herewith  for  consideration  in  this  connection  a 
table  (marked  Appendix  1)  showing  some  of  the  savings  of  distance  in 
sea  navigation  by  the  use  of  this  canal. 

We  think  it  quite  unnecessary  to  speak  at  large  of  the  great  political 
considerations  attending  the  construction  of  this  work  under  the  pat- 
ronage ol  the  governments  and  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  the 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 13 


!94  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

republics  whose  territorial  and  sovereign  interests  are  directly  con- 
cerned in  it. 

These  considerations  are  not  those  that  look  to  hostile  or  adverse 
dealing  with  the  other  nations  of  the  globe,  but  such  a«  look  to  giving 
the  benefits  of  the  opening  of  this  great  "secret  of  the,  strait"  to  the 
whole  family  of  civilized  mankind,  always  undor  snch  just  and  consid- 
erate administration  as  shall  promote  to  the  utmost  degree  the  harmon- 
ious and  intimate  intercourse  of  all  the  republican  governments  which 
now,  as  we  have  said,  occupy,  almost  entirely,  the  two  great  western 
continents,  and  such  as  shall  enable  them  to  protect  and  improve  them- 
selves commercially  and  otherwise  in  their  republican  and  commercial 
development  and  prosperity. 

THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  WORK  ON  THE  NIOARAGUAN  CANAL 
GIVES  A  STRONG  ASSURANCE  OF  ITS  EARLY   COMPLETION. 

The  work  has  advanced  rapidly  and  with  such  uninterrupted  success 
that  some  of  the  most  important  parts  of  it  have  already  been  accom- 
plished. This  is  especially  true  as  to  the  engineering  and  the  clearing 
of  the  line  of  the  canal  and  the  building  of  a  railroad  preparatory  to  the 
dredging  of  the  channel. 

Nature  has  placed  within  the  convenient  reach  of  science  and  labor 
the  requisite  conditions  for  the  location  of  this  great  ship  canal,  and  the 
material  for  its  construction  at  a  very  low  cost  as  compared  with  other 
similar  enterprises.  When  it  is  constructed  on  the  plan  and  on  the 
ocation  selected  it  will  for  ages  furnish  ample  water  way,  convenience, 
and  security  to  the  fleets  of  all  nations  that  may  pass  through  this 
canal  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

The  enthusiasm  naturally  excited  by  the  magnitude  and  importance 
of  such  a  work  is  appreciated  by  the  committee,  and  has  increased 
their  caution  in  presenting  only  such  facts  in  their  report  as  are  well 
authenticated,  and  such  conclusions  as  they  seem  to  fully  sustain.  The 
reports  and  papers  herewith  submitted,  as  appendices  to  this  report, 
and  to  support  the  recommendations  of  the  committee,  come  from 
sources  that  are  worthy  of  full  credit.  They  are,  first,  a  paper  read  by 
A.  G.  Menocal.  chief  engineer  of  the  Maritime  Canal,  in  July,  1890,  at 
the  Fourth  International  Congress  on  Inland  Navigation,  Manchester, 
which  is  marked  Appendix  A. 

Second.  A  special  report  by  Charles  T.  Harvey,  civil  engineer,  on  the 
maritime  canal  of  Nicaragua,  and  data  relating  to  the  ship-canal  facili- 
ties and  traflBc  of  the  Lake  Superior  basin,  marked  Appendix  B, 

Third.  The  report  of  Frank  P.  Davis,  division  engineer  of  the  com- 
pany, dated  at  San  Juan  Del  Norte,  Nicaragua,  October  19,  1890,  cov- 
ering also  the  report  of  Chief  Surgeon  J.  Edward  Stubbert,  dated  No- 
vember 1,  1890,  marked  Appendix  C. 

Fourth.  A  paper  issued  by  the  Maritime  Company  in  1890,  entitled 
"The  Maritime  Ship  Canal  of  Nicaragua",  marked  Appendix  D. 


NICARAGUA    CAXAL   COMPANY.  195 

FifTh.  All  artfele  from  the  Engineering  News,  of  dates  tbe  14th  and 
nth  September,  1889,  marked  Appendix  E. 

Sixth.  An  article  published  in  the  California  Banker's  Magazine,  in 
October,  1890,  by  William  L.  Merry,  marked  Appendix  F. 

Seventh.  The  report  of  A.  G.  Meuocal,  of  January  1, 1890,  and  a  re- 
port from  five  civil  engineers,  selected  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany, to  revise  the  report  and  estimates  of  A.  G.  Menocal,  chief  en- 
gineer, marked  Appendix  G  and  H. 

After  Mr.  Menocal  had  completed  the  surveys  required  for  the  per- 
manent location  of  the  route  of  the  canal  he  requested  the  company  to 
select  a  board  of  engineers  of  the  highest  skill  and  experience  to 
thoroughly  examine  his  report,  and  to  revise  his  estimates  of  the  cost 
of  the  canal.  This  was  done  with  due  care  and  impartiality.  His 
estimates  were  increased  by  $14,633,262,  to  cover  contingencies  which 
include  every  possible  increase  of  the  cost  of  the  work  from  causes 
within  the  range  of  probable  conjecture. 

These  calculations  and  results  have  also  been  critically  examined  by 
many  of  the  leading  engineers  of  the  world,  without  any  practical  dis- 
sent from  the  main  propositions  in  Mr.  MenocaPs  reports.  The  atten- 
tion of  scientific  engineers,  and  of  various  governments,  has  long  been 
directed  to  this  proposed  transit  for  ships  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien, 
and  it  may  now  be  stated  as  the  final  concensus  of  opinion,  based  on 
many  surveys,  that  the  Nicaraguan  route  is  the  most  feasible  and  the 
least  costly  of  all  the  routes  that  have  been  projected  for  a  ship  canal 
across  that  barrier.  It  can  now  be  assumed  as  a  fixed  and  reliable 
fact  that  the  best  location  of  tbe  axis  of  the  canal  has  been  selected  for 
this  work. 

The  statements  and  opinions  of  Mr.  Merry,  as  expressed  in  Appen- 
dix F,  are  those  of  an  experienced  navigator,  who  was  for  many  years 
the  president  of  the  San  Francisco  Board  of  Trade.  They  also  reflect 
the  opinions  of  the  people  of  the  Pacific  coast,  who  have  most  carefully 
studied  this  subject,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  indicated  in  the 
bill  herewith  submitted  to  the  Senate. 

The  committee  respectfully  invite  attention  to  the  great  force  and 
effect  of  the  facts  presented  in  these  several  papers  as  to  the  value  of 
this  ship  canal,  and  the  comparatively  small  expenditure  required  to 
secure  to  all  the  nations  and  peoples  of  the  earth  the  benefits  of  this 
highway  for  travel  and  commerce,  that  connects  all  the  great  oceans 
and  seas  of  the  globe. 

The  canal,  as  it  is  located,  after  patient,  careful,  and  skillful  exami- 
nation, has  features  of  great  and  peculiar  advantage  that  are  not  found 
elsewhere  in  the  world  for  a  work  that  can  approximate  it  in  its  im- 
portance to  mankind.  It  has  for  its  crest  line  andreservoir  the  deep 
lake  of  Nicaragua,  that  is  fed  through  a  narrow  outlet  by  Lake  Mana- 
gua to  the  northward,  where  the  heavy  torrents  from  the  rainfall  in  the 


196  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

moantainR  are  caught  and  imprisoned.  Lake  Nicaragua  is  a  rock- 
bound  basin,  with  a  single  outlet,  called  the  San  Juan  River. 

This  outlet  has  a  deep  and  constant  current  of  water,  without  any 
natural  obstructions  or  sudden  falls,  and  is  never  flooded  with  a  rise 
of  more  than  4  or  5  feet  by  the  heaviest  rainfalls,  so  that  it  is  a 
safe  feeder  for  the  ship  canal.  The  difference  in  the  volume  of  water 
discharged  between  the  highest  and  lowest  water  in  the  lake  is  about 
1,000  feet  per  second.  The  distance  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  at  Grey- 
town  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  at  Brito  is  169.448  miles,  all  of  which  will 
be  slack- water  navigation  except  26.783  miles,  which  is  the  length  of 
the  prism  of  the  canal,  making  142.659  miles  of  free  navigation.  A 
dam  at  Ochoa,  on  the  San  Juan  River,  the  "divide"  between  the  San 
Francisco  River  and  the  Deseado,  about  16  miles  from  Greytown,  and 
a  dam  at  Tola,  within  4  miles  of  the  Pacific  coast,  with  a  short  in- 
terval of  canalization,  extend  and  establish  a  clean  surface  level  of 
1534  miles  over  the  whole  distance  of  169^  miles  between  the  oceans. 

For  the  exact  measurement  of  these  distances  the  committee  refer 
to  the  papers  appended  to  this  report.  It  has  impressed  the  committee 
that  this  route  has  very  important  advantages  in  the  fact  that  snch  a 
great  distance  of  slack  water  navigation  is  secured  by  the  erection  of 
two  dams  at  places  where  the  structures  can  easily  be  made  entirelj^ 
secure  by  the  use  of  material  found  in  abundance  along  the  line  of  the 
canal.  The  surveys  for  this  work  were  made  with  the  greatest  care. 
They  average  about  40  miles  of  preliminary  lines  to  1  mile  of  actual 
location. 

At  Ochoa,  on  the  San  Juan  River,  below  the  entrance  of  the  San 
Carlos  River,  flowing  northward  from  Costa  Rica,  the  line  of  the  canal 
diverges  to  the  eastward,  while  the  flow  of  the  united  rivers  is  to  the 
southward. 

Behind  a  range  of  low  hills  a  valley,  or  basin,  was  found,  into 
which  the  waters  of  the  San  Juan  will  be  forced  by  the  dam  at  Ochoa. 
In  this  basin  about  9  miles  of  water  at  the  level  of  Lake  Nicaragua 
will  form  a  vast  estuary  and  dispense  with  the  necessity  of  excavating 
the  canal.  Another  important  result  is  that  the  canal  is  beyond  the 
influence  of  any  flood  that  may  occur  from  the  united  volumes  of  the 
San  Juan  and  San  Carlos  rivers  in  the  rainy  season. 

The  skillful  thoroughness  of  the  surveys  have  secured  a  location  for 
the  canal  that  includes  every  possible  a<lvantage  that  the  toi)ography 
of  the  country  and  the  easy  and  cheap  control  of  the  best  material  for 
its  contruction  affords. 

The  dams,  banks,  slopes,  aprons,  drains,  weirs,  locks,  and  waste- 
ways  have  been  so  located  as  to  assure  the  permanency  of  the  work. 

The  quarries  of  stone  along  and  near  to  the  line  of  the  canal  while 
increasing  the  cost  of  excavation,  strengthen  the  work  and  are  of  great 
advantage  in  the  construction  of  locks  and  dams  and  in  the  building  of 
bridges,  piers,  moles,  and  breakwaters  and  quays  in  the  harbor. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  197 

Confronted  with  the  great  dilliculties  that  are  described  in  the  report 
of  Mr.  Davis,  and  within  about  twelve  months  of  actual  operations,  a 
solid  pier  has  been  extended  about  1,000  feet  into  the  sea,  where  the 
natural  depth  of  the  water  is  14  feet.  The  channel  to  the  leeward  of 
this  pier  is  rapidly  deepening  by  the  action  of  the  sea  and  will  soon  be 
of  suflBcient  depth  to  admit  the  passage  of  the  largest  vessels.  A  safe 
harbor  for  the  largest  ships  at  the  entrance  of  the  canal  may  now  be 
considered  as  being  assured  at  a  very  moderate  expense. 

Pure  cold  water  is  brought  in  steel  pipes  for  a  distance  of  10  miles 
from  the  hills  back  of  the  city  of  America,  on  the  coast.  This  gives 
much  security  to  the  health  of  those  employed  on  the  canal. 

Provision  for  the  health  and  comfort  of  all  classes  of  employes  has 
been  carefully  made  by  the  company,  and  the  results  have  been  entirely 
satisfactory,  as  they  are  shown  in  the  reports  of  the  surgeon  in  chief. 

The  building  of  storehouses  and  accommodations  for  the  comfort  of 
the  laborers,  and  providing  them  with  good,  wholesome  food  and  cloth- 
ing, has  been  of  great  advantage  to  the  enterprise.  All  the  work  done 
by  the  company  has  been  attended  with  careful  regard  to  economy. 

The  heaviest  part  of  the  labor  of  clearing  the  dense  forests  from  the 
line  of  the  canal  has  been  accomplished. 

The  great  swamp  of  the  Deseado  River  has  been  crossed  with  this 
clearing  and  the  firm  ground  of  the  hills  has  been  reached,  where  the 
forest'^  are  comparatively  light  and  the  wood  is  better  for  construction 
purposes.  The  wood  found  in  the  swamps  being  of  light  and  soft  tex- 
ture decays  rapidly,  and  in  the  dry  season  the  felled  forests  are  readily 
destroyed  with  fire.  Between  10  and  12  miles  of  railroad  has  been 
built  through  this  great  swamp,  and  is  ballasted  with  sand.  It  may 
be  classed  as  a  good  and  permanent  road  that  supports  heavy  trains 
drawn  by  locomotives  of  30  and  40  tons  burden,  and  is  sufficient  for  all 
the  purposes  of  the  construction  of  the  canal,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
built. 

This  road  is  surveyed  and  located  to  its  terminus  at  Ochoa,  to  which 
point  a  line  of  telegraph  is  in  operation  from  Greytown. 

The  report  of  Mr.  Davis  shows  the  work  that  has  been  done  on  the 
Pacific  Division  ot  the  canal  and  the  great  quantity  of  material  and 
machinery  that  has  been  collected  there,  indicating  enlightened  and 
systematic  industry  and  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  company. 

This  company  has  engaged  the  confidence  of  the  Governments  and 
people  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  as  to  its  ability  and  faithful  pur- 
pose to  construct  the  canal.  Their  earnest  cooperation,  thus  secured, 
is  an  important  element  of  success. 

The  committee  consider  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  recapitulate  the 
facts,  so  fully  stated  in  the  papers  appended  to  this  report,  as  to  the 
details  of  the  work  on  the  canal  and  its  cost.  No  important  facts  are 
omitted,  and  none  are  unduly  colored  in  statement,  so  far  as  the  com- 
mittee have  been  able  to  discover. 


198  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

In  some  of  these  papers  comparisons  are  made  between  the  cost  of 
this  work  and  of  its  eugineering  difficulties  with  those  works  that  en- 
able sea-going  vessels  to  reach  Lake  Superior  from  tide  water  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  River. 

Perhaps  an  accurate  estimate  cannot  now  be  made  of  the  cost  of 
opening,  maintaining,  and  improving  the  Welland  Canal  and  the  locks 
at  Sault  St.  Marie,  but  the  lowest  calculation  will  bring  the  cost  up  to 
two  thirds  of  the  sum  that  the  Nicaraguan  Canal  will  cost.  The  differ- 
ence in  elevation  to  be  overcome  is  about  500  feet  in  favor  of  the  route 
through  lake  Nicaragua,  and  the  other  physical  difficulties  are  greater 
than  those  found  on  the  Nicaraguan  Canal.  When  the  commerce  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  is  compared  with  that  of  the  basins  of  our 
northern  lakes  it  is  obvious  that  the  tonnage  that  will  pass  through  the 
Nicaraguan  Canal  will  be  many  times  greater  than  that  through  oar 
lakes  in  the  interior. 

Mr.  Harvey  in  his  report  puts  this  matter  in  this  strong  light : 

If  the  tonnage  of  this  canal  route  npon  a  water-course  composed  of  a  cluster  of 
inland  lakes,  paralleled  through  their  entire  length  by  railways  on  both  of  their 
borders,  and  with  competing  adjacent  water-courses  as  shown,  has  actually  increased 
from  '  ,567,741  tons  of  freight  in  1881,  to  6,411,423  in  1888,  and,  presumably  to  7,500,000 
tons  in  1889,  what  must  be  the  traffic  of  the  ship  canal  which  bisects  a  hemisphere, 
saves  10,000  miles  and  fifty  days  of  freight-steamer  time  between  New  York  and  San 
Francisco,  and  economizes  proportionately  in  time  and  the  distance  to  and  from  in- 
numerable other  commercial  centers? 

Mr.  Harvey  also  estimates  the  freight  tonnage  passing  through  the 
Suez  Canal  in  1889  at  0,800,854  tons,  which  is  709,168  tons  less  than 
that  of  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 

There  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  Nicaragua  Canal  will 
be  completed  within  six  years  from  the  date  of  the  passage  of  the  bill 
herewith  reported  to  the  Senate,  and  that  commerce  will  force  its  way 
in  ships  from  ocean  to  ocean,  for  the  necessities  of  every  maritime  coun- 
try coincide  in  an  urgent  demand  for  the  early  completion  of  this  work. 

6HAUj  the  government  of  the  united  states  aid  in  the  con- 
struction OF  the  CANAIi. 

The  closing  direction  of  the  Senate  is  that  this  committee  report  its 
opinion  as  to  what  the  interests  of  the  United  States  may  require  in 
respect  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  or,  in  other  words,  whether  in  view  of 
existing  circumstances  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  aid  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  in  the  execution 
of  the  work  proposed,  and  if  so  to  what  extent  and  in  what  manner. 
This  depends  upon  the  ability  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  to  con- 
struct the  canal  upon  the  basis  of  actual  cost,  so  that  the  tolls  and 
charges  need  not  exceed  a  fair  interest  on  such  costand  the  expense  of 
maintenance  and  administration. 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  charges  upon  the 
oommerce  of  the  world  for  the  use  of  the  improvement  should  not  be 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  li^9 

enhanced  by  interest  and  dividends  on  stock  and  bonds  far  in  excess  ol 
the  actual  cost.  It  became  therefore  the  first  duty  of  the  committee  to 
ascertain  whether  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  intended  to  or  could 
limit  the  stock  and  bonds  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of  money  ac- 
tually expended,  and,  if  not,  what  additional  stock  or  bonds  would  be 
required  to  cover  contractors'  risks,  bankers'  discounts,  and  bonus 
granted  to  induce  investors  to  incur  the  leal  and  imaginary  risks  of  an 
investment  that  could  yield  no  income  until  the  work  of  six  or  seven 
years  was  completed. 

Your  committee  therefore  called  before  them  the  ofiQcers  and  engi- 
neers of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  and  also  of  the  Construction 
Company  employed  by  the  Maritime  Company  to  actually  construct  the 
work,  to  ascertain  what  contracts  and  agreements  had  been  made 
between  them  and  what  plan  was  proposed  to  raise  the  large  sum  of 
money  needed.  A  copy  of  the  statemients  made  and  the  documents  fur- 
nished in  the  process  of  this  examination  are  made  a  part  of  this  report. 

It  appears  from  the  estimate  of  A.  G.  Menocal,  chief  engineer,  dated 
January  31,  1889,  to  the  president  and  board  of  directors  of  the  Nica- 
ragua Canal  Construction  Company,  that  the  cost  of  the  work  proposed, 
without  interest  and  contingencies,  was  $65,084,176.  It  also  appears 
by  the  report  of  the  board  of  consulting  engineers,  revising  the  reports 
of  the  chief  engineer,  that  the  estimated  cost  is  increased  to  $73,166,308. 
To  this  estimate  they  add  for  certain  specified  and  unspecified  contin- 
gencies of  construction  $14,633,262,  making  the  total  estimate  $87,799,- 
570.  These  estimates  are  based  upon  a  plan  of  construction  which  con- 
templated that  the  work  could  be  completed  within  six  years.  The  in- 
terest accruing  on  the  money  actually  invested  as  the  work  progressed, 
at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent.,  if  the  work  was  completed  within  six  years, 
assuming  an  equal  expenditure  each  year  during  the  period  of  construc- 
tion, would  be  equivalent  to  15  per  cent.,  or  $13,000,000,  making  the 
aggregate  of  expenditure  of  money  and  accruing  interest  thereon  for 
the  full  completion  of  the  work  of  about  $100,000,000. 

This  estimate,  your  committee  is  of  the  opinion,  from  such  judgment 
as  it  can  form  upon  the  documents  furnished,  is  a  reasonable  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  the  completed  work  if  paid  for  in  money.  There  are  ele- 
ments of  unavoidable  contingencies  which  may  largely  increase  this 
cost,  such  as  grave  financial  disturbances  that  may  advance  the  rate  of 
interest,  such  legislation  as  will  diminish  the  purchasing  power  of 
money,  possible  contingencies  arising  out  of  disturbances  in  the  local 
governments  of  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua,  and  from  natural  convul- 
sions, storms,  or  earthquakes,  which  can  not  be  foreseen  and  of  which 
there  is  no  reasonable  fear.  The  estimates  of  the  actual  cost  of  the 
work  and  of  contingencies  seem  to  be  sufl&ciently  liberal  to  cover  all 
probable  expenditures,  and  lead  your  committee  to  the  belief  that  the 
amount  stated,  $100,000,000,  if  furnished  as  needed  without  delay  or 
impairment  of  value  will  be  ample  to  complete  the  work  proposed. 


200  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

It  became  important  in  the  first  instance  to  ascertain  how  it  was  pro- 
posed by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  that  this  large  sum  should  be 
raised.  The  statement  of  Mr.  IJiram  Hitchcock,  president  of  the  Ma- 
ritime Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  and  of  Hon.  Warner  Miller,  presi- 
dent of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company,  show  clearly  the 
plans  proposed  by  the  two  companies  to  raise  the  money  requisite. 

The  act  incorporating  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua 
provides  that  the  capital  stock  of  said  company  shall  consist  of  not 
less  than  1,000,000  shares  of  $100  each,  or  $100,000,000,  with  the 
right  to  increase  the  capital  stock  to  2,000,000  shares  of  $100  each, 
or  $200,000,000  on  the  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  stock  of  said  company 
at  any  time  outstanding.  It  also  authorizes  the  company  in  the  con- 
struction of  said  canal,  and  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  the  act,  to  issue 
its  bonds  and  secure  the  same  by  mortgage  on  its  property  and  rights 
of  property  of  all  kinds  and  descriptions,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  in- 
cluding its  franchise  to  be  a  corporation.  The  amount  of  said  bonds  is 
not  limited,  but  assuming,  a^s  the  act  contemplates,  that  it  would  be 
equal  to  the  amount  of  stock  outstanding,  the  amount  of  stock  and 
bonds  might  range  from  $200,000,000,  to  $400,000,000,  with  authority  to 
increase  the  amount  of  bonds  to  an  indefinite  extent. 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  charter  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
entered  into  a  provisional  contract  by  which  the  canal  company  agreed 
to  pay  the  Construction  Company  for  the  work  proposed  stock  to  the 
amount  of  $92,500,000,  being  the  total  stock  authorized,  less  conces- 
sions to  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Bica,  and  $150,000,000  in  bonds,  an  aggre- 
gate of  $242,500,000.  It  was  assumed  that  the  bonds  of  the  company, 
bearing  interest  at  5  or  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  could  be  sold  at  the  rate 
of  about  60  cents  on  the  dollar,  the  rate  at  which  the  first  bonds  of  the 
Suez  Canal  were  sold.  The  stock  was  to  be  given  to  the  contractors 
as  a  bonus  to  induce  them  to  undertake  the  contract.  In  view  of  the 
diflBculties  in  the  way  of  the  enterprise,  your  committee  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  contract  was  as  favorable  a  one  as  could  be  made,  if  we 
may  judge  by  the  contracts  made  for  similar  undertakings  by  private 
companies  and  in  view  of  the  risks  and  hazards  of  the  future.  The 
ability  of  the  Construction  Company  to  perform  the  work,  even  for  this 
great  sum,  would  depend  entirely  upon  its  ability  from  time  to  time  to 
sell  the  securities  of  the  Maritime  Company. 

Any  stringency  or  fluctuation  in  the  money  market  might  prevent 
their  sale  and  thus  arrest  the  progress  of  the  work.  Any  neglect  on 
the  part  of  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  to  protect 
the  contractors  in  the  performance  of  the  work  would  necessarily  add 
to  its  cost,  and,  perhaps  as  in  similar  enterprises  disable  the  company 
and  forfeit  their  charter  privileges.  Any  failure  of  the  bankers  pur- 
chasing these  securities  to  pay  for  them  according  to  the  conditions  of 
the  sale  would  have  the  like  effect.  The  work  is  so  great  and  the  bene- 
fits of  its  completion  so  transcendent  that  it  would  seem  that  its  exe- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


201 


cntion  should  not  be  left  to  private  enterprise  that,  in  the  chances  of 
the  fature,  may  fail.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  private  company, 
corporation  or  combination,  however  strong  it  may  appear,  would  be 
able  to  complete  so  great  an  enterprise,  one  tliat  could  yield  no  income 
during  its  progress  and  could  not  in  any  event  yield  profit  until  after 
the  whole  enterprise  was  completed.  Unlike  railroads,  the  investment 
could  not  yield  any  income  or  profit  until  it  was  demonstrated  by 
actual  trial  that  commercial  vessels  could  pass  from  ocean  to  ocean  with 
reasonable  facility  and  without  delay  or  danger.  In  whatever  view 
the  committee  could  take  of  the  enteri)rise  there  appears  grave  doubt 
whether  it  could  be  executed  without  the  strong,  certain,  and  powerful 
support  of  a  great  nation  or  a  combination  of  nations. 

Even  if  completed  upon  the  plan  proposed,  the  amount  of  stock  and 
bonds  outstanding  would  at  5  per  cent,  require  that  the  tolls  and  other 
income  of  the  comi)any  would  yield  $12,r)00,000  a  year,  a  sum  that 
would  be  so  great  a  burden  on  the  commerce  of  the  world  as  to  leave 
it  questionable  whether  vessels  would  pass  through  the  canal  or  follow 
the  old  course  of  navigation  around  Cape  Horn.  The  gentlemen  en- 
gaged in  the  enterprise  are  confident  of  their  ability  to  execute  the 
work.  They  did  not  express  a  desire  for  aid  but  seemed  to  have  entire 
confidence  of  their  success.  They  have  already  expended,  as  we  are 
advised,  about  $4,000,000  and  are  negotiating  contracts  and  loans. 

The  committee,  however,  felt  grave  doubts,  and  it  was  apparent  that 
at  all  events  the  necessities  of  the  company  would  com[)el  them  to  sell 
their  stock  and  bonds  in  tiie  best  market  at  a  large  discount.  The 
stock  and  bonds  would  naturally  flow  into  the  hands  of  European 
bankers,  and  with  them  the  ultimate  control  and  government  of  the 
canal.  For  more  than  seventy  years  the  United  States  has  carefully 
adhered  to  the  policy  of  the  noninterference  of  European  powers  with 
the  integrity  or  autonomy  of  American  nations.  This  canal  will  be  to 
the  United  States  a  part  of  its  coast  wise  channel  from  the  Atlantic 
States  to  the  Pacific  States.  The  concessions  made  by  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Kica  are  to  an  American  company  with  stipulations  and 
privileges  in  favor  of  the  United  States.  The  interests  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  are  much  greater  in  the  proper  management  of  the 
canal  and  in  its  free  use  at  reasonable  tolls  than  any  foreign  power. 

The  Maritime  Company  as  now  organized  may  be  trusted  to  protect 
the  interests  of  American  citizens,  but  its  willingness  to  do  so  may  be 
changed  by  a  change  in  the  ownership  of  stock.  Many  examples  of  that 
kind  have  occurred  when  combinations  and  even  foreign  governments 
have  bought  the  majority  of  the  stock  of  a  corporation  with  a  view  to  its 
control.  To  leave  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  de- 
pendent upon  the  cupidity  of  a  corporation  controlled  necessarily  by  its 
changing  its  j)ecuniary  interests  and  which  may  fall  under  the  influence 
of  rival  powers  would  be  to  surrender  the  great  advantages  expected  by 
our  people  from  the  use  of  the  canal  in  shortening  by  over  10,000  miles 


202  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

the  passage  of  vessels  from  our  ports  on  the  Atl:iiitictoour  ports  on  the 
Pacific,  as  well  as  to  endanger  the  vast  trade  that  it  is  expected  will 
spring  up  from  the  United  States  through  the  canal  to  the  western 
ports  of  South  America  and  to  Asia  and  Australia.  While  the  United 
States  does  not  desire  to  have  a  monopoly  of  these  benefits,  but  is 
willing  upon  just  considerations  to  share  them  with  all  the  nations  of 
the  world,  yet  we  are  more  deeply  interested  than  any  other  in  making 
the  harden  of  this  transit  as  light  as  possible,  and  to  secure  its  comple- 
tion at  a  sum  the  interest  of  which  will  not  be  too  great  a  burden  apon 
commerce. 

These  considerations  led  your  committee  without  division  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  is  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  make  such  a  con. 
tract  with  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  as  would  certainly  assure  the 
completion  of  the  canal  within  the  period  of  six  years  at  its  actual 
cost  in  money,  to  be  represented  by  bonds  of  that  company  guarantied 
by  the  United  States, >vhich  in  any  state  of  the  money  market  would 
be  sold  at  not  fess  than  par,  the  United  States  to  be  indemnified  against 
liability  on  its  guaranty  by  a  pledge  of  a  majority  of  the  capital  stock 
of  the  company  with  power  to  vote  such  stock.  Thus,  without  loss  to 
the  United  States,  it  would  secure  the  early  and  complete  construction 
of  the  work  at  its  actual  cost  and  such  reasonable  control  of  the  transit 
as  would  give  to  our  citizens  at  least  equal  advantages  in  the  use  of  the 
canal. 

In  this  way,  assuming  that  the  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  canal  is 
reasonable,  which  the  committee  propose  to  have  tested  by  United 
States  engineers,  the  United  States  could  secure  to  the  people  of  Nica- 
ragua and  Costa  Bica  (who  from  their  position  are  most  interested  in 
the  canal),  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  who  will  probably  main- 
tain the  largest  commerce  over  it,  as  well  as  to  all  the  nations  of  the 
world,  the  use  of  the  canal  at  the  lowest  tolls  that  will  reimburse  and 
save  harmless  the  United  States  from  its  guaranty,  and  yet  will  yield 
to  the  actual  builders  of  the  canal  moderate  profits,  without  watered 
stock  or  discredited  bonds  resulting  in  unnecessary  burdens  upon  ves 
sels  passing  through  its  waters. 

This  has  been  the  object  of  the  United  States  in  all  the  treaties  made 
and  negotiations  had  with  the  Central  American  States  and  other  for- 
eign powers  during  a  period  of  seventy  years.  Every  President  since 
and  including  Mr.  Monroe  has  participated  in  this  negotiation,  and  all 
of  them  have  favored  the  construction  of  an  interoceanic  canal  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  across  the  isthmus  to  be  practically  under 
the  control  of  the  United  States,  but  to  be  open  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world.  To  secure  the  best  practicable  route  the  United  States  has  con- 
ducted many  elaborate  and  expensive  surveys,  with  full  details  as  to 
every  route  proposed  from  Mexico  to  Colombia,  resulting  in  the  concur- 
ring judgment  of  nearly  all  the  engineers  and  officers  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  that  the  route  proposed  by  way  of  Lake  Nicaragua  is  the  best. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  203' 

In  commuDicating  some  of  these  surveys  to  the  Senate,  President  Hayes 
thus  stated  the  American  doctrine  in  respect  to  the  proposed  canal : 

The  policy  of  this  country  is  a  canal  under  American  control.  The  United  States 
can  not  consent  to  the  surrender  of  this  control  to  any  European  powers.  If  exist- 
ing treaties  between  the  United  States  and  other  nations,  or  if  the  rights  of  sover- 
eignty or  property  of  other  nations  stand  in  the  way  of  this  policy— a  contingency 
which  is  not  apprehended — suitable  steps  should  be  taken  by  just  and  liberal  negoti- 
ations to  promote  and  establish  the  American  policy  on  this  subject,  consistently  with 
the  rights  of  the  nations  to  be  affected  by  it. 

The  capital  invested  by  corporations  or  citizens  of  other  countries  in  such  an  enter- 
prise must,  in  a  great  degree,  look  for  protection  to  one  or  more  of  the  great  pow- 
ers of  the  world.  No  European  power  can  intervene  for  such  protection  without 
adopting  measures  on  this  continent  which  the  United  States  would  deem  wholly  in- 
adniisHible.  If  the  protection  of  the  United  States  is  relied  upon,  the  United  States 
must  exercise  such  control  as  will  enable  this  country  to  protect  its  national  interests 
and  maintain  the  rights  of  those  whose  private  capital  is  embarked  in  the  work. 

An  iuteroceanic  canal  across  the  American  isthmus  will  essentially  change  the 
geographical  relations  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  of  the  United  States, 
and  between  the  United  States  and  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  will  be  the  great  ocean 
thoroughfare  between  our  Atlantic  and  our  Pacilic  sliores,  and  virtually  a  part  of  the 
coast  line  of  the  United  States.  Our  mere  commercial  interest  in  it  is  greater  than 
that  of  all  other  countries,  while  its  relation  to  our  power  and  our  prosperity  as  a 
nation,  to  our  means  of  defense,  our  unity,  peace,  and  safety,  are  matters  of  para- 
mount concern  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  No  other  great  power  would, 
under  similar  circumstances,  fail  to  assert  a  rightful  control  over  a  work  so  closely 
and  vitally  affecting  its  interest  and  welfare. 

Mr.  Evarts,  then  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  same  connection  said: 

The  natural  interest  of  the  United  States  in  any  connection  through  the  American 
Isthmus  has  not  only  been  always  emphatically  expressed  by  the  government,  but 
it  has  been  fully  and  distinctly  recognized  by  other  governments  from  the  earliest 
period  of  our  national  existence. 

By  the  treaty  negotiated  in  1884  between  the  United  States  and 
Nicaragua  the  canal  was  to  be  built  by  the  United  States.  It  was 
still  pending  in  the  Senate  when  Mr.  Cleveland  became  President.  He 
withdrew  it,  not  from  opposition  to  its  general  purposes,  but  because, 
as  he  states  in  his  annual  message  of  December,  1885,  it  was  "coupled 
with  absolute  and  unlimited  engagements  to  defend  the  territorial  in- 
tegrity of  the  States  where  such  interests  lie."  He  held  that  this  clause 
was  an  "entangling  alliance,"  iucousistent  with  the  declared  public 
policy  of  the  United  States.  This  objection  led  to  the  concessions  by 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  to  private  persons,  and  the  incorporation  by 
the  United  States  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

These  concessions  and  the  charter  provide  expressly  that  the  United 
States  may  aid  the  company  by  a  subscription  of  stock  or  otherwise.  If 
such  aid  is  rendered  it  must  be  rendered  now.  If  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  is  to  enter  the  money  market  without  our  aid  as  a  borrower  of 
$100,000,000  to  be  expended  within  six  years,  it  must  execute  its  mort- 
gage now  for  an  amount  that  will  probably  yield  that  sum  as  needed. 
The  swollen  cost  will  largely  fall  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States 


204  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

in  the  form  of  tolls.  If  the  work  is,  as  we  confidently  believe,  one  ol 
transcendent  value  to  the  United  States — worthy  to  be  done  by  a  jjreat 
nation — which  will  cost  only  its  credit  without  being  a  burden  to  the 
taxpayer,  one  that  will  not  in  any  event  cripple  its  resources,  but  will 
l>e  a  monument  of  its  power  and  its  beneficence  more  enduring  than  the 
monuments  of  antiquity,  a  realization  of  the  dre.ams  of  all  nations  for 
four  centuries,  it  ought  to  be  undertaken  not  by  a  corporation  alone, 
but  aided  by  the  United  States  for  the  benefit  of  the  American  conti- 
nent and  the  commercial  world.  It  is  an  act  worthy  to  commemorate 
t  he  beginning  of  the  second  century  of  our  existence  as  a  nation  and  of 
the  public  policy  upon  which  we  have  entered  of  uniting  the  Republics 
(tf  America  by  works  of  peaceful  development. 

The  practical  difficulty  of  the  committee  was  in  determining  in  what 
manner  and  to  what  extent  the  United  States  should  aid  in  this  enter- 
prise. Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  were  quite  willing  that  this  Govern- 
ment should  directly  construct  the  work,  but  for  the  reasons  stated  the 
treaty  for  this  purpose  was  not  ratified.  The  Maritime  Canal  Company 
was  interposed  by  act  of  Congress.  Composed  exclusively  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  they  were  not  desirous  of  surrendering  what  they 
regarded  as  a  favorable  business  enterprise.  The  plan  proposed  in  the 
accompanying  bill  was  dictated  by  this  committee,  and,  after  many 
conferences,  agreed  to  by  that  company,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
Congress.  The  company  is  now  actively  engaged  in  construction,  and 
it  is  but  fair  to  it  that  if  the  bill  is  to  become  a  law  Congress  should  act 
as  speedily  as  possible,  so  that  the  company  may  not  be  delayed  in  its 
contracts. 

The  bill  herewith  reported  is  founded  upon  the  theory  that  the  cost 
of  the  completetl  work  shall  be  represented  only  by  bonds  and  stock 
to  the  amount  of  money  actually  spent  in  construction  and  the  accruing 
interest  paid  in  its  progress. 

The  bill  proposes  to  limit  the  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
to  1,000,000  shares  of  $100  each  and  no  more.  By  the  concessions  of 
Nicaragua  that  country  is  entitled  to  C  per  cent,  or  $0,000,000  of  the 
stock  of  the  company  for  the  liberal  grants  made  to  and  privileges  con- 
ferred by  that  country  upon  the  Maritime  Construction  Company,  a 
copy  of  which  is  hereto  attached.  Costa  Rica  for  similar  concessions 
on  her  part  is  entitled  to  $1,500,000  of  this  stock. 

By  the  terms  of  these  concessions  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  be- 
came entitled  to  $12,000,000  of  the  capital  stock,  and  this  amount  has 
been,  by  the  agreement  with  the  Construction  Company,  transferred  to 
the  latter  company.  The  agreement  heretofore  referred  to  between  the 
Maritime  Company  and  the  Construction  Company  provided  for  the 
t  ranster  of  the  residuum  of  the  stock  and  also  150  million  dollars  of 
bonds  to  be  issued  in  paj  ment  for  the  work  as  performed.  By  that 
agreement  the  ownership  and  control  of  both  companies  would  follow 
the  ownership  of  the  stock  and  bonds.    By  the  bill  proposed  all  certfi- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  205 

cates  of  stock  and  all  contracts,  assignments,  and  transfers  of  stock  other 
thau  the  stock  to  which  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica 
are  to  be  surrendered  and  canceled,  except  the  sum  ot  $3,000,000,  which 
is  to  be  retaiued  by  the  Maritime  Company  or  its  stockholders  in  full 
payment  and  satisfaction  of  the  concessions  and  agreements  and  ad- 
vantages obtained  by  them. 

The  United  States  is  to  reimburse  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  the 
amount  expended  in  promoting  the  enter[)nse  and  in  the  surveys  and 
construction  of  the  work  thus  far  performed,  including  all  expenditures 
in  connection  therewith  upon  statements  to  be  made,  but  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
The  canal  shall  thereafter  be  constructed  from  the  proceeds  of  the  bonds 
of  the  Maritime  Company,  guarantied,  as  aforesaid,  in  payments  as  the 
work  progresses,  not  less  frequently  than  every  sixty  days.  All  con- 
tracts or  engagements  of  whatever  name  or  nature  now  existing  or  out- 
standing not  consistent  with  the  provisions  of  the  bill  are  to  be  canceled 
and  set  aside,  and  the  work  is  to  be  proceeded  with  upon  estimates 
made  by  United  States  engineers  and  to  be  paid  for  at  actual  cost 
by  bonds,  or  the  proceeds  of  bonds,  of  the  kind  and  description  men- 
tioned. All  the  expenses  of  the  work,  including  interest  on  the  guar- 
antied bonds  issued,  are  to  be  paid  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua,  and  upon  the  failure  of  said  company  to  pay  the  in- 
terest as  it  accrues,  it  is  to  be  paid  by  the  United  States.  The  interest 
proposed  on  the  bonds  is  3  per  cent.,  payable  quarterly,  and  running 
for  a  period  of  twenty  years. 

To  indemnify  the  United  States  from  all  liability  upon  its  guaranty 
$70,000,000  of  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  is  to  be  deposited  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  no  stock  other  than  that  already 
named  is  to  be  issued  except  when,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  installments  of  the  mortgage  bonds  shall  be  in- 
sufficient to  meet  the  current  requirements  of  the  company  in  respect 
to  the  enterprise.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  power,  at  his  dis- 
cretion, to  vote  the  stock  pledged  to  the  United  States,  either  in  person 
or  by  proxy,  at  any  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  said  company,  and 
the  United  States  is  entitled  to  a  representation  of  six  members  upon 
the  board  of  directors  composed  of  fifteen  persons. 

These,  in  brief,  were  the  terms  suggested  by  your  committee  to  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  and  the  Construction  Company,  and,  after 
many  conferences,  a  full  report  of  which  is  hereto  attached,  the  officers 
of  said  companies  agreed  to  the  terms  and  conditions  proposed.  This 
bill,  if  it  should  become  a  law,  would,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
secure,  without  reasonable  doubt,  the  prompt  completion  of  the  Nica- 
ragua Canal  at  its  actual  cost,  and  secure  to  the  United  States  a  reason- 
able and  proper  control  in  conformity  with  the  concessions  granted  by 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  The  management  and  conduct  of  the  work 
is  left  with  the  Maritime  Company,  but  under  such  restraints  a^  will 


206  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

insure  economy  and  with  the  Ktrongrest  inducement  to  limit  its  obliga- 
tions to  the  actual  cost  of  the  Moik,  so  that  the  tolls  upon  it  will  not 
be  swollen  to  pay  for  watered  stock  or  bonds  of  doubtful  credit. 

The  United  States  becomes  a  party  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  enterprise,  and  to  give  confidence  not  only  to  its 
securities,  but  to  its  safety  from  injury  from  internal  or  external  forces. 
It  is  believed  by  your  committee  that  the  United  States  will  not  be 
called  upon  to  pay  any  portion  of  the  principal  or  interest  of  the  bonds, 
but  that  the  work  itself  will  amply  repay  all  its  cost,  and  yield  its  ben- 
efits not  only  to  the  people  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Kica,  but  to  the 
civilized  world.  If  it  appeared  at  any  time  that  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  are  in  jeopardy  from  any  cause,  it  can  purchase  the  ma- 
jority of  the  stock  and  become  the  controlling  owner  of  the  canal  by 
l)aying  its  own  bonds  to  an  equal  amount,  and  the  property,  tolls,  in- 
come, and  profits  of  the  canal  will  be  an  ample  security  against  the 
obligations  it  assumes. 
The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

John  Sherman,  Chairman. 

Geo.  F.  Edmunds. 

Wm.  p.  Frye. 

Wm.  M.  Evarts, 

J.  N.  DOLPH. 

John  T.  Morgan, 
Joseph  E.  Brown. 
B.  B  Payne. 
J.  B.  Eusiis. 


NIOABAGUA    OANAL    COMPANY. 


207 


Appendix  1. 


TABLE  SHOWINa  DISTANCES  IN  MILES  BETWEEN  COMMERCIAL  PORTS 
OF  THE  WORLD  AND  DISTANCES  SA FED  BY  THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL. 


Froiii- 


New  York  to — 

San  FranciHoo 

Bell  ring  Strait 

Sitka 

Acapulco 

MazHtlan 

Hong-Kong 

Yokohama 

Melbourne 

Kow  Zealand 

Sandwich  islands 

Callao 

Guayaquil 

Valparaiso 

New  Ovle.ins  to— 

San  Francisco 

Acapulco 

Mazatlan 

Guayaquil 

Callao 

Valparaiso 

Liverpool  to — 

San  Francisco 

Acapulco 

Mazatlan  

Melbourne . 

New  Zealand 

Honj:  Kong 

Yokoliama .. 

Guayaquil 

Callao 

Valparaiso 

Sandwich  Islands 

Spain  to  Manilla 

France  to  Tonquin 

Hamburg  to — 

Mazatlan 

Acapulco 

Fonseca 

Punta  Arenas,  Costa  Rica.. 


Via 
Cape 
Horn. 


Miles. 
14,840 

17,  921 
16, 105 
I.'J,  071 
IJ,  6il 

18,  180 

17,  G79 
13,502 

12,  550 
14. 230 
10,  689 
11,471 

9,750 

15. 052 

13,  283 
13,843 
11,683 
10,  001 

9,962 

14,690 
12, 921 
13, 481 
13,  362 
12,400 

18,  030 
17,  .529 
11. 321 
10, 539 

9, 6U0 
14, 080 
16.900 
17,  750 

13, 931 
13, 371 
11,430 
11,120 


Via  Cape 

of  Good 

Hope. 


Miles. 


15, 201 
16,  190 
13, 290 
14, 125 


13, 140 
13, 975 
15,  051 
16, 040 


13, 961 
15, 201 


Via 

Nicara- 
gua 

Canal. 


Milen. 
4,040 

8,  0J6 
6,  209 
3,  1  Z2 
3,  682 

11,038 

9,  :ifl3 
10,  Oi'O 

8,  680 
6,  :Jh8 
3,701 
3,053 
4,688 

4,047 
2,409 
2,969 
2,340 
2,988 
3,987 

7,694 
5,870 
6,430 
12,  748 
11.349 
13,786 
12,111 
5,890 
6,449 
7,436 
9,136 
13, 5i0 
13,887 

6,880 
6,320 
5,530 
5,515 


Distance 
saved. 


Miles. 
9,894 
9,895 
9,896 
9,949 
9,949 
4,163 
6,827 
3,290 
3,870 
7,842 
6, 988 
8,41.8 
5,0«2 

11,005 
10, 874 
10, 874 
9.343 
7,913 
5,975 

6,996 
7,051 
7,051 
392 
1,051 
1,265 
3,929 

5, 4;^i 

4,090 
2,144 
4,944 
431 
1,314 

7, 051 
7,051 
5,900 
5,605 


From- 


New  York... 

Liverpool 

Hamburg.... 
Amxterdam.. 

Havre 

Cadiz 

New  Orleans 


To  eastern 

entrance   of 

Nicaragua 

Canal. 


Miles. 
2,021 
4,769 
5,219 
4,994 
4,874 
4,220 
1,308 


From— 


San  Francisco 

Valparaiso 

Callao.  

Portland 

Victoria 


To  western 

entrance  of 

Nicaragua 

Canal. 


Miles. 


2,776 
2,518 
1,531 
3,219 
3,428 


NOTB. — The  distances  are  measured  by  castomary  routes  most  convenient  for  sf  iling  ships  and 
■low  freight  steamers. 


208  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


Appendix  A. 


THE  KWARAGUA    CANAL   -ITS  DESIGN,  FINAL   LOCATION,  AND    WORK 

ACCOMPLISHED. 

FBy  A.  *i.  Mknocal,   ChUf  Engineer  Nicaragua  Canal  Oonttruetion  Company,  {V.  8.  N.,  21.  AM. 

SOa  a.  E.,  «te.)l 

The  idea  of  establishing  a  waterway  across  the  American  istbuius  dates  back 
from  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  early  navigators,  perceiving 
the  narrow  ueck  of  land  separating  the  two  oceans,  were  forcibly  impressed  by  tbe 
advantages  to  be  derived  by  cutting  a  canal  through  it.  The  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
being  the  narrowest  part  of  that  strip  of  land,  and  Nicaragua,  on  account  of  the  evi- 
dent natural  facilities  presented  by  the  lake  and  its  outlet,  the  river  San  Juan, 
have  always  been  the  main  points  of  attraction  as  possessing  the  most  favoral)le 
features  for  doing  the  work,  and  as  early  as  ISTiO  the  Portuguese  navigator  Antunio 
Galvao  proposed  four  routes;  oneof  which  washy  wayof  LakeNicaraguaand  theSan 
Juan  River,  and  another  through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  As  tbecontignratiun  of  the 
isthmus  became  better  known,  the  belief  in  thepracticability  of  joining  the  two  oceans 
by  a  canal  gradually  increased ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  when  through  the  indorsement  of  Humboldt,  who  had  studied  the  problem 
on  the  ground,  and  later  on  through  the  united  efforts  of  the  Central  American  Re- 
publics, that  the  question  commenced  to  assume  a  well-defined  shape.  But,  while 
these  States  and  the  Republic  of  New  Granada  were  anxiously  soliciting  the  co- 
operation of  other  nations  and  of  capitalists  in  favor  of  the  undertaking,  no  regular 
surveys  had  been  made  of  any  portion  of  the  isthmus;  the  routes  proposed  and 
claimed  to  have  been  discovered  being  the  result  of  imperfect  reconnoissances  or  of 
the  imagination.  It  was  evident,  moreover,  that  the  work  would  require  the  expendi- 
ture of  large  sums  of  money;  and,  while  it  was  universally  admitted  that  the  canal 
would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  world  at  large,  it  was  not  equally  clear  that  the 
probable  traffic  seeking  it.  would  be  sufficient  to  pay  interest  on  the  capital  invested. 
But  the  gold  discoveries  following  the  acquisition  of  California  by  the  United  States, 
and  the  subsequent  rapid  development  of  the  vast  commercial  and  agricultural  in- 
terests of  the  Territories  lying  on  the  Pacific  slope,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in 
attracting  attention  to  the  commercial  and  political  importance  of  the  canal.  What 
had  until  then  been  regarded  as  a  humanitarian  scheme  or  a  geographical  desidera- 
tum became  a  political  and  commercial  necessity,  and  the  attention  of  the  American 
statesmen,  capitalists,  and  scientists  was  at  once  directed  to  tinding  the  most  practi- 
cal solution  of  the  problem. 

The  idea  of  establishing  a  continuous  water  communication  between  the  two 
oceans  has  been  always  recognized  as  the  only  means  of  satisfying  all  the  require- 
ments of  commerce,  but  a  satisfactory  solution  of  all  the  unknown  quantities  enter- 
ing into  such  avast  undertaking  conld  not  be  reached  without  serious  surveys  of  the 
isthmus,  and  these  required  time  and  the  axijiistiuent  of  political  <lifflculties  with 
other  nations  interested  in  the  proposed  work.  In  the  mean  time  the  Americans, 
anxions  to  meet  the  increasing  demand  for  means  of  cominunicatiou  between  the 
two  oceans  consequent  to  the  rapid  development  of  Mie  Pac-ific  coast,  turned 
their  attention  to  an  overland  route,  and,  having  obtained  a  concession  from  the 
Republic  of  New  Granada,  in  1849  organized  a  company  and  intrusted  the  surveys 
for  a  railroad  to  Col.  G.  W.  Hughes  and  J.  C.  Trautwine,  well-known  civil  engineers. 
This  was  the  first  authentic  survey  made  across  the  isthmus,  and  resulted  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  Panama  Railroad  between  1850  and  1855. 

In  the  meantime  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  alive  to  the  importance  of 
the  canal,  had  ordered  a  reconnaissance  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehiiantepec,  and,  by  di- 
plomatic negotiations  with  Nicaragua,  had  encouraged  and  Kupjiorted  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Ship  Canal«Company,  which  had  obtained  from  Ni- 
oaragna  tbe  right  to  bnild  the  canal,  and,  pending  the  completion  of  the  work,  to 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  209 

•stablish  a  transit  between  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  tlio  Paridc  Ocean,  to  facilitate  the 
commerce  between  the  two  oceans,  by  way  of  the  river  San  Juan  and  Lake  Nicara- 
gua. 

This  company  intrusted  the  survey  for  a  ship  canal  to  CoL  O.  W.  Childs,  a  con- 
scientious and  able  engineer.  He  examined  in  1850  several  routes  between  Lake  Ni- 
caragua and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  is  entitled  to  credit  for  the  discovery  of  the  low- 
est depression  in  the  Cordilleras  between  the  Arctic  Sea  and  Cape  Horn.  Through 
this  divide,  which  he  found  to  be  152  feet  above  sea  level,  he  located  a  route  for  the 
canal  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lajas,  ou  the  west  shore  of  the  lake, 
to  the  Port  of  Brito,  or  the  Pacific,  the  main  features  of  which  have  stood  the  test 
of  many  subsequent  surveys  and  rectifications  in  that  region,  and  have  been  incor- 
porated in  the  plan  of  the  final  location  of  the  canal  across  that  country.  Col.  Childs's 
plan  contemplated  the  use  of  the  lake  as  the  summit  level,  and  of  the  valley  of  the 
river  San  Juan,  its  outlet,  to  its  delta,  through  which  he  proposed  to  excavate  a 
canal  following  the  left  bank  of  the  river  to  Greytown.  This  survey  was  the  first  on 
the  isthmus  for  a  ship  canal  conforming  to  the  requirements  of  engineering,  and  its 
accuracy  has  been  fully  confirmed  by  subsequent  explorations. 

Much  might  be  said  here  to  show  the  great  interest  evinced,  by  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  in  the  building  of  a  canal,  and  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the 
only  thorough  surveys  made  on  the  isthmus  with  the  view  of  establishing  the  prac- 
ticability and  cost  of  the  work  ha\  e  been  done  either  by  the  Government  directly  or 
by  American  citizens  under  its  auspices. 

It  is  interesting  and  instructive  to  follow,  step  by  step,  the  American  explorations 
on  the  isthmus  from  Tehauntepec  to  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  but  this  paper  deals  with  the 
proposed  Nicaragua  Canal,  which  is  believed  to  be  the  only  practicable  route  for  con- 
necting the  two  oceans  by  a  ship  canal.  This  conclusion  is  the  result  of  forty  years 
of  exhaustive  studies  over  the  whole  isthmus  and  of  a  valuable  lesson  so  dearly 
taught  by  an  unfortunate  attempt  to  prove  the  practicability  of  building  a  canal  by 
the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  money  in  useless  excavations  and.  wild  schemes  for 
removing  insuperable  natural  obstacles  prior  to  a  thorough  examination  of  the  physi- 
cal conditions. 

The  period  from  1870  to  1876,  during  the  administration  of  General  Grant,  was  one 
of  marked  activity  in  the  explorations  of  the  isthmus,  and  it  may  be  said  that  the 
question  as  to  the  route  possessing  the  greatest  advantages  was  settled  in  February, 
1876. 

The  commission  appointed  by  President  Grant  in  1372  to  report  upon  the  various 
plans  submitted  by  the  surveying  parties  consisted  of  General  A.  A.  Humphreys, 
Chief  of  the  United  States  Corps  of  Engineers;  Mr.  C.  P.  Patterson,  Superinten'ent 
of  the  Coast  Survey,  and  Commodore  Daniel  Ammen,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Navi- 
gation of  the  Navy  Department. 

On  February  6,  1876,  the  commission  submitted  its  decision  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  it  was  said :  "After  a  long,  careful,  and  minute  study  of  the 
several  surveys  of  the  various  routes  across  the  continent,  we  unanimously  report 
that  the  route  known  as  the  Nicaragua  route  possesses,  both  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  a  canal,  greater  advantages  and  offers  fewer  difficulties  from  en- 
gineering, commercial,  or  economical  points  of  view  than  any  of  the  other  routes 
shown  to  be  practicable  by  surveys  sufficiently  in  detail  to  enable  a  judgment  to  be 
formed  of  their  relative  merits,  as  will  be  briefly  presented  in  the  appended  memo- 
randa." 

The  routes  considered  by  this  commission  were  the  Tehauntepec,  the  Nicaragua, 
the  Panama,  and  the  Atrato-Napipi.  The  surveys  conducted  by  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  at  other  points  did  not  develop  physical  conditions  favorable  enough 
to  justify  a  location  sufficiently  in  detail  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  cost,  and  the  re- 
sults of  the  explorations  were  examined  by  the  commission  only  in  so  far  as  was 
necessary  to  show  their  impracticability  or  inferiority  as  compared  to  other  routes. 

The  survey  of  the  Nicaragua  route  by  the  United  States  Government  was  com- 
menced in  March,  1872,  and  continued  until  July,  1873.  Eight  different  routes 
between  the  lake  and  the  Pacific  were  carefully  examined.  The  correctness  of 
Childs's  survey  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lajas  to  Brito  was  carefully  confirmed, 
and,  while  the  low  divide  was  a  strong  feature  in  favor  of  his  location, the  problem 
of  properly  draining  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  was  not  at  the  time  satisfactorily 
solved,  and  the  next  best  route,  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  small  stream  Del 
Medio  at  the  lake  north  of  Lajas  to  a  point  ou  Childs's  line  9  miles  west  of  the  lake, 
and  thence  following  Childs's  line  to  Brito,  was  adopted  and  carefully  located. 

In  this,  as  in  all  projects  for  a  canal  across  Nicaragua,  the  lake  was  taken  as  the 
summit  level,  and  in  this  location  its  mean  level  was  assumed  to  be  107  feet  above 
sea  level.  East  of  the  lake  slack-water  navigation  was  secured  in  the  river  San 
Juan  for  a  distance  of  63  miles  by  the  construction  of  four  dams,  the  lower  dam  being 
below  tlie  confluence  of  the  San  Juan  and  San  Carlos  Rivers.  Below  that  point  the 
eanal  was  proposed  to  be  excavated  for  a  distance  of  41.9  miles  on  the  right  bank, 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4: 14 


210  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

and  following  the  generul  direction  of  the  river  to  the  outlet.  San  Jnanillo,  where  it 
tnmed  almost  directly  to  Grej'town.  Twenty-oue  locks,  with  an  average  lift  of  t«n 
feet,  were  proposed  ;  ten  on  the  Atlantic  and  eleven  on  the  Pacilic  slope.  Tliis  project 
waft  a  decided  improvement  on  that  proposed  by  Cliilds,  hut  in  its  general  outline 
the  design  did  not  differ  very  materially  from  his.  Its  main  features  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Canal  in  excavation 61.74 

Slack-water  navigation  in  the  River  San  Jnan 63. 02 

Lake  navigation 56.50 

Total  miles  from  ocean  to  ocean 181. 2f) 

Number  of  locks 21 

Nnmberof  dams  across  the  river  San  Juan 4 

The  total  cost  was  estimated  at  $65,222,147. 

The  writer,  who  had  been  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Government  surveys,  recog- 
nized the  practicability  of  the  canal  by  this  route,  but  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
location.  The  Lajas  line,  with  its  low  divide  of  152  feet,  had  been  reluctantly  aban- 
doned on  account  of  difficulties  in  the  drainage  problem,  and  the  Medio  route,  with 
90  feet  greater  depth  of  cutting,  had  been  adopted  instead,  thereby  increjising  the 
difficulties  in  construction  and  l>y  several  millions  of  dollars  the  cost  of  the  work. 

In  the  Eastern  Division  the  frequent  inteTTuptions  of  the  river  navigation  by  the 
interposition  of  dams  was  not  a  desirable  feature,  and  the  sharp  curves  and  too 
close  proximity  of  the  canal,  in  excavation  to  the  river,  in  several  places,  should,  if 
possible,  be  eliminated  from  the  problem.  There  were,  also,  too  many  locks,  which 
together  with  the  long  stretch  of  canal  in  excavation,  would  necessarily  tend  to 
retard  navigation  and  restrict  the  capacity  of  the  canal  for  traffic. 

The  Government  surveys  were  intended  to  show  the  practicability  of  the  canal, 
and  that  object  had  been  fully  attained  in  the  comparatively  short  time  devoted  to 
the  work,  but  it  was  quite  evident  that  before  the  project  was  finally  adopted  as  a 
commercial  enterprise,  important  modifications  should,  and  could,  in  my  opinion,  be 
introduced  in  the  original  designs.  To  what  extent  this  has  been  accomplished  will 
beshown  in  the  description  of  the  route  finally  located  and  a<iopt«d  by  the  present  Nic- 
aragua Canal  Construction  Company.  In  i876-'77,  while  surveying  the  delta  of  the 
San  Juan  and  harbor  of  Greytown  for  the  purpose  of  devising  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigation  of  the  river  and  the  restoration  of  the  harbor,  I  bad  occasion 
to  make  extensive  reconnoissances  in  a  direct  line  connecting  Greytown  with  the  end  of 
slackwater  navigation  in  the  San  Juan  River,  my  object,  being  to  find,  if  possible,  a 
direct  route  joining  those  points,  in  lien  of  t!ie  long  and  tortuous  line  following  the 
bank  of  the  river.  These  explorations,  conducted  from  both  ends  of  the  desirable 
location,  and  in  opposite  directions,  could  not  be  completed  within  the  time  then  at 
my  disposal.  There  remained  a  gap  of  4  or  5  miles  yet  to  be  examined,  but,  so  far 
as  carried  out,  the  results  of  the  explorations  were  extremely  gratifying,  with  strong 
indications  of  physical  conditions  favorable  to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem. 

In  1880  I  devoted  my  attention  to  a  rectification  of  the  Lajas  location,  and  suc- 
ceeded so  far  as  to  reduce  the  length  of  the  route  by  IJ  miles;  eliminate  several 
curves  and  enlarge  the  radius  of  others ;  decrease  the  amount  of  excavation  in  the 
narrow  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and,  what  was  of  the  greatest  importance,  found  a 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  drainage  problem  by  diverting  the  waters  of  the  Grande, 
above  its  confluence  with  the  canal,  through  an  artificial  channel,  and  the  rivers 
Jnan  Davila  and  Lajas  into  the  lake,  thus  leaving  the  narrow  valley  of  the  stream 
free  for  the  canal. 

That  much  having  been  accomplished  in  the  Western  Division  towards  the  con- 
templated improvement  of  the  original  location,  a  greater  interest  was  naturally  felt 
for  a  thorough  rectification  of  th*»  eastern  section.  In  1885  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  immediately  after  having  completed  a  treaty  with  Nicaragua  for  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  directed  me,  at  my  own  suggestion,  to  proceed  to  Nicara- 

fna  with  a  party  of  competent  assistants  and  ascertain  the  practicability  of  intro- 
ncing  favorable  modifications  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  canal  location.  The 
results  attained  by  this  last  examination,  together  with  what  had  been  previously 
secured  west  of  the  lake,  were  all  calculated  to  attract  the  attention  of  engineers 
and  capitalists,  and  the  organization  of  the  company  chartered  by  the  United  States 
Congress  and  now  building  the  canal,  soon  after  followed.  The  results  of  this  sur- 
vey can  be  found  in  detail,  in  book  form,  in  my  report  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  dated  November,  1885,  and  entitled  "Report  of  the  United  States  Nicaragua 
Surveying  Party"  (Ex.  Doc.  No.  99,  Forty-ninth  Congress,  first  session). 

The  company  was  well  aware,  however,  that  while  these  surveys  were  ample  to 
prove  the  practicability  of  the  canal,  aud  sufficient  in  detail  to  arrive  at  an  approxi- 
mate oo«t  of  the  work;  yet  they  were  only  intended  as  a  preliminary  location,  and 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  211 

mere  tborongh  studies,  compriaing  the  minatest  details,  were  still  wanted  before 
actual  construction  could  be  commenced.  Therefore  the  first  work  undertaken  by 
the  company,  immediately  after  its  organization,  was  to  fit  out  and  send  to  Nicara- 
gua a  numerous  corps  of  competent  engineers,  with  instructions  to  make  a  thorough 
relocation  of  the  whole  route  and  accessory  works,  so  as  to  eliminate  all  doubtful 
elements  and  to  arrive  at  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  character,  amount  and  cost  of 
all  the  work  required  for  the  completion  of  a  canal  ample  for  the  navigation  of  the 
largest  ships  afloat,  and  the  passage  of  the  maximum  traffic  likely  to  seek  it. 

Six  land  surveying  parties,  one  hydrographic  party,  and  two  boring  parties,  have 
been  for  two  years  and  a  half  making  this  verification,  and  although  the  axial  dis- 
tance of  the  land  survey  (exclusive  of  the  lake  and  river)  is  less  than  50  miles,  the 
length  of  lines  actually  surveyed  by  transit  and  level,  in  cross-sectioning,  location 
of  locks,  dams,  embankments,  railroads,  flowage  lines,  drains,  etc.,  is  not  less  than 
4,000  miles,  or  at  the  rate  of  40  miles  of  actual  instrumental  survey  for  every  mile  of 
final  location.  The  result  of  this  laborious  work  has  been  a  verification  of  the  loca- 
tion of  1885  in  its  essential  features,  but  with  marked  improvements  in  the  details, 
and  the  final  location  of  the  route  upon  which  the  canal  is  now  being  constructed, 
and  which  I  wUl  proceed  to  describe  in  a  concise  form. 

THK  PROPOSED  ROUTK. 

San  Juan  del  Norte  (Qreytown)  on  the  Atlantic,  and  Brito  on  the  Pacific,  are  the 
termini  of  the  canal,  the  total  distance  from  port  to  port  being  169.448  miles,  of  which 
26.783  miles  will  be  excavated  canal  and  142.659  miles  free  navigation  by  Lake  Nica- 
ragua, the  river  San  Juan,  and  through  basins  in  the  valley  of  the  streams  Deseado, 
San  Francisco,  and  Tola.  Lake  Nicaragua  is  necessarily  the  summit  level  of  the 
canal,  and  its  elevation  above  mean  sea  level  is  taken  at  its  mean  at  110  feet.  It 
will  be  connected  with  the  Pacific  by  two  sections  of  canal  in  excavation  and  the 
Tola  basin,  and  with  the  Atlantic  by  slackwater  navigation  through  the  valley  of 
the  river  San  Juan,  and  a  series  of  basins  in  the  valleys  of  the  San  Francisco  and 
Deseado,  connected  by  short  sections  of  canal,  the  sea  level  on  each  side  being 
reached  by  three  locks  which  have  been  located  as  near  as  possible  to  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  canal,  viz,  3^  miles  from  Brito  and  12f  miles  from  Greytown,  thereby 
giving  a  clean  summit  level  of  153^  miles  in  extent  out  of  a  total  distance  of  169^ 
miles,  as  stated  above.  For  purposes  of  description  the  route  has  been  divided  into 
four  divisions,  viz,  Eastern,  San  Francisco,  Lake  and  Kiver,  and  Western. 

Eastern  Division. 
[From  ihei  nner  harbor  of  San  Jnan  del  Norte  (Greytown)  to  the  San  Francisco  Basin,  18.864  miles.] 

The  line  selected  and  located  starts  from  the  inner  harbor  of  San  Juan  del  Norte 
and  extends  in  a  southwesterly  direction  for  a  distance  of  9,297  miles  to  Lock  No.  1, 
in  the  valley  of  the  small  stream  Deseado,  which  descends  from  the  high  ridge  sep- 
arating the  valley  of  the  San  Juanillo  from  that  of  the  CafioSan  Irancisco.  Where 
the  stream  Deseado  interferes  with  the  course  of  the  canal,  it  is  to  be  diverted  by 
artificial  channels.  These  first  9.297  miles  of  canal  will  be  at  the  level  of  the  sea, 
forming  practically  a  prolongation  of  the  harbor  of  Greytown,  the  width  proposed 
allowing  ample  room  for  the  passage  of  vessels  goin^  in  both  directions.  The  exca- 
vation will  be  entirely  through  flat,  alluvial  deposits,  as  shown  by  the  numerous 
borings  taken  along  the  whole  line. 

The  flrst  lock  from  this  reach  will  have  a  lift  of  30  feet,  and  the  uniform  dimen- 
sions of  chamber  adopted  for  all  the  locks,  viz :  650  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide.  A 
suitable  rise  of  ground  for  the  site  of  the  lock  is  met  with  in  the  lower  valley  of  the 
Deseado.  From  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  1,  to  Lock  No.  2,  the  canal  follows  the 
valley  of  the  Deseado,  which  is  here  partially  flooded  by  the  construction  of  four 
low  embankments  connecting  the  site  of  Lock  No.  1  with  the  sides  of  the  valley.  In 
this  manner  the  canal  excavation,  which  here  consists  chiefly  of  stiff  red  clay  under- 
lying a  thin  stratum  of  loam,  is  much  reduced,  and  the  drainage  economically  and 
efficiently  controlled  by  suitable  weirs  of  maximum  flood  capacity. 

Lock  No.  2,  located  1.258  miles  above  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  1,  has  a  lift  of  31 
feet  and  will  rest  on  solid  ground,  a  hill  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley  affording  an 
excellent  site  for  it. 

Lock  No.  3,  with  a  lift  of  45  feet,  is  located  12f  miles  from  Greytown  and  1.927 
miles  from  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  2.  This  section  of  the  canal  occupies  the  lower 
basin,  made  in  the  valley  of  the  Deseado  by  the  erection  of  a  dam  38  feet  high  and 
1,300  feet  long  across  the  stream,  and  two  embankments  of  an  aggregate  length  of 
1,400  feet  and  abont20  feet  high,  on  the  top  of  the  confining  ridges.  The  only  exca- 
vation needed  through  this  basin  is  in  cutting  across  three  low  hills  of  red  clay. 

At  this  point  the  valley  of  the  Deseado  is  spanned  by  an  embankment  70  feet  high 
•nd  1,050  feet  long,  resting  on  two  high  hills,  and  the  gaps  on  the  ridge  connecting 


212  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

this  embankment  with  the  sides  of  the  valley  are  closed  with  small  embankments 
aggregating  5,800  fe«t  on  the  crest,  with  an  average  height  of  20  feet  to  the  level, 
112  feet  above  sea  level.  By  this  means  a  baMJn  3.086  miles  long  is  created  in  tho 
valley  of  the  stream  in  which  a  depth  of  from  30  feet  to  70  fet't  is  obtained,  without 
excavation,  for  a  distance  of  2.59ri  miles.  It  is  proposed  to  retain  the  water  in  this 
basin  at  an  elevation  of  106  feet  above  sea  level ;  in  other  words,  the  summit  level  of 
the  canal  is  carried  across  the  "divide"  and  extended  to  Lock  No.  3,  or  to  within 
12}  miles  of  the  Atlantic,  and  but  3^  miles  from  tlie  sea  level,  which,  as  stated  above, 
reaches  9^  miles  up  from  Greytown.  The  advantage  of  these  two  large  re-servoirs  in 
close  proximity  to  the  locks  need  not  be  commented  upon,  and  the  facilities  afforded 
as  a  "turnout"  for  ships  in  waiting  and  traveling  in  opposite  directions  can  not  be 
orerestiniatod.  The  dam  is  proposed  to  be  built  of  stone  or  what  is  termed  "rock- 
fill,"  with  earth  backing,  and  will  have  a  weir  600  feet  long  on  the  crest,  and  a  fall 
of  45  feet  for  the  discharge  of  the  surplus  water  into  the  lower  basin.  This  will  be 
supplemented  by  another  weir  fcOO  feet  long,  located  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley 
in  a  gap  between  the  hills  inclosing  the  upper  basin,  giving  a  total  length  of  weir 
of  1,400  feet. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  this  basin  begins  the  Eastern  Divide  cut,  connect- 
ing the  valley  of  the  Deseado  with  that  of  the  Oafio  San  Francisco.  This  cut  is  2,917 
miles  long,  has  a  maximum  cut  of  29rt  and  average  depth  of  111.2  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  water,  the  depth  in  the  canal  beinj;  30  feet,  and  contains  about  21  per  cent,  of 
the  total  excavation  estimated  tor  the  whole  canal. 

The  magnitude  of  this  work  j^rows  less  striking  as  we  proceed  to  examine  its  im- 
portance as  a  factor  in  the  solution  of  the  problem,  the  local  advantages  for  its  exe- 
cution, its  permanency  when  finished,  and  the  advantageous  and  economical  dispo- 
sition of  the  material  to  be  excavated. 

Fir$t. — It  will  be  observed  that  this  cnt  is  almost  in  a  direct  line  between  Ochoa 
and  Greytown,  which  are  the  two  objective  pointsof  the  canal ;  the  former  being  the 
point  at  which  ft  must,  of  necessity,  leave  the  San  Juan  liiver,  and  the  latter  equally 
nec4>ssary  as  its  terminus  on  the  Atlantic. 

Second. — It  is  the  lowest  point  along  the  whole  ridge  which  intervenes  between 
these  two  points,  and  nearly  equidistant  from  each. 

Third.— It  is  also  the  narrowest  pass,  by  several  miles,  of  any  other  on  the  ridge, 
the  valleys  of  the  Deseado  on  one  siile  and  the  San  Francisco  on  the  other,  here  pen- 
etrating it  farther  than  elsewhere,  thus  allowing  the  greatest  possible  extension  of 
their  basins  with  the  least  excavation. 

Besides  the  above  there  are  several  other  important  advantages  connected  with 
this  particular  pass  entitled  to  much  consideration. 

FirMt. — The  material  to  be  removed  is  in  the  main  solid  rock ;  therefore  the  volume 
of  excavation  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  the  cut,  when  made,  will  remain  so 
forever  without  further  expense. 

Second. — The  material  is  needed  for  the  construction  of  the  dam  at  Ochoa,  for  the 
embankments  between  Ochoa  and  Greytown,  tor  the  construction  of  the  locks,  for 
the  breakwater  at  Greytown,  and  for  pitching  the  sides  of  the  caual,  and  the  surplus 
can  be  dumped  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 

Third. — The  center  of  distribution  is  most  conveniently  located,  and  were  not  this 
material  available,  at  the  sole  expense  of  transportation  down  grade,  it  would  have 
to  be  obtained  at  considerable  cost  from  quarries  in  the  vicinity,  as  there  is  no  rock 
easy  of  access  between  Ochoa  and  Greytown,  except  in  this  ridge. 

Fourth. — The  locality  is  one  of  the  healthiest  in  Nicaragua,  the  drainage  is  perfect, 
and  water  abundant  and  excellent  for  domestic  nses. 

Fifth. — There  is  close  at  baud  on  both  sides  of  the  ridge  an  inexhaustible  water 
power  for  the  economical  and  convenient  operation  of  all  the  machinery  required  to 
do  the  work. 

Po8.sessing,  therefore,  as  it  does,  this  truly  marvelous  coincidence  of  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, it  would  seem  as  though  the  very  hand  of  nature  had  made  this  par- 
ticular spot  with  the  view  of  facilitating  the  execution  of  the  greatest  undertaking 
of  this  or  any  other  age.  With  proper  appliances  and  good  management,  so  much 
of  the  work  in  the  adjacent  sections  being  dependent  npon  the  material  to  be  got 
from  this  cut,. an  even  rate  of  progress  can  easily  be  maintained  and  the  whole  work 
be  pushed  to  completion  well  within  the  six  years  estimated  as  the  time  for  com- 
pleting the  canal. 

San  Francisco  Division,  12.500  miles. 
{Trom  the  western  end  of  the  Divide  cat  to  the  River  San  Joan  at  Ochoa.1 

On  the  westeru  slope  of  the  divide,  the  canal  follows  the  valley  of  the  Limpio  for 
1.477  miles  to  the  end  of  the  cut.  Before  tailing  into  the  San  Francisco  basin  it 
passes  for  .738  miles  through  a  rolling  country  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Limpio,  the 
average  depth  of  the  catting  for  this  distance  being  16  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the 
canaL 


IflCARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  213 

Passing  into  the  basiu  of  the  Cafio  San  Francisco  it  follows  the  ralleys  of  the 
Limpio  and  Chanchos  to  near  the  couflueQce  of  the  latter  with  the  San  Francisco, 
and  then  up  the  valley  of  the  lattt-named  stream,  skirting  the  hills  on  the  west  to  a 
favorable  pass  in  the  hill  range  separating  this  valley  from  the  swampy  region  called 
Florida  Lake,  extending  towards  Ochoa.  The  line  of  location  follows  this  swamp  to 
its  western  extremity,  where  it  strikes  the  high  rolling  country  intervening  between 
this  low  region  and  the  valley  of  the  Machado,  and  following  a  tributary  of  the  latter, 
it  enters  the  River  San  Juan,  1,600  feet  above  the  month  of  the  Macbado.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  western  end  of  the  divide  cut  to  the  bank  of  the  River  San  Juan  is 
12.500  miles,  of  which  7.481  miles  are  tangents  and  5.019  miles  comprised  in  eleven 
curves  of  from  4,000  to  ll,4.'i9  feet  radius.  The  hills  surrounding  the  basin  on  the 
south  do  not  form  an  unbroken  range  rising  at  all  points  above  the  level  of  the  water, 
which,  in  this  section  also,  is  maintained  at  106  feet  above  sea  level.  Eight  gaps 
will  have  to  be  closed  by  embankments  aggregating  in  length  to  2,440  feet,  meas- 
ured on  the  valley  floor,  and  12,260  feet  on  the  crest,  the  maximum  depth  being  60 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  basins. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  59  smaller  embankments,  aggregating  in  length  18,280 
feet  on  the  crest,  rising  6  feet  above  water  level  and  varying  in  height  from  1  to  50 
feet,  will  be  required  from  Ochoa  to  the  main  ridge  of  the  divide.  All  embankments 
resting  on  the  valley  or  swamp  level  are  designed  of  rock  fill  and  earth-backing, 
with  three  parallel  rows  of  sheet  piling  between  abutments. 

The  total  length  of  basin  secured  by  this  plan  is  11.267  miles  from  flowage  line  to 
flowage  line,  of  which  8.697  miles  are  in  water  varying  from  30  to  60  feet  in  depth. 
That  is,  of  the  12.500  miles  in  the  division,  but  1.233  miles  will  be  wholly,  and  2.570 
miles  partly,  in  excavation.  This  is  not,  however,  the  only  advantage  gained  by  the 
creation  of  this  basin.  Without  it  the  cut  across  the  divide  would  be  of  such 
proportions  as  to  make  the  route  commercially  impracticable,  and  the  basin  of  the 
Deseado  an  impossibility.  Not  less  important  are  the  additional  considerations  of 
free  navigation  through  a  wide  and  deep  basin,  instead  of  a  restricted  excavated  chan- 
nel. In  the  former,  vessels  can  travel  at  full  speed,  lie  at  anchor,  or  pass  each  other 
at  all  points,  while  in  the  latter,  the  position  and  speed  of  all  ships  must  conform  to 
rigid  regulations. 

Attention  is  also  invited  to  another  striking  feature  of  this  work,  as  compared  with 
that  close  to  the  bank  of  the  San  Juan. 

In  a  country  subject  to  observed  rainfalls  of  more  than  6  inches  in  twenty-four 
hours,  the  problem  of  drainage  involves  a  contest  with  forces  of  nature  whose  enor- 
mous destructive  powers  are  a  constant  menace  to  engineering  works,  however  care- 
ful and  skillful  their  design  and  execution.  And  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance, 
therefore,  to  reduce  these  forces  to  a  minimum  before  the  construction  of  works  to 
withstand  them. 

The  large  territory  embraced  between  the  ridge  confining  the  basin  to  the  sonth 
and  the  "lower  route,"  which  term  is  used  to  designate  the  canal  line  formerly  pro- 
posed, and  which  lies  on  the  right  bank  of  the  San  Juan  River  to  Greytown,  is,  by 
the  adoption  of  the  "upper  route,"  or  that  over  which  the  canal  is  being  built,  en- 
•  tirely  eliminated  from  the  problem  of  drainage,  leaving  only  that  portion  of  the 
watershed  north  of  the  ridge,  from  the  divide  to  the  valley  of  the  Machado,  to  be 
provided  for.     The  area  of  this  catchment  basin  is  about  65  square  miles. 

It  is  proposed  to  build  all  enibankments  across  the  valleys  in  the  disconnected  por- 
tions of  the  ridge,  of  rock  fill  and  earth  backing,  the  crest  to  be  107  feet  above  sea 
level,  and  with  the  top  and  outer  slope  so  shaped  and  paved  with  large  stones  as  to 
admit  the  free  flow  of  water  over  the  surface  without  danger  of  injury,  all  other  em- 
bankments to  be  112  feet  above  sea  level.  All  Ihese  embankments  will  be,  in  fact, 
so  many  waste  weirs  for  the  discharge  of  the  surplus  water  at  several  points  in  the 
basin,  with  an  aggregate  length  of  4,720  feet  of  spillway,  and  assuming  that  the  em- 
bankments are  perfectly  tight,  which  will  not  be  the  case  until  several  years  after 
construction,  and,  therefore,  that  all  the  surplus  water  passes  over  the  weirs,  the 
maximum  depth  on  the  crest  will  not  exceed  15  inches. 

An  extraordinary  freshet  in  the  San  Juan  above  the  dam  would  probably  send 
some  of  the  river  water  towards  the  basin,  but  it  will  be  observed  that  the  weirs  in 
the  basin  alone  are  capable  of  discharging  90,200  cubic  feet  per  second  before  the 
water  reaches  the  top  of  the  high  embankments,  and  that,  in  such  extreme  cases,  the 
basin  would  also  be  discharging  through  the  divide  cut,  over  the  Deseado  Dam  and 
weirs,  and,  if  need  be,  through  ihe  culverts  of  lock  No.  3.  As  an  additional  precau- 
tion a  guard  gate  is  provided  in  the  first  cut  east  of  the  Machado,  by  which  the 
waters  of  the  river  San  Juan  may  be  shut  off  from  the  basin.  With  these  ample  pro- 
visions the  destruction  of  the  smaller  earth  embankments  by  an  overflow  of  the  basia 
seems  to  be  well  guarded  against. 


214  HICJLRAOUA   CANAL   COMPANY, 

L*ke  mnd  River  Divition,  121.04  iftlM. 
fFrciu  (Jchoa  tu  Wcuitem  Coast  of  L«ke  Xicaragiia 

This  diviaioB  extends  from  the  western  extremity  of  the  Sau  Francisco  Divieion  in 
the  valley  of  the  MacLado  to  the  entrance  of  the  canal  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake 
Nicaragua.  The  total  distance  is  121.04  miles,  divided  as  follows:  navigation  by  the 
river  San  Jnan,  64.54  miles;  Lake  Nicaragua,  56.5  miles.  The  section  of  the  river 
from  Ochoa  to  the  Lake  is  to  be  made  navigable  by  the  construction  of  a  dan:  at 
Ochoa,  just  below  the  Macbado,  maintaining  the  water  at  the  summit  level  of  106  faet 
above  sea  level.  It  way  be  here  explained  that  this  elevation,  hitherto  treated  as 
the  summit  level,  is  4  feet  below  the  lake,  a  fall  of  three-quarters  of  an  inch  to 
the  mile  being  allowed  for  the  slope  necessary  to  discharge  its  waters,  although  for 
all  the  purposes  of  navigation  that  portion  of  the  river  is  converted  into  an  exten- 
sion of  the  lake. 

The  dam  is  located  between  two  steep  hills,  and  its  length  of  weir  on  the  crest  will 
be  1,250  feet,  and  abutments  650  feet.  The  average  depth  of  the  water  in  the  river 
was,  at  the  time  of  the  snrvey,  S  feet,  and  the  maximum  depth,  close  to  the  southern 
abutment,  14  feet,  the  width  between  the  banks  being  950  feet.  With  a  mean  How 
in  the  river  of  20,000  cubic  feet  per  second,  the  depth  of  water  on  the  top  of  the  weir 
will  be  about  3^  feet. 

The  dam  is  proposed  to  be  built  of  rock  fill  and  earth  backing,  in  all  reepects  sim- 
ilar to  all  the  other  large  embankments  and  weirs  already  described.  Its  average 
height  above  the  river  bottom  is  61  feet,  its  thickness  at  the  top,  25  feet,  and  at  the 
bottom,  500  feet.  The  core  of  the  rock  portion  will  be  made  of  smaller  stones,  gravel, 
and  refuse  from  the  rock  cute,  with  three  rows  of  sheet  ]iiling  from  abutment  to  abut- 
ment, and  substantial  concrete  core  walls  from  the  ends  of  the  sheet  piling  carried 
well  into  the  abutment  hills  and  up  along  the  slope  beyond  the  maximum  flood  level. 
The  upper  portiou  and  long  flat  apron  will  be  composed  of  stones  of  the  largest  di- 
mensions that  can  be  handled  and  arranged,  the  interstices  being  filled  from  behind 
with  small  stones,  gravel,  and  earth  dumped  from  suitable  trestles. 

By  this  dam,  slack-water  navigation  in  the  River  San  Juan  will  be  obtained  in  the 
whole  distance  from  the  Lake,  in  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  28  miles  above 
Toro  Rapids,  the  navigable  channel  will  be  at  no  point  less  than  1,000  feet  wide, 
with  depths  varying  from  28  to  130  feet.  Between  the  Lake  and  Toro  Rapids  rook 
blasting  under  water  and  dredging  to  an  average  depth  of  4  J  feet  will  be  required  at 
several  places,  amonntiug  in  all  to  24  miles,  most  of  the  rock  blasting  occurring  at 
Tore.  The  average  depth  of  water,  as  raised  by  the  dam,  over  the  shallow  places 
where  deepening  has  been  estimated  for,  is  23  feet,  and  the  excavated  channel  is  125 
feet  at  the  bottom,  the  slopes  varying  with  the  character  of  the  material. 

A  further  important  etlect  of  the  dam  will  be  to  raise  the  water  from  the  River 
San  Carlos  to  the  level  attained  by  the  San  Juan  at  their  confluence  above  Ochoa, 
converting  the  valley  of  that  stream  into  a  spacious  lake  or  port ;  and  an  integral 
part  of  the  summit  level  and  of  the  canal  itself.  Thousands  of  square  miles  of  the 
territory  of  Costa  Rica,  now  inaccessible  by  land  or  water,  will  thus  become  the 
richest  portion  of  that  Republic;  and  the  sediment  now  being  brought  down  by  the 
rapid  current  of  the  river  will  then  be  deposited,  for  want  of  transporting  power, 
at  the  mouths  of  the  ravines  and  mountain  torrents  emptying  into  the  basin.  In  fact, 
the  area  now  scoured  will  be  so  much  reduced  that  comjiaratively  little  material 
will  be  transported. 

The  confining  ridge  to  the  east  of  the  valley  of  the  San  Carlos  is  a  generally  high 
range,  extending  in  a  nearly  straight  line  from  the  south  abutment  of  the  Ochoa 
Dam,  about  S.  lb°  W.  7^  miles,  to  the  foot  of  the  high  mountains  of  the  interior.  The 
length  of  the  ridge,  following  its  crooked  crest-line,  is  about  10  miles.  The  hills 
forming  the  ridge  do  not  form  an  unbroken  range  at  all  points  higher  than  the  level 
of  the  water,  which  is  here  also  maintained  at  106  feet  above  sea  level.  A  number 
of  short  depressions  will  have  to  be  closed  by  embankments,  the  tops  of  which  will  be 
at  an  elevation  of  112  feet. 

The  total  number  of  embankments  necessary  is  twenty-one.  Of  these  eight  will  be 
very  small,  the  ridge  being  now  above  the  water  line  but  below  112  feet.  Only  two 
will  reach  the  floor  of  the  valley,  having  a  depth  of  48  feet.  The  remaining  eleven 
have  an  average  depth  of  19  feet.  The  aggregate  length  of  embankments  on  crest 
is  5,440  feet ;  on  floor  of  valley  130  feet. 

The  embankments  proposed  will  be  entirely  of  clay,  15  feet  wide  on  top,  with 
slope  of  three  to  one  on  both  sides. 

It  is  proposed  to  build  a  large  waste  weir  in  the  ridge  about  '2f  miles  from  the 
Ochoa  Dam.  This  weir  having  its  crest  of  106  feetelevation,  will  discharge  the  flood 
waters  of  the  San  Carlos  into  the  San  Juan  independently  of  and  below  the  dam. 

The  valley  of  CureCo  Creek  runs  directly  from  the  site  of  the  proposed  weir  to  the 
San  Juan,  5^  miles  below  Ochoa,  hence  no  channel  for  the  discharged  waters  need  be 
provided. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  215 

In  the  east  aide  of  Lake  Nicaragaa,  dredging  in  soft  rand  will  be  ne«ded  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  14  miles  to  reach  the  depth  of  30  feet,  tlio  average  depth  of  the  out 
being 9.8  feet,  and  the  proposed  chauael  150  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  with  side  slopea 
of  three  to  one  to  the  present  bottom  of  the  Lake. 

From  the  end  of  this  cut  to  within  1,400  feet  of  the  west  coast,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  canal,  the  depth  in  the  Lake  varies  from  30  to  150  feet.  The  excavation  on  the 
west  side  is  estimated  as  rosk.  No  borings  were  taken  on  this  side  of  the  Lake,  but 
the  indications  on  the  shore  and  the  result  of  the  borings  in  the  vicinity  point  to  rook 
as  predominating  in  the  subaqueous  excavation. 

In  view  of  the  nature  of  the  bottom  and  the  prevailing  winds  on  that  coast  of  the 
Lake,  it  is  deemed  advisable,  if  not  essential,  to  estimate  for  two  crib  piers  or  break- 
waters at  the  entrance  of  the  canal  and  extending  into  deep  water  a  distance  of  1,800 
feet  and  2,400  feet  respectively.  These  piers  will  have  theeifect  of  arresting  d6bris 
drifting  along  the  coast  by  the  action  of  the  waves,  insure  smooth  water  at  the  eu- 
trance  of  the  canal,  and  serve  as  guides  to  approaching  vessels. 

Western  Division. 
(I^m  the  Lake  to  Brito,  17.04  miles.] 

This  section  of  oanal  connects  the  Lake  with  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  17.04  miles 
long  from  the  shore  of  the  Lake  when  at  102.5  feet  above  the  sea  level,  the  elevation 
at  the  time  the  surveys  were  made,  to  the  port  at  Brito. 

As  the  canal  is  now  estimated  for  11.44  miles  of  that  distance  will  be  wholly  in  ex- 
cavation and  5.60  miles  through  a  basin  iu  the  valleys  of  the  rivers  Grande  and  Tola. 

In  this  basin  from  30  to  70  feet  of  water  can  be  had  for  a  distance  of  4.568  miles. 
The  basin  has  an  area  of  4,000  acres,  an  extreme  width  of  12,500  feet,  and  an  average 
of  5,500  feet.  An  alternative  route  has  been  located  through  the  valleys  proposed  to 
be  flooded  for  a  canal  in  excavation  should  it  be  found  more  economical  on  account 
of  the  value  of  the  land  through  which  it  passes.  The  only  new  feature  of  this  divi- 
sion is  the  basin  now  introduced. 

The  first  section  begins  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lajas,  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake 
Nicaragua,  and  follows  the  valley  of  that  stream  for  a  distance  of  8,260  feet,  in  which 
the  width  of  the  canal  is  120  feet  at  the  bottom,  and  the  side  slopes  one  and  one-half 
to  one,  both  in  rock  and  earth.  The  river  Lajas  here  turns  to  the  south,  and  it  is 
proposed  to  divert  it  aud  make  it  discharge  into  the  lake  a  short  distance  south  of 
its  present  mouth.  The  canal  continues  on  the  same  straight  line,  crosses  a  plain 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  and  enters  the  valley  of  the  Guiscoyal,  a  small 
tributary  of  the  Lajas,  and  at  4.70  miles  from  the  lake  it  crosses  the  highest  eleva- 
tion on  the  line  between  the  lake  and  the  Pacific.  This  point  is  42  feet  above  high 
lake,  or  152  feet  above  mean  tide  in  the  Pacific,  and  is  situated  in  a  valley  about  2 
miles  wide,  deserving  special  notice  by  reason  of  the  face  that  it  is  the  lowest  depres- 
sion of  the  main  ridge  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  on  the  American  con- 
tinent. 

After  crossing  this  divide  the  line  gradually  descends  at  the  rate  of  about  9  feet 
per  mile,  and  in  If  miles  farther  it  meets  the  Rio  Grande,  a  mountain  stream  which 
drains  an  extensive  area  of  the  western  slope  of  the  Cordillera.  The  line  of  the  canal 
follows  the  tortuous  channel  of  the  Grande,  cutting  across  some  of  its  sharp  bends,  or 
occupying  a  channel  in  short  reaches.  In  1^  miles  it  frees  itself  from  this  contracted 
valley  ani  cuts  across  a  broad  plain  as  it  turns  to  the  westward,  and  enters  the  basin 
of  the  Tola,  9  miles  from  the  lake.  The  distance  across  the  basin  by  the  sailing  line 
is  5.504  miles.  This  basin  is  formed  by  the  construction  of  an  embankment  1,800  feet 
long  and  70  feet  high,  resting  on  two  high  hills  at  a  place  called  La  Flor.  The  method 
of  construction  of  this  embankment  is  in  all  respects  similar  to  that  adopted  for  the 
construction  of  the  Ochoa  Dam  and  embankments  in  the  San  Francisco  Valley. 
The  rock  for  the  fill  will  be  obtained  from  the  excavations  for  Locks  Nos.  4  and  5 
in  the  north  abutment,  and  the  earth  from  the  canal  excavation  east  of  the  basin. 
The  level  of  the  lake  will  be  extended  through  the  divide  cut  and  the  basin  to  this 
dam,  the  top  of  which  is  established  at  112  feet  above  sea  level.  Therefore,  the 
lake  will  have  to  rise  more  than  2  feet  above  the  proposed  summit  level  before  any 
water  runs  over  the  weir.  With  a  length  of  weir  of  1,300  feet  and  the  lock  culverts 
capable  of  discharging  not  less  than4,500  cubic  feet  per  second,  the  level  of  the  lake 
can  be  kept  under  control,  even  during  extraordinary  floods.  Yet  a  guard  gate  is  pro- 
posed in  the  section  of  canal  between  the  lake  and  the  "  Divide "  to  shut  off  the 
water  from  the  lake  in  case  of  necessity.  No  special  provision  has  been  made  for  the 
control  of  the  rivers  Grande  and  Tola,  and  none  is  deemed  necessary.  These 
streams  will  flow  into  the  summit  level,  one  between  the  lake  and  the  Tola  basin, 
and  the  other  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  basin.  The  waters  will  be  distributed 
between  the  basin  aud  the  lake,  or  partly  used  for  feeding  the  locks,  and  should 
both  riven  be  in  flood  while  the  water  in  the  basiu  is  below  tbe  orest  of  the  weir. 


216  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

and  therefore,  most  of  the  comhined  flow  discharging;  into  the  lake,  the  cnrrent  in 
the  canal  through  its  narrowest  portion  in  the  "Divide,"  will  not  exceed  2  miles 
an  hour,  which  can  do  no  harm  to  the  rock  cnt,  while  in  the  larger  portions  of  the 
canal  the  velocity  wonld,  of  course,  be  proportionately  less. 

From  the  western  end  of  the  valley  of  Tola  to  Brito,  the  canal,  after  leaving  Locks 
Nos.  4  and  5,  cuts  across  a  broad,  flat  country,  with  an  inclination  of  about  9  feet  per 
mile,  to  the  port,  a  distance  of  2.28  miles,  in  which  the  excavation  does  not  exceed 
that  required  for  the  canal  prism. 

Three  locks  are  proposed  to  overcome  the  difference  of  level  between  the  summit 
and  the  Pacific.  Locks  Nos.  4  and  5  are  located  in  the  hill  north  of  La  Flor  Dam ; 
their  chambers  are  650  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide,  and  the  lifts  42^  feet  in  each.  Lock 
No.  6,  of  the  same  dimensions  of  chamber,  is  situated  1.58  miles  below,  its  lifts  being 
21  and  29  feet,  respectively,  at  high  and  low  tide.  Between  this  lock  and  the  portot 
Brito,  a  distance  of  0.57  miles,  the  canal  will  be  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  with  an  en- 
larged section,  and  may  be  regarded  as  an  extension  of  the  harbor,  similar  to  that  at 
the  Greytown  end  of  the  route. 

HARBOR  OF  GRSYTOWN. 

Thirty  years  ago  this  harbor  had  a  comparatively  narrow  but  safe  entrance  from 
the  sea,  with  a  deep  and  commodious  inner  bay,  where  the  largest  class  of  sea-going 
vessels  conld  lie  with  perfect  safety.  To-day  this  bay  is  converted  into  a  fresh-water 
lagoon,  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  continuous  sand  strip,  stretching  across  the  old 
entrance.  This  sand  bank  is  the  work  of  the  waves,  which,  striking  the  sandy  coast 
at  an  angle  varying  with  the  direction  of  the  wind,  but  always  inside  of  the  first 
qnarter,  drives  the  sand  from  east  to  west,  to  be  deposited  at  the  extreme  western 
end  of  the  hook,  or  east  side  of  the  entrance.  This  continuous  operation  caused  the 
hook  to  advance  until  it  struck  the  main  coast  on  the  west,  thus  completely  inclosing 
the  bay. 

The  plan  for  the  restoration  of  the  harbor  is  based  on  data  gathered  throngh  many 
years  of  investigations,  in  which  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  forces  operating 
on  the  coast  were  carefully  defined  and  considered.  It  became  then  an  easy  matter 
to  create  the  means  of  opposing  these  forces,  and  the  following  plan  has  been  adopted, 
and  is  now  in  process  of  execution. 

It  consists  in  the  construction  of  a  jetty,  or  breakwater,  abont  2,000  feet  long, 
nearly  normal  to  the  shore  of  the  sand  strip  separating  the  bay  from  the  sea,  and 
extending  to  the  6-fathom  curve ;  then  dredging  from  this  latter  depth  ofiiahore  across 
the  sand  bank  and  in  the  inner  bay. 

The  jetty  is  located  to  the  windward  of  the  proposed  entrance  channel,  which  it  is 
intended  to  shelter  from  the  sea  and  protect  from  the  wash  of  the  waves  and  the 
traveling  sand  of  the  coast.  The  shifting  sand  arrested  by  the  pier  will  accumulate 
in  the  angle  formed  by  the  pier  and  coast  until  the  deposit  reaches  the  end  of  the 
breakwater,  when  there  will  be  a  tendency  to  shoal  around  the  outer  end  and  across 
the  entrance.  This  can  be  again  prevented  by  an  extension  of  the  pier,  and  the 
same  process  continued  from  time  to  time  nntil  the  new  coast  line  thus  formed  is 
perpendicular  to  the  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind,  when  the  shifting  action  of 
sea  will  be  permanently  arrested  and  the  work  of  the  waves  will  be  confined  to 
piling  the  sand  on  the  beach. 

The  first  section  of  the  jetty  extending  from  the  shore  to  15  feet  of  the  water,  it 
proposed  to  be  built  of  creosoted  timber,  fascinage,  and  stone,  and  that  portion  in 
deep  water  to  be  of  "pierre  perdue"  or  rubble,  the  stone  to  be  obtained  from  the 
"Divide  Cnt."  The  entrance  channel  is  estimated  to  have  a  depth  of  30  feet  and 
a  width  of  500  feet  at  the  bottom,  and  the  inner  basin  is  designed  of  sutficient 
dimensions  to  afford  easy  access  to  the  canal  and  to  accommodate  a  large  number  of 
vessels,  its  excavated  area  on  the  bottom  being  206  acres,  which,  with  the  area  of 
the  enlarged  section  of  the  canal  at  sea  level  to  Lock  No.  I,  gives  a  total  area  of  341 
acres  of  water  28  feet  deep,  exclusive  of  slopes  of  three  to  one  and  the  remaining 
portions  of  the  inner  bay  not  deepened,  yet  having  in  many  places  a  depth  of  20  feet, 
in  which  a  large  number  of  vessels  of  ordinary  size  can  lie. 

The  first  700  feet  of  the  pier  have  already  been  successfully  built,  and  the  results 
BO  far  obtained  fully  confirm  the  expectations  to  be  realized  by  the  execution  of  the 
plan. 

BRITO. 

The  recent  surveys  have  greatly  added  to  previons  information  as  to  the  natural 
conditions  of  this  locality,  whicb,  by  reason  of  its  being  of  neces-sity  the  terminus  of 
the  canal  on  the  Pacific  coast,  has  been  spoken  of  as  "  the  harbor,"  when,  as 
remarked  by  Professor  Mitchell,  it  is  not  even  a  roadstead.  Yet  the  practicability 
of  constructing  a  harbor  at  this  point  has  not  been  disputed,  the  only  diiferenoe  of 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  217 

opinion  being  couliueil  to  details.  The  plau  iiow  proi)oscd  combinea,  as  nearly  aa 
possible,  the  most  eooiiotnicai  form  of  construction  with  that  best  adujited  to  the 
physical  conditions,  and  meets,  it  is  believed,  most  elfectually  tiie  objections  rai'icd 
against  former  designs. 

The  broad  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  stretches  to  the  coast  at  this  point  through  a 
wide  gap  in  the  main  range  of  hills  extending  along  the  Pacific  coast.  This  valley, 
it  is  believed,  formed  once  a  considerable  bay,  but  is  now  filled  up  for  a  distance  of 
about  6,000  feet  from  the  beach  to  about  the  level  of  high  water.  The  proposed 
plan  for  the  construction  of  the  harbor  consists,  (1)  in  a  breakwater  900  feet  long, 
extending  from  a  rocky  promontory  projecting  from  the  beach  at  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  range  of  hills,  and,  (2)  another  jetty,  830  feet  long,  normal  to  the 
beach  nearly  opposite  the  extremity  of  the  one  before  mentioned.  The  proposed 
harbor  will  be  partly  in  denp  water  confined  by  the  jetties,  but  its  main  portion  is 
proposed  to  be  excavated  in  the  alluvial  valley,  the  whole  forming  a  deep  and  broad 
basin  penetrating  3,000  feet  from  tbe  present  shore  line  at  high  water  and  3,900  feet 
from  the  entrance  between  the  jetties.  As  an  entensiou  of  the  harbor,  the  canal  it- 
self is  excavated  at  sea  level  with  an  enlarged  prism  for  a  distance  of  3,000  feet  far- 
ther inland  where  the  tide  lock  bas  been  located.  It  is  believed  that,  with  the  basin  as 
designed  and  the  prolongation  of  the  sea  level  through  the  canal,  sufficient  tranquil- 
ity will  be  secured  at,  the  lock  and  in  the  harbor,  but  should  this  prove  not  to  be 
the  case,  an  enlargement  of  the  main  basin  by  dredging  in  soft  material  would  be  a 
question  of  but  comparatively  small  expense. 

The  breakwaters,  aa  estimated  for,  areof  "pierre  perdue,"  the  material  to  be  obtained 
from  the  rocky  promontory  or  from  the  western  "Divide  Cut,"  the  price  allowed 
being  on  the  latter  basis.  The  harbor  has  an  area  of  95J  acres  on  the  bottom  or 
excavated  portion,  and  with  the  sea  level  section  of  the  canal  the  total  area  is  103| 
acres  of  water,  30  feet  deep,  exclusive  of  the  slopes  of  three  to  one. 

MATERIALS  FOR  CONSTRUCTION. 

The  whole  line  of  the  canal  is  well  supplied  with  timber,  generally  of  excellent 
quality,  though  in  some  sections  of  the  eastern  division  it  has  been  deemed  advisable 
to  estimate  for  its  use  only  on  temporary  works  during  construction,  such  as  trestles, 
laborers'  dwellings,  etc.,  the  sheet  piling  and  most  of  the  bearing  piles  being  imported 
from  the  Southern  States  and  creosoted  when  necessary.  On  the  western  division, 
ho\ve%'er,  the  wood  growing  on  ground  less  moist  is  of  a  very  superior  quality,  and 
it  is  proposed  to  use  it  for  all  purposes,  its  durability  having  been  amply  proved  in 
every  class  of  construction  throughout  the  country. 

Tlie  rock  proposed  to  be  used  for  the  dams,  weirs,  and  breakwaters  will  be  got 
from  the  divide  cuts,  which  consist  chiefly  of  basalt  and  various  descriptions  of  trap 
of  excellent  quality  for  the  purpose. 

Lime  of  the  best  quality  is  obtainable  in  the  western  division  at  many  places,  and 
the  numerous  specimens  of  work  on  which  it  has  been  used  have  stood  the  test  of 
many  generations  and  are  to-day  in  a  sfate  of  perfect  preservation,  but  it  is  calcu- 
lated to  supplement  this  supply  with  imported  cement,  which  will  be  used  largely 
iu  the  form  of  concrete  in  the  construction  of  locks,  etc.,  clean  sharp  sand  being 
found  in  abundance  In  the  beds  of  most  of  the  streams  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canal. 

DIMENSIONS  AND  CAPACITY  OF  THE  CANAL. 

In  establishing  the  dimensions  of  the  canal  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  profit  by  the 
experience  at  Suez,  where  a  yearly  traffic  of  6,000,000  tons  could  not  be  carried 
through  without  serious  delays  to  navigation.  The  reduction  in  the  length  of  exca- 
vated canal  accomplished  by  the  last  location  in  Nicaragua,  through  the  substitution 
of  free  navigation  iu  deep  and  broad  basins  for  a  restricted  channel,  gives  additional 
facilities  for  the  construction  of  a  waterway  capable  of  accommodating  not  less  than 
12,000  vessels,  with  a  net  tonnage  of  20,000,000  a  year,  at  but  a  small  increased  cost 
as  compared  with  the  advantages  secured,  both  for  the  commerce  of  the  world  and 
the  economical  administration  of  the  enterprise.  In  fact,  the  immediate  and  pros- 
pective benefits  obtained  by  the  enlargement,  in  the  increased  facilities  for  passing 
vessels,  and  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  cost  of  maintenance  and  preservation  of 
the  work,  fully  justify,  it  is  believed,  the  additional  expense  in  the  original  cost. 
It  will  be  seen  on  examination  of  the  subjoined  table  that,  of  the  169.448  miles,  the 
total  length  of  the  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  121.04  miles  is  unimpeded 
navigation  in  the  river  San  Juan  and  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  and  21.619  miles  through 
basins,  making  a  total  distance  of  142.659  miles  in  which  ships  can  travel  with  little 
or  no  restriction  as  to  speed.  Of  the  remaining  26.789  miles,  0.759  is  taken  up  by  the 
six  locks,  leaving  but  26.030  miles  of  canal  actually  in  excavation.  Of  this  latter 
distance  18.189  miles  are  of  canal  large  enough  for  vesaeJs  traveling  in  opposite  diieo- 


218 


NICABAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


tiODB  to  pM8  each  other,  tlie  sect!  nnal  area  being  in  excess  of  the  largest  area  of  tlie 
Suez  Canal.  The  two  sections  of  canal  with  contracted  prisms  are  in  tl»  eabtern  and 
western  divide  cuts  ;  the  first  is  2.917  miles  and  the  other  4.924  miles  in  length,  and 
located  as  they  are  almost  at  the  extreme  ends  of  the  summit  level  and  in  close 
proximity  to  the  upper  locks,  it  is  believed  that  the  slight  additional  facilities  to 
navigation  secured  by  enlarging  the  dimensions  of  the  canal  in  these  heavy  rock  cuts 
and  the  inconsiderable  gain  in  the  time  of  transit  would  not  compensate  for  the 
larger  outlay  necessary. 

Table  shawing  the  dimensiont  of  the  several  aeotione  of  the  proposed  canal. 


SeotioD  of  canaL 


Width. 

Length. 

Mean 
depth. 

Top. 

Bottom. 

MOet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

9.297 

28H 

120 

28 

i.-25H 

210 

120 

30 

1.G50 

210 

120 

30 

1.762 
2.917 

30 
30 

80 

80 

3.0R0 
1.233 

46 

30 

184 

80 

11.  267 
37.  (1*0 
27.  r.MO 

40 
52 

28 

125 

56.500 

l.-^O 

50 

1.  .MJ.1 

210 

120 

30 

4.924 

80 

80 

30 

2.519 

184 

80 

30 

5.504 

50 

1.582 

184 

80 

35 

.570 

288 

120 

28 

Area  of 
prism. 


GreTtowu  to  Lock  No.  1 

Lock  No.  1  to  Lock  No.  2,  canal 

Lock  No.  2  to  Lock  No.  3,  canal 

Lock  No.  2  to  Lock  No.  3,  basin 

Look  No.  3  to  western  end  of  eastern  divide  cnt,  canal . . 
Lock  No.  3  to  western  end  of  eaHtem  divide  out,  De- 

seado  Basin 

Western  end  of  divide  out  to  Ochoa,  canal 

Western  end   of  divide  cut  to  Ochoa,  San  Francisco 

Basiu 

River  San  Juan  to  Toro  Rapids 

River  San  Juan,  where  dredging  is  needed 

Lake  Nicaragua 

Lake  to  western  divide  cut,  canal. , 

Western  divide  cnt,  canal 

Divide  out  to  east  end  of  Tola  Basin,  oanal 

East  end  of  Tola  Basin  to  Lork  So.  4,  basin 

Lock  No,  5  to  Lock  No.  6,  canal 

Lock  No.  6  to  harbor  of  Brito,  canal , 


Sq.feet. 
5,712 

4,»:o 

4,950 
2,46« 


3,673 


4,  9.10 
2.  4i>0 
3.673 


3.673 
5,C12 


KECAPITULATION, 

JRlM. 

Canal  excavation,  east  side 14.  870 

Canal  excavation,  west  side 11. 160 

Six  locks,  lM>th  sides.,. 759 

Canal  in  excavation 26.780 

Deeeado  Basins 4.848 

Stui  Francisco  Basin 11.267 

Tola  Basin 5.504 

Length  of  basins 21.619 

River  San  Juan 64.540 

Lake  Nicaragua 56.500 

Kataral  waterways 121.040 

From  Atlantic  to  Pacific  (length  of  canal) 109.  448 

In  the  lake  and  in  the  greater  part  of  the  River  San  Juan  vessels  can  travel  with 
anrestricted  speed,  and  in  some  sections  of  the  river  and  in  the  basins,  although  the 
channel  is  at  almost  all  points  deep  and  of  considerable  width,  yet  the  speed  will  be 
somewhat  checked  by  reason  of  the  curves. 

Official  reports  show  that,  in  the  Suez  Canal,  steamers  of  4,400  tons  can  travel  at 
an  average  speed  of  6  statute  miles  per  hour,  and  that  smaller  vessels  travel 
through  the  canal  at  the  rate  of  from  6  to  8  miles  an  hoar.  On  this  basis  the  follow- 
ing estimate  of  the  time  of  transit  has  been  prepared  : 

Estimated  time  of  through  transit  by  steamer. 

U.  lii. 

26.030  miles  of  canal,  at  5  miles  an  hour. 5  12 

21.619  miles  in  the  basins,  at  7  miles  an  hour 3  05 

64.540  miles  in  Biver  San  Jnan,  at  8  miles  an  hour 8  04 

56.500  miles  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  at  10  miles  an  hour    5  39 

6  lockages,  at  45  minutes  each 4  30 

Allow  for  detentions  in  narrow  outs 1  30 

Total  time  of  transit 28    00 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  219 

The  traffic  of  the  canal  will  be  limited  by  the  time  required  for  a  vessel  to  pass  a 
lock  aud  on  a  basis  of  45  minutes  and  that  but  one  vessel  will  pass  in  each  lockage, 
the  number  of  vessels  that  can  pass  through  the  canal  in  one  day  will  be  32,  or  in  one 
year  11,680,  which,  at  the  average  tonnage  of  vessels  going  through  the  Suez  Canal, 
will  give  20,440,000  tons  per  year.  This  estimate  is  on  the  assumption  that  the  traffic 
will  not  be  stopped  during  the  night,  for,  with  abundant  water  power  at  the  locks 
aiid  at  the  basins  the  whole  canal  can  be  economically  illuminated  by  electricity, 
and,  with  beacons  and  range  lights  in  the  lake  and  river,  there  seems  to  be  no  good 
reason  why  vessels  should  not  travel  day  and  night  with  perfect  safety,  and  the  out- 
lay necessary  for  the  illumination  has  consequently  been  included  in  the  estimate. 

WATER  SUPPLY. 

Lake  Nicaragua  has  a  surface  area  of  about  2,600  square  miles  and  a  watershed  of 
not  less  than  8,000  square  miles.  Gauges  at  its  outlet,  the  River  San  Juan,  at  its 
lowest  stage  between  the  Lake  and  Toro  Rapids,  showed  a  minimum  flow  of  11,390 
cubic  feet  per  second.  Colonel  Childs  estimated  the  discharge  with  full  lake  in  the 
wet  season  at  18,059  cubic  feet  per  second,  which  gives  a  mean  flow  of  14,724  cubic 
feet  per  second,  or  1,272,530,600  cubic  feet  per  day. 

Water  required  for  lockage. 

Gablo  fo«t. 
Water  required  for  one  lockage : 

On  the  east  side 2.047,500 

On  the  west  side 1,933,750 

On  both  sides 3,981,250 

Water  required  for  thirty-two  lockages  per  day 127,400,000 

This  gives  a  daily  excess  for  the  lake  supply  onlij  of  1,144,753,600  cubic  feet. 

To  the  latter  amount  must  be  added  the  flow  of  the  several  tributaries  of  the  San 
Juan  River  between  the  lake  and  the  Ochoa  Dam,  and  also  the  tributaries  of  the 
basins  forming  part  of  the  summit  level,  which  would  fully  compensate  for  leakage 
and  evaporation. 

It  is  expected  that  considerable  leakage  will  take  place  at  the  rock-flll  dams  and 
embankments  before  they  consolidate  and  become  tight,  bat  this  may  well  be  accepted 
as  a  desirable  condition  to  aid  in  gradually  disposing  of  the  surplus  water  without  a 
large  discharge  over  the  weirs. 

The  above  statement  shows  that  the  lake  discharge  is  about  ten  times  larger  than 
the  maximum  amount  needed  for  the  canal,  aud  it  may  be  safely  estimated  that  for 
many  years  after  the  canal  is  opened  for  traffic,  the  surplus,  from  that  source  alone, 
will  be  double  that  amount,  while  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  San  Juan  and  San 
Carlos,  above  the  Ochoa  Dam,  the  excess  may  even  reach  forty  times  the  quantity 
needed  for  the  canal.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  as  long  as  the  summit  level  can 
be  maintained  at  the  required  elevation,  the  leakage  through  the  rock-fills,  acting 
as  safety  valves,  may  be  regarded  as  an  element  of  security  rather  than  one  of  danger, 
especially  as  the  tightening  of  the  dam  may  be  regulated  by  depositing  suitable 
material  on  the  upstream  side,  or  by  dumping  more  stone  on  the  lower  slopes  or  on 
the  crest,  so  as  to  preserve  the  desired  elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  water. 

A  detailed  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  canal  is  foreign  to  the  nature  of  this  paper, 
but  it  may  be  proper  to  state  that  the  probable  total  cost  has  been  arrived  at  through 
careful  computations  based  upon  the  data  obtained  by  the  last  location  and  numeroug 
boring  along  the  whole  route. 

The  eastern  divide  cut,  less  than  3  miles  in  length,  is  represented  in  the  estimate 
with  7,000,230  cubic  yards  of  rock  in  place,  and  22  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  the  whole 
canal.  Reference  has  already  been  made,  in  describing  the  Eastern  Division,  to  the 
existing  facilities  for  doing  the  work  and  the  several  purposes  to  which  the  material 
to  be  removed  can  be  economically  applied  in  the  construction  of  the  canal.  In  the 
Western  Division  the  excavation  in  rock  through  the  divide  cut  is  estimated  at 
5,696,507  cubic  yards,  distributed  over  a  distance  of  9  miles,  in  which  the  deepest 
portion  of  the  excavation  is  but  42  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  There  are 
ample  facilities  for  the  deposit  of  the  waste  material  not  needed  for  the  construction 
of  the  breakwaters,  the  locks,  the  embankments,  the  dam,  etc. 

Of  the  26.789  miles  of  canal  in  excavation,  more  than  12  miles  will  be  done  by 
dredging  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  the  material  to  be  deposited  directly  on  both  sides 
of  the  canal  prism. 

A  railroad  has  been  estimated  for  between  Greytown  harbor  and  the  river  San  Juan 
above  the  Ochoa  Dam,  and  on  the  Western  Division  between  the  lake  and  the  Pacific, 
which,  together  with  the  lake  and  river  and  the  smaller  streams  penetrating  the  val- 
leys of  the  Deseado  and  San  Francisco,  will  aftbrd  easy  and  economical  communica- 
tion along  the  whole  route. 

It  is  ad^tted  that  the  cost  of  this  work  will  be  greater  than  that  of  similar  work 


220  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

located  in  a  well-developed  conntry.  A  large  percentage  of  the  increased  cost  vt 
chargeable  to  the  transportation  of  machine  tools,  and  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
and  providing  for  the  workmen,  the  country  from  Greytown  to  the  lake  being  un- 
inhabited and  covered  with  a  dense  forest,  and  intercei)ted  by  extensive  swamps  and 
ridges  of  steep  hills;  and  that  between  the  lake  and  the  Pacific  but  sparsely  popu- 
lated. The  enaction  of  houses  for  the  protection  of  property  and  the  accommodation 
of  employes  will  also  be  a  necessary  item  of  considerable  expense,  but  the  country 
is  exceptionally  healthy,  and  these  structures  need  not  be  either  substantial  in 
character  or  expensive.  They  need  be,  as  a  rule,  but  temporary  sheds  built  with 
material  gathered  along  the  line  of  the  canal,  at  but  little  more  cost  than  the  labor 
of  handling  it.  Yet  much  delay  and  expeuso  will  be  found  unavoidable  in  the  pre- 
liminary preparations  for  commencing  the  work  of  excavation. 

Another  contingency  which  may  cause  a  marked  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  work  ie 
the  physical  inability  of  the  imported  workmen  to  perform  the  ordinary  labor,  as  com- 
pared with  that  accomplished  in  a  more  temperate  climate.  The  laboring  classes  of 
Nicaragua,  whenunderpropercontrol,  are  capable  of  an  activity  and  endurance  under 
great  fatigue  and  exposure  to  the  elements  scarcely  equalled  in  any  other  country, 
and  with  no  apparent  injury  to  health  ;  yet  the  same  capabilities  can  not-be  expected 
in  unacclimatod  foreigners  accustomed  to  differeut  conditions  of  life.  It  is  believed 
that  not  less  than  G.OOO  excellent  laborers  can  be  obtained  from  the  Central  American 
States,  and  that  with  a  jndicions  management  all  the  help  needed  can  be  had  from 
the  Gulf  States  in  this  conntry  where  the  climatic  conditions  are  in  many  respects 
similar  to  those  prevailing  over  a  large  portion  of  the  canal  route.  The  number  ot 
skilled  laborers  employed  will  be  comparatively  small.  On  the  west  side  of  the  lake, 
where  the  greater  number  of  laborers  will  be  emploj'ed,  the  climate  is  not  excelled 
for  salubrity  by  any  other  portion  of  Central  America,  and  in  that  portion  of  the 
eastern  section  from  Ochoa  to  Greytown,  which  is  the  only  locality  where  trouble 
from  climatic  causes  might  be  expected,  the  unexceptional  good  health  enjoyed  by 
the  employ^  of  the  company  during  more  than  two  years  of  constant  exposure  to  the 
influence  of  the  climate,  while  undergoing  all  kinds  of  hardships  and  privations, 
seems  to  be  an  evident  demonstration  that  no  apprehension  need  be  entertained  as  to 
the  climate.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  section  the  work  is  divided  into  two 
large  classes,  viz :  the  divide  cut  and  dredging.  The  first  is  located  in  the  most 
elevated  and  healthy  portion  of  the  line,  and  in  the  second  the  number  of  employes 
is  reduced  to  a  rainimnm,  as  manual  labor  is  almost  entirely  excluded.  The  small 
force  necessary  to  handle  and  care  for  the  machinery  will  be  either  housed  on  the 
dredges  or  in  quarters  in  the  divide  where,  with  the  purest  of  waters  from  the  moun- 
tain streams  and  the  cool  trades  constantly  sweeping  in  from  the  sea,  the  slightest 
sanitary  regulations  will  insure  perfect  health  at  all  times. 

It  is  believed  that  with  an  intelligent  and  businesslike  management  the  canal  can 
be  completed  in  six  years  for  the  work  of  actual  construction,  and  one  year  in  mak- 
ing the  necessary  preparations  to  commence  active  operations,  and  that  the  total 
cost  will  not  exceed  $90,000,000,  exclusive  of  banking  commissions,  interest  during 
construction,  and  other  expenses  not  included  in  the  engineer's  estimate. 

WORK  ACCOMPUSHED. 

The  first  expedition  for  construction  left  New  York  on  the  25th  of  May,  1689,  and 
on  the  3d  of  June  landed  at  the  proposed  entrance  to  the  canal,  near  Greytown,  on  a 
sandy,  uninhabited  coast,  without  harbor  or  shelter  from  the  elements,  with  no 
means  of  communication  along  the  line  of  the  canal  except  through  tortuous  and 
much-obstructed  streams,  some  of  which  could  not  float  a  loaded  canoe,  and  depend- 
ing altogether  on  a  base  of  supplies  for  construction  materials  and  subsistence  2,000 
miles  distant,  with  only  one  line  of  steamers  touching  on  that  coast,  and  two  weeks 
distant  from  the  nearest  telegraph  station.  The  first  work  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
great  enterprise  was,  necessarily,  one  of  self  preservation.  Rude  temporary  shelters 
had  to  be  improvised  for  the  protection  of  men  and  stores,  while  more  permanent 
buildings  could  be  erected  ;  means  of  transportation  along  the  route  of  the  canal 
through  deep  and  extensive  swamps  and  virgin  forests  had  to  be  provided  for,  and 
telegraphic  communication  to  the  nearest  station  (more  than  100  miles  from  the 
coast)  and  connecting  the  various  camps  about  to  be  established  with  the  base  of 
operations,  was  felt  from  the  start  to  be  a  necessary  adjunct  to  prosecuting  the 
work.  Under  these  conditions,  aggravated  by  an  insufficient  supply  of  an  inferior 
class  of  labor,  the  first  operations  were  difficult,  tedious,  and  expensive,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  month  of  October  following  that  the  preliminary  organization  of  the 
various  departments  had  been  completed,  and  the  ordinary  worS  of  construction 
could  be  said  to  have  commenced. 

The  opening  of  an  entrance  into  what  used  to  be  the  Bay  of  Greytown,  was  recog- 
nized from  tbe'start  to  be  an  indispensable  requisite  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work. 
Ships  now  anchor  about  2  miles  off  shore,  and  machinery  and  other  supplies  are 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  221 

brought  ashore  in  lighters,  through  a  shifting  entrance  and  dangerous  bar,  with  a 
variable  depth,  never  exceeding  6  feet.  This  method  of  landing  supplies  involves 
considerable  risk  and  expense,  and  is  altogether  inadequate  for  the  discharge  of  the 
heavy  machinery.  The  company,  therefore,  has  spared  no  effort  in  obtaining  an 
entrance  from  the  sea  into  the  bay,  and  the  construction  of  the  breakwater  was  one 
of  the  first  works  undertaken  by  the  company,  and  pushed  ahead  with  all  possible 
dispatch.  This  pier  is  now  about  700  feet  long,  its  outer  end  being  in  12  feet  of 
water,  and  so  far  has  fulfilled,  even  beyond  expectations,  all  that  was  expected  to  be 
accomplished  by  it.  It  affords  already  suflBcient  protection  to  the  dredges  excavating 
the  channel,  and  the  company  has  already  made  a  contract  for  the  dredging  of  the 
entrance  and  innet  bay  to  a  depth  of  20  feet.  Some  of  the  dredges  are  now  in  Nica- 
ragua and  others  are  in  process  of  construction  and  will  leave  soon  for  Greytown.  It 
is  expected,  therefore,  that  within  the  next  five  months  vessels  drawing  15  or  20  feet 
may  be  able  to  enter  the  bay  and  discharge  their  freight  directly  on  the  wharves  of 
the  company. 

Heavy  machinery  suitable  for  the  work  can  then  be  safely  landed,  the  work  of 
preparation  may  be  said  to  have  been  completed,  and  active  operations  can  be  under- 
taken along  the  whole  route. 

While  prosecuting  the  harbor  work  the  company  has  also  established  permanent 
quarters,  erected  large  storehouses,  hospitals,  dwellings,  shops,  and  other  buildings. 
It  has  accumulated  the  necessary  material  for  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct 
13  miles  in  length  (work  on  which  is  now  actively  pushed),  which  is  to  supply  Grey- 
town,  the  works  on  the  eastern  section  of  the  canal,  the  harbor,  and  the  company's 
headquarters,  with  fresh  water  from  the  mountains.  It  has  erected  wharves  and 
warehouses  for  the  receipt  and  storage  of  supplies.  Parts  of  the  San  Juanillo, 
Deseado,  San  Francisco,  and  other  streams,  have  been  cleared  of  obstructions  and 
made  navigable  for  small  craft,  and  several  miles  of  the  route  of  the  canal,  between 
the  harbor  and  the  Eastern  Divide,  have  been  grubbed  and  cleared  and  made  ready 
for  dredging.  The  company  has  built  about  10  miles  of  broad  gauge  railroad  and 
about  70  miles  of  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  has  landed  at  Greytown  large 
quantities  of  machinery,  tools,  lumber,  piles,  creosoted  timber,  boats,  steam  tugs 
and  launches,  lighters,  pile  drivers,  and  other  materials  and  equipment  necessary 
for  the  harbor  and  canal  work.  Large  quantities  of  railroad  supplies,  locomotives, 
steam  excavators,  are  now  at  Greytown,  and  a  contract  has  been  let  for  the  con- 
struction of  17  miles  of  railroad  from  Greytown  to  the  Eastern  Divide  cut,  work  on 
which  has  already  commenced,  and,  in  short,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  whole 
work  is  being  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  the  Circumstances  and  condition  of  the 
country  permit. 

A.  G.  Mexocal, 

ChUjf  Engineer. 


222  WIOABAQUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


Appendix  B. 


SPECIAL  REPORT  ON  DATA    RELATING    TO  THE   MARITIME  CANAL  tiF 
NICARAGUA  AND  THE  REGIONS  TRIBUTARY  TUKIiETO. 

(ByCHAEi.ES  T.  Harvkv,  OivU  Knginetr.] 

Thk  Maritimb  Canal  Company  op  Nicaragua, 

Secretary's  Office,  44   Wall  Street,  December  iJO,  1889. 

The  nndereigned  has  been  iustracted  to  cause  the  following  correspondence  and 
report  to  be  printed  for  the  general  information  of  the  friends  and  stockholders  of  the 
above-named  enterprise. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  locks  of  the  Lake  Superior  Ship 
Canal  (of  which  the  dimensions  most  nearly  coincide  with  those  proposed  for  the 
Nicaragua  Canal,)  have  been  in  constant  use  for  one-tbird  of  a  centnry  without  ces- 
sation for  a  single  day  from  accidents  or  for  repairs  during  seasons  of  navigation. 

This  precedent  is  deemed  by  the  company  a  sufficient  indication  that  like  results 
are  certain  in  this  ent«rprise,  where  the  late8t-im])roved  lock  appliances  and  safe- 
guards will  be  provided  from  the  outset,  and  where  more  favorable  climatic  condi- 
tions exist. 

The  fact  that  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  was  built  within  the  estimates  of  both  time 
and  cost,  under  less  favorable  conditions  in  many  respect«  than  attach  to  the  con- 
strnction  work  of  this  company,  will  doubtless  have  weight  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
in  such  matters  are  influenced  by  precedents. 

The  statistics  of  the  growth  and  relative  economy  of  the  water  way  traffic  of  the 
section  of  this  continent  tributary  to  the  Lake  Superior  Ship  Lock  Canal,  are  deemed 
worthy  of  especial  attention. 

The  conclusions  set  forth  in  Mr.  Harvey's  report,  illustrated  by  the  accompanying 
maps,  relating  to  the  territory  on  this  continent,  from  which  commerce  will  seek  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  as  the  most  economical  route,  suggest  new  commercial  conditions 
and  results,  deemed  especially  interesting  to  those  having,  or  contemplating,  invest- 
ments in  connection  with  this  interoceanic  and  international  water  way. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 
Secretary  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 


Thk  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
PresidenVa  Office,  44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  May  15,  1889. 

Dkab  Sir  :  The  fact  that  you  occupied  the  positions  of  both  business  manager  and 
constructing  engineer  of  the  greatest  ship  canal  operated  with  locks  at  the  time  of  its 
completion,  and  which  has  held  the  first  place  as  to  tonnage  traffic  up  to  the  present 
time  (outranking  the  Suez  Tide-Level  Canal  in  monthly  volume  of  business  during 
open  season  on  the  Western  Lakes),  and  that  you  were  honored  with  a  vote  of  thanks 
by  the  Constructing  C  ompany  for  your  ability  displayed  in  prosecuting  the  canal 
work  under  your  charge  to  completion,  led  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Com- 
pany to  select  yon  as  a  member  of  the  advisory  board  of  engineers,  which  has  lately 
concluded  its  revision  of  the  estimates  of  Chief  Engineer  Menocal,  as  based  upon  the 
surveys  made  and  data  ascertained  by  the  engineering  corps  under  his  directions. 

Considering  your  former  experience  a  valuable  guide  in  such  undertakings,  and 
that  your  recent  inspection  of  the  maps,  profiles,  plans,  and  general  data  of  this  en- 
terprise will  enable  you  to  state  the  main  points  connected  with  it*  feasibility  and 
future  traffic  development  in  the  light  of  established  precedents  coming  under  your 
personal  obser*  ation,  and  in  a  manner  which  will  no  doubt  prove  worthy  of  special 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  223 

attention,  I  reqaeet  you  to  favor  me  with  yonr  views  aud  suggestions  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  constructor  of  ship-lock  caual  work  and  manager  of  such  water-way  in- 
terests. 

Yonrs,  very  respectfully,  Hiram  Hitchcock, 

President  Maritime  Canal  Company. 
Chas.  T.  Harvey,  Esq., 

Civil  Engineer,  Neto  York  City. 


New  York  City,  Maij  5^0,  1889. 

Dear  Sir:  Yonr  communication  of  the  15th  instant  has  been  received  and  duly 
considered.  Prior  engagements  for  the  eusuing^eason  will  prevent  my  giving  imme- 
diate attention  to  the  subject  to  which  you  refer,  but  when  otherwise  disengaged 
I  will  endeavor  to  comply  with  your  wishes. 

I  am  at  present  planning  to  visit,  during  the  coming  summer,  the  ship  canal  at  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Superior,  the  subject  of  my  former  labors,  and  if  that  plan  is  realized, 
I  will  allot  a  portion  of  my  time  while  there  to  formulating  a  statement  of  facts,  past 
and  present,  connected  with  that  water  way,  with  a  view  to  its  bearing  upon  the 
results  to  be  anticipated  at  the  completion  of  the  Nicaragua  Ship  Canal. 

The  extended  examination  of  the  construction  data  of  the  noble  enterprise  which 
you  represent,  made  by  me  early  in  the  present  year,  has  led  to  the  formation  of 
opinions  which,  with  due  allowance  for  time  necessarily  occnpied  by  other  and  prior 
professional  engagements,  can  bo  placed  at  your  service  after  my  return  to  the  city. 
Meanwhile  you  may  not  hear  from  me  again  until  I  reach  the  outlet  of  that  match- 
less inland  sea  and  the  adjacent  region  where  I  was  a  pioneer  in  promoting  the  de- 
velopment of  its  then  latent,  but  now  famous,  commercial  resources. 
I  remain,  very  respectfnlly,  yours, 

Chaklks  T.  Harvey. 

Hiram  Hitchcock,  Esq., 

President  Maritime  Canal  Company. 


International  Hotel, 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Ont.,  August  20,  1889. 

Dear  Sir  :  Referring  to  my  letter  to  you  of  May  20,  1889,  I  have  now  to  say  that 
circumstances  have  favored  the  plan  I  then  entertained  of  revisiting  this  locality. 

If  any  persons  have  the  impression  that  ship  canals  have  been  superseded  in  com- 
mercial importance  by  the  march  of  modern  improvements  in  other  forms  of  transit, 
a  visit  of  inspection  to  this  point  (where  is  located  the  greatest  development  of  lock 
canals  to  be  found  in  the  world)  will  quickly  dispel  such  an  illusion.  From  the 
windows  of  the  hotel  where  these  lines  are  written  my  eyes  can  rest  upon  enlarge- 
ments of  canal  capacity,  now  being  prosecuted  upon  both  banks  of  the  Falls  of  the 
St.  Mary's  River,  the  outlet  of  this  greatest  of  inland  seas,  by  two  uf  the  most  enter- 
prising nations  of  the  world.  The  workmen  employed  in  these  respective  operations 
are  under  separate  nationalities,  although  less  than  one  mile  apart.  And  yet,  with 
only  the  present  facilities,  more  tonnage  is  being  locked  through  the  operating  canal 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  river  in  seven  months  (navigation  in  this  region  being 
closed  by  ice,  on  the  average,  from  December  1  to  May  1  in  each  year),  than  is  ex- 
pected to  pass  through  the  Suez  Canal  during  the  present  calendar  year.  I  have 
myself  seen,  during  one  morning  of  this  week,  15  steamers  (some  of  3,000  tons  bur- 
den), clustered  together  as  passed,  passing,  or  waiting  to  pass  the  locks  ;  and  within 
the  space  of  one  hour  all  had  disappeared  upon  their  resj)ective  voyages. 

The  annexed  view  is  from  a  photograph  recently  taken  of  a  fleet  of  steam  and  sail 
vessels  (the  latter  mostly  masted  barges,  regularly  towed  between  ports  by  consort 
steamers)  awaiting  their  turn  to  pass  through  the  lock  of  the  United  States  Ship 
Canal  at  the  entrance  to  Lake  Superior. 

Comparing  this  with  the  time  when,  in  1853,  I  wheeled  ont  the  first  barrowload  of 
excavation  wr  the  original  ship  canal  at  this  point,  the  change  seems  almost  incredi- 
ble. Then  a  tram  railway  operated  by  a  few  horses  sufficed  to  transfer  around  the 
falls  all  commodities  to  and  from  Lake  Superior. 

This,  to  my  mind,  is  but  an  appropriate  indication  of  the  growth  of  the  commerce 
which  waits  upon  the  opening  of  the  Nicaragua  interoceanic  water  way  to  crowd 
its  utmost  capacity. 

Thus  far,  by  way  of  introduction,  to  a  report  [part  first]  npon  the  data  respecting 
water-way  developments  in  this  region,  the  preparation  of  which  I  have  already  com- 
menced. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 

Charles  T.  Harvet. 

HiiiAM  Hitchcock,  Esq., 

President  Maritime  Canal  Company,  44  Wall  St.,  New  York  City. 


224  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


PART    FT  R  ST. 

DATA  RELATING  TO  THE  SHIP-CANAL  FACILITIES  AND  TnAPFIC 
OF  THE  LAKE  SUPERIOR  BASIN. 

HISTORICAL. 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteeuth  centary,  a  British  far-trading  company  con> 
strncted,  on  the  Canadian  side,  a  sluiceway  for  the  passage  of  loaded  bateaux  around 
the  Falls  of  the  St.  Mary's  River,  by  a  gradual  incline  to  a  lift-lock,  about  40x9 
feet  in  area,  bnilt  of  dressed  timber,  of  which  remains  have  recently  been  exhumed. 
Records  are  silent  as  to  its  farther  history,  bat  it  is  believed  to  have  been  destroyed 
daring  the  war  of  1812-'14,  when  a  military  force  from  the  United  Slates  bum  every 
bailding  in  that  vicinity. 

In  1852  the  Congress  of  the  Unittd  States  passed  a  law  donating  to  the  State  of 
Michigan  7,'>0,CMX)  acres  of  public  land  within  its  borders,  to  aid  in  bailding  a  ship 
canal  around  the  Falls,  committing  the  entire  control  of  the  work  to  the  State, 
stipulating,  however,  that  the  canal  should  not  be  less  than  lO'J  feet  in  width,  and 
12  feet  deep,  with  locks  not  less  than  250  feet  long  and  .50  feet  wide. 

Being  myself  at  the  Falls  when  this  law  was  enacted,  my  own  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  the  work  led  me  to  immediately  devote  my  time  and  energies  to  its 
promotion.  In  the  line  of  this  effort  I  attended  the  next  session  of  the  State  legis- 
latnre,  and  was  selected  by  the  committee  having  the  matter  in  charge  to  draught  the 
State  law  to  govern  the  prosecution  of  the  enterprise,  and  it  was  enacted  substan- 
tially in  the  form  in  which  I  submitted  it.  Having  made  a  toar  uf  the  lake  region 
daring  the  previous  year,  its  latent  resources  so  impressed  me  that,  npon  later  at- 
tendance at  the  legislature,  I  strenuously  advocated  building  the  canal  npon  a  still 
larger  scale  than  the  act  of  Congress  called  for,  as  sure  to  be  needed  in  the  coming 
years.  Although  the  only  person,  so  far  as  my  memory  recalls,  who  originally  pro- 
posed an  increase  of  the  lock  dimensions,  my  views  were,  after  considerable  hesita- 
tion, adopted  by  the  legislators,  and  locks  350  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide  were  (in 
the  law)  made  obligatory  by  the  State  as  a  condition  in  any  contract  for  the  work. 

Afterward,  submitting  a  bid  in  behalf  of  Eastern  capitalists,  the  contract  was 
awarded  to  them,  and  I  was  at  once  appointed  State's  agent  by  the  governor  to 
designate  the  lands  to  be  received  in  payment  from  the  United  States.  In  consider- 
ation of  such  selections  as  made  by  myself  in  the  Upper  Peninsula,  and  later  by  a  co- 
land  agent  for  the  Lower  Peninsula,  my  principals  proposed  to  build  the  canal  for 
the  State,  and  npon  the  wise  selection  of  the  aforesaid  lands  their  profits  de- 
pended. 

My  next  step  was  to  apply  to  the  legislature  of  New  York  for  a  special  charter  for  a 
constraction  company,  which  the  coustitntion  of  the  State  of  Michigan  did  not  per- 
mit, bnt  which  its  legislature  could  (and  did)  recognize  when  created  by  another 
State.  Having  obtained  the  charter  at  Albany,  New  York  City  was  next  visited, 
where  cash  subscriptions  were  secured  for  the  authorized  capital  stock  of  $1,000,000, 
and  the  same  apportioned  to  capitalists,  who  constituted  a  remarkably  influential 
and  financially  able  body  of  stockholders. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  corporation  as  the  St.  Mary's  Falls  Ship  Canal  Com- 
pany I  was  appointed  its  general  agent,  with  fall  executive  powers  for  prosecuting 
the  work,  and  proceeding  to  Detroit  organized  the  first  detachment  of  the  working 
force,  nnmbering  about  400  men,  chartered  a  steamer,  and  landed  them  at  the  "  Soo" 
(the  name  under  which  the  Falls,  in  abbreviation  of  the  French  name  given  it  by 
the  Jesuit  pioneers  of  the  seventeenth  century,  were  known),  June  2, 1853.  On  the 
4th  of  the  same  month  I  formally  broke  ground,  and  the  work  commenced  forthwith. 

My  supervisory  dnties  included,  unexpectedly  to  me,  that  of  chief  engineer,  with 
the  sole  responsibility  of  directing  the  work,  in  all  respects,  during  the  closed  or 
winter  seasons.  The  most  remarkable  operation  occurring  in  the  engineering  de- 
partment during  that  period  was  the  devising  and  constructing  of  a  machine,  oper- 
ated by  steam,  which  could  deliver  a  blow  of  10,000  pounds  force  per  sqnare  inch, 
by  which  submarine  rock  excavation  was  carried  on  in  midwinter  in  2  fathoms 
of  water,  inclnding  nearly  a  half- fathom  of  ice. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  225 

When  the  emergency  requiring  such  force  was  discovered,  I  was  obliged  to  dis- 
patch couriers  over  the  icy  wastes  of  frozen  rivers  and  lakes  to  the  Canadian  settle- 
meuis  aloiis  the  north  shore  of  Georjjjian  Bay  to  collect  numbers  of  blacksmiths' 
bellows  sutticient  to  furnish  the  blast  for  forging  the  main  parts  of  this  novel  ma- 
chine. 

It  proved  a  great  success,  and  by  it  thousands  of  yards  in  area  of  solid  rock  were 
excavated  rapidly  and  economically.  While  it  was  operating  at  the  lake  entrance 
I  had  the  honor  of  personally  opening  the  cofferdam  sluice  gates,  which  let  the 
waters  of  Lake  Superior  flow  permanently  into  the  finished  prism  and  locks  of  the 
ship  canal  the  19th  of  April,  ld55. 

Tlie  time  between  the  commencement  and  completion  of  the  work  was  twenty-two 
and  one-half  months,  whereas  the  contract  pt^riod  allowed  was  twenty- four  months. 
The  capital  allotted  for  the  work  was  $1,000,000;  but  ray  account  as  construction 
agent  was,  in  round  numbers,  less  than  $875,000.  Thus  this  canal  was,  both  as  to  timt 
and  cost,  completed  within  the  original  estimates. 

Probably  no  public  work  was  ever  constructed  upon  more  honorable  principles.  In 
every  case  where,  as  engineer,  I  applied  to  the  directors  for  permission  to  improve 
the  work  beyond  the  contract  specifications,  it  was  granted.  The  State  engineer's 
plans  were  originally  for  lock-gates,  worked  with  long  beams,  against  which  men 
were  to  brace  their  backs  in  opening  or  shutting.  Before  that  detail  was  reached 
more  excellent  but  costlier  devices  were  substituted  at  the  contractors'  expense. 

This  canal  had  by  far  the  largest  locks  then  to  be  found  in  the  world,  and  they 
have  fulfilled  their  mission  without  defect  or  cessation  for  over  a  third  of  a  century. 
Upon  an  examination  made  this  week  I  could  not  find  a  single  fissure  in  the  lock 
walls  or  detect  any  deflection  in  them,  nor  in  the  miter  sills  or  lock-chamber  floors. 
That  they  would  continue  thus  for  ages,  so  far  as  the  forces  of  nature  are  concerned, 
is  unquestionable.  The  engineers  of  the  United  States  Government  have,  however, 
now  commenced  operations  to  remove  them,  and  to  substitute  a  new  lock  of  nearly 
quadruple  capacity,  as  will  be  hereinafter  noted. 

In  referring  to  them.  General  Poe,  U.  S.  Army,  in  charge  of  the  work,  in  his  re- 
port of  of  December  29,  1886,  uses  the  following  language : 

"They  were  magnificent  constructions  in  their  day,  and  would  still  be  useful  if  the 
commerce  had  not  entirely  outgrown  them." 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  you  to  be  assured  that  if  the  construction  of  the  canal,  of 
which  you  have  charge,  was  under  its  present  conditions  the  subject  of  choice  for 
personal  management,  as  against  the  canal  at  this  point,  with  the  surroundings  un- 
der which  its  construction  was  undertaken,  I  should  recommend  yours  as  involving 
the  least  risk  and  administrative  energy,  to  secure  its  completion  within  your  engi- 
neering estimates  as  to  both  time  and  cost. 

To  meet  any  incredulity  as  to  such  conclusions,  in  view  of  the  far  greater  opera- 
tions required  at  Nicaragua,  some  of  the  obstacles  overcome  will,  by  way  of  contrast, 
be  recalled. 

This  region  was  then  more  remote  from  the  sonrces  of  labor  supply  and  many 
prime  materials  than  is  yours  at  this  time. 

Thus  in  1853  every  one  of  the  many  thousand  kegs  of  powder  used  was  transported 
here  from  the  States  of  Connecticut  or  Delaware  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Agents 
were  required,  en  route  to  and  from  New  York  City,  to  hire  immigrants  and  bring 
them  here  in  gangs,  paying  all  their  expenses,  and  also  to  circumvent  the  emis- 
saries of  the  various  railroads  then  building  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  who  came 
here  surreptitiously  to  hire  them  to  go  elsewhere,  as  there  was  at  that  time  a  scarcity 
of  labor  throughout  the  West.  The  nearest  machine  shop  was  several  hundred 
miles  away,  with  no  practical  means  of  communication  during  five-twelfths  of  the 
year.  The  nearest  telegraph  station  was  at  Detroit,  450  miles  distant,  and  business 
letters  in  midwinter  required  six  weeks  to  reach  the  Construction  Company's  New 
York  office  and  return  a  reply. 

Ou  the  other  hand,  all  parts  of  your  work  will  be  in  telegraphic  communication 
with  each  other  and  with  your  New  York  office,  while  labor  and  supplies  can  be  sent 
from  the  best  markets  directly  and  cheaply  to  your  own  landings  and  depots. 

The  conditions  as  to  improvements  in  labor-saving  machinery  and  explosives  made 
availal)le  within  the  intervening  years  are  almost  incomparably  in  your  favor. 

In  this  case  drilling  was  done  mainly  by  hand— 100  men  then  not  equalling  the 
work  of  ten  men  with  present  improved  machinery.  Then  the  only  way  to  hasten 
the  work  was  to  increase  the  number  of  hands,  and  consequenily  at  one  time  2,000 
men  could  here  be  seen  at  work  within  the  space  of  1  mile.  The  climate  and  sani- 
tary conditions  of  your  line  of  work  must  be  considered  as  exceptionably  favorable, 
in  view  of  the  equable  mildness  of  the  climate  and  for  other  reasons  hereinaftei 
stated  under  the  caption  of  "  climatic  conditions,"  etc. 

At  this  locality,  during  the  severit}'  of  winter,  35  degrees  below  zero  is  frequentlj 
registered  in  the  mornings  of  the  short  days,  with  only  eight  hoars  of  sunlight 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 15 


226  NICABAOUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

Dnricg  the  honreof  snch  extremely  low  temperstore  one  man  was  detailed  to  stand 
at  the  head  of  each  of  the  runways  for  barrows,  with  orders  when  he  saw  a  face  frost- 
bitten to  rub  it  with  snow  until  circulation  was  restored  without  the  barrow-uian 
leaving  the  work.  Epidemic  cholera  broke  ont  during  the  second  summer  and  carried 
to  their  graves  about  one-tenth  of  the  working  force. 

When  these  facts  are  borne  in  mind  it  will  be  seen  that  a  choice  of  your  undertak- 
ing as  the  least  difficult  will  not  seem  nnreasonable.  Experts  have  declared  that 
the  record  of  building  a  work  of  the  dimensions  and  importanco  of  the  Lake  Sujd'rior 
Ship  Canal  in  the  face  of  the  obstacles  indicated,  and  yet  within  the  estimates  as  to 
botli  time  and  cost,  has  never  been  surpassed.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  a  ])leasant  con- 
clusion of  this  historical  notice  to  be  able  to  say  that,  viewed  as  a  financial  venture, 
the  canal  proved  a  great  success  for  its  contractors,  as  the  following  instance  will 
illustrate:  An  English  capitalist,  residing  or  having  business  connections  in  the 
Madeira  Islands  at  that  time,  visited  the  works  with  introductory  letters  to  myself, 
and,  after  personal  observation,  instructed  his  agent  in  New  York  to  invest  $100,000 
in  the  Construction  Company's  stock.  About  twenty  years  later  that  agent's  casliicr 
informed  me  that  he  had  remitted  over  $500,000  in  sterling  exchange  as  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  of  a  part  of  that  investor's  quota  of  the  selected  lands,  with  a  balance 
yet  to  follow. 

The  locks  and  canal  as  originally  constrncted  continned  nninterruptedly  in  use 
until  the  close  of  the  season  of  1886.  Meanwhile  the  commerce  of  Lake  Superior, 
in  consequence  of  these  canal  facilities,  increased  so  rapidly  that  the  demand  for 
enlargements  was  imperative — not  alone  from  the  State  of  Michigan,  which  con- 
trolled it,  but  also  from  such  of  the  other  States  and  the  provinces  of  Canada  as 
bordered  upon  its  connecting  lakes.  Consequently  the  State  of  Michigan,  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1881,  passed  an  act  transferring  the  canal  to  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, which  by  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  same  year  accepted  it  as  a  national  canal — 
the  most  important  public  work  within  its  broad  domain.  On  the  Ist  of  September 
of  the  aforesaid  year  the  supplementary  lock  (for  which  Congress  had  made  due 
appropriation)  was  added  to  the  canal  facilities. 

Thus  far  in  historical  review. 


It  was  my  good  fortnne  to  meet  here  during  the  present  month,  General  Casey, 
Chief  of  United  States  Engineers,  having  charge  of  all  the  national  public  works, 
also  General  Poe,  U.  S.  Army,  in  charge  of  Government  works  in  this  district,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  E.  8.  Wheeler,  civil  engineer.  United  States,  general  superintend- 
ent of  the  canaL 

By  the  conrtesy  of  these  distinguished  officials,  the  opportunity  was  provided  for 
an  inspection  by  me  of  the  governmental  work  of  deepening  the  river  about  20  miles 
below  the  canal,  at  a  point  known  as  the  Middle  Neebish  Channel. 

CHANKBL  IMPBOVEMENTS  IN  THE  ST.  MARY'S  RITBR. 

General  Superintendent  Wheeler  accompanied  me  on  the  United  States  steanwr 
Despatch  on  the  12th  instant  and  afforded  me  all  possible  information  concoiniug  the 
Neebish  Channel  rock-excavating  operations.  A  channel  is  there  being  cut  through 
solid  sandstone  rock,  from  10  to  15  feet  thick,  300  feet  in  width,  for  a  distance  of  over 
2  miles. 

Dredges  were  made  capable  of  forcing  their  way  through  the  less  solid  upper  strata 
of  the  rock,  but  the  use  of  explosives  in  all  the  strata  was  found  to  be  cheaper.  The 
chief  interest  centered  upon  a  machine  drill  boat,  having  four  steam  drills  working 
from  one  of  its  sides,  boring  2i-inch -diameter  holes  about  6  feet  apart,  and  12  to  15 
feet  deep,  into  which  30-incb-long  dynamite  canisters  were  placed  and  exploded  by 
electricity,  without  delaying  the  other  drills  at  work  alongside. 

The  perfection  to  which  work  of  that  kind  has  been  brought  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  constructors  now  receive  but  $1.80  per  cubic  yard  for  the  rock  excavation, 
measured  in  place,  although  required  to  deposit  the  d6bris  in  a  way  to  construct  a 
sea  wall  or  mole  some  6  feet  above  water,  50  feet  from  and  parallel  to  the  ship  chan- 
nel, as  a  safeguard  against  transverse  currents  actiug  upon  passing  vessels.  Super- 
intendent Wheeler  informed  me  that  the  same  work,  if  let  ten  or  twelve  years  ago, 
would  have  cost  at  least  $4  per  yard. 

These  and  similar  items  of  information  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  plans  and 
operations  of  your  company,  in  prosecuting  the  deepening  of  the  ship  channel  at  ita 
entrance  into  Lake  Nicaragua  and  at  varions  points  along  the  San  Juan  Biver. 

IX>CE  ENLARGEMENTS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS. 

At  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  original  canal  at  this  locality  no  vessels  draw* 
ing  over  8  feet  of  water  could  reach  it  from  Lake  Huron,  owing  to  reefs  and  sand 
bars  in  the  connecting  river  channels.  Then  the  depth  of  12  feet  in  the  locksseemed 
ample.  Not  long  after  this  was  assured,  the  National  Government  entered  upon  t^e 
work  of  deepening  and  straightening  the  lake  water  courses  to  a  minimum  of  12  feet. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


227 


A  decade  later,  the  channel  depth  was  generally  increased  to  16  feet,  and  the  same 
is  now  being  still  fnrther  deepened  to  a  minimuui  of  20  feet,  nnder  the  supervision  of 
Army  officers  detailed  to  that  duty  at  the  various  points  of  operation. 

Coincident  with  the  attainment  of  tlio  general  canal  depth  of  Hi  feet,  it  became 
necessary  to  provide  similar  depth  in  the  canal  and  locks,  and  accordingly  a  sup- 
l)Iementary  lock  was  built  by  the  side  of  the  original  ones,  the  lift  being  made  in  a 
(single  chamber,  as  shown  in  the  annexed  photographic  view  recently  obtained. 

This  is  now  the  operating  lock  of  the  canal,  being  515  feet  long,  80  feet  wide,  de- 
creased to  60  feet  in  width  at  the  gates. 

It  lias  a  depth  of  17  feet  over  the  miter  sills,  and  a  lift  of  18  feet.  The  depth  of 
the  chamber  is  :59^  feet.  At  each  end  of  the  lock  are  placed  outside  guard  gates  of 
the  same  style  as  those  in  regular  use,  all  being  of  the  usual  horizontal  motion  plan- 

Tho  inflow  and  discharge  of  the  locks  is  provided  for  by  two  parallel  conduits  pass- 
ing under  the  miter  sills  and  lock  floors;  those  for  the  inflow  being  8  feet  square, 
and  having  openings  2  feet  square,  occurring  at  regular  intervals,  under  the  whole 
length  of  the  lock.  This  proves  to  be  a  perfect  plan  for  the  purpose,  and  is  being 
copied,  substantially,  by  the  Canadian  engineers. 

The  gates  are  operated  by  hydraulic  power,  in  a  simple  but  effective  method,  by 
which,  in  two  minutesof  time,  the  leaves  are  brought  into  reversed  positions.  Eleven 
minutes  suffices  for  tilling  the  lock,  and  eight  minutes  for  its  discharge.  The  lock 
and  the  canal  are  equipped  with  electric  lights,  and  vessels  are  passing  at  all  hours; 
the  estimated  capacity  being  4  per  hour,  or  96  per  diem.  The  greatest  daily  number 
passed  to  date  was  on  June  14, 1887,  when  87  were  locked  through.  I  recently  witnessed 
a  pleasing  instance  of  international  courtesy,  when  two  Canadian  Pacific  Liue 
steamers,  of  2,000  tons  each,  were  locked  together  through  this  United  States  canal, 
witliont  tolL  or  charge  of  any  kind. 

At  the  upi^er  end  of  the  canal  is  anovel  arrangement  of  a  guard  gate,  to  be  used  in 
case  of  any  serious  displacement  or  damage  to  the  operating  lock  gates;  an  accident 
which  might  convert  the  canal  into  the  channel  of  a  torrent,  in  which  ordinary 
swing  gates  would  not  withstand  the  process  of  being  closed. 

This  device  may  i)roperly  bo  termed  a  movable  dam,  and  resembles,  in  appearance, 
an  ordinary  railway  swing  bridge,  with  the  adilition  of  a  lower  section  moving  in 
the  canal  jirism.  Its  advantages  are  that  it  can  be  operated  entirely  on  land,  and, 
having  slot  openings,  would  not  stop  the  current  suddenly  (being  only  iiartially  shut, 
until  each  slot  is  separately  closed),  and  thus  this  appliance  would  not  invite  the 
whole  force  of  the  current  to  crush  the  jambs  or  the  gates. 

The  following  wood  cut  will  serve  to  indicate  its  form: 


228  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

The  possibility  of  this  gaard  gate  being  called  into  requisition  is  not  remote,  for  a 
heavily  loaded  steamship  ini^ht  easily  surge  against  lock  gates  with  force  safficient 
to  carry  them  away  singly,  or  through  a  series  of  lifts.* 

The  principle  of  the  movable  dam  otters  a  reliable  safegnard  against  such  contin- 
gencies, and  I  can  not  too  strongly  recoinuieud  the  adoption  of  the  principle  in  it« 
most  improved  form  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  sl'ipes  of  your  water  way,  as  of  the 
highest  importance.  The  credit  of  the  above-mentioned  device,  I  am  informed, 
belongs  mainly  to  Mr.  Alfred  Noble,  formerly  the  assistant  constructing  engineer  on 
this  canal. 

One  featnre  of  the  new  lock  invites  criticism.  It  is  the  drawing  in  of  the  chamlier 
width  at  the  gates,  which  is  an  unnecessary  impairment  of  the  capacity  of  the  lociv, 
as  it  prevents  two  vessels  entering  freely  abreaht.  This  feature  is  reported  as  being 
copied  on  the  Canadian  side,  but  in  the  latest  and  largest  projected  United  States 
lock  it  is  sensildy  discarded  altogether. 

As  before  mentioned,  the  United  States  Government  having  engaged  in  the  ]»ro- 
cess  of  making  all  the  lake-connecting  channels  of  a  minimum  depth  of  20  feet, 
new  lock  facilities  commensurate  with  the  increased  draught  became  a  necessary 
sequence.  To  provide  these  it  was  decided  to  remove  the  original  locks  already 
mentioned,  and  replace  them  by  an  enlarged  lock  with  these  unprecedented  dimen- 
sions: 800  feet  long,  100  feet  wide  in  chamber  and  at  gates,  and  having  18  feet  lift, 
with  21  feet  in  depth  over  miter  sills. 

The  gates  are  to  be  in  two  leaves  of  iron  material,  each  of  about  55  by  45  feet  in 
area,  and,  as  General  Poe  informs  me,  are  estimated  to  weigh  124  tons  for  each  leaf. 
Upon  an  intimation  that  I  thought  apian  involving  less  weight  might  be  devised,  he 
requested  me  to  submit  the  same  to  him  when  I  should  have  it  fully  prepared  ;  this  I 
intend  to  do  in  time  for  your  company  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  judgment  as  well  as 
that  of  the  Canadian  canal  engineers,  who  also  desire  to  adopt  improvements  in 
t^iis  regard. 

The  Canadian  Government  having  determined  to  baild,  at  this  point,  a  canal 
within  its  own  territory,  work  has  already  commenced  [under  contract«  to  be  com- 
pleted in  1892],  upon  a  canal  150  feet  wide  at  bottom,  with  locks  GOO  feet  long,  85 
feet  wide,  and  narrowed  to  65  feet  at  gates,  with  18 J  feet  over  miter  sills. 

Assuming  that  both  the  Unit4)d  States  and  Canadian  canal  enlargements  now  in 
progress,  will  be  in  service  at  the  commencement  of  18i)5,  the  following  growth  of 
canal  transit  capacity  in  the  first  forty  years  of  ship  canal  operations  on  this  inland 
water  course,  will  have  been  developed : 

Cabio  feet.     Cnbio  feet. 

1855.— Lockage.    350  by  70  by  16  (connting  as  one  full  lift) 392, 000 

1895.— Lockage.    515  by  80  by  16 659,200 

Lockage.    600  by  85  bv  ISi 943,500 

Lockage.    800  by  100  by  20 1,600,000 

3,202,700 

Increase^  more  than  8  for  1. 

TEAinO  DKVELOPMKNT. 

Surprising  as  the  foregoing  figures  may  be  deemed,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  traffic 
growth  has  a  far  larger  ratio  of  increase.    Thus : 

1888. 


Registered  tonnage 106,296        5,130,650 

Tom  freight,  net  (estimated) 30,000       *6,4I1,423 

*  Official. 

The  returns  of  the  first  three  months  of  1889  indicate  that  the  freight  tonnage  will 
reach  at  least  7,500,000  tons,  for  the  season.  (Traffic  to  Angust  1,  3,426,051  tons.) 
The  tonnage  increase  of  the  canal  traffic  (with  a  most  liberal  starting  figure  of  regis- 
tered, instead  of  traffic  tonnage),  is,  therefore,  in  thirty -four  years,  over  60  to  1. 

•Since  these  lines  were  written,  I  have  been  informed  by  Chief  Engineer  Page, 
who  has  charge  of  all  the  Canadian  canals,  that  snch  an  occurrence  has  taken  place 
more  than  once  in  his  experience  with  the  Welland  Canal  (extending  between  Lakes 
Erie  and  Ontario).  A  steamer,  its  engines  "  caught  on  center"  when  the  engineer 
attempted  to  reverse  their  motion,  caused  a  pair  of  ^ates  to  be  disabled  during  the 
present  season;  and  in  a  previous  year  an  entire  series  of  connecting  lift  gates  wero 
earned  away  from,  the  same  cause.  • 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


229 


That  the  progrress  of  annnal  development  may  be  noted,  the  tables  of  yearly 
returns  are  to  be  annexed  (see  Addenda,  pajjfe  45),  by  which  it  will  be  seen  that  there 
has  been  a  steady  advance  from  the  beginning,  and  that  at  the  same  ratio  of  increase 
the  trafiSc  of  189.')  will  approximate  15,000,000  tons. 

Tlieso  astonishing  resnlts  already  attained  have  been  realized,  notwithstanding 
the  tact  that  railways  have  been  extended  to  all  the  principal  points  on  both  sides 
of  this  inland  water  conrse,  from  end  to  end,  and  also  that  Lake  Michigan,  through 
its  Green  Bay  estuary,  extends  within  60  miles  of  Lake  Superior  at  the  point  where 
the  mineral  belt  commences,  and  there  draws  away  several  million  tons  (or  more 
than  one-half)  of  the  iron- ore  produc  along  the  South  Sliore  region  of  Lake  Superior,* 
the  shipment  of  which  passes  east;  through  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  or  south  through 
Green  Bay  and  Lake  Michigan,  and,  consequently,  does  not  appear  in  the  canal 
totals,  as  given  above.     (See  map.) 

THE  CAUSE  OF  THIS  REMARKABLE   WATER-TRANSIT  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  conditions  causing  and  controlling  this  carrying  trade  are  clearly  set  forth  in 
official  communications  to  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  Army,  by  General  Poe,  U.  S. 
Army,  dated  United  States  Engineer's  Ofiiice,  Detroit,  Mich.,  May  11,  1H88. 

It  inclosed  beside  an  admirable  report  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Wheeler,  United  States  civil 
engineer,  general  superintendent  of  the  Lake  Superior  Ship  Canal.  In  it,  as  the  result 
of  a  general  inquiry  among  vessel  owners,  shippers,  and  consignees  along  this  water 
coarse,  the  following  data  were  established  for  the  year  1887: 

Average  length  of  water  transportation  (Duluth  to  Buffalo),  811.4  miles. 

Total  of  freight  c;irried,  5,494,649  tons. 

Total  miles  of  conveyance  for  single  ton,  4,458,544,804. 

Total  of  freight  charges,  including  terminal  freight  charges,  $10,075,153.13. 

Cost  of  water  transit  per  ton  per  mile,  0.28  of  a  cent.  Referring  to  the  reports  of 
the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  tjnited  States,  Mr.  Wheeler  found  that  the  average 
freight  charges  of  the  railroad  trunk  lines  for  1886  were  0.999  of  a  cent  per  mile,  and 
the  average  cost  as  between  landand  water  carriage  was  as  811  is  to  183.  It  followed 
that  tlie  saving  for  the  year  to  consumers  of  staples  seeking  a  market  through  this 
canal  was  $;54,557,140. 

To  this  deduction  General  Poe  adds  the  following  remarks : 

"It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  but  for  this  water  route,  open  for  about  seven 
months  in  1887,  the  charges  laid  upon  the  freight  carried  would  have  amounted  to 
$50,000,000.  If  this  estimate  is  not  exaggerated,  and  I  think  it  is  not,  then  the  actual 
benefit  to  producer  and  consumer  was  fully  $40,000,000  in  that  single  year,  divided 
among  them  in  unknown  quantities." 

But  Mr.  Wheeler  personally  informs  me  that  in  pursuing  the  same  line  of  inquiry 
for  the  year  1888  the  existence  of  a  decrease  from  prior  water  rates  to  that  of  0.15  of 
a  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  or  a  reduction  of  about  44  per  cent  in  that  one  year,  was 
clearly  established. 

This  would  swell  the  total  of  annual  saving  to  the  shippers  and  the  public,  as  re- 
sulting from  thecanal  facilities,  to  the  aggregate  of  nearly  $60,  000, 000  upon  the  same 
basis  of  calculation  as  quoted  on  the  authority  of  General  Poe  for  the  previous  year. 

Mr.  Wheeler  also  predicts  that  the  average  of  this  year  will  reach  stall  lower,  and 
that  the  cause  of  these  large  reductions  is  to  be  found  in  the  increasing  use  of  much 
larger  steamers,  with  freight-carrying  capacities  greater  than  ever  before;  the  ma- 
jority of  these  vessels  now  approximate  2,000  registered  or  3,000  freight  tons  each, 
effecting  by  reason  of  snch  augmentation  a  great  saving  in  expenses  pro  rata  per  ton 
as  compared  with  the  smaller  craft  of  lormer  years. 

Here,  then,  is  the  primary  cause  and  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  enormous  devel- 
opments of  tonnage  upon  this  inland  water-transit  line,  namely,  in  its  being  unajt- 
proaohably  cheaper  than  land  carriage  can  ever  be. 

THE  BEARINGS  OP  THIS  EXAMPLE  UPON   THE   NICARAGUA  ROUTE. 

I.  This  is  the  only  ship  canal  on  the  globe  with  lockage  facilities  upon  a  scale  com- 
parable with  that  proposed  for  the  Nicaragua  Ship  Canal  transi  t  project,  and  it  affords 
a  realized  example  npon  which  to  base  calculations  as  to  the  future  of  that  enterprise. 
If  the  tonnage  of  this  canal  route  upon  a  water  course  composed  of  a  cluster  of  inland 
lakes,  paralleled  through  their  entire  length  by  railways,  on  both  of  their  borders, 
and  with  competing  adjacent  water  courses  as  shown,  has  actually  increased  from 
1,567,741  tons  of  freight  in  1881   to  6,411,423   in  1888,  and  presumably  to  7,500,000 

•At  Escanaba,  a  city  situated  near  the  northern  extremity  of  Green  Bay,  are  docks 
with  facilities  for  shipping  ores  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than  exist  at  any  other 
port  on  the  globe. 


230  NICAKAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

tons  in  1889,  what  most  be  the  traffic  of  the  ship  canal  which  bisects  a  bemiHphere, 
saves  10,000  miles  and  fifty  days  of  freight-steamer  time  between  New  York  and  San 
Francisco,  and  economizes  proportionately  in  the  time  and  the  distance  to  and  from 
ionnnierable  other  commercial  centers? 

II.  The  same  commercial  forces  which  have  raised  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  traffic 
to  the  proportions  stated  wait  upon  the  opening  of  the  Nicaragua  route  to  render  a 
large  section  of  this  continent  tributary  to  it.  My  views  as  to  the  extent  ot  the 
same  lead  to  the  ])rediction  which  I  will  now  venture  to  make,  that  the  "Lake  Super- 
ior" and  ^'Lake  Nicaragua"  lock-lift  canal»  will  divide  bettreen  them  the  carrying  trade  to 
European  destinations  of  the  products  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  north 
of  latitude  4(F. 

That  the  transatlantic  traffic  of  the  western  slope  will  go  via  Lake  Nicaragua 
no  thinking  mind  will  gainsay;  but  how  many  have  considered  how  far  eastward 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  competing  line  between  these  rival  lock  canals  may 
come  t  Let  them  trace  the  one-hundredth  meridian  of  longitude  and  notice  how  it 
biaecta  the  great  wheat-bearing  belt  of  the  Saskatchewan  and  Missouri  Valleys  in 
Manitoba  and  the  Dakotas. 

Let  them  suppose  the  case  of  the  owner  of  10,000  bushels  of  wheat  stored  in  an 
elevator  upon  tbat  line  of  longitude,  north  of  the  latitude  of  Chicago,  in  the  latter 
part  of  November.  If  he  would  ship  by  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  he  must  wait  live 
months  for  the  "  closed  season  "  to  pass.  (The  annexed  view  of  the  original  upper 
lock  gate  at  the  "  Soo  "  during  the  five  months  of  '•  closed  season  "  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  meaning  of  that  term.) 

The  shipper  by  the  Lake  Superior  route  must  add  to  his  inTeetment  charges  for 
interest,  for  insurance,  and  possibly  for  taxes  during  nearly  or  qnife  one-halt  of  an 
entire  year.  After  these  drawbacks  are  met  he  must  transport  his  grain  by  rail  to 
Duluth;  thence  by  steamer  to  Buffalo;  thence  by  canal  or  rail  to  Montreal  or  New 
York ;  thence  by  steamer  to  Europe — this  method  of  transportation  involving  t  hree 
transfers  en  route.  If,  however,  he  loads  his  wheat  on  cars  going  West,  they  will  de- 
liver his  grain  at  a  Pacific  seaboard,  whence  it  will  be  carried  by  steamer  through  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  to  Europe ;  a  system  of  transit  involving  bat  one  transfer  en  route, 
with  no  closed  season  whatever. 

III.  It  is,  from  the  foregoing  premises,  clearly  deducible  that  the  values  of  most  of 
the  exports,  in  at  least  thirteen  States  and  Territories,  besides  several  of  the  Cana- 
dian provinces,  will  be  directly  lienefited  by  the  water  transit  proposed  by  your  en- 
terprise ;  which  will,  in  fact,  constitute  the  small  end  of  a  funnel,  the  broad  opening 
of  which,  reaching  from  Sitka  to  San  Diego,  extends  eastward  until  it  meets  com- 
peting lines  of  water  transit  via  Lake  Superior  or  the  Mississippi  River. 

In  the  accompanying  map  of  this  continent  the  different  colors  indicate  the  por- 
tions which  in  my  judgment  are  to  remain  commercially  tributary  to  its  three  main 
water-ways,  viz:  (1)  The  Lake  Superior  Canal  and  connecting  lakes  and  cuuals. 
(Erie  and  Welland).  (2)  The  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries.  (3)  The  Nicar- 
agua Canal.    Also  the  remainder  as  connected  with  the  seaooast. 

Leaving  this  continent  out  of  view,  it  appears  that  the  currents  of  trade  between 
this  Central  American  route,  in  competition  with  those  of  the  Suez  tide-level  canal 
will  meet  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia,  and  that  from  the  Straits  of  Sunda  northward, 
trade  and  travel  will  gravitate  strongly  towards  your  route,  moved  thereto  in  no 
small  degree  by  the  attractiveness  of  the  delightful  scenery  and  climate  of  the  Lake 
Nicaragua  route,  which  will  be  in  marked  contrast  with  the  intolerable  heat  and 
desolate  surroundings  which  must  always  characterize  a  passage  through  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Suez  Canal,  where  no  sailing  ship  is  ever  seen. 

From  these  considerations  the  conclusion  must  be  drawn  that  no  artificial  water 
way  can  be  projected  which  will  make  such  an  extent  of  continental  coast  line  and 
inland  territory  tributary  to  it  as  will  be  controlled  by  the  Maritime  Canal  of  Nica- 
ragua, and  that  the  data  of  the  Lake  Superior  Ship  Canal  proves  beyond  peradven- 
ture  that  the  Nicaragua  Canal  presents  the  most  permanently  profitable  investment 
of  its  kind  that  can  be  offered  to  the  public,  because  its  i>osition  entitles  it  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  most  important  artificial  water  way  on  the  globe,  connecting,  as  it 
does,  two  great  oceans  at  nearly  the  center  of  the  habitable  and  consequently  com- 
mercial zone,  with  all  the  traffic  and  revenues  which  that  fact  implies,  in  the  light 
of  the  results  furnished  by  the  Lake  Superior  example. 


Note. — Since  the  foregoing  portion  of  thi?  report  was  placed  in  type  I  have  re- 
ceived from  General  Superintendent  Wheeler  an  official  statement  of  the  traffic  of 
the  Lake  Superior  Canal  for  the  year  IbSl),  which  is  included  in  Addenda,  page  45. 

The  only  official  report  of  the  Suez  Canal  traffic  for  18d9  which  I  have  as  yet  been 
able  to  obtain  givea  tobies  of  the  passages  and  receipts  alone.    Bat  by  oompariaon 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


231 


of  the  latter  with  theretnrns  in  tons  of  previons  years,  I  am  able  to  approyimate 
closely,  and  find  the  result  to  be,  respecting  these  several  arteries  of  commerCd: 


Number. 


Tons 
freight. 


Lake  Superior  Canal  lockages  (1889) 
Suez  Canal  passages  (1889) 


4,684 
3,425 


7, 516, 022 
6, 800,  854 


709, 168 


It  thus  appears  that  the  Lake  Superior  Canal,  in  1889,  exceeded  the  Suez  Canal  in 
volume  of  business  over  33  per  cent,  in  voyages  and  10  per  cent,  in  freight,  and  con- 
sequently now  T&nkH  first  as  to  commerce  on  the  list  of  the  world's  artiUcial  water 
ways. 


ADDENDA. 

(Referred  to  on  page  43.] 

Tabulated  official  returns  of  the  commerce  passing  through  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  from 
date  of  opening,  in  1855,  to  1889,  inclusive. 


Year. 


1855. 
1856. 
1857 
1858. 
1859. 
1860 
1861- 
1862. 
180:i. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 


«       5       Registered. 


i 

J4 

> 

£ 

Bm 

ti£ 

SI 

.hs 

S 

■s^ 

a 

o 

'Ji 

M 

H 

(a) 

(a) 

(«) 

(0) 

(«) 

(c» 

(a) 

(a) 

(c) 

(o) 

(a) 

(c) 

(a) 

(a) 

(«) 

(a) 

(«» 

(«) 

(a) 

(o) 

(c) 

(a) 

(a) 

(c) 

(a) 

(a) 

(c> 

1, 045 

366 

(c) 

602 

395 

(c) 

556 

453 

(c) 

839 

466 

(c) 

817 

338 

(c) 

939 

399 

(c) 

1,397 

431 

(Cl 

1,064 

573 

(c) 

1,212 

792 

(c) 

Tonnage. 


106, 296 
101,  458 
180,  820 
219,  819 
352,  642 
403,  657 
276, 639 
359,  612 
507, 434 
571, 438 
409, 062 
458,  530 
556,  899 
432,  563 
524,  885 
690, 826 
752, 101 
914, 73S 


Actual 
freight. 


(c) 
(0 
(c) 
(c) 
(c) 
(c) 
(«) 
(e) 
(0 
(0 
(c) 
(c) 
(0 
(c) 
(c) 
(0 
(0 
(0 


Tear. 


1873... 
1874... 

1875  .. 

1876  .. 
1877... 
1878  -. 
1879... 
1880... 
1881... 
1882  .. 
1883... 

1884  . . 

1885  .. 
1886... 
1887  .. 
1888... 
1889... 


1,549 
833 
569 
684 
1,401 
1,091 
1,403 
1,718 
1,706 
1,663 
1,458 
1,709 
1,689 
2,534 
2,562 
2,009 
2,635 


«3 


968 
901 
1,464 
1,733 
1,050 
1,476 
1,618 
1.735 
2,117 
2,  739 
2,620 
3,609 
3,354 
4,584 
5,968 
5,305 
6,501 


(«) 

(c) 

(c) 

(0 

(c) 

(0 

(0 

(«) 

2,120 

2,572 

2,351 

3,074 

2, 863 

3,593 

4,165 

3,845 

4,684 


Tonnage. 


Registered. 


1,204,446 
1, 070, 857 
1, 259,  534 
1,  541,  676 
1, 439,  216 
1,667,136 
1, 677, 071 

1,  734,  800 
2, 092,  757 
2, 468, 088 

2,  042,  259 
2, 997,  837 

3,  035,  937 

4,  219,  397 
4,  897,  508 
6, 130,  659 
7, 221, 935 


Actual 
freight. 


(c) 

(c) 

(c) 

(0 

(c) 

(e) 

(c) 

(c) 
1,667,741 
2, 029,  521 
2,  267, 105 
2, 874,  557 
3, 256, 628 
4,  527,  759 
5, 494,  649 
6,411,423 
7,516,022 


oN^ecord  kept  until  1864. 


t  No  record  kept  until  June,  1881. 


REMARKS. 

The  United  States  Government  assumed  control  of  operating  the  canal  on  June  9, 
1861,  when  more  full  and  accurate  returns  were  instituted  and  maintained. 

The  west-bound  freight  amounted  to  about  33  per  cent. 

The  Canadian  freight,  in  1888,  amounted  to  about  6  per  cent. 

Cost,  conveyance  5,494,649  tons  of  freight  in  1887,  estimated  at  |10,075,153,  or,  per 
ton  per  mile,  2.3  mills. 

Cost,  conveyance  6,411,423  tons  of  freight  in  1888,  estimated  at  $7,833,077,  or,  per 
ton  per  mile,  1.5  mills. 

The  consort  masted  barges  are  classed  as  sail  vessels,  but  not  used  as  such  except 
in  emergencies.  No  exclusively  sail  vessels  are  now  regularly  employed  on  that 
route. 

The  official  estimate  of  expense  for  cperating  the  canal  fbr  the  year  1889  was  $36,000. 


232  NICAEAOUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


PART  SECOND. 

OBSERVATIONS   UPON   THE    ENVIRONMENT   OP    THE    MARITIME 
CANAL   OF  NICARAGUA. 

It  may  l>e  well  to  state,  incideDtally,  that  in  January,  1889,  I  received  official  notice 
that  I  had  been  named  as  one  of  the  five  engineers  selected  by  the  Construction  Com- 
pany to  compose  an  advisory  board  of  engineers  to  pass  upon  the  surveys  and  the  de- 
tailed estimates  of  cost  of  the  proposed  ship  canal  of  Nicaragua,  formulated  by  its 
distinguished  chief  engineer,  A.  G.  Menocal,  civil  engineer,  U.  S.  Navy.  Also,  that 
after  my  acceptance  of  sncb  position,  I  was  in  attendance  during  parts  of  several 
months  at  meetings  of  the  board  in  the  city  of  New  York,  within  which  time  special 
attention  was  given  to  the  admirable  series  of  maps  and  profiles  which  had  been  pre- 
pared by  yonr  engineering  corps,  as  well  as  to  the  geological  specimens  and  test-l)ore 
cores,  of  which  a  very  complete  collection  was  at  hand  for  our  consideration,  together 
with  all  requisite  explanatory  information,  supplied  by  Cliief  Engineer  Menocal  or 
his  assistants  of  the  surveying  corps,  Mr.  R.  E.  Peary,  civil  engineer,  U.  S.  Navy, 
and  Ensign  J.  H.  Maxwell,  U.  S.  Navy,  who  attended  meetings  of  the  board  for  that 
purpose. 

The  reliable  information  thus  at  hand  was  sufficient  to  enable  the  board  to  arrive 
at  determinate  opinions  in  reference  to  the  main  features  of  the  work,  which,  tlirough 
our  report,  wherein  we  contine<l  ourselves  to  the  vital  questiens  of  quantity  and  cost, 
have  been  made  known  as  the  coUeutive  conclusions  of  the  examiuing  engineers. 

At  a  later  period  came  the  request  contained  in  the  introductory  correspondence 
that  I  should,  individually,  enlarge  the  scope  of  observation,  and  consider  and  report 
upon  circumstances  and  conditions  other  and  beyond  those  to  wLich  the  advisory 
board  confined  its  inquiries.  In  complying  wjth  such  suggestion,  I  desire  at  the  out- 
set to  state  that  my  aim  in  preparing  this  report  will  be  to  explore  fields  of  inrestifiation 
not  re/erred  to  by  the  able  and  distinguished  experts  who  were  my  associates  in  the  late  ad- 
visory  board.  With  these  preliminary  remarks,  I  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  cer- 
tain fundamental  features  of  this  undertaking,  as  the  basic  conditions  upon  which  to 
predicate  reliable  estimates,  and  also  sustain  the  conclnsious  embodied  in  these  pages. 

FiBST. — Local  geological  developments. 

Beginning  at  the  deep-water  line  in  the  Atlantic  basin,  nearest  the  most  northerly 
entrance  to  the  San  Juan  River,  the  surveys  prove  that  in  securing  30  feet  depth  of 
water  way,  no  rock  formations  will  be  encountered  iu  the  harbor  basin  or  canal 
prism  nntil  the  site  of  Lock  No.  1  is  reached.  These  niost  favorable  geological  con- 
ditions insnre  the  practicability  of  excavating  that  portion  of  the  Eastern  section  of 
the  canal  westward  from  Greytown  Harbor,  about  10  miles  in  length,  by  the  aid  of 
dredging  machinery  solely,  where  entire  freedom  from  current  agitation  is  assured, 
with  convenient  and  ample  dumping  area  under  like  conditions. 

The  excavation  (as  proven  by  the  borings  made  by  your  surveying  corps)  will  be 
either  through  alluvial  silt,  or  sand,  or  clay  formations  together  extending  entirely 
across  the  delta  of  the  Rio  San  Juan. 

(Diagram  A,  attached,  shows  the  composition  of  the  canal  prism  between  the  ocean 
and  the  highlands  of  the  San  Juanillo  range.) 

The  geological  conditions  of  this  section  mnst  consequently  be  regarded  as  extremely 
favorable  for  the  rapid  and  economical  construction  of  the  work.  There  is  also  great 
economic  significance  in  the  tact  that  in  these  lowlands  where,  if  at  all,  miasmatic 
attacks  upon  the  working  force  may  be  anticipated,  all  excavation  being  efi'ectvd  by 
machinery,  the  operating  employes  will  be  sheltered  from  exposure  to  the  sun  and 
rain,  and  drilled  in  sanitary  precautions — a  course  which  will  work  wonders  in  main- 
taining health  and  vigor  in  the  skilled  labor  required  in  the  management  of  the  all- 
powerful  dredging  appliances  which  modern  ingenuity  has  supplied  for  the  rapid 
and  economical  accomplishment  of  the  extensive  tide-level  excavation  reqnired  upon 
this  section  of  the  work. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  '  233 

In  examiuing  the  next  section,  reaching  from  Lock  1  to  the  San  Joan  basin,  ahove 
the  Ocboa  Dam,  it  is  very  gratifying  to  find  that  the  first  lock  on  the  Atlantic  slope 
will  be  placed  upon  solid  rock  foundations  (see  Diagram  A),  and  that  Locks  2  and  S 
will  also  be  located  in  rock  ledges. 

The  importance  of  this  beneficial  feature,  insuring  the  stability  of  the  lock  walls, 
is  too  apparent  to  need  extended  remark. 

The  nature  of  the  rock  through  which  the  great  "divide  cut"  and  other  "cuts" 
are  to  be  made,  is  also  decidedly  favorable,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  is,  as  shown  by 
the  specimens  exhibited,  homogenous,  and  neither  friable  nor  traversed  by  seams, 
nor  decomposable  to  any  appreciable  extent  by  exposure  to  the  elements.  Hence, 
the  sides  of  the  cuts  may  be  safely  left  at  an  angle  but  a  few  degrees  removed  from 
the  perpendicular,  thus  efl:ecting  large  reductions  in  the  quantity  of  excavation 
usually  required  to  render  the  slopes  both  safe  and  permanent.  (See  Plate  I,  Dia- 
gram 5.) 

Passing  by  the  lake  level  as  not  involving  questions  that  require  a  study  of  geo- 
logical conditions,  I  can  but  pause,  when  considering  the  location  of  the  locks  on  the 
Pacific  slope,  to  express  admiration  at  the  wonderfully-favoring  geological  formations 
which  nature  has  furnished  and  the  skill  of  your  engineering  department  has  shown 
to  be  available  for  those  structures. 

That,  at  the  summit  of  the  western  slope  of  the  continent  at  this  point,  there 
should  rise,  as  a  rampart  for  the  long,  summit  level  of  the  canal,  a  sufficient  width 
of  primeval  rock  into  which  the  locks  to  regulate  this  mighty  reservoir  may  be  firmly 
bedded— thus  to  form  the  imperishable  gateways  of  the  descent  to  the  level  of  tbe 
Western  Ocean — is  a  fortnitons  geological  feature  of  great  significance  as  presenting  a 
perfect  barrier  against  disastrous  undermining  casualties  to  the  high-level  water  way, 
and  also  as  affording  the  best  possible  conditions  for  permanance  of  the  locks.  (See 
Plate  VIL) 

A  studious  view  of  this  section  of  the  canal  as  it  will  appear  when  fully  completed, 
will  give  force  to  the  prediction  that,  when  this  work  Is  an  accomplished  fact  and 
when  ocean  steamers  of  the  largest  class,  their  decks  crowded  by  hundreds  of  passen- 
gers, and  their  holds  laden  with  thousands  of  tons  of  freight,  are  seen  on  the  crest 
formed  by  Lock  4,  majesticalh  rising  from,  or  descending  to,  the  broad  Pacific,  that 
reaches  out  to  the  western  horizon  in  unobstructed  view  below — the  spectacle  will  be 
deemed  to  display  one  of  the  most  impressive  of  the  mighty  engineering  achievements 
of  any  age. 

The  test  borings  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  completed  at  Brito  duriug 
the  past  winter,  show  that  the  full  depth  of  30  feet  will  there  be  attained  without 
encountering  rock,  and  that  a  harbor  as  spacious  as  that  of  Chicago  or  Port  Said  may 
be  made  available  by  the  simple  and  rapid  process  of  inland  alluvial  dredging, 
duly  protected  by  seaward  entrance  piers,  thus  assuring  ample  and  economically 
constructed  terminal  facilities  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

The  geological  conditions  of  the  canal  route  are,  therefore,  as  a  whole,  deemed  to 
be  of  a  remarkably  favorable  charaoier. 

Second. — Topographical  features. 

Prom  the  east  the  seaward  approach  to  this  grand  interoceanlc  route  is  unexcep- 
tionable, as  the  proposed  harbor  at  Greytown,  when  completed,  may  be  entered  or 
cleared  by  craft  under  sail,  with  the  wind  upon  any  quarter.  Thence,  extending 
nearly  in  a  straight  line  of  canal  about  10  miles  through  the  San  Juan  lowlands,  a 
channel  in  full  view  from  end  to  end  will  afltord  all  possible  facilities  for  rapid  pas- 
sage over  the  section  extending  between  the  harbor  and  the  eastern  locks. 

Passing  the  locks,  the  Deseado  basin  will  be  available  with  extra  width  of  water 
way  up  to  the  "divide  cut,"  where  a  channel  through  3  miles  of  solid  rock  will 
bring  ships  into  the  San  Francisco  basm,  with  its  ample  water  way  for  clearance  of 
counter  bound  craft.  Passing  through  three  short  "cnts,"  vessels  will  then  enter 
the  San  Juan  basin,  with  its  surplus  breadth  of  counter  passage  way  caused  by  the 
water  storage  of  the  Ochoa  Dam  ;  thence  into  the  great  Nicaragua  Lake;  thence  by 
canal  iutio  the  Tola  basin,  resulting  from  the  storage  of  the  waters  of  the  lake  by  the 
dam  near  Lock  4.  This  basin  extends  the  upper  level  to  a  point  but  4  miles  dis- 
tajit  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  in  full  sight  of  it,  ships  may  lie,  awaiting  orders, 
making  repairs,  shifting  cargo,  unloading  or  transferring  the  same,  alongside  or  at 
warehouse  piers  with  all  the  unlimited  accommodations  of  the  shores  of  this  land- 
locked liike  at  command,  having  upwards  of  15  miles  of  water  front,  where  every  com- 
mercial facility  may  be  obtained,  all  within  easy  access  of  the  port  of  Brito.  Graving 
docks  of  unsurpassed  convenience  may  also  be  constructed  in  the  Tola  basin,  owing 
to  the  ease  of  obtaining  sluice  discharge  for  dry-dock  purposes.  (See  Plates  VI 
and  VII.) 

The  following  important  natural  faoilities  for  prosecuting  the  work  of  constrnction 
BhouLd  not  be  overlooked : 


234  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

Of  lf>3  milee  of  route  from  Greytown  to  the  month  of  the  Lajas  on  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  90  miles  border  on  water  ways,  with  no  secticns  of  the 
entire  work,  except  interiors  of  divide  cuts,  more  than  2  miles  distant  from  navi|;a- 
ble  waters,  including  under  that  head  such  as  may  be  mad  -  available  by  certain  in- 
expensive  improvements,  proposed  by  your  chief  engineer— the  lines  of  which  are 
indicated  in  red  colors  upon  Plate  I,  bis  explanation  thereof  being  ajinexed  in  a  mar- 
ginal not^  herewith.* 

For  the  heavy  work  of  the  canal  excavation,  a  construction  railway  will  be  requi- 
site, and  can  be  provided  at  mo<lerate  cost. 

Along  the  western  section,  17  miles  in  length,  a  double-track  railroad  will,  of 
necessity,  be  provided ;  :ind  must  be  relied  -upon  for  distribution  of  labor,  machin- 
ery, and  material.  This  represents,  however,  an  average  maximum  haulage  of  loss 
than  9  miles  from  either  of  the  two  bases  of  supply  by  water- transit,  one  being 
via  the  Pacific,  and  one  via  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  caual  level  bemg  but  4'.i  feet 
below  the  higliest  point  on  this  section,  it  follows  that  subsidiary  railway  const  ruc- 
tion and  operation  along  the  working  line  will  be  upon  easy  grades  with  ample  level 
spaces  for  side  tracks  and  the  other  facilities  requisite  for  the  handling  of  sni  plus  ex- 
cavation, or  of  building  material. 

The  paramount  question  of  an  abundant,  and  yet  always  controllable  and  reliable, 
high-level  water  supply  for  canal  lockage  and  filtration  is  completely  answered  in 
this  case  by  the  presence  of  such  equalizing  reservoirs  as  Lakes  Nicaragua  au«l  Man- 
agua. From  these  sources  an  average  flow  of  90  per  cent,  over  canal-op' rating 
requirements  is  obtainable  at  ordinary  level,  while  lowering  the  level  of  the.  lakes 
the  depth  of  1  foot,  would  afford  an  enormous  surplus  over  any  annual  requirements, 
with  regard  to  rainfall. 

It  appears  from  the  latest  surveys  that  the  minimum  radius  of  curveson  the  entire 
line  can  be  established  at  .%H20  feet,  which  presents  a  route  equal  to  a  straight  line, 
for  all  practical  purposes  of  navigation. 

The  last  topographical  feature  to  be  noted,  is  the  ratio  of  minimum  channel  width 
to  the  whole  distance  to  be  traversed  between  the  two  oceans.  This  is  found  to 
be  less  than  IG  per  cent,  of  the  whole  pa-ssage.  Of  the  entire  route,t  about  60 
miles  are  in  spaces  sufficiently  wide  for  the  largest  ships  to  navigate  under  sail,  as 
in  Lake  Nicaragua ;  while  about  76  miles  are  in  the  Deseado,  San  Francisco, 
San  Juan,  and  Tola  basins,  where  steamers  may  proceed  under  full  headway,  and 
pass  one  another  in  counter  directions,  with  safe  clearance  space.  Practically,  this 
general  result  reduces  th*^  distance  of  canal  navigation — properly  so  termed — be- 
tween the  two  oceans,  to  about  27  miles ;  the  remainder  having  the  characteristic  of 
an  ocean  estuary. 

The  result  is  a  monument  to  the  patient  research  and  persistent  explorations  oi 

•Chief  Engineer's  Office, 
Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Compant, 

44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  December,  1889.  . 
Db&rSir:  I  forward  herewith  a  tracing  of  that  portion  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
comprised  between  Greytown  and  Ochoa,  showing  the  streams  connecting  the  river 
San  Juan,  at  the  month  of  the  river  San  F'rancisco  and  Greytown,  with  the  eastern 
divide  cut.  The  San  Juanillo  is  navigable  by  craft  drawing  4  feet  up  to  the  out- 
let of  Laguna  Bernard,  and  through  this  outlet  and  the  lagoon  to  a  point  in  the 
Deseado  in  the  vicinity  of  Lock  No.  4.  From  this  point  to  the  foot  of  the  divide  the 
Deseado  can  be  made  navigable  with  the  same  draught,  by  removing  the  logs 
obstructing  the  stream  and  the  construction  of  three,  and  possibly  tour  small  low 
dams.  In  order  to  avoid  the  expense  in  building  temporary  locks  to  connect  the 
different  reaches  into  which  the  stream  would  be  divided,  I  would  be  in  favor  of  hav- 
ing scows  in  the  reaches,  and  a  derrick  at  each  dam  to  shift  freight  from  one  scow  to 
another. 

The  river  San  Francisco,  when  cleared  of  logs,  will  be  navigable  by  the  same  class 
of  boats  to  very  near  its  confluence  with  the  Chanchos.  From  that  [mint  to  the  foot 
of  the  "divide,"  on  the  west,  the  Chanchos  and  Limpio  would  afford  transportation 
by  the  same  method  proposed  for  the  Upper  Deseado. 

In  this  manner  building  material  can  be  transported  to  the  divide  and  the  excava- 
tion commenced  during  the  construction  of  the  railroad. 
Any  further  information  you  may  desire,  will  be  gladly  furnished  by 
Tonrs,  tmly, 

A.  O.  Mkxocai,, 

Chi^  Engineer. 
Charlks  T.  Hartkt,  Esq.,  0.  B.. 

aty. 

t  Total  length  from  extremity  of  entrance  piers  at  Greytown  to  like  point  at 
Brito  171.429  miles.     (1.513  being  in  Greytown  Harbor,  and  1.136  in  Brito  Harbor.) 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  235 

your  chief  engineer  and  of  yonr  surveying  corpa,  and  to  the  -wise  foresight  of  the 
management  in  providing  means  for  a  thorough  exploration  of  the  region  thus  trav- 
ersed preliminary  to  final  lr)C'ation  of  the  route. 

Third. — Engineering  Problems. — Among  other  striking  features  of  the  undertaking 
is  the  fact  that  with  such  ample  transit  facilities  in  view,  their  realization  involves 
no  unusual  or  overshadowing  engineering  problems  or  contingencies. 

The  locks  to  he  built  are  upon  a  scale  already  in  use  at  the  Lake  Superior  ship 
canal,  and  with  advantages  over  the  latter  in  having  solid  roclc  foundation  through- 
out their  entire  length. 

The  sea  approaches  and  the  terminal  marine  accommodations  proposed  for  this 
enterprise  present  no  features  which  have  not  already  been  met  by  engineer) ug. 
talent  at  other  commercial  centers  requiring  facilities  of  a  like  character  or  upon 
even  a  more  extended  scale.  The  precedents  thus  fully  established  leave  no  ele- 
ments of  uncertainty  in  this  respect,  and  these  questions,  therefore,  require  no  special 
notice  beyond  a  scrutiny  as  to  quautities  and  cost — subjects,  however,  that  are  not 
now  under  consideration. 

Being  led,  in  the  course  of  this  examination,  to  concentrate  attention  upon  the 
features  of  the  route  through  the  highlands — commencing  at  Lock  No.  1  oa  the 
Atlantic  slope,  and  extending  thence  westerly  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Ochoa  dam-  I 
find  (he  subject  to  be  one  of  such  rare  interest  to  engineering  minds  that  I  have 
caused  a  series  of  diagrams  and  views  designated  as  "plates,"  to  be  specially  pro- 
vided and  appended  hereto,  in  illustration  of  the  features  worthy  of  particular  remark. 

Referring  to  Plate  No.  1,  attention  is  called  to  the  strides  which  modern  engineer- 
ing has  made  along  the  line  of  experimental  research,  on  which  your  chief  engineer 
has  shown  himself  such  a  successful  leader.  Not  many  years  since,  the  vicinity  of  the 
Rio  San  Juan  would  have  engrossed  the  entire  attention  of  the  engineering  corps, 
upon  the  assumption  that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  it  must  be  adopted  as  the  base  line 
of  the  lock  lifts  and  of  the  canal  prism. 

But  patient  and  laborious  explorations,  surveys,  and  researches  in  many  directions 
have  shown  a  new  and  more  desirable  route  to  be  practicable.  This  is  accomplished 
by  leaving  the  San  Juan  above  its  lower  levels,  and  utilizing  a  series  of  minor  val- 
leys, occupied  at  present  by  insignificant  streams,  which  when  dignified  by  the  over- 
flow from  the  San  Juan  will,  by  the  transformation,  approach  the  sublimity  of  a  new 
creation.  This  metamorphosis  of  mountain  streams  and  interior  valleys  (now  via 
ited  only  by  explorers  and  hunters)  into  a  grand  artery  of  interoceanio  commerce, 
will  be  an  achievement  which  the  whole  world  may  well  applaud. 

The  process  by  which  this  result  is  to  be  accomplished  is  easily  traceable  on  the 
first  of  these  plates.  Lock  No.  1  will  lift  30  feet  above  the  valley  of  the  Deseado 
and  will  create  a  lake,  the  overflow  of  which  is  provided  for  by  a  waste  weir  in  the 
adjacent  dam.  Lock  No.  2,  with  its  31  feet  of  lift,  will,  with  its  embankments,  canhe 
the  formation  of  a  lake  rising  to  its  level,  while  Lock  No.  3,  with  its  45  feet  of  lift, 
will  create  a  lake  to  fill  the  basin  np  to  tlie  base  of  the  dividing  ridge,  at  the  point 
indicated  on  Plate  I.  Then  follows  the  piercing  of  the  transverse  range  of  hills  by 
the  "divide  cut,"  the  dimensions  of  which  are  accurately  indicated  in  Diagram  1,  on 
the  same  plate.  This  is  not  a  very  formidable  affair,  at  most ;  and  when  it  is  com- 
pleted and  three  dams  (see  Diagram  3,  Plate  III)  have  been  erected  upon  the  branches 
of  the  San  Francisco,  and  a  "cut" — comprising  less  than  one-third  of  a  million  yards 
of  excavation,  of  which  less  than  10  per  cent,  is  rock  (see  Diagram  2,  Plate  I) — con- 
nects the  two  valleys,  a  double  lake  will  be  produced,  adding  nearly  7  miles  to 
the  navigable  water  way.  Another  "cut"  of  a  half  million  yards  of  earthwork,  in 
conniction  with  another  dam  at  the  Rio  Danta  (see  Diagram  4,  Plate  III)  will  create 
an  ad<litional  lake,  adding  2  miles  more  to  the  navigable  water  way.  Yetonemore 
"cut,"  involving  but  a  million  and  a  half  yards  of  earthwork  excavation  (see  Dia- 
gram 4,  Plate  I),  and  we  are  ushered  into  the  valley  of  the  San  Juan. 

This  expanse  of  artificial  lake  channels  (see  Plate  I)  requires  but  24,990  lineal  feet 
af  suiiplementary  embankments  to  secure,  their  outer  boundaries  at  points  where 
watersheds  or  courses  lead  in  other  directions.  This  feature,  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  most  of  the  restraining  embankments  require  but  a  few  feet  of  elevation,  the 
deepest  gorge  to  be  thus  secured  being  but  21  feet  below  bottom  level  of  the  <  anal 
renders  the  aggregate  of  retaining  embankment  remarkably  small.  The  same  method 
has  been  successfully  adopted  in  building  the  Ohio  State  canals,  as  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  recent  publication  indicates  : 

"The  body  of  water  which  (in  18H9)  supplies  the  St.  Mary's  feeder  of  the  Miami 
Extension  Canal  (of  the  Ohio  State  canal  system)  is  about  9  miles  long  hy  3  miles 
broad.  It  was  formed  by  building  two  earth  embankments  from  10  to  25  feet  high, 
one  2  and  the  other  4  miles  long.  About  half  of  the  area  flooded  was  a  prairie  and 
the  remainder  a  forest.     The  reservoir  was  begun  in  1837  and  finished  in  1845." 

With  this  example  in  existence,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  always  reliable 
and  ample  surplus  of  the  flow  of  the  lake  and  River  San  Juan,  that  these  valleys  will 
prove  abundantly  retentive  underthe  pressure  of  the  proposed  water  filling,  is  placed 
beyond  reasonable  doabt. 


236 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


This  marvelonsly  praeti  cable  ronte — having  regard  to  the  ease  of  formation  of  nav> 
igable  basins  and  of  tlieir  being  artiticially  linked  together  in  a  continuous  serios — 
biis  tlie  further  admirable  feature  of  exhibiting  this  feasible  aud  ample  water  way  ex- 
tending along  almost  a  straight  line  in  the  general  direction  desired. 

OCHOA   DAH. 

The  Ochoa  dam  is  located  at  the  point  where  the  snmmit-level  water  way,  formed 
in  the  valleys  of  subsidiary  streams,  as  already  mentioned,  connects  witb  the  valley 
of  the  San  Juan. 

•  Here  advantage  is  taken  of  a  ridge  of  hills  which  contract  the  valley  and  form 
natural  side  embankments,  which  can  be  ntilized  with  all  the  benefits  thus  pruvided 
firee  of  cost. 

The  accompanying  view(  Plate  II)  of  the  natural  ridge  referred  to  is  copied  from 
a  photographic  view  in  the  report  of  the  United  States  Government  survey  of  1885. 

These  natural  embankments  reduce  the  dimensions  of  the  dam  refpiired,  as  indi- 
cated by  Plate  III,  to  a  size  far  from  unnsuai,  as  is  shown  by  the  annexed  table  of 
comparative  dimensions  of  works  of  this  character  existing  in  other  localities. 


Kame  of  dam. 


V^illar  .. 
(Silleppe 
I'nentes 
Vymwy 
H:ibra.. 
Tabs*.. 


Location. 


Spain ... 
Bfljxiam 
Spain  . . . 
wales  .. 
Altriera  . 
ludiat . . . 


Length 

Total 

at  top. 

helKht. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

540 

175.S 

762 

lef-S 

925 

164 

1,350 

146 

1,060 

137 

8,500 

118 

Without  entering  into  the  details  of  the  plans  for  the  construction  of  the  Ochoa 
dam  suffice  it  to  say  that  from  the  "divide  cut"  surplus  excavation  rock  material 
wherewith  to  raise  an  embankment,  answering  the  purpose  of  a  dam,  and  of  dimen- 
sions sufficient  to  render  it  as  Hrm  as  the  primitive  hills  by  which  it  is  flanked,  may 
readily  be  brought  by  rail. 

To  conclude  remarks  upon  the  subject  of  the  dams  located  along  this  route,  dia- 
grams of  the  largest  subsidiary  dams  are  given  upon  Plate  111,  from  which  it  will  be 
seen  that  none  of  them  are  of  such  dimensions  as  to  require  special  consideration. 
The  total  length  of  all  of  them  combined,  including  Ochoa  and  those  on  the  western 
slope  is,  bnt  11,720  lineal  feet,  whereas  in  the  waterstorage  and  aqueduct  system  of 
the  city  of  New  York  alone  are  to  be  found  7,569  lineal  feet  of  dams  already  con- 
structed, and  4,206  feet  additional  yet  to  be  bnilt,  making  a  total  of  11,775  feet,which 
is  actually  in  excess  of  the  requirements,  in  that  respect,  of  this  entire  route  from 
ocean  to  ocean. 

Included  in  the  last-mentioned  estimate  is  the  structure  known  as  the  "  Quaker 
Bridge  Dam  "  of  the  following  dimensions :  Length,  about  1,400  feet ;  height,  265  feet 
from  bed  rock. 

This,  it  will  be  seen,  has  2^  times  the  superficial  frontage  and  3}  times  the  height 
of  the  Ochoa  structure.  If  the  criticism  be  made  that  it  has  not  yet  been  completed 
and  practically  tested  by  use,  the  table  on  page  :}!)  meets  that  objection  by  indicating 
the  relative  proportions  of  other  dams  of  large  dimensions  yohich  are  now  in  constant 
service. 

Turning  westward,  the  effect  of  the  Ochoa  dam  in  raising  the  level  of  the  river  58 
feet  at  that  point  should  be  noted.  It  converts  the  lower  valley  of  the  San  Carlos 
into  a  lake,  the  boundaries  of  which,  indicated  on  Plate  IV,  extend  southward  about 
10  miles  in  a  straight  line,  and  are  flanked  by  hills  upon  the  eastward  side,  except 
for  the  short  distance  of  5,540  feet  where  artifical  embankments  of  but  moderate  ele- 
vation with  due  proportions  of  wasteweir  wUl  be  necessary. 

The  problem  of  the  eff"ect  of  such  massing  of  water  filling  upon  the  upper  channel 
of  the  San  Juan  is  happily  one  easy  to  solve. 

Plate  IV  shows  the  course  of  the  river  to  be  in  a  well-defined  valley,  which  main- 
tains like  characteristics  throughout  the  entire  distance  from  the  Ochoa  dam  to  the 
entrance  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  64^  miles  distant  by  the  sailing  line. 

The  whole  distance  is  thus  converted  into  slack-water  navigation,  and  while  re- 
quiring excavation  at  various  points  to  secure  the  minimum  of  depth,  the  channel 
for  a  large  part  of  the  distance  has  such  surplus  of  depth  and  breadth  of  water  way 
as  to  insure  the  advantages  of  lake  rather  than  of  ordinary  canal  or  river  navigation. 

Plate  V,  firom  a  photograph  in  the  report  of  the  United  States  Government  survey 
of  1885,  presents  a  very  clear  idea  of  a  portion  of  the  npper  waters  of  the  San  Joao 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  237 

Kiver — above  the  Ochoa  dam.  The  view  represents  the  locality  near  the  Castillo 
rapids,  midway  between  the  dam  and  the  great  lake.  The  channel  surface  at  this 
point  will  be  raised  about  20  feet,  and  it  will  be  seen  from  the  view  that  the  banks  of 
the  stream  are  ample  to  keep  the  ultimate  enlargement  of  the  volume  of  water  within 
favorable  bounds. 

The  amount  of  dredging  required  to  secure  a  navigable  channel  from  the  junction 
of  the  "divide"  channel  with  the  San  Juan  slack-water  course, to  keep  deep  water 
in  Lake  Nicaragua,  has  been  ascertained  to  be  7,275,590  yards,  distributed  over  a  dis- 
tance of  44  miles,  including  14  miles  of  channel,  deepening  between  the  river  head 
and  deep  water  in  the  lake  itself. 

These  results  carry  with  them  the  proof  of  a  grand  conception  and  no  words  of 
mine  are  requisite  to  add  to  their  force  upon  appreciative  minds. 

Passing  beyond  the  magnificent  expanse  of  lake  surface,  where  navigation  is  un- 
obstructed (in  one  ortion  of  the  couise  the  distant  shore  scarcely  appearing  above 
the  horizon),  the  constructicm  operations  necessary  to  extend  the  canal  through  the 
western  laud  barrier,  15  miles  in  width,  next  claim  attention. 

This  portion  of  the  work  displays  among  its  features  engineering  devices  of  more 
than  usual  interest,  shown  upon  Plates  VI  and  VII.  The  first  point  for  remark  is 
the  changing  of  the  bed  of  tlie  Rio  Lajas  near  the  lake,  to  prevent  its  crossing  the 
line  of  the  canal.  This  operation  is  favored  by  local  topographical  conditions,  and 
frees  the  canal  along  that  section  from  interference  by  floods.  Thence  by  easy 
curves  the  canal  crosses  the  divide  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  slopes,  through 
a  cut,  of  which  the  banks  rise  to  but  41  feet  above  the  water  level.  What  a  monu- 
ment to  the  exhaustive  preliminary  explorations  and  surveys  made  und«r  the 
direction  of  your  indefatigable  Chief  Engineer  exists  in  this  fact  alone!  Those 
who  know,  or  who  will  trace  the  course  of  the  stage-route  between  Lake  Nicaragua 
and  the  Pacific  coast,  opened  by  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  in  1850,*  will  best  appreciate 
the  natural  advantages  of  the  route  selected  for  the  canal. 

The  next  feature  is  the  Tola  River  or  La  Flor  Dam,  the  dimensions  of  which  are 
indicated  on  Plate  III,  Diagram  2. 

Located  in  a  gorge  of  the  mountains,  and  but  4  miles  distant  from  Brito  Harbor, 
it  creates  a  lake  of  such  proportions  as  to  add  5J  miles  of  navigable  water  way  to  the 
route,  with  no  watershed  leading  westward  requiring  border  embankments  to  guard 
the  same.  Here  ends  the  summit  level  of  the  canal,  extending  from  within  4  miles  of 
the  Pacific,  to  within  13  miles  of  the  Atlantic,  and  including  a  system  of  natural 
reservoirs  which  appear  as  if  originally  planned  to  provide  a  water  supply,  unfail- 
ing and  easily  controlled,  and  which  could  hardly  be  surpassed  for  the  purpose  to 
which  it  is  now  to  be  applied.  The  situation  of  the  locks  have  been  hereinbefore 
remarked  upon,  except  as  to  their  lifts,  which  comprise  two  of  42^  feet  each.  Nob.  4 
and  5,  while  that  of  No  6  is  but  25  feet,  as  indicated  upon  Plate  VII.  Referring  to  the 
profile  showing  the  relative  position  of  the  rock  strata  along  the  route,  further  men- 
tion of  the  admirable  features  connected  with  their  looation  is  not  requisite,  in  view 
of  the  proofs  afibrded  in  Plates  VI  and  VII. 

The  harbor  of  Brito,  it  will  be  noticed,  lies  in  a  comparatively  sheltered  position, 
and  yet,  like  that  at  Greytown,  can  be  entered  by  vessels  under  sail,  with  the  wind 
apon  any  quarter. 

Thus  far  as  to  the  salient  engineering  features  of  this  undertaking. 

FOUKTH. — Climatic  conditions. 

That  climatic  influences  upon  the  general  health  of  wortmen,  especially  when 
migrating  to  a  great  distance  in  the  execution  of  public  works  of  such  magnitude  as 
that  now  under  consideration,  affect  largely  the  monetary  cost  of  the  same,  none  can 
doubt.  Those  enlisting  to  labor  in  such  undertakings  invariably  and  wisely,  take 
into  account  the  possibility  of  detrimental  efl'ects  of  the  climate  upon  their  health, 
when  stipulating  as  to  remuneration. 

After  careful  and  extensive  inquiries  in  that  regard,  I  am  satisfied,  as  I  think  other 
candid  minds  must  be  upon  similar  investigation,  that  the  health  conditions  are,  in 
this  case,  essentially  favorable  to  the  work,  and  that  the  section  of  Central  America 
traversed  by  the  canal  is  entitled  to  be  classed  as  a  healthy  region. 

The  lowlands  of  the  San  Juan  are  the  most  exposed  to  miasmatic  influeucesj^ 
but  the  work  there  being  wholly  done  by  machinery,  and  the  operators  being  mainly 
under  cover  and  subject  to  control  as  to  matters  of  food  and  sleep,  modem  sanitary 
appliances,  as  previously  remarked,  will  neutralize  sach  deleterious  influences  to  a 
great  extent. 

•The  course  of  this  once  frequented  route  can  be  traced  upon  the  model  lately  on 
exhibition  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company.  In  traversing  this  "  divide  '  travelers 
were  led  across  eievations  over  600  feet  in  height. 


238  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

On  the  hipjTilnnds  of  the  eastern  slope,  where  tha greatest  nnmher  of  men  will  be 
required,  Mm  drainage  is  good,  with  clear  spring  water  in  abundance.  Tlie  well- 
known  trade  winds  of  that  zone  circulating  from  ocean  to  ocean  with  a  rigiilaritj 
foand  nowhere  else  on  this  hemisphere,  clear  the  atmosphere  and  moderate  end  eipial- 
ize  the  temperature  to  a  degree  atlording  incalculable  beuefit.t  and  physical  conitorts 
along  the  San  Juan  Valley,*  while  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Nicaragua  and  on  the 
Pacific  slope  the  same  proverbially  healthful  climatic  conditions  are  found  as  prevail 
upon  the  coast  of  California. 

A  practical  proof  of  the  reliability  of  these  conclusions  is  supplied  by  the  record  of 
the  company's  surveying  corps  of  1887-88,  consisting  of  sixty  men  transported  from 
New  York  and  more  than  one  hundred  natives  enlisted  on  the  spot,  all  of  whom  en- 
camped along  the  line  for  many  months;  and  yet,  as  Ensign  Maxwell  informs  me, 
not  one  of  the  party  was  prostrated  for  more  than  a  day  or  two  by  sickness,  and  the 
original  party  returned  to  New  York  in  better  general  health  than  when  they  left  that 
port. 

This  incident,  so  recently  and  so  reliably  attested,  has  a  special  and  most  favorable 
sigui  Seance. 

Fifth. — Commitaary,  tanitary,  and  police  organization  and  supervision. 

The  affairs  of  administration  indicated  by  this  caption  all  pertain  to  the  cost  of 
carrying  on  the  work,  and  while  more  especially  within  the  business  department  of 
the  enterprise,  seriously  affect  also  its  engineering  resources,  consequently  they  are 
deemed  proper  to  be  herein  mentioned  in  an  advisory  way. 

The  quality  and  quantity  of  food  to  be  furnished  to  the  working  force  should  not 
be  left  to  the  caprice  of  speculators,  nor  to  be  dispensed  by  those  seeking  a  profit  in 
so  doing,  for  nptm  tlip  maintenance  of  a  proper  standard  and  supply  of  diet  largely 
depends  the  reliability  and  vigor  of  the  laborer.  Neither  should  sufferers  from 
accident  or  sickness  be  committed  to  the  care  of  casual  sympathy  or  chance  acquaint- 
ance. The  company  should  retain  control  of  the  food  supply,  and  medical  and  surgi- 
cal care  and  attendance  should  be  regulated  by  special  arrangements  which  will 
secure  reliable  and  competent  management  of  details  in  these  important  depart- 
ments. 

My  own  experience  as  business  manager  of  the  company  which  built  the  Lake 
Superior  Ship  Canal  enables  me  to  state  that  in  that  undertaking  the  observance  of 
such  a  policy  as  here  indicated  was  an  indispensable  element  of  the  success  then  and 
there  attained.  Before  the  visitation  of  epidemic  cholera  in  1854  official  control  of 
the  food  supi)ly  and  the  medical  oversight  of  about  four-fifths  of  the  working  force 
of  nearly  three  thousand  men  was  committed  to  my  charge,  and  a  hospital  with  a  corps 
of  skilled  attendant's  was  also  instituted  under  my  supervision.  When  these  precau- 
tions were  tested  by  that  terrible  scourge  the  result  disclosed  a  loss  of  less  than  5 
per  cent  of  the  cholera  cases  under  my  control,  as  against  a  loss  of  fully  'J5  per  cent 
of  those  who  did  not  come  within  the  lines  of  my  sanitary  regulations — in  an  aggre- 
gate of  several  hundred  deaths  at  that  time  and  place. 

It  is  assumed  that  yonr  company,  directed  by  a  wise  foresight,  will  organize  and 
retain  control  of  an  efficient  police  and  sanitary  corps,  patrolling  the  entire  line  of 
work  for  the  enforcement,  not  only  of  personal  and  property  rights,  hat  of  strict  and 
comprehensive  sanitary  and  sumptuary  regulations. 

Sixth. — Sourcea  of  labor  supply. 

When  considering  this  important  element  of  cost,  I  learned  from  reliable  sources 
that  hardy  and  efficient  laborers  at  lower  rates  of  wages  than  are  current  in  this 
vicinity  may  be  obtained  in  large  numbers  from  the  west  coast  and  from  the  nioiin 
tain  districts  of  Mexico.  Also,  that  negro  labor,  duly  acclimated,  may  be  drawn 
largely  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  from  the  West  India  Islands.  Southern 
European  countries,  it  is  well  known,  can  contribute  sturdy  white  workers  of  a 
higher  grade,  while  skilled  labor  can  he  furnished  in  abundance  from  this  vicinity; 
and  from  all  these  sources  workmen  can  be  conveyed  by  water  direct  to  the  line  of 
the  work.  These  conditions  are,  therefore,  to  be  classed  as  remarkably  favorable  in 
all  respects. 

This  subject  completes  the  list  of  features  worthy  of  special  consideration,  wliich 
together  constitute  the  conditjons  of  which  a  knowledge  must  precede  the  formula- 
tion of  reliable  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the  proposed  undertaking. 

•  This  portion  of  Central  America  is  elevated  but  110  feet  above  tide  level,  being 
the  least  obstructed  by  mountains  of  any  part  of  the  Pacific  coast  from  Alaska  to 
Patagonia.  The  refreshing  trade  winds,  with  a  freedom  of  circulation  caused  larjiely, 
no  doubt,  by  the  remarkable  depression  in  the  longitudinal  mountain  ranges  (else- 
where presenting  barriers  ranging  from  1  to  2  or  more  miles  in  height),  here  maintaini 
a  "  stiff  breeze  "  daring  several  hoars  of  each  day  throughoot  the  year. 


KICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY.  239 

CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS, 

The  revised  estimates  of  the  advisory  board  were  concurred  in  by  me  as  embracing 
ail  ample  estimate  of  the  cost  of  constructing  the  Nicaragua  Shij.  Canal  under  favor- 
able couditions  of  financial  administration  and  executive  ability. 

In  that  estimate  there  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  margin  for  contingencies  sufficient  to 
include  the  enlargement  of  the  locks  from  the  capacity  proposed  by  your  chief  engi- 
neer to  the  advisory  board,  viz,  6v)0  by  HO  feet  chambers,  to  the  size  I  would 
earnestly  recommend  for  adoption,  viz,  1,000  by  100  feet.  These  dimensions  will  be 
of  the  same  width  and  but  200  feet  longer  than  those  adopted  for  the  new  lock  of 
the  Lake  Superior  Canal,  where  experience  has  demonstrated  the  economy  in  time, 
oi-  locking  through  several  vessels  together.  The  reasons  for  this  increase  I  will,  if 
desired,  submit  in  a  separate  report  at  a  later  date,  prior  to  the  time  when  the 
proj;re88  of  the  work  will  necessitate  your  decision. 

To  my  mind  it  seems  clear  that  when  investors  examine  the  schedule  of  cost  as 
reported  by  the  advisory  board,  the  more  scrutiny  they  bestow  upon  it  the  earlier 
will  they  reach  the  conclusion  that  under  no  ordinary  contingencies  will  it  be 
exceeded  by  the  actual  outlay;  and  that  when  open  for  traffic  the  canal  finances 
will  be  as  easy  of  management  as  its  water  way.  When  thus  opened,  the  crisis  of 
buth  will  have  been  pas8ed,and  both  alike  will  command  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
Let  him  who  desires  to  leave  his  accumulating  wealth  where  his  posterity  will  find 
it  intact  in  form,  and  of  constantly  increasing  value,  from  the  growth  of  commerce 
between  the  nations,  duly  appreciate  this  golden  opportunity. 

The  world  at  large  may  adopt  many  novelties  in  methods  of  transportation,  but  to 
supersede  the  economies  secured  by  such  an  interoceanic  water  way  is  not  among 
the  possibilities  of  human  progress.  The  expenses  of  the  Lake  Superior  Ship  Caniu 
in  lock  lifting  nearly  8,000,000  tons  of  tribute-paying  freight  during  this  year  are 
officially  estimated  at  $136,000,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  four-tenths  of  a  mill  per  ton. 
What  other  form  of  transit  can  present  such  results  f 

RKVBNUE  BSTIMATE8. 

It  will  be  presumed  that  in  a  general  review  of  the  principal  features  of  your  en- 
terprise the  important  subject  of  the  extent  of  its  probable  traffic  will  not  pass  un- 
lioticed  ;  but  while  appreciating  that  fiscal  promise  is  the  one  prerequisite  of  every 
incipient  enterprise,  of  this  nature,  I  leave  this  branch  of  the  subject  to  others  whose 
experience  renders  them  more  facile  than  myself  in  that  line  of  expert  estimate. 

COMPARISONS. 

The  old  adage  that  as  between  persons  "  comparisons  are  odious  "  applies,  in  ray 
judgment,  with  special  force  to  indiscriminate  suppositions  of  parallels  between  ex- 
istent or  proposed  ship  canals.  Many  have  assumed  a  similarity  of  conditions  as  afford- 
ing a  basis  of  comparison  between  the  Nicaragua,  the  Suez,  or  the  Panama  routes ;  and, 
moreover,  finding  errors  in  calculations  proven  in  the  estimates  of  cost  in  the  last 
named  enterprise,  they  proceed  to  infer  like  results  in  the  first,  especially  in  the  line 
of  deductions  respecting  the  unreliability  of  engineering  estimates  relating  to  the 
time  and  cost  of  construction  in  one  of  those  undertakings  as  applicable  alike  to  all 
of  them,  when  in  fact  there  is  and  can  be  no  practical  ground  of  comparison.  To 
emphasize  this  conclusion  it  may  be  well  to  devote  a  short  space  to  a  review  of  the 
main  featares  of  the  other  projects  thus  compared  with  the  Nicaragua  enterprise. 

THE  6U^  CANAL. 

Let  the  Suez  Canal  be  first  considered.  It  is  a  water  way,excavated  mostly  through 
a  sandy  desert  for  a  distance  of  88  miles,*  connecting  two  tide-level  seas.  It  was 
projected  as  long  ago  as  in  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  historian  Herodotus,  who 
lived  in  the  fifth  century  B.  C,  asserts  that  Pharaoh  Necho  expended  120,000  lives 
working  upon  it.  The  same  writer  refers  to  it  as  being  used  in  his  time  and  as 
wide  enough  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  two  vessels  abreast,  while  the  passage  is  de- 
sciibed  as  occupying  fohr  days. 

It  was  subsequently  allowed  to  fill  up  with  the  shifting  sands  of  the  desert  and  it 
remained  thus  until  its  restoration  was  undertaken  by  M.  de  Lesseps,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  in  1858.    It  was  formally  reopened  November  17,  1869. 

*  Sixty-six  miles  of  dry  excavated  channel,  14  miles  of  dredged,  and  8  miles  of 
uatural-lake  passage-way  .-^Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Vol.  IV,  Page  791. 


240  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

T\u->  problems  presented  were,  from  an  engineering  point  of  view,  of  the  simplest 
kind,  involving  merely  an  open  cut  upon  and  between  tide  levels.  It  Las,  however, 
aa  to  its  main  features,  to  meet  a  danger  and  expense  that  was  and  still  remains 
unique;  namely,  the  constant  tendency  of  natural  causes  to  choke  it  with  hliilt- 
ing  desert  sand.  This  menace  requires  the  counter  force  of  dredging  and  led,  at  the 
on iset,  to  opinions  by  distinguished  engineers  that  the  income  would  not  warmnt 
the  expense.  It  has,  however,  been  a  triumphant  vindication  of  M.  de  Lesseps'  faith 
in  the  ultimate  success  of  the  undertaking;  in  1888,  with  a  total  incom«)  o{  Aii,24'.i,02l 
fiancs  but  7,743,064  francs  were  required  for  the  operating  expenses.  The  iuc^e;l^>e 
of  revenue  for  1888  over  18*^7  was  ri^  per  cent.  The  average  time  of  passage  was  :iO} 
hours.  The  latest  annual  report  shows  that  3,998,*J14  cubic  meters  of  saud  were  re- 
moved from  the  canal  dnring  that  year.  This  represented,  in  part,  the  accnniulitted 
drift  from  the  desert  simoons,  and  also  the  excavation  consequent  npon  gradually 
widening  and  deepening  the  channel.  It  is  reported  that  this  work  will  be  so  tar 
completed  by  another  year  that  two  vessels  will  have  clearance  for  counter  passage 
at  any  point. 

It  is  now  abont  twenty-on'?  years  since  the  narrow  channel  was  first  opened  for 
traffic.  The  propoition  between  sand  drift  and  new  prism  area  removed  last  year 
was  not  stated  in  the  report,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  were  this  continuous  warfare 
against  the  climatic  force  which  dominates  in  that  desert  region  to  be  altogether 
abated,  the  canal  would,  in  the  process  of  time,  be  qnite  obliterated  for  many  miles 
of  its  length. 

These  being  conditions  peculiar  to  the  Suez  Canal,  how  evidently  absurd  is  any  at- 
tempt to  draw  engineering  comparisons  between  it  and  the  Lake  Nicaragua  route. 

THB  PANAMA  OAKAI.. 

Comparative  examination  of  the  Panama  project,  however  useless  from  an  engi- 
neering standpoint,  yet.,  as  connected  with  M.  de  Lesseps,  the  successful  projector  of 
the  Snez  Canal,  invites  a  measure  of  consideration,  as  aflbrding  an  interesting  study 
of  the  history  of  an  attempt  to  make  assumpticm  wear  as  well  as  fact. 

To  studious  engineering  minds  the  Panama  problem  originally  presented  collateral 
difttcnlties  equal  to  those  incidental  to  the  canal  itself.  The  route  of  the  canal  from 
Colon  westward  follows  the  ascending  valley  of  the  Chagres  River.  That  water  course 
must  be  controlled,  but  howf  Given  a  river  draining  an  area  of  about  1,400  square 
miles;  discharging  in  the  dry  season  at  its  first  point  of  contact  with  the  line  of  the 
canal  15  cubic  meters  of  water  per  second,  but  in  the  wet  season  4,670  meters  in  the 
tanie  time,  precipitated  mainly  from  numberless  steep  ravines  and  high  mountain 
sides,  from  whence  the  rainfall  quickly  concentrates  in  the  main  outlet  and  often  in 
a  few  short  hours,  causes  a  rise  in  the  Chagres  River  of  from  <J0  to  60  feet  in  height 
of  solid  water  pressure,  increasing  its  volume  to  over  three  hundred  times  its  minimum 
diecharge!  *  This,  M.  de  Lesseps  contended,  might  be  controlled  or  eqalized  by  a  res- 
ervoir. To  accomplish  this  end  a  stopendous  dam  a  mile  or  more  in  length,  VZO  feet 
high,  and  250  feet  thick  at  base,  was  calculated  by  French  engiueers  to  be  necessary, 
and  was  to  be  located  south  of  the  canal  and  at  a  considerable  distance  therefrom  in 
a  subsidiary  mountain  gorge. 

But  even  with  the  dam  complete  the  overflow  mnst  still  be  provided  for.  To  dis- 
pose of  this  there  was  proposed  a  tunnel,  to  be  bored  for  miles  through  the  mountains, 
with  dimensions  sufficient  to  convey  the  surplus  flood  into  another  valley  for  exit  to 
the  sea. 

That  M.  de  Lesseps  should  seek  every  possible  way  to  avoid  the  cost  and  delay  of 
these  gigantic  preliminaries  is  not  surprising ;  but  for  the  ostrich-like  policy  of  hiding 
the  head  of  the  dilemma  by  means  of  a  vigorous  show  of  digging  upon  the  canal 
proper,  while  the  body  of  the  difficulty  remained  uncovered,  there  could  be  but  one 
ending,  namely,  the  probably  irremedial  disaster  already  developed.  The  giant 
floods  of  the  uncontrolled  Chagres  River  now  bold  nndisputed  sway  over  the  rente  of 
the  canal  whenever  appearing  in  their  torrential  strength. 

Other  difficulties,  more  or  less  serious  in  their  natnre,  must  be  overcome  to  achieve 
final  success  in  the  line  of  that  effort,  bnt  one  of  which  will  now  be  remarked  upon. 

It  was  the  popular  impression  obtaining  at  the  time  of  its  commencement  that  the 
Panama  was,  like  the  Suez  route,  to  be  a  tide-level  canal. 

Bnt  tidal  differences  existed  which  precluded  such  similarity.  The  tides  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  have  but  12  inches  of  variation  between  high  and  low  tide.  Like- 
wise those  of  the  Red  Sea  change  but  30  inches  from  mean  level;  hence  a  connecting 
channel  between  them  through  an  "  open  cut"  was  practicable.  But  on  the  Panama 
route,  while  the  maximum  variations  of  the  Atlantic  tides  at  Colon  are  bnt  1-^  feet, 

*  Some  expert  estimates  place  the  maximum  of  these  floods  at  165,000  cubic  feet 
per  second,  or  at  nearly  half  the  flow  over  Niagara  Falls  I 


NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY.  241 

those  of  the  Pacific  at  Panama  show  changes  of  2113^^  feet  in  level.  This  feature,  it 
will  be  readily  seen,  necessitated  the  existence  of  at  least  one  lock  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  if  bnt  one,  then  with  double  gates  to  meet  the  alternate  water  pressure  in 
opposite  directions. 

And  yet  it  was  generally  understood  that  the  original  plans  called  for  no  ^oofcs  in  the 
Panama  route.  Afterwards,  this  feature  was  reconsidered,  and  a  series  of  locks  were 
officially  announced— but  without  provision  for  supplying  the  highest  level,  except 
by  pumping. 

Such  circumstances  point  to  the  conclusion  that  there  had  been  no  carefully  studied 
and  matured  plau  of  construction,  with  a  fixed  estimate  of  cost,  \»ut  only  a  vague  and 
uncertain  groping  after  a  result — to  be  arrived  at  by  whatever  means  circumstances 
might  determine,  and  at  whatever  expenditure  of  time,  money,  and  life,  chance  should 
decree.  The  case  is  therefore  in  no  wise  analagous  with  the  Nicaragua  route,  except- 
ing as  to  the  use  in  common  of  the  word  "canal." 

My  conclusion  is,  that  the  only  canal  which  can  at  present  be  referred  to  as  similar 
to  yonr  enterprise,  is  the  one  of  which  a  sufficiently  extended  notice  has  been  already 
given,  to  wit : 

THE  LAKE  SUPERIOR  SHIP  LOOK  CANAL. 

It  ranks  with  yours  in  its  lockage  capacity;  like  yours,  it  has  an  enexhanstible 
reservoir  on  its  upper  level ;  and  again,  like  yours,  it  has  required  the  deepening  of 
natural  water  courses  to  furnish  a  continuous  and  capacious  ship  channel.  Also,  this 
canal  was  built  within  the  original  estimates  of  time  and  cost.  It  has  been  in  unin- 
terrupted use  for  over  a  third  of  a  century,  and  maintains  an  ever-increasing  volume 
of  traffic — which  is  but  an  example  |of  what  the  Nicaragua  Ship  Canal  will  demon- 
strate in  its  cost  and  durability,  and  will  develop  as  to  dividend-earning  qualities, 
whenever  a  suitable  opportunity  is  afforded  to  test  its  performance. 

IN  CONCLUSION. 

When  taking  leave  of  this  subject,  the  professional  mind  is  led  in  two  directions ; 

First. — Retrospectively. — Upon  looking  back  to  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  the  retrospect  discloses  the  energies  of  the  world  engrossed,  in  the  main,  by 
the  profession  of  arms  and  in  warfare  on  land  and  sea.  Railroads  and  steamships  were 
unknown,  and  the  science  of  engineering  was  in  its  infancy — even  the  title  of  civil 
engineer  being  almost  unused.  On  the  first  of  January,  1891,  the  last  decade  of  the 
century  will  have  commenced.  What  a  change  will  then  be  traceable  between  the 
opening  of  the  first,  and  of  the  last  tenth  of  the  cycle !  Now,  the  engineering  pro- 
fession, including  thereiu  its  civil,  mechanical,  and  architectural  divisions,  is  in  the 
van — the  leader  of  the  world's  energies. 

Second. — Prospectively. — Notwithstanding  the  vast  strides  with  which  modern  im- 
provements have  lately  advanced,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  last  decade  of  the 
century  will  witness  its  most  notable  achievement  in  the  completion  of  the  inter- 
oceanic  canal  of  Nicaragua.  In  the  progress  of  its  construction  the  power  of  applied 
science  will  have  its  fullest  scope. 

Mammotji  dredging  machines,  unknown  to  our  fathers,  will  plough  their  way  with 
irresistible  force  and  marvelous  rapidity  from  the  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  to  the 
foothills  of  the  San  Juanillo  range.  There,  steam  and  air  drills  and  the  dynamite 
genii  will  attack  the  rocky  ledges,  and  where  naught  but  the  untrodden  wilderness 
can  now  be  seen,  leave  behind  them  the  grandest  highway  of  the  nations.  When  the 
locks  and  dams  have  taken  form.  Lake  Nicaragua  will  become  a  central  rendezvous 
for  the  fleets  engaged  in  the  commerce  of  the  new  world.  Electric  lights  will  render 
the  dark  canons  of  the  "  divides"  and  the  entire  route  of  the  canal,  as  passable  by 
night  as  by  day ;  and  by  its  far-reaching  wires,  the  telegraph  will  convey  dispatches 
from  every  section  of  the  noble  water  way  to  the  commercial  centers  of  both  hemi- 
spheres. 

All  these  forces,  in  combinations  not  known  or  suggested  in  A.  D.  1800,  will,  no 
doubt,  before  A.  D.  1900,  have  secured  the  completion  of  this  grand  conception.  That 
it  will  be  a  fitting  ciilmiuation  of  the  engineering  achievements  of  the  Nineteenth 
century,  who  can  doubt  T 

I  have,  in  conclusion,  only  to  remark  that  I  shall  deem  myself  honored  by  having 
aided  forward,  in  anywise,  the  consummation  of  this  project,  insuring  such  vast  util- 
ities; and  also  that  I  feel  impelled  from  the  study  of  the  data  refbrred  to  herein,  to 
congratulate  its  managers  upon  having  already  guided  it  to  so  favorable  an  opening 
of  its  record. 

Very  respectfully, 

Charles  T.  Harvey, 

Civil  Engineer. 

New  York,  December^  1889. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 16 


242  HICAJaAGUA   CANAL   COMPANX 


Appendix  C. 


lb  the  Stockholdera  of  (he  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  'Company  : 

I  take  pleasure  iu  presenting  to  yon  the  report  of  the  division  engineer  of  onr  com- 
pany, covering  the  work  performed  prior  to  October  8,  1890,  and  also  the  report  of 
onr  chief  surgeon  upon  the  hospital  service  and  the  general  health  of  the  employes 
of  the  company  in  Nicaragua. 

The  report  of  the  division  engineer  is  a  very  complete  statement  of  the  work  done 
by  our  company,  and  will,  I  believe,  satisfy  all  interested  that  the  work  during  the 
past  year  has  been  pushed  with  great  vigor  and  success.  The  health  of  the  force  dur- 
ing this  time  has  been  remarkably  good,  and  there  is  no  longer  any  fear  that  the  work 
can  not  be  successfully  prosecuted  because  of  climatic  causes.  I  also  have  to  report 
that  our  concession  from  Nicaragua  was  confirmed  by  the  Nicaraguan  Goverunjent 
early  in  November;  a  commission  appointed  by  the  President  of  Nicaragua  haviug 
made  a  thorough  examiiialion  of  onr  work  reported  to  the  Government  that  we  had 
complied  with  all  the  provisions  of  the  couces8ion,3nd  had  expendetl  much  more  than 
the  $2,000,000  required  to  be  expended  during  the  first  year.  By  the  confirmation  of 
the  concession  the  rights  of  the  canal  company  have  been  rendered  permanent. 

I  am  also  able  to  report  that  the  depth  of  water  on  the  bar  at  Greytown  is  now 
12  feet;  having  received  a  cable  a  few  days  ago  irom  Chief  Engineer  Menocal  to  that 
eflFect.  It  is  expected  that  the  water  on  the  bar  will  be  deepened  to  20  feet  within 
the  next  four  weeks,  which  will  give  us  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  for  all  ves-sels  to 
enter  the  harbor  and  unload  at  the  company's  wharves.  I  therefore  feel  justified  in 
congratulating  the  stockholders  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  on 
the  present  favorable  condition  of  the  work. 
Tours,  truly, 

Wabnkk  Millkr, 

FresidenU 

Nkw  York,  December  17,  18901 


KICAEAGUA   CAJiAXi  COMPAKT  243 


BEPOJRT  OF  THE  DIVISION  ENGINEES. 

WORK  PERFORMED  BY  THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL  CONSTRUCTION 
COMPANY  PRIOR  TO  OCTOBER  8,  1890. 

Sak  Juan  del  Nortb,  Nicakagua, 

October  19,  1890. 

Sir  :  I  would  most  respectfully  submit  the  following  report  of  the  work  done  by 
the  company  in  Nicaragua  prior  to  this  date. 

The  surveys  for  the  final  location  of  the  entire  canal  line  have  been  completed  and 
the  detail  surveys  of  the  sites  of  all  embankments,  dams,  and  locks  are  very  nearly 
fiuished. 

This  survey  has  covered  not  only  the  one  line  selected,  but  any  and  all  routes  which 
gave  any  probability  of  being  practicable,  and  in  many  cases  covers  a  width  of  sev- 
eral miles  of  country. 

In  addition  to  actual  surveys  the  whole  country  has  been  thoroughly  explored,  so 
that  every  range  of  hills  and  every  small  stream  hasbecL  examined  to  ascertain  what, 
if  any,  bearing  it  might  have  upon  the  general  problem  of  construction. 

The  south  bank  of  the  Rio  San  Juan  has  been  carefnlly  examined  from  Ochoato  the 
Rio  Colorado,  and  extending  back  from  the  river  several  miles,  to  ascertain  if  there 
was  any  more  favorable  location  for  a  dam  than  the  Ochoa.  Most  of  this  region  is  a 
lagoon  country,  with  low  disconnected  hills.     No  favorable  site  for  a  dam  was  found. 

The  surveys  for  a  railroad  line  from  America  to  Ochoa,  keeping  above  the  flowage 
line  in  the  basin,  have  been  completed.  It  was  a  diflBcult  piece  of  location,  as  the 
hills  bordering  the  basin  are  very  steep  and  badly  cut  up  with  lateral  drainage. 

The  cheapest  and  best  line  for  the  railroad  would  have  been  found  on  the  crest  of 
the  ridge  bordering  the  valleys  of  the  Deseado  and  Limpio,  on  the  south  side ;  but  as 
this  ridge  is  from  400  to  1,000  feet  in  height  and  from  1  to  3  miles  away  from  the 
canal,  it  would  be  ot  no  use  tor  construction  purposes.  So  we  were  forced  to  lo- 
cate on  the  hillside,  necessitating  a  great  deal  of  very  careful  work  to  make  a  loca- 
tion that  was  at  all  practicable. 

Another  line  has  been  located  from  America  to  the  divide  for  a  temporary  road  for 
constructing  purposes,  keeping  in  the  valley  of  the  Deseado.  As  the  Deseado  is  a  very 
crooked  stream,  with  high  hills  coming  down  to  the  water  on  both  sides  at  frequent 
intervals,  it  required  a  large  amount  of  preliminary  work  to  decide  on  the  best  loca- 
tion. 

Careful  detail  surveys  have  been  made  for  the  location  of  a  dam  and  reservoir  on  the 
La  Paz  Creek,  about  12  miles  from  this  place ;  also  for  the  pipe  line  to  bring  the 
water  from  that  point  to  America.  Several  other  streams  were  examined  and  careful 
surveys  made  to  ascertain  where  the  best  and  most  economical  supply  could  be  ob- 
tained.   All  things  being  considered,  the  La  Paz  was  found  to  be  the  most  desirable. 

At  the  points  selected  the  stream  has  an  elevation  o^  100  feet  above  tide  and  pours 
over  a  ledge  of  trap-rock  between  two  high  hills,  forming  an  excellent  site  for  a  dam, 
which  will  raise  the  water  to  an  elevation  of  115  feet. 

The  stream  in  the  dry  season  will  furnish  a  supply  of  pure,  cold  water,  amply  suffi- 
cient for  all  the  demands  likely  to  be  made  upon  it. 

A  careful  survey  of  the  site  of  the  proposed  harbor  at  San  Juan  Lagoon  has  been 
kept  up  daring  the  past  year.  This  has  been  necessary  to  keep  a  record  of  the  rapid 
changes  which  have  taken  place,  owing  to  the  construction  of  the  breakwater. 

In  order  to  make  the  proper  studies  of  the  work,  it  has  been  necessary  to  make  new 
maps  of  the  coast  line  for  some  distance  on  each  side  of  the  breakwater  each  week 
and  also  to  show  the  depth  of  water  ascertained  by  careful  sounding,  extending  from 
the  lagoon  across  both  the  inner  and  outer  bar  to  deep  water.  One  party  has  been 
constantly  employed  on  the  work. 

A  careful  survey  is  now  in  progress,  and  nearly  completed,  of  the  country  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Lajas  and  Brito  for  the  location  of  a  railroad,  to  accurately  locate 
all  the  property  lines,  to  decide  where  diversions  of  streams  are  necessary  and  prac- 
ticable,  and  to  locate  sites  for  disposing  of  waste  mateiial. 


244  NICABAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

All  the  anrreya  have  been  carried  ont  in  Bnch  a  manner  a»  to  check  the  accnnw  y 
of  each  other,  and  no  errors  have  been  allowed  to  go  nncorrected. 

The  uia))8  have  been  made  with  the  utmost  care  to  insure  correctness.  All  won- 
has  been  carefully  checked  by  ut  least  two  men.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
no  important  error  can  exist  in  the  surveys  or  maps.  I  have  never  seen  or  known  of 
so  exhaustive  and  accurate  surveys  and  maps  having  been  made  for  any  public  works. 

These  surveys  have  necessarily  been  slow  and  expensive,  being  prosecuted  in  a 
tropical  forest  where  nothing  could  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  50  feet,  and  where  every 
step  had  to  be  preceded  by  a  blow  from  a  matchet  to  clear  away  the  taugled  mass  of 
vines  which  everywliere  presented  itself,  where  all  supplies  had  to  be  transported  in 
canoes  up  streams  filled  with  logs  and  then  packed  on  men's  backs  for  miles  over  hills 
so  steep  that  a  man  can  only  climb  up  and  down  by  holding  on  the  small  trees  and 
brush,  much  of  the  time  with  the  rain  pouring  in  torrents,  or  through  swamps  where 
for  long  distances  men  have  had  to  flounder  through  thick  mud  from  their  waists  to 
their  armpits  in  depth.  To  one  who  has  never  conducted  such  a  survey  no  descrip- 
tion can  give  an  accurate  idea  of  the  slowness,  difliculty,  and  disagreeableness  of  the 
work ;  but  yon,  who  have  personally  conducted  so  many  surveys  in  this  country,  do 
not  need  any  further  comments. 

At  first  it  was  attempted  to  house  the  engineering  party  in  tents,  but  experienc* 
soon  showed  that  they  would  not  answer  in  this  climate  and  they  were  abandoned, 
the  parties  living  in  shacks,  thatched  by  palm  leaves.  Many  thousands  of  dollars 
have  been  spent  in  building  temporary  camps  for  the  accommodation  of  employes. 

To  ascertain  beyond  question  what  the  character  and  cost  of  the  work  was  to  be, 
borings  have  been  made  at  the  site  of  all  important  works,  such  as  dams,  embank- 
ments, and  locksas  well  asatthe  heavy  cuts.  Where  there  were  no  rocks  this  has  been 
done  with  earth  angers.  Wherever  rock  was  found  the  diamond  drill  was  used. 
Specimens  of  all  the  different  strata  have  been  presei'ved  for  future  reference.  These 
holes  have  been  bored  to  the  bottom  of  the  canal,  or  to  the  bottom  of  the  foundations 
of  all  locks,  etc.  Many  of  these  holes  have  been  from  200  to  300  feet  in  depth.  By 
using  the  diamond  drill,  which  takes  out  a  solid  core,  we  have  been  able  to  preserve 
specimens,  so  that  contractors  and  others  interested  may  at  any  time  see  exactly 
what  the  work  will  be.  Owing  to  the  difficulties  in  transporting  heavy  machinery, 
steam  drills  were  impracticable,  so  all  this  work  has  been  done  by  hand. 

In  May,  1889,  a  large  force  of  engineers  and  foremen,  with  supplies  and  machinery, 
left  New  York  and  landed  here  early  in  June,  to  begin  the  actual  work  of  construction, 
bnt  owing  to  circumstances  over  which  the  company  had  no  control,  the  work  of 
construction  did  not  assume  important  proportions  for  several  months.  In  the  mean 
time  much  necessary  work  was  done. 

As  the  company  had  no  quarters  to  accommodate  a  large  force  of  men,  a  temporary 
camp  and  storehouse  were  constructed  at^  Camp  Francis,  at  an  expense  of  several 
thousand  dollars.  This  was  nsed  until  the  new  storehouse  and  quarters  at  La  Paz 
were  completed. 

Several  other  camps.  Camp  Folly,  Camp  B,  No.  1,  etc.,  were  built  at  a  large  ex- 
pense, as,  also,  was  a  temporary  wharf,  which  had  to  be  constructed  before  lumber 
could  be  obtained,  and  which,  while  they  answered  their  temporary  purpose,  were 
soon  abandoned  and  entirely  disappeared. 

A  steam  snag  boat  was  put  to  work  clearing  the  streams  —up  which  supplies  must 
be  taken— of  logs  and  overhanging  trees.  These  streams  were  filled  with  logs,  the 
accumulations  of  ages,  many  of  which  were  burled  in  sand  and  as  heavy  as  lead. 
They  could  only  be  removed  by  the  assistance  of  divers  and  a  liberal  use  of  dynamite. 

The  San  Juauillo  and  Deseado  were  cleared  so  as  as  to  give  steam  navigation  to 
Camp  Satisfaction,  a  distance  of  over  30  miles  by  river,  and  to  Camp  Virginia  for 
canoes  in  ordinary  water.  From  Camp  Virginia  to  the  divide,  a  distance  of  5  miles, 
about,  a  good  trail  for  packing  was  cut  and  foot  bridges  built  across  all  the  streams, 
so  that  supplies  could  be  transported  with  certainty,  though  slowly,  to  the  divide. 

As  it  was  proposed  to  obtain  a  temporary  supply  of  rock  for  the  pier  from  Silico 
Lake,  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  which  was  a  very  crooked  stream,  filled  with  grass  aud 
snags,  was  cleared  out,  straightened,  and  widened  so  as  to  allow  tugs  and  lighters  to 
pass  from  the  San  Jnanillo  to  the  lake ;  in  many  places  points  which  were  too  sharp 
to  allow  a  boat  to  pass  around  were  blown  off  with  dynamite  and  cleared  away. 

The  San  Francisco  was  cleared  above  the  junction  of  the  Chanchos,  and  the  Chan- 
chos  cleared  to  Camp  Salinas.  These  streams  were  all  in  a  very  bad  condition  and 
required  much  labor. 

The  necessity  for  a  telegraph  line  to  the  interior  soon  became  apparent.  This  was 
one  of  the  first  works  undertaken,  and  was  pushed  through  to  Castillo,  a  distance  of 
60  miles,  as  soon  as  possible.  This  was  a  difficult  line  to  construct,  as  the  first 
10  miles  was  through  the  deep  swamp  back  of  San  Juan,  where  the  clearing  was 
difficult  and  the  poles  hard  to  obtain,  where  the  wire  and  all  other  supplies  had  to 
be  carried  on  the  backs  of  men,  who  were  wading  in  water  from  1  to  4  feet  in 
depth.     Much  of  the  way  the  water  was  so  deep  that  poles  could  not  be  set  in  the 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


245 


groand,  and  had  to  be  fastened  to  stnmps  with  wire  as  the  only  means  of  secnring 
them.  From  the  Divide  to  the  Castillo  the  line  is  over  a  very  rough  country,  was 
an  expensive  line  to  construct,  and  is  a  difficult  line  to  maintain. 

During  the  summer  of  1889  some  preparatory  work  was  done  at  Silico  Lake  and 
quite  a  sum  of  money  expended  in  building  a  crib  and  sheet-pile  wharf.  No  active 
work  on  the  excavation  of  rock  was  done  until  July,  1890,  when  a  force  of  men  was 
put  to  work  and  all  the  rocks  which  have  been  used  at  the  breakwater  quarried. 
The  quarry  was  only  a  mass  of  large  bowlders  imbedded  in  clay.  This  supply  has 
been  exhausted  and  the  quarry  abandoned.  The  rock  was  brought  from  the  quarry 
to  the  pier  in  lighters,  and  as  it  all  had  to  be  handled  twice  after  being  quarried,  it 
was  very  expensive. 

During  the  summer  of  1889  permanent  buildings  were  begun  and  building  con- 
struction has  been  in  progress  ever  since. 

The  following  list  gives  the  size  and  purpose  for  which  the  more  important  build- 
ings were  erected : 


Bnildings. 


Chief  engineer's,  two  stories 

Office  and  officers'  quarters,  two  stories. 

Dining  room  for  officers 

Kitchen  for  officers     

Laundry  at  I)eadquarter8 

Bath  house  for  chief  engineer 

Bath  house  at  headquarters 

Outbuildings,  etc 

Doctors'  residence,  two  stories 

Officers'  hospital,  two  stories 

Laborers'  hospital,  two  stories 

Mess  hall  of  patients 

Storeroom  and  quarters 

Dead  iiouse 

Bath  house,  two  stories 

Outbuildings,  etc  

Laundry  for  hospital 

Storehouse  at  La  Fe,  three  stories 

Dry  house 

Quarters  for  employes 


Dimen- 
sions. 


Feet. 

24  by  40 

25  100 


37 
139 
37 
40 


Buildings. 


Mess  hall  at  LaFe 

Carpenter  shop 

Paiut  and  tin  shop 

Oil  house 

Storehouse    

Office  and  officers'  quarters  at  railroad. 

Mess  room  and  kitchen  at  railroad 

Mechanics'  quarters  at  railroad 

Laborers'  quarters  at  railroad 

Laborers'  quarters  kitchen  at  railroad . 

Tool  house 

Tool  house  and  blacksmith  shop 

Water  tank  for  locomotive 

Ensinehoaee 

Officei  s'  quarters  at  Camp  Cheney 

Laborers'  quarters  at  Camp  Cheney. .. 

Storehouse  at  Camp  Cheney 

Blacksmith  and  machine  shops  at  Camp 
Cheney  


Dimen- 
sions. 


Feet. 
25  by  50 
20   50 


12 
20 
24 
24 
16 
24 
35 
24 
12 
24 


36 
30 
25 


25 
30 
54 
45 
26 
60 
170 
40 
17 
60 


There  is  now  in  process  of  erection  a  machine  shop,  108  by  54  feet,  and  a  black- 
smith shop  and  foundry,  28  by  52.  Much  of  the  machinery  fur  a  first-class  machine 
shop  is  now  here  ;  also  materials  for  a  building  for  offices  and  quarters,  46  by  57, 
two  stories,  foundations  of  which  are  completed.  These  are  all  good,  substantial 
buildings,  roofed  with  iron  and  painted. 

The  storehouse  of  La  Fe  has  a  substantial  wharf,  30  by  50-  feet,  with  shears  and 
tackle  for  unloading  heavy  freight. 

Work  in  the  canal  clearing  was  begun  in  January,  1890,  and  abont  11  miles 
chopped  the  full  width  of  486  feet ;  a  large  part  of  this  was  burned  during  the  dry 
weather  of  April.  The  chopping  through  the  swamp  was  done  in  January,  when 
there  was  a  rainfall  of  64  inches,  and  the  water  was  very  deep  in  the  swamp.  This 
could  have  been  done  at  a  less  cost  at  a  later  date,  but  it  was  felt  that  it  must  be 
done  then  to  allow  the  first  dry  season  to  be  taken  advantage  of  for  burning.  This 
was  the  most  difficult  portion  of  the  line  to  clear. 

As  all  the  water  in  the  vicinity  of  San  Juan  del  Norte  is  contaminated  by  decay- 
ing vegetable  matter,  it  was  decided  to  seek  a  pure  supply  in  the  highest  hills  back 
of  the  swamp. 

After  a  careful  examination  of  several  sources,  the  Cano  La  Paz  was  finally  selected. 
At  a  point  about  10  miles  from  here  this  stream  flows  over  a  bed  of  solid  trap-rock 
at  an  elevation  of  100  feet  above  tide.  At  this  point  the  valley  is  narrow,  being 
shut  in  by  high  bills,  affording  an  excellent  site  for  a  dam.  The  dam  will  be  15  feet 
in  height,  and  will  raise  the  water  in  the  reservoir  115  feet  above  tide.  With  this 
elevation  the  reservoir  will  contain  a  supply  sufficient  for  several  weeks  for  all  the 
demands  likely  to  be  made  upon  it. 

The  water  will  be  brought  to  this  point  in  a  steel  pipe  8  inches  in  diameter.  All 
of  the  materials  are  here,  including  gates,  sluices,  screens,  valves,  connections,  etc., 
and  15  miles  of  pipe.  The  site  of  the  reservoir  is  cleared,  and  the  laying  of  the 
pipe  is  only  waiting  for  the  railroad  to  reach  that  point,  as  the  pipe  for  most  of  the 
way  will  follow  the  railroad. 

In  1889  a  tramway  was  constructed  from  La  Paz  to  the  hospital,  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  quarter. 


246  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

In  Jnne,  1890,  a  railroad  was  begnn  across  what  has  been  considered  the  impassa- 
ble svramp,  "between  the  San  Jnan  Lagoon  and  the  Benard  Lagoon.  Soon  after  be- 
ginning, heary  rains  set  in,  and  the  swamp  was  flooded  to  a  depth  of  from  2  to  4 
feet.  The  track  had  to  be  laid  in  advance,  and  the  dirt  for  Blling  brought  oat  by 
train.  This  was  done  by  building  up  a  corduroy  of  logs,  and  laying  the  temporary 
stringers  running  lengthwise  of  the  track,  ou  which  the  ties  were  placed  and  the 
track  laid.  Most  of  this  work  for  a  distance  of  2  miles  was  done  in  water  3  feet 
deep,  and  much  of  the  work  for  4  miles  more  in  water  2  feet  or  more  in  de])th,  mak- 
ing a  total  of  6  miles  of  swamp  work.  After  the  rails  were  laid  the  trains  of  dirt 
were  pushed  out  and  unloaded  along  both  sides  with  a  ballast  nnloader,  and  as  the 
bank  was  raised  above  the  water  the  track  was  raised  and  put  into  shape  on  a  solid 
roadlied  of  sand.  In  order  to  make  the  road  safe  at  all  times,  the  grade  has  been 
put  above  the  highest  known  water.  As  this  could  not  be  done  at  once  there  has 
been  a  large  force  of  men  at  work  raising,  lining,  and  stamping  the  track  since  con- 
struction began.  The  materials  for  the  road  have  been  excavated  from  the  entrance 
of  the  canal  by  a  steam  shovel,  capable  of  handling  1,:{00  yards  of  dirt  in  a  day,  and 
hanled  to  the  point  needed  by  trains  of  flat-cars,  carrying  about  240  yards  to  a  train. 
There  is  now  about  4J  miles  of  main  track  laid,  extending  to  the  crossing  of  Benard 
Creek,  at  B.  J.  This  bridge  is  finished  and  ready  for  the  track  to  be  laid.  The 
bridge  is  180  feet  in  length.  Considerable  diSiculty  was  experienced  in  getting  a 
foandation,  and  some  of  the  piles  were  driven  to  a  depth  of  90  feet  below  water. 

Beyond  B.  J.  the  clearing  is  done  and  the  grading  well  advanced  to  a  point  10 
miles  from  Greytown.  The  materials  for  all  of  this  and  7  miles  more  are  all  on  hand, 
except  a  portion  of  the  ties.  In  addition  there  are  1^  miles  of  side  track  laid  and  a 
considerable  amount  of  working  track. 

The  road  is  well  equipped  for  construction  work,  having  two  powerful  locomotives, 
one  weighing  36  tons  and  one  44  tons,  a"d  a  heavier  and  still  more  powerful  one  is 
now  on  the  way  here.  We  have  in  use  fifty  cars  of  various  kinds,  one  steam  shovel, 
a  ballast  nnloader,  lifting  jacks  and  all  appliances  necessary. 

At  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  a  fine  wharf,  30  by  264  feet,  has  been  built,  all  the 
timber  for  which  was  creosoted  in  the  best  possible  manner.  This  wharf  is  thor- 
oughly protected  by  fender  piles  and  wales,  and  is  built  to  sustain  any  load  which 
may  come  upon  it.  It  is  provided  with  a  derrick  and  steam-hoisting  engine,  and  has 
a  railroad  track  laid  on  it  so  that  materials  may  be  loaded  directly  from  the  lighters  on 
the  cars  by  steam.    Over  100  feet  of  this  wharf  is  iu  12  to  14  feet  of  water. 

A  breakwater  for  the  protection  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  now  being  con- 
structed at  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  canal,  was  begun  in  December,  1889,  and  has 
already  been  built  out  a  distance  of  71.5  feet  into  the  sea,  and  is  now  being  continued 
and  will  be  carried  out  to  a  distance  of  1,900  feet. 

The  breakwater  is  42  feet  in  width,  and  is  constructed  by  driving  piles  in  bents  8 
feet  apart,  each  bent  having  twelve  piles  capped  with  a  14  by  14  inch  timber  drift- 
bolted  to  top  of  four  piles,  on  which  it  rests,  and  firmly  secured  to  the  remaining 
eight  piles  in  the  bent  with  screw  bolts.  On  top  of  the  caps,  and  firmly  bolted  to 
them,  there  are  eight  stringers  of  12  by  12  inch  timber,  running  lengthwise  of  the 
pier.  Each  bent  is  thoroughly  braced  transversely  by  six  diagonal  pieces  of  4  by  10 
inch  timber  spiked  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  piles.  Along  each  side  of  the  pier  piles 
are  put  in  between  the  bents  as  closely  aa  they  can  be  driven,  thus  forming  a  solid 
wall  of  piles  along  each  side  of  the  pier.  The  spaces  between  the  rows  of  piles  run- 
ning lengthwise  of  the  pier  are  filled  with  brush  mattresses,  about  2  feet  in  thickness, 
which  are  sunk  into  position  by  being  loaded  with  rock.  Alternate  layers  of  brush 
and  rock  are  being  put  on  until  an  elevation  above  high  water  is  reached.  As  this 
is  being  filled  in,  the  waves  bring  sand  and  deposit  it  so  that  the  whole  space  is  thor- 
oughly filled  with  a  composite  mass  of  brush,  rock,  and  sand,  through  which  it  is  im- 
possible for  worms  to  penetrate,  and  by  its  weight  making  a  structure  of  great  strength 
and  stability.  To  insure  the  greatest  durability,  none  but  creosote  timber,  contain- 
ing 16  pounds  of  oil  to  the  cubic  foot  of  timber,  is  now  being  used. 

For  the  pnrpose  of  handling  materials  economically,  a  standard  gauge  railroad 
track  has  been  laid  as  fast  as  the  work  progressed,  and  a  snl-stantial  railroad  built 
from  the  pier  to  deep  water  in  the  lagoon,  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  This 
road  crosses  two  arms  of  the  lagoon  on  substantial  pile  bridges,  and  at  the  terminus 
has  a  wharf  with  a  derrick  for  discharging  materials  which  are  brought  from  the 
main  land  in  lighters.  There  has  also  been  built  a  wharf  20  by  30  feet,  with  storage 
bins,  for  the  reception  of  coals. 

As  the  pier  advanced  the  waves  were  deflected,  so  that  they  began  to  cut  in  behind 
the  breakwater  and  threatened  to  cut  the  buildings  off  from  the  pier.  To  prevent 
this  a  wing  wall  of  sheet  piling  has  been  driven  along  the  channel  from  the  pier  to 
the  open  lagoon,  a  distance  of  700  feet,  effectually  preventing  any  further  tendency 
to  cut  away  the  beach.  The  bottom  oSthe  sea  beach  here  is  very  hard  sand,  through 
which  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  drive  piles  by  the  ordinary  method ; 
this  baoame  evident  Boon  after  starting  the  work,  and  tue  experiment  of  sinking  them 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


247 


with  a  water  jet  was  tried;  this  proved  eminently  successful,  affording  a  quick  and 
economical  solution  of  the  problem.  As  the  pier  advanced  the  sand  was  tilled  in  on 
the  east  side,  so  that  there  is  now  solid  land  out  nearly  the  entire  lengtb  of  the  break- 
water, adding  greatly  to  the  strength  and  safety  of  the  structure.  On  the  west  side 
there  was  a  bench  100  feet  in  width  and  6  feet  in  height ;  this  the  sea  has  cut  through, 
giving  an  opening  of  about  600  feet  in  width  and  a  channel  with  6^  feet  of  water  at 
low  tide,  through  which  all  the  lightering  to  and  from  the  vessels  has  for  mcmths 
been  done.  This  opening  and  maintaining  of  a  channel,  without  dredgiug,  is  the 
best  possible  proof  of  the  final  success  of  the  plan  adopted  for  the  formation  of  a 
harbor. 

The  bar  in  front  of  the  San  Juan  lagoon  has  long  been  known  as  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  places  on  the  coast  iu  rough  weather,  and  it  is  with  no  small  satisfaction 
that  I  say  the  breakwater  has  been  carried  forward  through  the  heavy  surf,  which 
prevails  here  during  several  months  of  the  year,  without  even  stopping  on  account 
of  weather,  and  without  an  accident  of  any  kind,  or  the  loss  of  a  life.  The  dredging 
plant,  purchased  of  the  American  Dredging  Company,  consisting  of  several  dredges, 
steam  tugs,  lighters,  contentb  of  a  machine  shop,  etc.,  have  begun  to  arrive,  there 
being  already  five  dredges,  nine  lighters,  and  several  hundred  tons  of  machinery  and 
supplies  delivered  here.  The  dredges  are  being  put  in  order  as  fast  as  possible,  one 
being  already  at  work  cutting  a  channel  across  the  bar  to  deep  water  outside. 

A  contract  has  been  let  to  the  North  American  Dredging  and  Improvement  Com- 
pany of  New  York  for  dredging  1,500,000  cubic  yards  in  the  proposed  harbor  at  the 
eastern  terminus.  This  company  has  now  one  dredge  and  a  large  scow,  and  a  large 
plant  of  dredgers,  scows,  and  tugs  now  on  their  way  here. 

A  contract  for  clearing  the  right  of  way  tirom  Lake  Nicaragua  to  the  Pacific  has 
been  let,  and  work  will  soon  begin  on  this  portion.  A  large  amount  of  supplies, 
tools,  and  machinery,  consisting  of  steam  boilers,  rock  drills,  hoisting  eugines,  rail- 
way appliances  of  all  kinds,  etc.,  are  now  on  hand  and  ready  for  work. 

In  all  the  work  done  the  aim  has  been  to  have  everything  first  class,  and  no  ex- 
pense has  been  spared  to  secure  this  end.  In  many  cases  inferior  material  might 
have  been  used  at  a  great  saving  of  first  cost,  but  this  has  not  been  done. 

All  the  timber  of  the  breakwater,  the  railroad  wharf,  and  permanent  bridges,  is 
creosoted  in  the  best  possible  manner.  Creosoted  railroad  ties  are  being  brought 
from  the  United  States  at  a  cost  of  about  four  times  what  ties  of  native  wood  could 
be  bought  for.    The  capacity  of  the  creosoting  works  to  its  utmost. 

All  the  employes,  both  officers  and  laborers,  are  housed  and  fed  by  the  company. 
It  would  undoubtedly  seem  to  be  cheaper  not  to  do  this,  but  laborers  would  not  re- 
ceive as  good  food  nor  as  comfortable  lodging,  and  sickness  would  be  the  result. 

At  an  early  date  an  excellent  hospital  was  established,  where  all  the  company's 
employ68  are  treated  free  of  cost.  This,  in  connection  with  the  care  taken  of  the 
employes,  has  kept  the  sick  list  down  to  a  point  which  would  be  considered  excellent 
in  any  climate.  The  death  rate  among  laborers  has  been  remarkably  small,  and  there 
has  not  been  a  death  among  the  officers  from  sickness. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  call  attention  to  the  great  difficulty  under  which  the  work 
has  been  done. 

In  times  past  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  vessels  laden  with  only  ordinary  pack- 
ages of  merchandise  to  leave  here  without  discharging  their  cargoes  on  account  of 
the  unprotected  anchorage.  We  have  been  compelled  to  uuload  locomotives,  steam 
shovels,  pile-drivers,  railroad  cars,  etc.,  in  packages  weighing  as  high  as  15  tons,  re- 
ceiving them  on  board  lighters  in  an  entirely  unprotected  sea  2  miles  from  land, 
and  bringing  them  ashore,  where  they  have  been  taken  from  the  lighters  and  set  up 
without  the  aid  of  powerful  derricks,  such  as  are  commonly  used  for  such  work. 

The  country  along  our  line  was  entirely  without  highways,  or  any  means  of  com- 
munication. From  the  small  settlement  of  San  Juan  del  Norte  to  Ochoa  the  country 
was  an  unknown  and  uninhabited  wilderness. 

The  company  has  gone  to  work  in  an  unostentatious,  systematic  manner  to  accom< 
plish  the  great  work  before  them,  and  may  well  take  pride  in  what  has  been  accom- 
plished. 

Very  respectfully, 

Fkank  p.  Davis, 
Dtvition  Engineer. 

A.  Q.  Menocal,  Esq., 

Chief  Engineer,  Nicaragua  Canal 

Conatruotion  Com^an]/,  America,  Ificaragva, 


248  NICABAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

SUMMAR7  OF  HOSPITAL  SERVICE. 

NiCARAacA  Canal  Construction  Compant, 

San  Juan  del  Norte,  NicaragtM,  Noccmbtr  1,  1890. 

The  work  first  midertakeii  by  the  above  company  was  simple  surveying,  carried  on 
by  small  parties  of  engineers,  who  were  constantly  changing  the  location  of  their 
camps.  During  this  period  there  was  no  regular  organization  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment, and  no  hospital  service.  The  health  of  the  limited  number  of  officers  and  men 
was  cared  for  by  three  assistant  snrgeons,  who  traveled  back  and  forth  between  the 
dififereut  camps  in  their  different  sections. 

In  the  summer  of  1889,  much  of  the  preliminary  work  having  been  completed,  the 
number  of  employes  was  considerably  increased,  and  the  work  more  concentrated  at 
several  points,  so  that  it  became  possible  to  inaugurate  a  hospital  Kcrvicc. 

At  Greytown  the  hospitals  of  the  company  are  located  on  the  beach,  about  three 
miles  from  the  town,  and  two  medical  stations  have  been  erected  on  the  San  Juanillo 
and  Deseado  rivers.  At  the  hospital  two  surgeons  were  employed,  and  also  one  in 
each  station. 

It  has  been  the  policy  of  this  company  to  increase  the  hospital  accommoilations  and 
number  of  the  surgical  staff  as  rapidly  as  was  found  necessary,  either  by  the  increase 
of  the  number  of  employes  at  work  or  from  the  possible  increase  of  the  percentage  of 
sickness.  A  style  of  buildings  has  been  adopted,  which  being  made  with  corrugated 
iron  sides  and  roofs,  are  practically  exempt  from  danger  by  hre,  and  less  liable  than 
wooden  buildings  to  become  infected. 

At  present  the  company  has  at  work  about  2,000  men,  and  through  the  medical 
department  furnishes  the  following  accommodations : 

(1)  Headquarters  hospital  (on  the  beach  at  Greytown). — This  hospital  consists  of 
three  main  buildings  and  nine  smaller  ones,  as  shown  by  the  accompanying  ground 
plan.  No.  1  is  occupied  by  the  chief  surgeon's  office,  the  hosj)ital  office,  and  living 
quarters  for  the  house  surgeon  and  his  assistant  surgeons,  the  druggist,  and  chief  sur- 
geon's clerk.  No.  2  has  an  operating  room,  arranged  for  antiseptic  operations,  and 
used  solely  for  such  cases ;  an  examining  room  for  the  treatment  of  out  patients,  and 
examination  of  those  desiring  admittance  to  the  hospital,  etc.;  a  pharmacy,  well 
stocked,  and  eight  wards  for  the  accommodation  of  officers  and  mechanics.  Three  of 
theee  wards  are  set  aside  as  private  rooms  for  the  higher  officials,  or  for  cases  requir- 
ing perfect  quiet.  No.  3  contains  two  large  wards  on  each  floor ;  one  floor  being  used 
for  surgical,  and  the  other  for  medical  cases  among  the  laborers.  No.  4  is  divided 
into  two  large  dining  balls  for  the  convalescent  officers  and  laborers,  respectively. 
No.  5  holds  two  closets  and  bath  rooms  for  the  use  of  officers;  running  water  and 
shower  baths  being  provided.  No.  6  is  used  on  the  lower  floor  as  a  druggist's  store- 
room, while  the  upper  floor  is  occupied  by  sleeping  apartments.  No.  7  has  three 
rooms,  viz.,  kitchen,  steward's  storeroom,  and  pantry.  Nos.  8,  9,  10,  11,  and  12  are 
respectively  used  as  a  drying  house,  laundry,  barracks,  deadhouse,  and  stables. 

The  wards  throughout  the  hospital  are  furnished  exactly  as  those  in  the  best  regu- 
lated hospitals  of  New  York,  while,  owing  to  the  mild  climate,  we  have  been  enabled 
to  provide  more  perfect  ventilation  than  is  possible  in  our  large  city  hospitals. 

A  corps  of  well-trained  nurses,  under  charge  of  a  head  nurse,  care  for  the  patients 
night  and  day,  while  the  kitchen  and  general  work  about  the  buildings  are  looked 
after  by  a  competent  steward. 

A  house  surgeon,  two  assistant  surgeons,  and  an  assistant  druggist  are  employed 
here  constantly.    The  capacity  of  this  hospital  is  125  beds. 

An  efficient  ambulance  service  is  connected  with  this  hospital. 

(2)  Temporary  hospital  No.  1  (6  miles  up  the  line  of  railway  now  bailding). — We 
have  erected  a  building,  20  by  50  feet,  for  use  as  a  temporary  or  emergency  hos- 
pital, the  object  being  to  treat  here  mild  cases  from  among  the  employes  further  up 
the  line,  and  to  furnish  more  immediate  relief  in  cases  of  accident  before  forwarding 
patients  to  the  headquarters  hospital. 

This  building  contains  30  beds,  a  pharmacy,  and  examining  room.  One  assistant 
surgeon,  an  assistant  druggist,  and  two  nurses  are  located  here. 

(3)  Medical  station. — In  addition  to  the  hospital,  we  have  established  three  medical 
stations;  one  in  the  Deseado  Valley,  one  in  the  San  Francisco  Valley,  and  a  third  on 
the  western  division,  in  each  of  which  is  stationed  an  assistant  surgeon.  The  duty 
of  these  doctors  is  to  visit  periodically  all  camps  in  the  station,  and,  after  treating 
•uch  mild  cases  as  they  may  find,  to  forward  those  requiring  hospital  treatment. 

(4)  Druggist's  department. — The  druggist  is  stationed  at  the  headquarters  hospital, 
and  receives  and  tills  requisitions  from  the  different  camps  and  stations.  He  also  has 
oversight  of  the  pharmacies  of  both  hospitals.  Every  camp,  irrespective  of  its  size 
and  importance,  is  kept  constantly  stocked  with  a  good  assortment  of  the  more  com- 
mon household  drugs,  while  each  camp,  at  which  a  surgeon  is  stationed,  has  a  good 
pharmacy. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  249 

(5)  Sanitary  work. — It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  company  to  prevent  sickness  as 
far  as  possible,  and  every  surgeon  is  invested  with  the  authority  of  a  sanitary  in- 
spector iu  his  station,  and  is  expected  to  report  every  ten  days  to  the  chief  surgeon 
as  fully  upon  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  different  camps,  as  upon  matters  more 
strictly  medical. 

At  Greytown,  during  the  summer  months,  every  vessel  arriving  at  the  port  is  vis- 
ited by  the  chief  surgeon,  or  one  of  his  staff,  before  communication  with  the  shore  is 
allowed. 

The  health  of  the  employes  has  been  very  good.  The  care  exercised  by  the  com- 
pany in  looking  after  those  actually  ill  has  been  followed  by  highly  gratifying  re- 
sults. Only  1^  per  cent,  of  those  actually  in  the  hospital  have  died,  and  this  per- 
centage includes  all  cases,  whether  due  to  accidents  involviug  sudden  death,  or 
deaths  from  plithisis  pulmonalis,  contracted  before  entering  the  company's  service. 

Of  those  admitted  to  the  hospital,  suffering  from  diseases  oontracted  in  the  country, 
only  two-thirds  of  one  1  cent,  has  died.  Diseases  met  with  are  not,  as  generally 
supposed,  entirely  of  a  malarial  charactei:,  for  only  51  per  cent,  of  the  cases  treated 
during  the  three  months  past  have  been  due  to  fever  of  any  form. 

Among  the  remaining,  one  finds  about  the  same  variety  of  troubles  as  in  a  more 
temperate  climate. 

J.  Edwakd  Stubbert, 

Chi^  Surgeon. 


250 


mCA^AQUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


Appendix  D. 


TEE  MARITIME  SHIP  CANAL  OF  NICARAOUJ. 

XNTEKOCEANIC  COMMUNICATION. 

The  qaestion  of  interocanio  comma  nication,  acroHs  the  narrow  neck  of  land  which 
connects  the  North  and  Sonth  American  continents,  is  one  that  has  commanded  at- 
tention since  the  discovery  of  the  Western  World.  Indeed,  it  was  the  first  question 
which  that  discovery  suggested  for  solution  ;  for  this  narrow  neck  of  land  is  the  only, 
but  effectual,  barrier  which  interposed  to  prevent  the  realization  of  Columbus's  theory 
that  the  East  Indies  might  be  reached  by  sailing  westward  from  Europe. 

A  history  of  the  various  attempts  made  to  solve  the  problem,  from  the  time  of 
Charles  Y.  of  Spain  until  the  present,  would  fill  volumes  and  would  be  of  greatest 
interest,  but  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  pamphlet,  which  is  to  present  as  con- 
cisely as  possible  the  practical  results  which  thereby  have  been  attained. 

On  the  15th  Ma  ch,  lh72,  a  Commission,  consisting  of  Brig.  Gen.  A.  A.  Humphreys, 
(^hlef  of  Engineers  U.  S.  Army;  Prof.  C.  P.  Patlterson,  Superintendent  U.  S.  Coast 
S\>rvey,  and  Admiral  Daniel  Ammen,  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Navigation,  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  compliance  with  a  resolution  of 
the  Senate,  to  consider  the  subject  of  communication  by  canal  between  the  waters  of 
the  Mlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  across,  over,  or  near  the  isthmus  connecting  North 
and  South  America. 

After  a  long,  careful,  and  minute  stndy  of  the  several  surveys  of  the  various  routes, 
and  after  additional  surveys  made  in  connection  therewith,  especially  of  the  Panama 
and  the  Atrato-Napi pi  routes,  theCommission  reported  February  7, 1876,  unanimously, 
that  the  route  from  San  Juan  del  Norte  (Greytown)  by  way  of  the  San  Juan  River, 
Lake  Nicaragua,  and  the  valleys  of  the  Rio  Del  Medio  and  Rio  Grande  to  the  port  of 
Brito  on  the  Pacific  coast,  possesses  greater  advantages  and  offers  fewer  difficulties 
than  any  of  the  other  routes  shown  to  be  practicable. 

The  different  routes,  surveys  for  which  had  been  conducted  through  a  series  of  years 
by  naval  officers  under  the  instructions  of  the  Navy  Department,  at  this  time  con- 
sidered and  reported  npon  by  the  Commission,  were  as  follows: 

Named  geographically  from  North  toward  the  South  the  routes  considered  were : 

1.  The  Isthmus  of  Tehnantepec.  6.  The  Caledonia  Bay  and  Sncubti  route. 

2.  The  Nicaragua  route  via  Lake  Nica-       7.  The  so-called  "Du  Puydt"  route. 

ragna.  8.  The  Cacarica  and  Tuyra  rente. 

3.  The  Isthmus  of  Panama.  9.  The  Atrato  and  Fernando  route. 

4.  The  San  Bias  and  Chepo  ronte.  10.  The  Atrato-Napipi  route. 
b.  The  Caledonia  Bay  and  Morti  routes. 

Of  the  numerous  projects  for  interoceanic  communication  by  canal  many  had  been 
proven  impracticable  and  these  only  were  deemed  worthy  of  consideration.  Exactly 
how  many  different  routes  had  been  proposed  in  1876  can  not  be  stated,  but  Admiral 
Davis  in  his  work  published  in  1866  names  nineteen  as  then  suggested. 

At  the  International  Congress,  convened  in  Paris  in  the  year  1879  to  determine  the 
location  of  an  interoceanic  canal  across  the  American  Isthmus,  the  merits  of  the  Nica- 
ragnan  route  were  ably  advocated  by  the  delegates  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, Admiral  Daniel  Ammen  and  Civil  Engineer  Monacal,  and  by  other  engineers  of 
high  repnte.  The  correctness  of  the  arguments  then  made  in  favor  of  this  route,  as 
weil  as  of  the  report  of  the  commission  already  mentioned  has,  since  that  time,  been 
praciically  demonstrated.  The  only  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  Panama  route  by 
the  congress  was  that  it  was  believed  that  a  sea-level  canal  could  be  there  constnicted. 
The  abandonment  of  the  sea-level  theory,  and  the  adoption  of  locks  in  1887  ha« 
proven  the  iall»oy  of  the  theory. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  251 

CONCESSIONS  AND  ORGANIZATION. 

In  April,  1887,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  secured  from  the  Government  of 
Nicaragua  a  concessiou  grauting  exclusive  privilege  to  excavate  and  operate  a  mari- 
time siii'p  canal  across  its  territory,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  for  the 
unobstructed  and  commodious  passage  of  vessels  of  the  same  size  as  the  large  steam- 
ers used  for  ocean  navigation  in  Europe  and  America,  with  all  privileges  necessary 
to  the  advantageous  aud  efficient  prosecution  of  the  work. 

In  pursuance  of  the  conditions  of  the  concession,  surveys  were  commenced  iu  De- 
cember, lb87,  and  were  continued  by  a  numerous  and  competent  corps  of  engineers 
until  the  final  location  of  the  route  was  determined.  These  surveys  have  been  care- 
fully examined  and  approved  by  a  board  of  consulting  engineers,  and  by  theNicara- 
guan  Government,  and  they  are  the  basis  of  all  work  done  since  the  organization 
of  the  company  of  execution. 

In  February,  1889,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  granted  to  Frederick  Billings 
and  his  associates,  as  incorporators,  a  charter  under  the  name  of  The  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  Nicaragua,  with  a  capital  of  $100,000,000,  and  the  right  and  authority  to 
increase  the  same  to  |-200,000,000. 

In  May,  1889,  the  incorporators  organized  under  the  provisions  of  their  charter,  and 
on  the  25th  of  that  month  dispatched  to  San  Juan  del  Norte,  by  the  steamer  Alvena, 
the  first  expedition  for  construction. 

On  the  3d  day  of  June,  1889,  the  company  began  the  preliminary  work  of  construc- 
tion at  San  Juan  del  Norte  (Greytown). 

On  the  8th  day  of  October  following  it  commenced  the  work  of  excavation,  and 
the  Government  of  Nicaragua  has  officially  recognized  and  declared  by  decree  that 
the  construction  of  the  canal  was  formally  commenced,  in  accordance  with  the  terms 
of  the  concession,  on  the  said  8th  day  of  October,  1889. 

WORK  ACCOMPLISHED. 

Since  the  3d  of  June,  1889,  the  company  has  established  permanent  headquarters 
at  San  Juan  del  Norte,  erected  large  storehouses,  hospitals,  dwellings,  and  other 
buildings.  It  has  accumulated  there  several  miles  of  piping  and  other  material  for 
the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  to  supply  the  lower  portion  of  the  canal  and  the 
harbor  with  pure  fresh  water.  It  has  cleared  of  obstructions  to  navigation  parts  of 
the  San  Juauillo,  the  Deseado,  the  San  Francisco,  and  other  navigable  streams.  It 
has  built  over  a  mile  of  broad-gauge  railroad,  constructed  over  70  miles  of  telegraph 
and  telephone  lines,  and  cleared  several  miles  of  the  route  of  the  canal  between  the 
harbor  and  the  first  lock  in  readiness  for  dredging.  It  has  landed  at  San  Juan  del 
Norte  large  quantities  of  machinery,  tools,  lumber,  piles,  creosoted  timber,  boats, 
steam  launches,  lighters,  and  othar  material  and  equipment  necessary  in  the  work  of 
restoring  the  harbor  and  for  use  in  construction. 

The  important  work  of  building  the  breakwater,  to  protect  the  harbor  entrance 
from  the  eflPects  of  shifting  sand  on  the  coast,  was  commenced  about  the  middle  of 
December.  The  breakwater  is  now  built  out  600  feet,  with  a  width  of  40  feet,  and 
the  depth  of  water  reached  is  about  15  feet.  The  result  thus  far  attained  by  this 
work  is  most  satisfactory,  even  exceeding  the  promises  of  the  chief  engineer  in  its 
effect  upon  the  deposit  of  sand  and  upon  the  action  of  the  ocean  on  the  protected 
area. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  COUNTRY. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  occupies  a  part  of  the  American  isthmus  extending 
from  about  10°  70'  N.  to  15°  N.  latitude  and  from  m^  20'  W.  to  87°  40'  W.  longitude. 

Its  shores  were  first  seen  by  Europeans  in  1503,  when  Columbus  in  his  fourth  voy- 
age rounded  the  cape  at  its  northeast  angle,  which  he  called  Cape  Gracias  S,  Dios,  the 
name  it  bears  to-day,  and  then  coasted  south  along  its  entire  eastern  shore.  In  1522 
Gil  Gonzales  d'Avila  discovered  its  Pacific  coast,  and  penetrated  to  the  lakes  and  tc 
the  cities  of  its  Indian  inhabitants.  Previous  to  this  the  country  was  undoubtedly 
occupied  by  a  numerous  population  of  Aztecs,  or  nearly  allied  people,  as  numerous 
specimens  of  pottery,  gold  images,  and  implements  found  about  the  lakes  and  their 
islands  seem  to  demonstrate. 

In  1529  the  connection  of  the  lakes  with  the  Caribbean  Sea  via  the  River  San  Juan 
was  discovered,  and  during  the  last  quarter  of  that  century  considerable  commerce 
was  carried  on  by  this  route  between  Granada  and  other  ports  of  Lake  Nicaragua  and 
the  cities  of  Nonibre  de  Dios,  Carthagena,  Havana,  and  Cadiz. 

In  1823,  Nicaragua  with  her  sister  colonies,  threw  off  the  rule  of  Spain  and  formed 
a  confederation ;  this  confederation  was  dissolved  in  1839,  and  since  then  Nicaragua 
has  conducted  her  own  affaiia 


252  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

In  shapd,  Nicaragua  is  an  irregnlar  qnadrilateral.  Its  longest  side  extends  from 
the  Oalf  of  Fonseoa  northeasterly  tu  Cape  Gracias  &  Dios.,  290  miles.  From  Cape 
Gracias  &  Dios  sooth  to  the  month  ot  the  Rio  San  Joan,  the  Caribbean  coast  line  is 
2.S0  miles  long ;  thence  nearly  duo  west  hcioss  the  Isthmus  to  Salinas  Bay,  on  the 
Pacific,  is  1'20  miles.  The  Pacilio  coast  line,  extending  northwest,  is  IGO  miles  long. 
The  area  of  the  country  is  51,60U  square  miles.  In  point  of  size  it  stands  first  among 
the  Central  American  ISepublics.  It  is  larger  than  either  the  State  of  New  York  or 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  it  is  about  the  size  of  Denmark,  Belgium,  the  Nether- 
lands, and  Switzerland,  combined ;  and  is  one-foarth  as  large  as  France  or  Germany. 
Its  population  is  about  400,000. 

The  principal  cities  are — 

Inhabitants. 

Leon 30,000 

Granada 18,000 

Managua 10,000 

Eivas 8,000 

Massaya 14,000 

The  Gulf  of  Fonseca  and  Salinas  Bay,  at  the  northwest  and  the  southeast  points  of 
the  Pacific  coast  of  Nicaragua,  are  two  of  the  finest  and  largest  harbors  on  the  entire 
Pacific  coast  of  Central  America.  Abont  midway  between  them  is  another  fiue  har- 
bor, that  of  Corinto ;  and  at  various  places  along  the  coast,  at  Tamarindito,  Brito, 
and  San  Juan  del  Sur,  are  good  anchorages,  secure  in  all  except  hi-avy  southwest 
gales.  On  the  Caribbean  coast  there  are  no  natural  harbors  suitable  for  large  vessels, 
but  there  are  numerous  lagoons,  bights,  and  river  mouths,  affording  the  best  of  shelter 
for  coasting  vessels  and  steamers. 

The  central  portion  of  Nicara^a,  from  north  to  south,  is  occnpied  hy  the  main 
Cordillera  of  the  isthmus,  which  is  here  greatly  reduced  in  altitude  and  consists  of  a 
confnsed  mass  of  peaks  and  ridges  with  an  average  elevation  of  scarcelv  more  than 
1,000  feet. 

Between  this  mountainous  region  and  the  shore  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  stretches  a 
low,  level  country  covered  with  dense  forests  and  drained  by  several  large  rivers. 

West  of  the  mountain  zone  is  a  broad  valley  extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Fonsecd, 
southeasterly,  to  the  boundary  of  Costa  Rica — in  this  valley  are  located  the  two  lakes, 
Managua  and  Nicaragua.  The  latter,  over  100  miles  long  and  from  30  to  60  miles 
wide,  is  worthy  of  being  called  an  inland  sea ;  Lake  Managua,  which  flows  into  it 
from  the  northwest,  through  the  river  Tipitapa,  is  30  miles  long  and  abont  20  miles 
wide. 

Between  these  lakes  and  the  Pacific  is  a  narrow  strip  of  land  from  30  to  12  miles  in 
width,  stretching  from  the  magnificent  plain  which  snrrounds  the  cathedral  city  of 
Leon,  in  the  north,  to  the  rolling  fields  of  indigo  and  maize  and  the  cacao  plantations 
which  environ  the  garden  city  of  Rivas,  in  the  south.  The  beauty,  fertility,  and  salu- 
brity of  this  region  is  the  theme  of  universal  praise;  its  undulating  surface  becomes 
hilly  near  the  Pacific  and  within  a  few  miles  of  the  ocean  breaks  into  the  coast  range, 
from  500  to  1,200  feet  in  height.  Looking  from  the  summit  of  one  of  the  western 
hills  the  garden  of  Central  America,  containing  the  city  of  Rivas  and  half  a  dozen 
small  towns  and  villages  bowered  in  orange  groves  and  palms  and  snrroundedby  plan- 
tations of  sugar,  indigo,  and  cacao,  lies  spread  below. 

The  drainage  of  the  lakes  and  of  all  this  region  passes  down  the  Rio  San  Juan  and 
discharges  into  the  Caribbean  Sea  at  San  Juan  del  None,  the  southeast  limit  of  the 
country.  On  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Nicaragua  marly  opposite  the  head  of  the 
San  Juan  is  the  lowest  pass  across  the  backbone  of  the  New  World,  from  the  Arctic 
Ocean  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 


In  its  climatic  features  Nicaragua  is  exceptionally  favored.  Lying  between  the 
elevated  mountain  masses  of  Costa  Rica  on  the  south  and  of  Honduras  on  the  north, 
the  average  elevation  of  its  own  mountains  is  hardly  1,000  foet ;  it  is  thus  the  natural 
thoroughfare  of  the  northeast  "  Trades,"  which  rash  in  from  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
sweep  across  the  eastern  slopes,  break  the  surface  of  its  lake  into  sparkling  waves  and 
then  disappear  over  thH  western  hills,  aerating,  cooling,  and  purifying  the  entire  conn- 
try,  destroying  all  germs  of  disease,  and  making  Nicaragua  the  healthiest  region  in 
Central  America. 

On  the  Atlantic  slope  rains  are  frequent,  but  by  the  time  the  wind  reaches  the  lake 
basin  its  surplus  moisture  is  gone,  and  as  the  drier  land  raises  its  temperature  it  ab- 
sorbs instead  of  depositing  moisture.  Hence  a  difference  in  climate  between  the  east 
and  west  sides  of  the  country,  the  latter  being,  in  the  dry  season,  from  November  to 
May,  almost  without  rain.    Sqnier  says  of  this  season  : 

"The  temperature  is  less,  the  nights  positively  cool  and  the  winds  occasionalljr 


NICABAOUA   CAWAL  COMPANY.  253 

chilling.  The  sky  is  cloudless  and  trifling  showers  fall  at  rare  intervals.  •  •  •  This 
season  is  esteemed  the  healthiest  of  the  year.  Its  effect  is  practically  that  of  a  north- 
ern wintor." 

The  temperature  of  Nicaragua  is  equable.  The  extreme  variation  recorded  by 
Childs  was  23° ;  observed  near  the  head  of  the  San  Juan  in  May,  1851.  It  may  be 
said  in  general  terms,  that  the  temperature  rarely  rises  above  90°  Fahr.  or  falls  below 
70°  Fahr.  The  average  temperature,  as  observed  by  the  latest  surveying  party  on 
the  San  Juan  River,  was  73°  at  6:30  a.  m.,  and  82°  at  2  p.  m.  The  equatorial  cloud 
belt,  following  the  sun  north  in  spring,  is  late  in  reaching  Nicaragua,  and  the  wet 
season  is  shorter  than  in  regions  farther  south.  The  average  rainfall  west  of  the 
lakes  for  nine  years  was  about  64^  inches.     On  the  Caribbean  coast  it  is  greater. 

The  scenery  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Nicaragua  is  of  the  luxuriance  peculiar  to  all 
tropical  countries.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  lakes  and  between  them  and  the  Pacific, 
the  isolated  mountain  peaks  which  bound  the  plain  of  Leon  on  the  northeast,  the 
mountain  island  of  Ometepe  and  Madera,  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  the  towering  masses 
of  the  Casta  Ricau  volcanos  and  the  distant  blue  mountains  of  Segovia  and  Matagalpa 
seen  across  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  lakes,  charm  the  eye  with  scenic  beauties 
unsurpassed  in  grandeur,  variety,  and  richness  of  coloring  in  any  other  country. 

PRODUCTS. 

The  products  of  Nicaragua  are  numerous  and  valuable,  although  the  resources  of 
the  country  are  as  yet  almost  entirely  undeveloped.  In  the  hilly  region  of  the  north- 
west coffee  is  grown  in  large  quantities.  Brazil  wood  grows  in  abundance  in  the  forests, 
and  plantations  of  sugar,  indigo,  and  cacao  abound  everywhere  between  the  lakes 
and  the  Pacific.  Potatoes  and  maize  thrive  in  the  uplands  of  Segovia.  The  Chon- 
tales  region,  east  of  the  lake,  is  a  grazing  country  supporting  thousands  of  cattle. 
Farther  east  are  the  gold  and  silver  mining  districts  of  La  Libertad,  Juigalpa,  and 
others  not  so  well  known.  The  dense  forests  which  cover  portions  of  the  country  are 
rich  in  rubber,  cedar,  mahogany,  and  dye  woods,  and  trees  and  plants,  too  numerous 
to  mention,  of  medical  and  commercial  value. 

All  tropical  fruits  grow  in  abundance,  and  the  rich  banks  of  the  rivers  of  the  east- 
ern slopes  will  yield  almost  incalculable  harvests  of  plantains,  bananas,  oranges, 
pineapples,  and  limes. 

Game  of  numerous  varieties — deer,  wild  hog,  manatee,  tapir,  wild  turkey,  ducks, 
quail,  etc. — is  plentiful  in  the  forests,  and  fish  abound  in  the  rivers. 

lA^CATION  OF  KOUTK. 

It  is  through  this  country,  salubrious,  fertile,  beautiful,  and  rich  in  natural  re- 
sources that  the  Maritime  Canal  of  Nicaragua  is  to  be  constructed.  Its  route,  as  de- 
termined by  surveys,  accepted  and  approved  by  the  Nicaraguan  Government,  traverses 
the  lowest  depression  of  land  in  the  Cordillera,  between  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  Cape 
Horn.  The  depression  is  occupied  by  the  large  inland  sea  of  fresh  water.  Lake 
Nicaragua,  and  by  its  outlet,  the  San  Juan  River.  The  western  border  of  the  lake 
is  within  12  miles  of  the  Pacific  coast,  fro.n  which  it  is  separated  by  a  low  divide  of 
42  feet.  Its  surface  is  110  feet  above  sea  level.  Its  drainage  is  toward  the  Atlantic, 
through  the  San  Juan  River  into  the  Caribbean  Sea.  These  great  natural  features 
are  to  be  utilized  in  the  proposed  canal.  The  lake  is  100  miles  long,  has  an  average 
width  of  45  miles  and  a  variable  depth,"  reaching  in  some  places  150  feet.  The  San 
Juan  River  is  already  navigable  for  river  and  lake  craft  throughout  most  of  its  length. 

WORK  PROPOSED. 

The  details  of  work  as  proposed  are  briefly,  a  breakwater  at  San  Juan  del  Norte 
and  the  deepening  of  the  harbor,  dredging  thence  to  the  westward  9^  miles  through 
alluvial  ground ;  then  a  lock  of  30  feet  lift.  At  IJ  miles  beyond  there  will  be  a 
second  lock  of  31  feet  lift,  and  a  dam  across  the  small  stream  Deseado,  above 
which  will  be  two  basins,  separated  by  another  dam  and  a  third  lock  of  45 
feet  lift,  affording  5  miles  of  free  navigation ;  then  a  rock  cut  about  2i  miles  in 
length,  followed  by  12  miles  of  free  navigation  in  the  valleys  mf  two  small  rivers, 
the  San  Francisco  and  the  Machado.  Here  the  water  will  be  raised  by  dams  and 
embankments,  forming  basins  which  will  connect  directly  with  the  San  Juan  above 
a  large  dam  across  that  river,  which  will  raise  the  surface  level  in  the  river  and  lake 
and  secure  additional  free  navigation  of  64^  miles  in  the  river  and  56^  miles  across 
the  lake.  On  the  western  side  of  the  lake  the  canal  enters  a  out  of  slight  depth,  in 
earth  and  rock,  9  miles  long,  issuing  thence  into  the  Tola  basin,  with  5|  miles  of 
free  navigation  obtained  by  damming  the  small  stream,  the  Bio  Grande.  At  this 
dam  a  series  of  looks  lowers  the  lev«l  85  feet,  and  the  canal  proceeds    in  ex- 


254 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


oavation  down  the  valley  of  the  Eio  Grande,  a  diatanoe  of  2  miles,  to  the  last  lock, 
a  tidal  lock  of  20  to  30  feet  lift,  below  which  the  canal  enters  the  upper  portion  of 
the  Harbor  of  Brito,  1^  milea  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  a  breakwater  will  be 
constructed,  enlarging  and  making  more  commodious  the  present  haibor. 


OKNKRAL  FKATDRE8  OF  WORK. 


The  general  features  of  the  work  as  determined  by  the  surveys  and  studies  pre- 
Tionsly  referred  to  are  as  follows : 


Sea-level  canal,  dredged  in  eartb,  ftx>in  the  ooaat  ... 
Bock  tfaorougfa  cntB,  with  or  witboat  eanb  on  top  . 

Eartb  thorough  cnt8,norock 

Earth  with  layer  of  rock  at  bottoaa 


Total  catting,  apart  from  looks  . 


Locks,  three  on  each  side 

Naturid  Barface^  flooded  to  30  feet  depth  or  over,  requiriog  naitber  dredging 
nor  excavation - 

Flooded  sarfaises,  requiring  earth  dredging  only  to  make  30  feet  depth  of 
water 

Channels  in  lake  and  river  reqniring  excavation  under  water 

Natural  courses  or  artificial  [>a8in9  having  30  feet  or  over  of  water  taxi  re- 
quiring neither  dredging  nor  excavation 


Total  route  from  ocean  to  ooeaa. 


East 
side. 


IfOet. 

9.297 

2.833 

2.146 

.354 


14.630 


.379 
13.649 


2.70 
35.00 


43.67 


West 
side. 


MiU*. 
0.57 
6.41 
2.4:: 
2.00 


TotaL 


MUet. 

9.867 
9.243 
4.566 
2.354 


11.40       26.030 


.380 
4.  S3 


.74 
2.28 


40  09 


.7B0 
U.179 


3.440 
87.280 


83.760 


100. 448 


SUMMARIES. 

MUes. 

Natural  and  artificial  waterways,  seediug  neither  dredging  nor  excavation 101.989 

Canal  proper, thorough  cuts 26.030 

Excavation  below  surface  of  water  to  give  30  feet  depth  of  water,  chiefly  earth........... 40.720 

Six  locks 75« 

Total  route  from  oceaa  toooean ...;  108.448 


East 
side. 


"West 
side. 


TotaL 


Kavigation  in  canal  and  looks 

Free  navigation  in  basins 

Free  navigation  in  river  San  Juan  . 
Free  navigation  in  Lake  Nicaragua 


Milea. 
15.009 


1L780 


Total  route  from  ocean  to  ocean . 


Mile: 
26.789 
21.619 
64.54 
56.50 


169.448 


The  entire  route  has  been  carefully  located  and  cross-sectioned  and  the  computed 
quantities  of  excavations,  fills,  and  embankments  as  determined  by  these  studies  are 
as  given  below.  Borings  by  rock  drills,  to  the  depth  of  necessary  cuttings,  have 
been  made  throughout  the  entire  length  of  the  divide  cuts,  and  the  material  is  every- 
where found  to  I^  of  rook  that  will  hold  well  the  slopes  proposed. 

Quantitiea. 

Cnbio  yards. 

Earth  dredging  for  canal,  all  below  sea  level 29,823, 161 

Earth  excavation,  all  above  sea  level 21,773,810 

Rock  excavation - 13,452,938 

Rock  excavation,  under  water 575,445 

Total  excavation,  earth  and  rock 65,625,354 

Rook  fills,  for  dams  and  breakwater  taken  from  divide  cuts 4.033,810 

Earth  fills,  taken  from  excavations 6,105,  :f80 

Concrete 615,651 

Stone  pitohing 202,641 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY 


255 


It  is  estimated  that  constmotion  can  be-  completed  and  the  canal  ready  for  opera- 
tion by  1897. 

Tlie  minimum  depth  of  water  throughout  the  canal  will  be  30  feet. 

With  the  exception  of  the  rock  cuts  in  the  eastern  and  western  divides,  excavation 
will  be  at  all  points  wide  enough  for  two  ships  to  travel  in  opposite  directions. 
Through  the  basins  and  in  the  lake  and  river  San  Juan  vesseLs  can  pass  each  other 
and  navigate  with  entire  freedom. 

CAPACITY  FOR  TRAFFIC. 

The  capacity  of  the  canal  for  traffic  will  be  limited  ovify  by  the  time  required  to 
pass  a  lock.  On  the  basis  of  45  minutes  as  the  time  consumed  in  the  operation  and 
that  but  one  vessel  will  pass  in  each  lockage,  the  number  of  vessels  which  may  pass 
through  the  canal  in  one  day  is  calculated  at  32,  or,  in  one  year,  11,680;  which,  based 
ou  the  average  tonnag«  of  vessels  going  through  the  Suez  Canal,  will  give  an  annual 
capacity  for  traffic  of  over  20,000,000  tons,  but  the  locks  are  650  feet  long  and  70  feet 
wide  in  the  chamber,  and  two  vessels,  each  of  2,000  tons  displacement,  may  be 
passed  through  on  each  lockage,  thus  largely  increasing,  if  not  doubling,  the  esti- 
mated capacity.  The  present  traffic  of  the  Suez  Canal  is  about  7,000,000  tons  per 
annum,  with  a  transit  of  about  3,500  vessels. 

The  lowest  flow  of  the  lake  in  the  dry  season  is  11,390  cubic  feet  per  second.  Its 
average  discharge  is  14,724  cubic  feet  per  second,  or  in  one  day  1,272,530,600  cubic 
feet.  The  water  required  for  32  lockages  in  one  day  is  127,400,000  cubic  feet ;  conse- 
quently the  lake  supply  alone  is  ten  times  the  maximum  needed  for  the  operations 
of  the  canal. 

The  time  consumed  in  passing  from  ocean  to  ocean,  by  steamers,  is  estimated  at 
twenty-eight  hours,  which  includes  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  for  possible  deten- 
tions in  narrow  cuts. 

That  the  capacity  of  the  canal,  and  the  sufficiency  of  the  supply  of  water  for  lock- 
age, are  fully  adequate  to  any  demands  likely  to  be  made  by  commerce  for  some  time 
to  come  is  evident.  In  this  connection  some  estimate  of  the  probable  business  of  the 
canal  is  proper.  The  great  increase  of  navigation  by  steam  during  the  past  twenty 
years  is  an  important  factor  in  this  problem.  The  substitution  of  steam  for  sail 
since  1870  is  indicated  in  the  following  tables : 

Shipping  tannage  of  the  world. 


Tear. 

Sail. 

Per  cent. 

Steam. 

Per  cent. 

1870      

13, 868, 000 
15, 002,  000 
9,497,000 

88 

72i 

45 

1,918,000 
6,  644,  000 
11, 552,  COO 

12 

1881 

27J 
55 

1888 , 

This,  however,  is  not  a  proper  indication  of  the  comparative  increase  for,  owing  to 
the  greater  speed  of  steamers  as  compared  with  sailing  vessels,  their  capacity  for 
transportation  is  multiplied  five  fold,  and  the  comparison  by  percentages  then  appears 
as  follows : 


1870. 


1881. 


1888. 


Sail  transportation  ... 
Steam  transportation 


Percent. 
59 
41 


Per  cent. 
34| 
65| 


Per  cent. 
14 

86 


Ti^'<»  enormous  change  is  illustrated,  as  well  as  anywhere,  in  the  growth  of  tonnage 
pab..   .^'  though  the  Suez  Canal  in  the  same  years  : 


1871. 


188L 


1888. 


Number  of  vessels . 
Tonnage 


765 
761, 467 


2,727 
4, 136,  779 


3,440 

6,640,834 


256  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

TItese  fi^reti  are  indicative  of  the  eagerness  with  which  commerce  avails  itself  of 
every  facility  that  expedites  the  movement  of  commodities  and  shortens  the  time  of 
tranbportation,  whether  it  he  hy  rapidity  of  locomotion  or  by  lessening  of  distances, 
thereby  lessening  its  cost  They  also  indicate  the  wonderful  growth  of  commerce 
under  favoring  oircnmstances. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  commerce  of  the  world,  as  indicated  in  the  first  table, 
has  increased  threefold  in  eighteen  yean.  The  effective  tonnage,  allowing  fivefold 
for  steam,  was — 

Tons. 

1870 23,458,000 

1881 43,222,000 

18S8 67,257,000 

If  it  increases  in  the  same  ratio  for  the  next  seven  years  in  whioh  it  advanced  be- 
tween 1881  and  1888,  it  will  in  1895  amonnt  to  105,000,000  tons. 

T0NNA6K  TRIBCTABT  TO  THS  CANAIm 

From  statistical  records  it  appears  that  the  number  of  ships  trading  from  our  East- 
em  ports  and  from  Europe  to  the  North  and  South  Pacific  was,  in  1879,  2,647,  with 
an  aggregate  tonnage  of  2,671,886  tons. 

Eight  years  later,  in  1887,  statistics  show  the  following  facts: 

Tons. 

Trade  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 1,217,685 

Trade  between  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States 145, 713 

Trade  between  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries 

west  of  Cape  Horn 752,585 

Trade  between  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries 

east  of  Cape  Horn 879,844 

Trade  around  Cape  Horn  of  European  countries  (Austria,  Denmark,  Nor- 
way, Sweden,  and  Russia,  not  included,  as  statistics  are  not  accessible).  1, 471, 399 
Trade  of  British  Columbia  with  Europe 39,818 

4,507,044 

Excepting  the  trade  across  the  Isthmus,  this  is  all  trade  around  Cape  Horn.  No 
estimate  is  made  of  the  trade  around  Cape  Good  Hope,  much  of  which  would  seek 
the  canal  if  it  were  open  ;  nor  is  any  estimate  made  of  the  trade  which,  rather  than 
break  bulk  for  transport  by  the  transcontinental  railways,  would  continue  on  ship- 
board when  the  question  of  the  long  voyage  around  cither  cape  had  resolved  itself 
into  that  of  a  passage  through  the  canal. 

These  statistics  show  that  the  traffic  which  would  naturally  seek  the  canal  was,  in 
1879,  2,671,886  tons,  and  that  it  had  increased  in  1887  to  4,507,044  tons,  the  percent- 
age of  increase  being  nearly  69  per  cent.  A  similar  increase  in  the  next  eight  years 
would  make  it  in  1895,  7,616,904  tons.  And  there  is  no  reason  why  such  an  increase 
should  not  be  realized ;  in  fact,  every  reason  exists  to  expect  it ;  the  industrial  devel- 
opment of  our  Pacific  States,  the  settlement  of  Alaska,  the  growing  importance  of 
Chili,  and,  not  least  of  all,  the  evident  disposition  of  the  enterprising  and  wealthy 
Empire  of  Japan  to  become  a  dealer  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  assure  it. 

In  the  foregoing  estimates  no  account  whatever  is  taken  of  vast  sources  of  traffic, 
such  as  ores  and  timber,  of  which  practically  there  is  nothing  carried  now,  but  which 
will  furnish  an  enormous  tonnage  as  soon  as  facilities  for  transportation  are  provided. 

The  natural  growth  and  development  of  the  Pacific  States  and  Territories  will  fur- 
nish thousands  of  tons  of  traffic  to  the  canal  for  the  hundreds  that  exist  under  present 
conditions.  The  lumber  trade  of  Oregon  and  Washington  presents  the  most  notable 
development  of  any  line  of  commerce  that  can  be  cited.  In  1886  the  total  shipment 
was  6,000,000  cubic  feet ;  in  1887  it  amounted  to  48,000,000  feet ;  the  amount  cut  in 
1888  is  estimated  at  706,985,000  feet,  and  its  value  at  $7,750,000.  The  shipments 
abroad  of  lumber  from  Puget  S mnd  were  valued  at  over  $5,000,000.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  forests  of  Washington  contain  not  less  than  175,000,000,000  feet  of  uncut 
yellow  and  red  fir,  and  the  timber  field  of  Oregon  is  25,000  square  miles,  a  quarter  of 
the  superficial  area  of  the  State.  William  H.  Seward  said:  "The  entire  region  of 
Oregon,  Washington  Territory,  British  Columbia,  and  Alaska  seems  destined  to  be- 
come a  shipyard  for  the  supply  of  all  nations."  Lumbermen  in  Washington  estimate 
that  the  opening  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  will  add  $2  to  the  value  of  every  thousand 
feet  of  lumber  standing  around  Puget  Sound,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  still  larger 
timber  fields  of  the  Alaskan  Archipelago,  the  estimate  being  based  on  cheap  trans- 
portation, for  the  cost  of  ocean  transportation  as  compared  to  railroad  is  as  1^  to  10. 

The  wheat,  lumber,  fish,  wool,  furs,  and  other  commodities  of  the  Pacific  North- 
west will  be  provided  to  commerce  in  increasing  quantities  and  with  greater  profit 
to  producers  when  cheap  water  transportation  is  at  hand  to  convey  them  promptly 
to  tlie  world's  markets. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  257 

The  trade  between  Australia  and  our  Atlantic  ports  has  quadrupled  since  1885, 
though  it  is  still  trifling  in  comparison  with  the  total  foreign  commerce  of  those 
colonies,  but  it  has  grown  to  what  it  is  without  encouragement  and  in  spite  of 
obstacles  and  disadvantages,  and  favoring  circumstances  would  open  up  for  us  large 
possibilities  with  this  young  and  vigorous  English-speaking  people,  whose  foreign 
commerce  already  exceeds  |600,000,000  per  year. 

The  total  tonnage  entered  and  cleared  at  New  Zealand  ports  in  1885,  exclusive  of 
coasters,  was  1,032,700  tons,  mostly  by  sail  to  Europe. 

The  distance  from  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  to  Liverpool  is  1,100  miles  less  by 
Nicaragua  than  by  any  other  route.  From  Melbourne  it  is  400  miles  less,  and  from 
Sydney  500  miles  less,  with  more  favorable  weather  and  winds  and  currents. 

From  Yokohama  the  saving  is  3,900  miles  and  over.* 

A  London  journal  says :  "  In  estimating  the  future  before  a  waterway  connecting  the 
Pacific  and  Atlantic,  it  must  be  remembered  that  India  has  now  7,250,000  tons  of  ship- 
ping annually  clearing  from  her  ports,  Australasia,  16,000,000,  Hong  Kong,  7,000,000, 
and  the  Straits  Settlements,  7,000,000,  most  of  which  comes  to  Great  Britain,  and 
a  very  large  part  of  which  would  find  its  way  through  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  but  in- 
calculable as  the  advantages  would  be  to  this  country  (Great  Britain),  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  United  States  would  benefit  to  a  still  greater  extent.  That  this  is  so 
is  clear  from  the  fact  that  the  greater  part  of  the  huge  commerce  of  that  country 
would  be  saved,  through  using  the  canal,  sometimes  between  5,000  to  12,000  miles  of 
travel.*  But  economy  of  time  and  distance  is  not  the  only  thing  deemed  of  conse- 
quence by  commerce. 

Breaking  bulk  in  transit  is  also  a  cost  to  be  eliminated  if  possible.  Manchester  is 
today  building,  at  a  cost  of  #35,000,000,  a  ship  canal  35  miles  long  to  the  estuary  of 
the  Mersey,  when  Liverpool,  her  natural  port,  is  only  31^  miles  distant  by  rail,  in 
order  to  avoid  making  and  breaking  bulk  away  from  home  and  that  she  may  save 
to  her  merchants  some  part  of  the  charges  and  commissions  paid  to  Liverpool  ship- 
ping agents. 

COASTING  TRADE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

One  most  important  feature  is  yet  to  be  mentioned.  The  opening  of  the  canal 
will  practically  make  our  coast  line  continuous  from  Maine  to  Alaska,  and  our  coast- 
ing trade  will  thereby  receive  an  impetus  that  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It 
already  amounts  to  over  .'SOOjOOO  tons  per  annum  between  our  Atlantic  and  Gulf  ports 
and  Central  America  and  Colombia.  Galveston,  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Pearl  River, 
Pensacola,  Savannah,  Brunswick,  Beaufort,  Wilmington,  Norfork,  Baltimore,  Phila- 
delphia, New  York,  and  Boston  are  all  interested  in  the  total. 

Steamers  built  for  the  purpose  trade  along  the  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  ex- 
changing our  articles  of  commerce  for  the  products  of  the  tropics ;  but  the  best  har- 
bors and  the  richest  districts  and  most  valuable  products  of  these  neighbors  of 
ours  are  on  the  Pacific  side,  where  our  vessels  can  not  reach  them,  so  they  fall  to  the 
British  and  other  steamers  that  ply  on  the  west  coast,  and  the  trade  goes  to  Europe. 

When  the  opening  of  the  canal  shall  have  enabled  the  little  steamers  and  coasting 
schooners  to  push  through  to  the  Pacific  side  and  compete  for  its  rich  trade,  with 
the  advantage  of  home  ports  and  markets  thousands  of  miles  nearer  than  those  of 
Europe,  it  will  not  be  long  before  our  coasting  trade  shall  have  grown  to  many  times 
its  present  volume.  These  are  conditions  which  will  tend  to  make  San  Francisco, 
on  the  Pacific  and  New  York  on  the  Atlantic  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  the 
United  States,  situated  as  it  is  between  the  two  oceans,  with  practically  an  endless 
coast  line,  the  mistress  of  its  commerce. 

To  this  possibility  the  geographical  location  and  natural  features  of  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  are  most  advantageous,  and  Lake  Nicaragua — the  summit  level  of  the  canal,  a 
might  y  body  of  fresh  water  100  miles  in  length  by  45  in  width,  deepening  to  150  feet, 
swept  continually  by  the  trade  winds,  with  a  delightful  and  healthy  climate — gives 
to  the  route  a  political  and  international  importance  unique  and  significant.  The 
nation  that  controls  this  canal  under  terms  of  amity  with  Nicaragua  will  here  find 
rest  and  refreshment  for  its  fleets  and  a  point  Wappui  from  which  either  ocean  may 
readily  be  reached  in  case  of  need. 

To  this  sheltered  stronghold  its  squadrons,  after  service  done  on  either  ocean,  at 
the  bidding  of  a  telegraphic  sign  from  the  home  Government  may  return  to  refit 
and  rest  in  absolute  security  until  some  renewed  need  of  action  calls  again  for  their 
services.  There  can  Tiot  be  imagined  a  more  potent  means  of  avoiding  difficulty 
than  such  efficient  preparation  in  advance  to  quiet  promptly  any  disturbances  which 
may  arise. 

Placed  thus  advantageously,  one  fleet  would  readily  do  the  work  of  two,  and  with 

'  Bee  Appendix  A. 
S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 17 


258 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


a  naval  depot  thus  conveDiently  located,  the  Pacific  Coast  and  onr  Alaskan  posses- 
sions, as  well  as  onr  commerce  on  hoth  oceans,  wonld  be  as  well  guarded  as  our 
Atlantic  Coast. 

This,  however,  is  merely  incidental  to  the  canal  as  an  American  enterprise  and  a 
reason  outside  or  financial  considerations  why  it  should  command  American  support. 

THK  OATKWATB  OF  COMMERCR.  i 

When  the  Nicaragua  Canal  is  built  it  will  stand  at  the  gateways  of  commerce  on 
the  Western  Continent,  as  Suez  does  in  the  East,  to  take  toll  of  more  than  one- half 
of  the  commerce  of  the  world.  It  needs  no  argument  to  demonstrate  what  that  means. 
The  annual  reports  of  the  Suez  Canal,  which  possesses  far  less  than  a  moiety  of  the 
natural  advantages  of  the  Nicaraguan  enterprise,  are  its  best  illustration. 

We  subjoin  that  portion  of  the  reports  since  1879  which  has  direct  bearing  npon  the 
subject  before  us. 

Truffle  of  ihe  vMritivM  canal  of  Sues. 


TCM. 


Ko.of 
ships. 


XTet 
toimage. 


Passengers. 


Receipts 
from  tolls 
and  passen- 
gers. 


U».. 
1881.. 


1888. 
1884. 
1885. 
1880. 
1887. 


Bxpenses  of  operation,  etc.,  for  1888: 

For  administration , 

For  operation , 

For  maintenance  and  renewals... 


1,477 
2,020 
2,727 
3,198 
8,807 
8,284 
8,024 
8,100 
8,137 
8,440 


2,263,332 
8,057,421 
4,136.779 
6,074,808 
6,775,861 
5,871,500 
6,835,752 
5,767,655 
6,908,024 
6,640.834 


84,512 
101,651 

90,524 
131,068 
119, 177 
151, 916 
205,951 
171,411 
182,007 
193,895 


$5, 595, 247 
7, 501, 627 
9,619,826 
11,346,345 
12, 350, 052 
12, 029, 585 
12, 423, 354 
11,297,038 
11, 565, 054 
12, 975. 316 


307,914 
521,137 
378,007 


1,207,068 


The  company  has  not  yet  published  a  report  for  1889.    ^ 

From  this  report  is  to  be  seen  at  a  glance  the  tribute  which  commerce  willingly 
pays  to  facilities  for  its  more  commodious  transaction  and  it<i  steady  and  continuous 
growth  under  such  conditions. 


ESTIMATED   INCOMB. 

In  view  of  all  the  conditions  it  is  not  excessive;  indeed  it  is  most  moderate  to  ex- 
pect for  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  when  it  shall  be  opened  to  the  traffic  of  the  world  in 
1897,  a  tonnage  of  not  less  than  7,000,000  tons  ready  for  transit.  Now,  7,000,000  tons, 
at  $2..50  per  ton,  a  moderate  tariff,  means  a  revenue  of  $17,500,000  per  annum. 

The  operating  expenses  would  for  many  reasons  be  less  than  at  Suez,  but  allowing 
them  to  be  the  same,  say,  $1,200,000,  we  may  say  that  the  net  revenue  would  pay  5 
per  cent,  on  $325,000,000,  with  the  probability  of  greatly  increasing  even  the  selarge 
ngnrea. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 
Appendix  A. 


259 


Table  showing  distanoea  in  miles  between  commercial  ports  of  the  world  and  distances  saved 

by  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 


From— 


Via  Cape 
Horn. 


Via  Capo 

of  Good 

Hope. 


Via  Nic- 
aragua 
CanaL 


Distance 
saved. 


New  York  to — 

San  Francisco 

Bering  Strait 

Alaska 

Acapnlco 

Mazatlao 

Hong-Kong ..... . 

Yokoliama 

Melbourne... 

New  Zealand 

Sandwich  Islands 

CaMao 

Guayaquil 

Valparaiso.... 

New  Orleans  to — 

San  Francisco 

Acapnlco 

Mazatlan 

Guayaquil .... 

Callao ...... 

Valparaiso 

Liverpool  to— 

San  Francisco... 

Acapulco  ................. 

Mazatlan 

Meiboiirne 

New  Zealand 

HoDg-Ron£ 

Yokohama 

Guayaquil 

Callao 

Valparaiso 

Sandwich  Islaadg 

Spain  to  Manilla 

France  to  Tonqnin 

Hamburg  to — 

Mazatlan 

Acapnlco 

Fonseca 

Ponta  Arenas,  Costa  Sica 


MUet. 
14,840 
16.100 
15, 300 
13,071 
13,631 
18,180 

17,  679 
13,  502 
12,5|50 
14,230 
10, 689 
11,471 

9,750 

16,052 
13, 283 
13,843 
11, 683 
10, 901 
9,962 

14.690 
11, 921 
13,481 
13,  352 
12,400 

18,  030 
17,629 
11, 321 
10,539 

9,600 
14,080 
16,900 
17,760 
13,931 

18,871 
11,430 
11.120 


Miles. 


15, 201 
16, 190 
13, 290 
14,125 


13, 140 
13, 975 
15, 051 
16,040 


13,951 
16,  201 


MMes. 

4,760 
7,882 
6,682 
3,122 
3,682 

11,038 
0, 363 

10, 000 
8,680 
6,388 
3,713 
3,053 
4,700 

4,047 
2,409 
2,969 
2,340 
3,000 
3,987 

7,508 
8,870 
6.430 
12,  748 
11,349 
13,786 
12,  HI 
6,890 
6,461 
7,448 
9,136 
13,520 
13,887 
6.880 

6,320 
5,530 
5,515 


Miles. 
10.080 
8,218 
8,618 
9,949 
9,949 
4,163 
6,827 
3,290 
5,445 
7,842 
6,976 
8,418 
5,050 

11,005 
10,  874 
10, 874 
9,343 
7.901 
6,975 

7,182 
7,051 
7,051 

392 
2, 626 
1,265 
3,929 
6,431 
4,078 
2,152 
4,944 

431 
1,314 
7,051 

7,051 
5,900 
6,605 


From — 


New  York. 
Liverpool.. 
Hamburg'.. 
AmHterdam 

Havre 

Cadiz 


To   eastern 

entrance  of 

Nicaragua 

Canal. 


MiUs. 
2,021 
4.769 
5,219 
4.994 
4,874 
4,220 


From— 


NewOrleajis.. 
San  Francisco 

Valparaiso 

Callao 

Portland 

Victoria 


To  western 

entrance  of 

Nicaragua 

Canid. 


Miles. 


1,308 
2,678 
2,518 
1,531 
8,219 
8,428 


Note. — The  distances  have  been  meas  ired  by  oostomaiy  loates  moat  oonvenioBt  for  sailing  shipa 
and  slow  freight  steamers. 


260 


HICABAGUA   CANAL   COMPANT, 


Appendix  E. 


mCABAOUA  CANAL. 

THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL  PROJECT. 

IFrom  Engineering  KeTrs,  September  14, 1880.) 

It  has  been  evident  for  some  time  to  the  carefal  observer  that,  altbongh  the  day  of 
small  canals  is  over,  the  day  of  great  ship  canals  is  just  dawning.  Heretofore,  al- 
though there  has  always  been  as  great  proportional  need  aa  now  for  ship  canals  to 
shorten  sailing  distances,  yet  the  means  for  construction,  both  mechanical  and  finan- 
cial, were  so  mnch  more  limited,  and  the  aggregate  volume  of  traffic  to  be  accommo- 
dated so  small,  that  there  was  not  enough  traffic  "  in  sight"  to  pay  interest  on  a  cost 
necessarily  far  greater  than  it  is  t«-day. 

Accordingly  we  find  that,  although  ship  canals  at  Suez,  Panama,  Nicaragua,  Cor- 
inth, Cape  Cod,  and  elsewhere  have  been  talked  about  for  centuries,  yet  it  is  only 
within  the  last  three  decades  that  the  first  of  them,  that  at  Suez,  has  really  been 
completed  and  pnt  to  use.  At  the  present  moment  there  are  a  dozen  or  so  of  them 
in  various  parts  of  the  world  which  either  are  or  are  likely  soon  to  be  under  way,  as 
w«  may  show  more  fully  before  we  close. 

This  is  but  the  natural  effect  of  the  great  change  of  conditions  alluded  to,  and  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  the  end  is  not  yet  in  this  change,  great  as  it  is.  Capital 
is  so  cheap  that  interest  is  less  than  half  what  it  was  twenty  years  ago ;  engineering 
appliances  are  so  improved  that  the  cost  in  labor  and  time  of  executing  great  public 
works  is  certainly  not  more  than  half  what  it  was  twenty  years  ago  ;  commerce  has 
multiplied  with  even  more  marvelous  rapidity.  The  railway  mileage  of  the  world 
has  doubled  since  1875,  or  in  fourteen  years,  and  that  of  the  United  States  has 
doubled  since  1877.  The  shipping  has  multiplied  in  the  still  more  marvelous  ratio 
shown  in  the  table  below : 

Shipping  tonnage  of  the  world. 


1820. 


1840. 


188a 


1870. 


1881. 


1888. 


San 

steam 

Total 

Total  effective 

Equivalent  percent,  perdecade. 


8,140,000 
0,000 


4,560,000 
116,000 


0,586,000 
820,000 


13, 826,  000 
1, 018, 000 


15,002,000 
5, 644,  COO 


9, 497, 000 
11, 652, 000 


8, 146, 000 
8, 170, 000 


4, 676, 000 

5, 140,  000 

27.3 


10, 406, 000 

13,688,000 

63.2 


15,  576, 000 

20, 646, 000 

60.9 


20, 646,  000 

43,  222, 000 

95.8 


21, 049, 000 

67, 267, 000 

88.1 


[The  "effective"  tonnage  is  ascertained  by  mul  tip!  jiiig  the  steam  tonnage  by  5,  and  adding  the 
prodact  to  the  sailing  tonnage,  steamers  malting  about  five  times  as  many  voyages  per  year  as  sailing 
vessels.  The  percentages  in  the  last  line  gives  the  correct  deeennuU  ratio  regardless  of  the  actual 
period  between  the  figures.] 

It  is  bnt  natural  that  great  enterprises  which  lagged  along  hopelessly  in  the  MO's, 
'50's,  and  '60*8,  shonld  now  be  begun  with  confidence,  and  it  is  quite  certain  that 
enterprises  of  any  promise,  which  oven  now  are  neglectetl,  will  not  be  likely  to  be 
neglected  long.  For  example,  we  can  hardly  expect  the  Nicaragua  Canal  to  be 
opened  before  18%,  or  seven  years  from  1888.  In  view  of  the  above  accelerating  raMo 
np  to  1888,  what  is  the  commerce  of  the  world  likely  to  have  grown  to  when  it  is 
opened  T  Obviously  it  will  be  vastly  larger  than  it  is  now,  and  that  is  enough  for 
oar  present  purpose ;  bnt  we  should  bear  in  mind  also  that  the  commerce  tributary 
to  it  is  the  most  vigorously  growing;  in  the  world.    Perhaps,  hovcever,  as  giving  a 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY, 


261 


more  direct  indication  of  how  traflSc  tends  to  multiply,  we  may  as  well  give  here  the 
following  table  of  the  growth  of  traflQcof  the  Suez  andSauIt  Ste.  Marie  canals  since 
they  were  opened  to  commerce,  the  enormous  jump  in  the  "Soo"  traffic  in  the  last 
year  being  especially  notable : 

Traneit  through  Suez  Canal. 


Tear. 

No.  of 

veseels. 

Net 
tonnage. 

Receipts 
from  tolls. 

Averase 
toll. 

1870 

486 
766 
1,082 
1,173 
1,264 
1,404 
1,457 
1,663 
1,593 
1,477 
2,026 
2,727 
3,198 
3,307 
3,284 
3,624 
3,100 
3,137 
3,440 

436, 609 
761,  467 
1, 160, 743 
1, 367, 767 
1, 631, 650 
2,009,984 
2, 096,  771 
2,351,447 
2,269,678 
2,263,332 
3, 057, 421 
4, 136,  779 
6,074,808 
5,775,861 
6,871,500 
6,335,752 
6, 767,  655 
5,903,624 
6, 640, 834 

$869, 162 
1,519,077 
2, 875, 418 
4, 170, 146 
4,  533,  558 
5, 286, 158 
5, 526, 292 
6, 036, 186 
5,669,134 
5, 426,  223 
7, 298, 524 
9,438,776 
11,086,208 
12,  111,  698 
11,  725,  752 
12,011,452 
10, 954,  215 
1],  199,060 
12,607,624 

$1.90 
1.99 

1871 

1872 

2.47 

1873 

3.04 

1874 

2.77 

1875 

2.64 

1876 

2.63 

1877 

2.57 

1878 

2.49 

1879 

2.39 

1880 

2.43 

1881 

2.28 

1882 

2.18 

1883 

2.09 

1884 

2.00 

1885 

1.80 

1886 

1.89 

1((87 

1.89 

1888 

1.89 

[Receipts  are  compated  at  5  francs  per  dollar.  Net  tonnage  is  about  70  per  cent,  of  the  gross  tonnage.  ] 
Transit  through  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal. 


Tear  ending — 


Says  open 

for 
navigation. 


No.  of 

vessels. 


Net 
tonnage. 


Operating 
expenses. 


1881. 
1882. 
1883. 
1884. 
1885. 
1886. 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 


198 
229 
216 
233 
219 
222 
218 
210 


3,804 
4,676 
4,163 
4,768 
5,629 
6,203 
7,926 
8,823 
8.832 


1,802,571 
2, 370, 210 
2, 130, 181 
2, 540, 799 
2, 981, 786 
3,  701, 014 
4, 882,  802 
5, 581, 169 
6,932,203 


(*) 

$28,854 
35,  510 
31, 213 
27,242 
25,401 
22,139 
29,899 


*  Not  at  hand. 
[The  fir»t  Saalt  Canal  was  finished  in  1855,  at  a  cost  of  $999,802.    The  above  statistics  begin  with  the 
opening  of  the  new  canal.] 

On  the  other  hand,  from  the  accompanying  little  diagram  which  we  reproducefrom 
our  issue  of  April  27,  1889,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  greatest  small  canal  in  the  world 
by  far,  in  every  sense,  has  been  steadily  falling  oflf  in  traffic  since  1873,  and  is  now 
eveu  smaller  than  it  was  in  1862,  when  it  was  larger  than  ever  before. 

We  need  not  seek  far  for  a  reason.  It  lies  in  the  simple  fact  that  the  railways  have 
distanced  the  small  canals,  not  only  in  speed,  but  in  actual  cost  of  transportation, 
while  they  still  lag  far  behind  large  ships  and  steamers  in  economy  of  transport,  and 
to  all  appearance  must  ever  do  so.  The  most  cursory  examination  of  rates  and  cost 
of  transportation  will  reveal  this  fact.  The  following  table  of  lake  and  canal  rates 
is  perhaps  alone  sufficient,  remembering  that  what  may  be  called  the  standard  all- 
rail  rate  between  Chicago  and  New  York  is  30  cents  per  ibo,  or  a  trifle  over  0.60  cents 
per  ton  per  mile,  which  rate  is  often  severely  cut,  sometimes  by  half  or  two-thirds. 
As  the  average  cost  per  ton  per  mile  of  the  whole  United  States  was  just  about  0.6 
cents  (for  109  miles  average  haul)  we  may  be  quite  certain  that  the  fair  proportional 
cost  of  hauling  such  freight  by  rail  is  little  if  any  over  0.3  to  0.4  cents  per  ton  per  mile. 
On  the  other  band,  the  ocean  rates  on  grain  to  Liverpool  last  year  ranged  from  2 
to  9  cents  per  bushel  of  60  pounds,  or  a  3,000-mile  haul,  averaging  about  5  cents,  or 
0.055  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  At  0,1  cent  per  ton  per  mile  the  steamers  feel  that  tbq^ 
are  doing  very  well,  even  on  flour,  which  stands  about  50  per  cent,  more  per  ton  than 
wheat. 


262 


NICARAGUA   CiANAL    COMPANY. 

Lake  and  canal  rates  on.  wheat. 

(Per  ton  of  2,000  po  Uids.  ] 


1886. 

1888. 

1887. 

Ayer- 
age. 

Milea. 

Per 

mil«. 

Chicago  to  Bnffrlo,  Iftke  ..   ., 

$a67 
1.28 

fl.22 
L«7 

•L87 
L4« 

$1.00 
L47 

•26 
494 

OmU. 
0.118 

Buffalo  to  Nflw  York,  i^aoal 

0.298 

Chicago  to  New  York 

1.95 

2.M 

2.83 

2.60 

1,413 

0.181 

Chioftgn  to  Omrwo 

LOS 

i.ie 

i.ge 

L52 

2.54 
1.30 

1.86 
1.31 

1,«60 
3«7 

0.174 

Oswego  to  New  Ywk 

0.857 

Chicago  to  New  York,  ria  Oswego 

2.16 

3.47 

3.84 

3.16 

1,427 

0  ?21 

Ohiosgo  to  Ifontraa! 

LOT 

2.47 

2.83 

2.42 

1,348 

&179 

Contrast  these  figures  (all  for  net  tons  of  2,000  pounds)  with  the  figures  given  below 
of  lake  and  canal  rates.  We  see  at  once  that  in  a  rude  way  we  may  classify  the 
lowest  feasible  rates  of  freight  as  follows,  with  at  least  relative  correctness : 

Z9n§  k»ul  rates,  bulk  freights  {in  cents  per  ton  mile). 

Small  canals  (about) 0.4 

Rail  (about) 0.3-f 

Erie  canal  (about) 0.3— 

Lake,  14  to  16  feet  draught  (about) 0.12 

Ocean,  25  feet  (about) 0.05+ 

In  evidence  of  why  this  difference  should  exist  let  us  compare  one  or  two  items :  It 
has  been  aptly  said,  in  relation  to  coal  economy  in  marine  steam-engines,  that  if  we 
assume  paper  to  be  as  good  fuel  as  coal  per  ton,  we  have  only  to  "  burn  this  letter  " 
of  one-half  ounce  weight  to  propel  a  ton  a  mile  by  steamer — in  other  words,  a  ton  of 
2,000  pounds  will  produce  64,000  ton-miles  of  ship  and  cargo  on  the  ocean  at  freight 
speeds.  The  same  is  frequently  realized  by  the  best  lake  vessels.  To  propel  one  mile 
a  freight-car  weighing,  with  load,  25  tons  takes,  on  an  average,  over  5  pounds  of  coal, 
BO  that  on  land  a  ton  of  2,000  pounds  only  produces  10,000  ton-miles  of  car  and  load,  or 
say  one-seventh  as  much.  Again,  a  ship  coats  only  some  $50  per  ton,  a  steamer  some 
$100  per  ton,  and  that  steamer  ton  will  be  good  for  some  60,000  ton-miles  per  year,  or  600 
ton-miles  yearly  per  dollar  of  capital  invested.  Were  railways  equally  effective  per 
dollar  of  investment  the  81,000,000,000  ton-miles  and  passenger-miles  made  last  year 
in  the  United  States  would  represent  a  capital  investment  of  only  $135,000,000.  They 
actually  jepresent  a  capital  of  $9,607,000,000. 

It  is  needless  to  go  further.  The  demand  of  the  age  being  for  quick  and  cheap  trans- 
portation, we  see  at  once  why  the  day  of  great  ship  canals  is  so  visibly  dawning.  It 
IS  dawning,  not  only  for  canals,  which  save  great  sailing  distances,  like  the  Suez  and 
Nicaragua,  but  also  for  canals  like  the  Manchester,  which  save  no  distance  whatever, 
but  merely  compete  with  railways,  saving  the  disadvantage  of  breaking  bulk.  That 
canal  is  to  be  35  miles  long,  2H  feet  deep,  120  feet  wide,  and  to  cost,  if  it  uses  up  all 
its  authorized  capital,  some  $49,000,000.  Its  actual  cost  will  be  at  least  $35,000,000. 
Yet  Manchester  is  a  city  of  only  350,000  people,  and  the  tonnage  to  be  benefited  by 
the  canal,  although  as  yet  largely  problematical,  is  certainly  small  compared  with 
that  which  will  be  tributary  to  the  Nicaragua  canal,  while  the  dues  mnst  be  trifling 
in  comparison. 

At  least  one  other  canal  like  the  Manchester  is  likely  to  be  soon  started  in  England : 
but  of  course  the  greatest  stimulus  to  ship  canal  coostruction  is  when  more  or  less 
sailing  distance  is  also  saved,  as  in  the  Corinth,  North  Sea,  and  Baltic,  Cape  Cod,  and 
half  a  dozen  others  now  under  way  or  likely  soon  to  be.  And  of  all  canals  which  ever 
can  be  built,  it  needs  only  a  glance  at  the  map  to  see  that  the  Nicaragua,  or  other  canal 
through  the  Central  American  Istbuius  will  save  the  greatest  sailing  distances.  Even 
.  the  saving  by  the  Suez  Canal  is  small  in  comparison. 

Thus  between  London  and  Canton  the  Suez  saves  3,300  miles  (10,000 against  13,300); 
to  Bombay  it  saves  4,325,  and  to  Calcutta,  3,626  miles,  the  average  saving  being  about 
3,500  miles,  while  the  Nicaragua  canal  saves  from  5,000  to  8,000  miles  on  most  of  the 
voyages  likely  to  be  required.  Between  London  and  San  Francisco  it  saves  nearly 
7,200  milea  oat  of  s  voyage  of  14,700 ;  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  10,060 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


263 


ont  of  a  voyage  of  14,840 ;  between  New  York  and  Canton  it  is  about  500  miles  shorter 
than  Suez,  and  over  5,000  shorter  than  "  aroand  the  Horn."  As  compared  with  the 
transcontinental  railways  it  is  only  some  60  per  cent,  longer. 

The  following  table  will  be  convenient  for  reference  in  this  connection.  The  dis- 
tances have  been  measured  by  rontes  most  convenient  for  sailing  ships  and  slow  freight 
steamers.  The  distances  for  swift  mail  and  passenger  steamers  have  not  been  calcH- 
lated: 


Via  Cape 
Horn. 


Via  Cape 

of  Good 

Hope. 


Via  Nio- 
aragna 
oanaL 


Distance 
aaved. 


Ifew  York  to — 

San  Francisco 

Behring  Strait 

Alaska 

Aci^ulco 

Mazatlaa ..., 

Hong  Cong...... 

Tokohama 

Melbourne 

New  Zealand 

Sandwich  Islands 

Callao 

Guayaqnil .... 

Valparaiso........ 

New  Orleans  to — 
San  Francisco ... 

Acapnlco 

Mazatlan  .^ , 

Gnayaqail   ...... 

Callao , 

Valparaiso........ 

Liverpool  to — 

San  Francisco  . ... 

Acapulco , 

Mazatlan . . , 

Melbourne 

New  Zealand  ..... 
Hong  Kong...... 

Yokohama , 

Guayaquil.  ...... 

Callao 

Valparaifto.    

Sandwich  Islands 


Milei. 
14,840 
16, 100 
15,300 
13.  071 
13, 631 
18,180 
17, 679 
13,502 
12,550 
14, 230 
10, 689 
11, 471 
9,750 

15,  052 
13,283 
13, 843 
11.683 
10,  901 
9,062 

14,690 
12, 921 
13, 481 
13,352 
12,400 
18, 030 
17, 529 
11, 321 
10, 539 
9,600 
14,080 


MUet. 


15, 201 
16,100 
13,290 
14,125 


13,140 
13,  975 
15, 051 
16,040 


Mile*. 
4,760 
7,882 
6,682 
3,122 
3,682 

11, 038 
9,363 

10,  000 
8,680 
6,388 
3,713 
3,053 
4,700 

4,047 
2, 409 
2,969 
2,340 
3,000 
3,987 

7,508 

5,870 

6,430 

12,748 

11,349 

13,786 

12,  111 

5,890 

6,461 

7,448 

9,136 


Miles. 
10,080 
8,218 
8,618 
9,949 
9,949 
4,163 
6,827 
3,290 
5,44S 
7,842 
6,976 
8,418 
5,050 

11, 005 
10,874 
10, 874 
9,343 
7,901 
5,975 

7,182 
7,051 
7,061 
392 
2,626 
1,265 
3,029 
5,431 
4,078 
2,152 
4,944 


Tzom— 


New  York... 

Liverpool 

Hambarg 

Amsterdam  . 

Havre 

Cadiz 

New  Orleans 


To  eastern 
end  of 

Nicaragua 
Canal. 


Mae$. 
2,021 
4,769 
6,219 
4,994 
4,874 
4,220 
1,308 


From— 


San  Francisco 
Valparaiso  ... 

Callao 

Portland 

Victoria 


To  western 
end  of 

Nicaragua 
Canal. 


MUet. 
2,678 
2,618 
1,631 
3,219 
3,428 


These  are  enormous  advantages,  insuring  that  the  Nicaragua  canal  can  easily  col- 
lect 50  cents  per  ton  or  so  more  than  the  Suez,  or  say  $2.50  per  ton.  At  i  cent  per  ton 
per  mile  this  would  only  pay  railway  rates  for  500  miles,  thus  in  effect  reducing  the 
competitive  rail  distance  to  2,500  miles,  or  as  nearly,  may  be,  half  that  via  the  canal 
free  of  tolls.  What  possible  chance  have  the  railways  in  a  competition  like  this  ?  A 
moderately  fast  line  of  steamers  will  make  the  voyage  in  less  than  two  weeks,  and  all 
but  express  freights  will  be  sure  to  go  that  way,  and  save  time  as  well  as  money  by 
doing  so,  while,  more  important  than  all,  vast  sources  of  traffic,  like  ores  and  timber, 
of  which  none  is  now  shipped,  will  furnish  a  new  and  heavy  traffic.  The  larger 
part  of  the  timber  supply  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  for  example,  is  likely  to  come  from 
the  Pacific  coast  via  the  canal. 

We  deem  it  therefore  an  entirely  safe  assumption  that  the  traffic  "  in  sight"  is  at 
most  not  ovor  half  what  will  exist  after  the  canal  has  been  three  or  four  years  in 


264  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

operation.  Bat  the  traffic  "  in  sight"  has  been  growinj^  rapidly  of  late  years.  Esti- 
mates, presumably  impartial,  by  the  Bnreaa  of  Statistics  showed  as  the  traffic  "  in 
Bight:" 


Year.  SUpa.         Tons. 


1879 2,647    2,671,886 

1885 4,139    4,252,434 

At  the  present  time  the  most  moderate  e8timat«s  show  6,000,000  to  7,000,000  tonn  as 
the  probable  traffic  by  1895.  Lesseps  claimed  10,000,000  as  the  miiiimura  for  the 
Panama  Canal  in  late  years,  but  that  was  certainly  extravagant.  That  it  will  be 
attained  within  much  less  than  ten  years  after  the  opening  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal, 
however,  we  regard  as  almost  a  certainty. 

Now,  even  0,000,000  tons  at  |2.50  per  ton  means  a  revenue  of  $15,000,000  per  year. 
The  operating  expenses  ought  certainly  to  be  much  less  than  at  Suez,  where  they  are 
about  $1,000,000,  so  that  we  may  sav  that  the  revenue  will  pav  0  per  cent,  on  some 
$250,000,000,  and  3  per  cent,  on  $500,000,000)  with  the  probability  of  greatly  increasing 
even  these  large  figures.  It  is,  therefore,  apparent  that  it  really  matters  little  what 
the  canal  costs,  as  respects  the  expediency  of  constructing  it,  unless  its  cost  is  to 
exceed  $200,000,000 ;  and  let  any  one  with  any  knowletlge  of  construction  look  over 
the  profiles  and  quantities  which  we  publish  in  this  issne,  and  see  where  there  is 
reasonable  probability  of  even  half  that  sum  being  required  for  coustriiction.  The 
actual  cost  has  been  usually  estimated  at  some  ^60,000,000  to  865,000,000,  and  we 
confess  we  see  no  reason  why  those  figures  may  not  be  realized.  But  we  can  also  see 
reasons  why  they  may  possibly  be  doubled,  and  we  therefore  think  the  company  is 
eminently  wise  in  not  patting  before  the  public  at  this  time  any  estimate  of  their 
own,  but  simply  saying :  "  Here  are  the  profiles  and  the  quantities;  jadge  of  the  cost 
for  yourselves." 

There  will  be  an  inevitable  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  estimates  thus  challenged, 
from  remembrance  that  the  $40,000,000  Suez  Canal  actually  cost  $100,000,000,  and 
the  $120,000,000  Panama  Canal  cost  over $200,000,000  actual  and  $350,000,000  nominal 
to  prove  that  it  could  not  be  built  at  all.  But  as  we  showed  at  some  length  in  onr 
issne  of  July  14, 1888,  the  conditions  at  Nicaragua  are  vastly  different  from  those 
Panama.  We  can  not  again  go  over  in  detail  all  the  technical  differences,  but  they 
are  of  the  first  importance.  There  is  no  unsolvable  Chagres  River  problem  ;  there 
is  mnch  less  canal  in  excavation ;  there  is  much  less  deep  cutting!  there  is  no  prob- 
lem of  water  supply ;  there  is  no  rotten,  sliding  rock;  there  are  no  endemic  pesti- 
lences ;  three  is  a  stiff  trade  breeze  the  year  round  to  maintain  health  and  comfort ; 
there  is  a  prior  knowledge  from  detail  surveys  of  just  what  is  to  be  done  which  was 
wholly  lacking  at  Panama ;  there  is  the  advantage  of  all  the  experience  gained  at 
Panama,  and  of  an  official  "base  "  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  instead  of  on  the  other 
side ;  and  there  is  the  practical  certainty  of  far  better  management. 

These  are  enormous  advantages,  and  it  therefore  seems  to  ns  that  no  reasonable 
man  can  doubt,  first,  that  the  canal  can  be  built  for  $100,000,000  to  $150,000,000  at 
the  very  most,  and  secondly,  that  it  will  be  exceedingly  profitable  even  at  that  rate. 
If  so  it  is  qnite  immaterial  what  may  be  the  precise  cost  of  the  canal,  and  the  only 
error  to  be  seriously  feared  is  of  prommng  to  build  the  canal  for  less  than  really 
proves  necessary,  a  result  which  always  casts  an  injurious  cloud  on  an  enterprise. 
But  it  is  not  true  that  carefully  made  engineers'  estimates  are  not  generally  safe 
guides.  If  any  one  glances  at  the  top  (general;  profile  on  our  inset  sheet,  and  sees  by 
the  contrast  of  blue  and  orange  colors  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  length  of  the 
canal  is  natural  navigation,  and  how  large  a  proportion  of  what  is  left  is  mere  dredg- 
ing work,  involving  no  uncertainties,  he  can  hardly  help  deriving  a  most  favorable 
augury  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 

We  have  always  felt  a  regret,  and  do  now,  that  the  Government  did  not  take  hold 
of  this  enterprise  when  President  Grant  negotiated  a  treaty  to  that  effect  and  recom- 
mended it.  Such  a  canal  ought  to  be  a  great  highway  of  nations,  run  not  for  pri- 
vate profit,  but  for  the  profit  of  a  whole  nation  at  least,  if  not  of  the  whole  world. 
But  it  was  somewhat  contrary  to  our  national  traditions,  although  not  more  than  our 
river  and  harbor  improvement«  were  when  they  first  began,  and  the  opportunity  has 
passed.  It  is  worthy  of  consideration,  however,  whether  even  now  a  true  regard  for 
the  public  interest  would  not  require  that  the  same  end  should  be  attained  measura- 
bly by  a  Government  guaranty  of  interest  on  bonds  for  construction,  in  return  for 
certain  stipulations  as  to  reduction  of  rates  as  traffic  increases.  If  the  whole  con- 
duct and  cost  of  the  enterprise  be  left  to  a  private  company,  we  do  not  doubt  that 
they  will  be  able  to  raise  the  money,  but  it  will  cost  them  6  to  8  per  cent,  instead  of 
the  3  per  cent,  which  a  Government  guaranty  would  insure ;  and  the  compaty  will 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  265 

reasonably  claim  that,  having  been  left  to  pnsh  the  enterprise  through  unaided,  they 
had  a  right  to  enjoyment  of  the  profits  of  their  monopoly,  however  great,  although 
in  the  beginning  they  might  have  been  glad  to  accept  the  certainty  of  a  moderate 
profit  rather  than  the  chance  of  a  greater  one. 

Suez  proves,  however,  that  such  companies  prefer  to  reduce  tolls  considerably  as 
traffic  grows,  merely  to  encourage  its  greater  growth,  and  perhaps  this  alone  will 
serve  as  sufficient  check.  Whatever  be  done  we  are  satisfied  from  all  the  information 
we  can  gather  that  a  few  months  more  will  see  the  main  contracts  let,  the  money 
for  construction  insured,  and  the  work  which  is  already  begun  in  active  progress ; 
and  we  confidently  look  forward  to  seeing  its  construction  prove  one  of  the  most 
honorable  achievements  of  American  enterprise,  in  broad  contrast  with  the  fiasco 
at  Panama,  which  possibly  for  the  moment  may  be  somewhat  of  an  impediment  to 
the  company's  negotiations. 

THE  inCARAGUA  SHIP  CANAL. 

fFrom  Enjrineeiiiig  News,  September  11,  1889.  | 
(The  maps  and  figures  referred  to  are  omitted.) 

The  work  on  this  canal  being  now  fairly  begun,  engineers  in  general  will  be  greatly 
interested  in  the  large  colored  sectional  profile  which  accompanies  this  issue  and 
which  gives  the  first  information  as  yet  published  of  the  precise  nature  of  the  material 
on  the  line,  without  which,  of  course,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  form  very  definite 
views  as  to  the  probable  cost  of  the  canal  or  the  sufficiency  of  estimates. 

We  comment  at  some  length  on  another  page  on  the  general  status  and  promise  of 
the  enterprise  as  shown  by  this  profile  and  other  accompanying  information,  and  in 
this  article  confine  ourselves  to  a  presentation  of  the  facts  which  must  form  the  basis 
of  any  opinion  in  regard  to  it,  so  far  as  they  are  as  yet  determined. 

We  published  on  July  14,  1888,  a  general  summary  of  the  results  of  the  1888  sur- 
veys, with  maps  and  profiles.  We  reproduce  in  this  issue  three  of  these  maps,  with 
some  corrections,  viz,  a  general  map  of  the  entire  route  from  ocean  to  ocean  (Fig.  1) 
and  detail  maps  of  the  western  division  (Fig.  2)  and  of  the  canal  and  basin  part  of 
the  eastern  division  (Fig.  (3).  All  the  rest  of  the  route  consists  merely  of  lake  and 
slack- water  river  navigation. 

Onr  large  colored  inset  sheet  shows,  first,  a  general  profile  (A)  of  the  entire  route; 
and  secondly,  detail  profiles  to  large  scale  of  (B)  the  eastern  division,  Grey  town  to 
Deseado  Basin;  (C)  middle  division,  Deseado  Basin  to  San  Juan  River;  (D)  crest 
profile  of  the  crest  and  embankments  which  together  form  the  San  Francisco  and 
Machado  Basins;  (E)  center  line  of  San  Juan  River,  showing  the  character  of  bot- 
tom and  extent  of  dredging  required;  (F)  western  division,  Lake  Nicaragua  to 
Brito. 

On  all  these  detail  profiles  the  material  is  accurately  indicated  in  a  manner  which, 
once  comprehended  by  a  brief  study  of  the  symbols,  becomes  very  distinctive.  Thus, 
red  indicates  clay  wherever  it  appears.  Red  clay  is  shown  by  plain  red ;  blue  clay,  by 
red  striped  with  blue;  yellow  clay,  by  red  striped  with  yellow;  white  clay,  by  red 
striped  with  white.  Yelloiv  indicates  sand,  gravel  being  indicated  by  black  dots  on  a 
yellow  base,  and  clay  and  sand  mixed  by  red  and  yellow  stripes  crossing  diagonally. 
Loams  are  indicated  by  black  vertical  stripes.  If  it  be  a  clayey  loam,  these  stripes 
are  on  a  red  base ;  if  a  sandy  loam,  on  a  yellow  base. 

The  distinction  between  rock  and  earthy  materials  of  all  kinds  is  so  distinctive  as 
to  be  at  once  grasped  by  the  eye,  even  without  the  aid  of  any  special  description. 
Thus  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  refer  to  the  key  at  all,  although  12  different  kinds  of 
material  are  indicated. 

In  reference  to  the  character  of  the  earths,  we  may  say,  from  personal  examination 
of  the  samples  of  borings,  and  from  the  universal  testimony,  that  all  the  clays  seem 
to  be  exceedingly  retentive  of  water.  Even  the  mixed  clay  and  sand  seem  to  be  an 
excellent  natural  puddle.  The  "loams"  are  all  of  them  poor  material  to  have  about  a 
canal  bottom  or  dam  foundation,  and  where  they  exist  must  be  got  out  of  the  way. 
Fortunately,  this  material  is  not  often  encountered  in  objectionable  positions,  although 
some  considerable  deposits  of  it  will  be  found  under  the  embankment  dams  shown  in 
Profile  D. 

The  profile  is  reduced  photographically  from  the  very  elaborate  profiles  which 
have  been  constructed  by  the  company  to  the  usual  railway  profile  scales  of  400  feet 
per  inch  horizontal  and  30  feet  per  inch  vertical.  The  reduced  profile  is  to  a  scale  of 
3,000  feet  per  inch  horizontal  or  only  one  seventy-fifth  as  large,  and  proportionately 
for  the  vertical  scale,  but  as  the  reduction  was  wholly  photographic  the  profile 
still  remains  minutely  accurate,  and  may  be  enlarged  to  7i  times  its  present  size  by 
a  magnifying  glass,  or  otherwise,  and  still  afford  as  great  accuracy  as  the  original 
profiles.  We  think  it  but  due  to  Mr.  Menocal  and  his  able  staff  of  assistants  to  say 
that  in  a  somewhat  large  experience  with  plans  of  this  nature,  we  have  never  seen 


266 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


any  whieh  showed  eucb  signs  of  carefnl  preparation;  nor  do  we  recall  any  large  en- 
terprise in  which  there  has  been  any  approach  to  equal  pains  to  determine  precisely 
what  had  to  be  done  before  attempting  to  do  it. 

The  batiis  of  fact  on  which  the  sectional  part  of  the  profile  is  constract«d  the 
reader  has  before  him  in  the  profiles  themselves,  where  the  position  and  depth  of 
the  borings  taken  is  accurately  indicated  to  scale  by  vertical  black  lines.  A  cou- 
siderable  number  of  additional  borings  were  taken  too  far  otf  the  line  to  be  shown 
on  it,  but  with  this  exception  all  the  borings  taken  appear,  except  along  the  bed  of 
the  San  Jnan  River  (Profile  £),  where  they  were  not  accurately  located,  nor  were 
they  as  carefnlly  made  as  the  others,  being  confined  for  the  most  part  to  a  sopexficial 
examination  of  the  bottom  by  rods,  all  material  which  could  not  be  thus  penetrated 
being  called  rock.  It  is  not  claimed,  therefore,  that  this  profile  is  as  precise  as  the 
others,  but  it  is  believed  to  err  chiefly  by  too  much  rock. 

The  other  borings  on  all  the  profiles  were  taken  with  boring  tools  adapted  for  pene- 
trating earthy  materials  only,  the  assumption  being  everywhere  that  the  material 
below  the  lowest  point  to  which  the  boring  could  be  pushed  was  rock.  This  tends 
to  safety  in  the  estimates  by  exaggerating,  if  anything,  the  amount  of  rock  ;  and  it 
is  altogether  probable  that,  at  a  few  points  on  the  profile  at  least,  the  amount  of 
rock  is  less  than  is  shown.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  foundations  of  the  locks  it 
would  be  a  disadvantage  if  the  material  should  not  prove  to  be  rock  ;  but  the  only 
doubt  in  this  respect  is  deemed  to  be  in  regard  to  Lock  No.  1,  Locks  No.  2,  3,  4,  5, 
and  6  being  quite  certainly  on  rock,  and  the  material  under  Lock  No.  1  being  at 
least  hard  material  in  which  boring  tools  will  not  penetrate. 

Farther  borings  by  rock  drills  through  the  entire  depth,  rock  and  all,  are  now  in 
progress  at  the  great  eastern  divide  cut,  and  will  afford  details  for  the  subdivision  of 
the  "rock "  into  at  least  two  classes,  rock  proper  and  talpetate  or  tepetate,  two  materials 
which  differ  very  much  in  hardness  and  cost  of  excavation.  The  rock  proper  is  a 
very  hard,  unstratitied  volcanic  rock,  and  of  this  the  great  rock  cut  in  the  eastern 
division  is  mainly  composed,  with  a  coating  between  it  and  the  clay  of  tali>etate.  The 
last  is  a  material  we  have  often  described,  found  only  in  volcanic  countries,  and  sup- 
posed to  consist  of  consolidated  volcanic  ash  or  mud.  It  holds  a  slope  quite  as  well 
as  rock,  and  also  requires  powder  for  its  economical  working,  beihg  sometimes  hard 
enough  to  serve  as  building  material,  but  being  much  more  cheaply  excavated  than 
ordinary  rock,  resembling  in  texture  and  hardness  a  very  much  under-baked  brick 
more  than  any  other  material  with  which  we  are  familiar.  Immense  deposits  of  it 
exist  thronghoat  Mexico  and  Central  and  Sonth  America.  It  will  evidently  tend  to 
reduce  the  cost  of  the  work  quite  sensibly  should  there  prove  to  be  a  considerable 
percentage  of  this  talpetate  in  the  material  shown  as  "rock''  on  the  profile,  but  for 
the  present  this  contingency  is  neglected. 

The  extraordinary  natural  advantages  of  this  ronte,  as  shown  by  the  large  propor- 
tion of  it  on  which  there  is  a  natural  slack-water  navigation,  will  be  seen  by  a  glance 
at  the  upper  (general)  profile  on  our  colored  sheet,  on  which  all  this  class  of  naviga- 
tion is  colored  bine,  and  all  that  part  requiring  canal  excavation  colored  orange. 
In  the  aggregate  there  is : 

Ifilas. 
Canal  in  excavation : 

East  side 16.048 

West  side 11.160 

Sixlocks 0.759 

27. 967  mile*. 

Basin  of  the  Deseado 4.220 

Basin  of  the  San  Francisco 11.:^ 

Basin  of  Tola 5.504 

21.092  miles. 

SiverSan  Juan 64.540 

Lake  Nicaragua 56.  500 

121.040  miles. 

Total  length  of  ronte 170. 099  miles. 

Contrasting  this  with  the  two  great  previoos  canal  enterprises  we  have : 


Boate. 

Length. 

Canal 
exca- 
vation. 

Saes  ... ............................................... 

MVu. 
99.2 
46.5 
170.1 

MUet. 
65 

46.6 

27. » 

NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 


267 


Tbu8,  althoagb  the  Nicaragua  route  is  the  longest  of  the  three,  owing  to  a  long, 
unbroken  stretch  of  121  miles  of  free  navigation  in  the  midst  of  it,  the  length  of 
canal  proper  is  by  far  the  shortest  of  the  three.  By  percentages  we  have  the  folio  w- 
ing  comparison : 


Miles. 


Per  cent. 


Nicaragua  Canal ; 

Canal  in  excavation 

Free  navigation,  basins 

Free  navigation,  lake  and  river 

Total 

Suez  Canal : 

Canal  in  excavation 

Free  navigation^  lake 

Total 


27.  907 
21. 092 
121. 040 

170. 099 


87.2 
12.0 


16.4 


100.0 


87.9 
12.1 


99.2 


100.0 


The  Panama  Canal  is  wholly  in  excavation,  4.3  miles  of  it  being  below  sea  level, 
and  42.2  miles  above  sea  level,  and  mostly  very  much  above  it,  as  will  be  seen  by  re- 
ferrirrg  to  our  profile  of  that  canal  published  June  2,  1889.  Up  to  that  date  the  com- 
pany's estimate  showed  49,000,000  cubic  meters  (65,000,000  cubic  yards)  while  there 
was  about  as  much  more  work  required  even  to  make  the  lock  canal.  How  many 
times  more  than  this  w^ould  have  been  needed  to  make  a  sea-level  canal  we  can  only 
guess.  As  this  project  is  now  hopelessly  dead,  however,  we  need  not  trouble  our- 
selves further  with  data  regarding  it.  The  total  estimate  of  rock  and  earth  excava- 
tion for  the  Nicaragua  Canal  is  only  55,513,638  cubic  yards,  as  shown  in  more  detail 
below.         » 

A  previous  more  detailed  summary,  differing  somewhat  decimally  with  that  just 
given,  but  so  slightly  that  it  does  not  seem  worth  while  to  take  the  trouble  to  correct 
the  trifling  differences,  shows  the  canal  to  consist  of  the  following  elements : 


West 
side. 


East 
side. 


TotaL 


E. 


Sea-level  canal  dredged  in  earth  from  the  coast 

Rock  through  cuts  with  or  without  a  coating  of  earth  on  top , 

Canal  in  earth,  through  cuts,  no  rock 

Canal  chiefly  in  earth,  but  with  a  layer  of  rock  in  the  bottom 

Total  canal,  apart  from  locks 

Natural  surface  flooded  by  proposed  water  levels  so  as  to  give  30  feet 

of  water  or  over,  wltliout  any  dredging  or  excavation 

Do.,  requiring  earth  drudging  only 

Do.,  requiring  rock  excavation 

Locks 

Natural  water  conrses  having  30  feet  or  over  on  proposed  level 

Do.,  requiring  earth  dredging  only ...., 

Do.,  requiring  any  rock  excavation 


Miles. 

.57 

6.40 

2.42 

2.00 


Miles. 

10.00 
2.836 
2.146 
.354 


11.39 

4.63 

.74 
0 


37.04 
2.40 
3.6 


Miles. 
10.57 
9.236 
4.566 
2.3o4 


15.336 

13.60 

2.70 

0 

;  t.24e* 
•  t.mj 

43.67 
24.10 
10.33 


26.726 

18.13 
3.44 
0 

.738 

80.71 
26.50 
13.83 


•All  rook. 


fRock. 


}  Earth. 


SUMMABT. 

Miles. 

Natural  water  conrses  or  artificial  basins  requiring  no  work  at  all  on  them  to  give  30  feet  of 
water 98.  84 

Basin,  river,  and  lake  navigation  requiring  earth  dredging  below  proposed  water  surface  only 
to  give  30  feet  of  water 29.94 

Do.,  having  a  layer  of  rock  in  the  bottom  to  be  excavated  or  dredged 13. 83 

MUes. 

Canal  sections,  dredged  in  at  sea  level 10,67 

Earth  through  cuts,  no  rock 4.660 

Rock  through  cuts,  some  earth 9.236 

Earth  through  cuts,  some  rock 2.364 

Total  length  of  canal  in  through  cut 28.762 

Six  looks 0.738 

130.074 


268  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

The  company,  somewhat  to  oar  regret,  bat  we  can  not  eay  anwisely,  prefer  not  to 
pat  forward  at  this  time  any  estimate  of  total  cost  whatever.  The  quantities,  as 
computed  by  their  ougiueors,  they  are  quite  willing  to  give,  and  they  are  given 
below.  The  transverse  and  longitudinal  sections  ou  which  the  quantities  are  based 
are  shown  herewith,  and  if  they  do  not  suit  any  one's  ideas  of  what  such  sections 
should  be,  it  is  easy  to  recompute  the  quantities  from  the  data  giveu  in  this  issue, 
either  precisely  or  approximately.  As  to  the  cost  of  the  work  per  yard,  there  has 
been  so  much  discredit,  just  and  unjust,  thrown  on  such  estimates  in  the  past,  that 
the  company  as  yet  prefer  to  maintain  an  entirely  noncommittal  attitude,  and  they 
decline  to  furnish  us  with  any  estimate  on  their  part  of  what  the  work  will  cost  per 
yard  or  in  the  aggregate,  at  least  until  the  work  has  been  actually  let.  They  say 
simply :  '*  Here  are  our  quantities ;  here  are  the  profiles  and  cross  sections  on  which 
the  quantities  are  based;  the  climatic  and  other  conditions,  so  far  as  known,  are 
thus  and  so.  Make  your  own  estimates  for  the  present  of  what  the  total  cost  will  be." 
This  privilege  we  exercise  elsewhere  to  some  extent,  but  in  the  meantime  will  merely 
note  that  Chief  Engineer  Menocal's  prices  for  the  more  important  items  in  his  esti- 
mate of  1885,  which  he  states  he  has  seen  no  reason  to  regard  as  too  low,  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

Earth  excavation per  cable  yard..  |0.40 

Earth  dredging ....do .20 

Rock  excavation ...... ... ........ ................do 1.50 

Rock  under  water ...do 5.00 

Stone  pitching,  rock  furnished do 2.00 

Concrete do....  6.00 

Stone  in  breakwater  (from  divide  cuts) do I.  .^>0 

Sheet  piling  in  place per  M.B.  M..  70.00 

Trestle  for  dumping  rock perlin.  ft..  22.00 

Clearing  and  grubbing. l)er  acre..  100.00 

This  inclades  the  main  items  of  cost.  The  total  quantities  for  the  larger  items 
are: 

Cubic  yard*. 

Earth  dredging  for  canal  (all  below  sea  level) 23, 48'J,478 

Earth  excavation  (all  earth  above  sea  level) 16,440,368 

Rock  excavation 15,008,347 

Rock  under  water 575,445 

Total  apart  from  harbor  work 55,513,638 

Cubic  yard*. 

Greytown  harbor,  dredging .. 9,  (Jrif),  460 

Brito  harbor,  dredging 5,658,898 

14,714,358 

Total  earth  and  rock  excavation 70,227,996 

Rock  fills  for  dams  and  breakwaters  (from  divide  cuts) 4,845,787 

Earth  fills  for  dams  and  breakwateis  (borrowed  from  canal  excavation)..  5, 085, 171 

Concrete  (chiefly  for  locks) 518,675 

Stone  pitching - 94,813 

Among  the  miscellaneous  items  provided  for  in  the  estimates  whose  adequacy  can 
be  most  satisfactorily  judged  by  their  aggregate  cost  are  the  following  : 

Gates  for  the  six  locks $783,242 

Two  movable  dams  or  guard  gates 600,000 

Machinery  for  locks 550,000 

Buildings  for  .locks 165,000 

Pumping;  (chiefly  for  Locks  1  and  6) 200,000 

Plant  for  lighting  and  buoying  canal 372,200 

Crib  piers  at  entrances  to  canal  (apart  from  breakwaters  included  in  rock 

fills) 783,924 

Three  swing  bridges  across  canal 60,000 

128  miles  telegraph 64,000 

Total  of  miscellaneous  items 3,578,366 

By  adding  the  total  of  the  above  list  to  the  product  of  the  above  list  of  prices  any 
one  can  determine  for  himself  what  may  be  called  the  "  visible  cost,"  and  he  will  find 
it  in  the  neighborhood  of  $55,000,000.  To  this  there  must  beyond  all  question  bt» 
added  a  very  considerable  percentage  for  hospitals,  shops,  cost  of  labor  supply,  do- 


NICAEAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  269 

lays  by  possible  epidemics.  Even  in  this  conntry  we  should  add  as  a  matter  of 
course  10  per  cent,  to  the  abore  estimate  for  "engineering  and  contingencies."  For 
this  work  there  ought  to  be  beyond  all  question  a  considerably  larger  percentage 
added,  and  there  may  be  some  question  likewise  as  to  whether  there  may  not  be  slips 
and  landslides,  etc.,  which  will  require  an  enlargement  of  the  proposed  cross-sections. 
As  to  that,  however,  we  may  say  that  there  seems  little  ehance  of  it  in  the  two  big 
rock  outs  where  alone  it  could  become  an  important  consideration. 

We  ought  to  know  absolutely  as  to  this  in  a  short  time,  when  the  borings  through 
I  he  rock  are  completed,  as  above  noted,  but  in  the  meantime  all  the  indications  are 
that  the  rock  will  hold  a  steep  slope  well.  This  we  understand  to  be  the  general 
opinion  of  all  engineers  and  contractors  who  have  examined  the  cut.  Whatever 
other  difficulties  may  arise,  there  seems  no  reasonable  chance  of  there  being  another 
case  of  a  mountain  sliding  in  as  fast  as  excavated,  the  formation  being  quite  differ- 
ent from  that  at  Panama. 

The  general  character  of  the  alignment  of  the  whole  route  is  correctly  indicated  in 
Figs.  2  and  3.  About  two-thirds  of  the  route  is  tangent  (omitting  the  lake,  which  is 
all  tangent)  and  the  remainder  easy  curves  of  4,000  to  6,000  feet  radius  for  the  most 
part.  The  sharpest  curve  is  in  the  divide  cut,  i'^  16',  or  2,528  feet  radius.  There  are 
two  or  three  other  curves  of  about  the  same  radius  in  the  river,  but  for  the  most  part 
the  river  channel  is  wide  and  straight.  The  precise  alignment  of  the  sailing  line  is 
not  yet  regarded  as  absolutely  fixed  ;  therefore,  we  do  not  give  a  complete  table  of 
alignment.  A  new  alignment  has  recently  been  shown  to  be  possible  for  the  great 
divide  cut,  shown  by  the  dotted  line  A  in  Fig.  3,  which  not  only  saves  distance  and 
curvature  but  saves  about  1,000,000  cnbic  yards  of  rock  excavation  included  in  the 
above  quantities. 

After  the  completion  of  the  chief  engineer's  report  and  estimate,  an  advisory  board 
to  report  on  the  practicability  and  cost  of  the  canal,  as  proposed  by  the  chief  engineer, 
was  appointed  as  noted  in  our  issue  of  Jan.  26,  the  board  consisting  of  John  Bogart, 
E.  D.  T.  Myers,  C.  T.  Harvey,  H.  A.  Hitchcock,  and  A.  M.  Wellington.  This  board 
reported  some  time  ago,  but  the  company  is  not  yet  ready  to  give  out  the  text  of  their 
report  for  publication  for  the  reason  above  noted,  that  they  do  not  desire  as  yet  to 
commit  themselves  even  by  implication  to  any  estimate  of  cost  whatever,  confining 
themselves  simply  to  presentation  of  quantities,  and  other  controlling  conditions. 

As  for  the  two  important  and  in  a  measure  controlling  conditions  of  climate  and 
labor  supply,  we  understand  that  the  latter  is  not  likely  to  be  a  very  serious  diffi- 
culty. Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  work,  as  above  and  below  outlined,  the  number 
of  eraploy6s  required  will  not  be  at  all  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work, 
since  a  very  large  part  of  it  will  be  executed  by  machinery.  All  the  earth  excava- 
tion may  be  classed  as  dredging,  since  it  will  all  be  executed  by  dredging  machinery, 
and  this  accounts  for  nearly  55,000,000  out  of  the  70,000,000  cubic  yards  of  excava- 
tion. For  this  very  few  men  will  be  required.  The  500,000  yards  of  concrete  will 
also  be  mixed  by  machinery  and  require  labor  in  any  amount  for  ramming  only.  The 
15,600,000  cubic  yards  of  rock  is,  most  of  it  (14,000,000  cnbic  yards),  in  the  two  great 
divide  cuts,  and  will  be  drilled  and  hauled  by  machinery,  requiring  labor  in  large 
amount  for  loading  only.  Here,  however,  will  be  the  greatest  demand  for  labor,  and 
possibly  10,000  men  may  be  required  on  these  two  cuts  alone.  The  dams  and  embank- 
ments are  now  to  be  all  rock  fills,  and  not  built  of  concrete,  as  heretofore  proposed, 
the  suggestions  of  this  journal  in  favor  of  so  constructing  the  dams,  made  in  its  issue 
of  July  28,  1888,  having  been  adopted  by  the  company,  thus  greatly  simplifying  that 
important  part  of  the  work.  All  the  skilled  labor  which  will  now  be  required  for  the 
dams  will  be  only  for  a  little  sheet  piling  and  trestle  work. 

It  appears  to  be  generally  admitted  that  Jamaica  negroes  will  furnish  the  bulk  of 
the  labor,  and  that  10,000  to  15,000  can  be  readily  obtained  from  that  island  alone  at 
$1  per  day,  more  or  less.  With  the  miscellaneous  thousands  who  are  quite  sure  to 
flock  to  the  work  from  all  the  other  surrounding  countries  and  islands,  this  ought  to 
make  the  question  of  labor  supply  a  comparatively  simple  one ;  provided  no  long-con- 
tinued epidemics  occur  to  drive  away  labor. 

In  respect  to  the  question  of  health  and  climate,  all  accounts  concur  that  the 
entire  route  is  now  and  always  has  been  free  from  dangerous  epidemic  diseases,  and 
from  frequent  epidemics  as  well.  Like  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  Greytown  has 
had  epidemics  of  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  but  the  last  was  some  twenty  years  or 
more  ago.  In  regard  to  the  western  coast,  on  which  over  a  third  of  the  work  is  sit- 
uated, there  does  not  seem  to  be  the  slightest  ground  for  any  anxiety  as  to  health  con- 
ditions. The  climate  is  warm  throughout  the  year,  and  hence  somewhat  debilitating 
for  whites,  but  the  rainfall  is  moderate,  and  there  is  rather  less  cause  for  anxiety  than 
there  would  be  for  summer  work  in  Texas,  a  great  ameliorating  influence  being  the 
brisk  trade  winds,  which  blow  uniformly  from  the  east  over  the  entire  length  of  the 
canal,  and  make  the  nights  cool  and  comfortable.  The  importance  of  this  advantage 
over  Panama,  where  this  trade  wind  is  wholly  absent,  can  hardly  be  exaggerated. 

On  the  eastern  division  there  is  a  great  deal  of  rain ;  about  as  mnch  as  at  Panama, 
or  a  decided  wetness  throughout  most  of  the  year.  There  is  also  not  a  little  cdlentura 
(the  Spanish  name  for  intermittent  fever)  which  in  tropical  regiona  is  at   time'*  m 


270 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


aerioQB  and  fatal  disease.  But  with  proper  oare  and  caation,  and  ayoidanoe  of  all  use 
of  stimulants  except  a  small  dose  at  night  after  work,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
difficulty  in  keeping  in  good  health  ooutinuously  in  eastern  Nicaragua.  According 
to  a  great  variety  of  independent  information  which  has  come  to  us  from  time  to 
time,  the  great  aud  only  essential  for  health  along  the  coast  in  strict  attention  to 
hygiene.  Yellow  fever  has  never  existed  continaonsly  in  Greytown,  as  it  does  in 
Havana  and  Vera  Crnz.  It  may  possibly  become  endemic  during  construction  unless 
careful  sanitary  precautions  are  taken,  because  the  town  will  be  likely  to  have  a 
mushroom  growth  to  a  considerable  size;  but  the  company,  with  eminent  foresight 
and  wisdom,  are  now  laying  pipes  to  supply  abundant  pure  water,  and  purpose 
sewering  the  town  also,  we  are  informed,  as  soon  as  its  growth  begins. 

A  most  important  consideration  in  respect  to  this  question,  moreover,  is  this:  The 
general  character  of  the  coast  ia  a  broad,  low  coast  dat,  through  which  the  dredging 
occors,  ending  in  an  abrupt  escarpment,  in  the  lowest  point  of  which  the  "  great 
divide  cnt "  occnrs,  the  main  crest  in  the  vicinity  being  upwards  of  500  feet  high, 
and  directly  exposed  to  the  trade  winds.  It  is  at  this  cut  that  the  bulk  of  the  labor- 
ing force  is  required.  As  the  work  will  last  four  or  five  years  at  least,  the  camp  may 
be  permanent,  and  the  conditions  of  insuring  health  in  a  great  permanent  camp 
exposed  to  the  direct  blast  of  the  trade  wind  and  with  an  abundant  supply  of  pure, 
oold  water,  would  seem  to  be  unusually  favorable.  That  they  are  so,  and  that  health 
might  be  maintained  in  snch  a  camp  by  strict  policing,  even  if  epidemics  were 
raging  in  Grey  town,  seems  to  be  the  general  opinion  of  those  who  ought  to  know. 
There  is  no  use  disguising  the  fact,  however,  that  there  will  be  danger  of  sickness  at 
Greytown  when  the  inevitable  host  of  camp  followers  occupies  it,  unless,  as  ought 
to  be  done,  the  whole  town  can  be  put  and  kept  under  mart^l  law. 

It  is  proposed  to  construct  35  miles  of  railway  on  the  eastern  division,  from  Grey- 
town  to  the  Ochoa  dam,  and  18  miles  on  the  western  divisicui,  from  the  Pacific  to  the 
Lake.  It  is  now  under  consideration,  however,  whether  the  10  miles  of  railway 
between  Greytown  and  Lock  No.  1  can  not  be  saved,  starting  the  railway  from  the 
latter  point,  and  using  east  of  it  the  natural  chain  of  water  communication  shown 
on  Fig.  3,  improved  a  little  at  points,  until  a  channel  can  be  excavated  through  to 
the  same  point  by  the  first  cut  of  the  dredges.  In  that  case,  the  breakwaters  at 
Greytown  would  be  built  by  deposit  of  stone  from  scows  instead  of  from  railway 
cars.  We  can  not  see  why  the  suggestion  is  not  a  good  one. 

The  dimensions  proposed  for  the  locks  are  650  feet  long  by  70  feet  wide  (increased 
this  year  from  65  feet)  by  28  feet  deep.  The  chamber  width  of  the  locks  will  be  80 
feet.  The  Sault  Ste.  Marie  lock,  the  largest  yet  built  in  the  world,  is  515  feet  by  80 
feet  by  17  feet  on  miter  sills,  or  16  feet  draught.  The  new  lock  now  building  will  be 
800  feet  by  10*)  feet  by  21  feet,  on  miter  sills,  but  this  great  size  is  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  letting  through  several  vessels  at  once.  The  main  dimensions  of  the  largest 
ocean  steamers  are  as  follows : 


Etmria 

and 
Umbria. 


City  of  New 
York  and 

City 
of  Pari*. 


Tentonie 

and 
Miy'eatie. 


Length.......... 

Breadth 

Depth  bold 

Draaght  (abont) 


601.6 
67.3 
38.2 
27 


6S6 

03.2 
42 

27-1- 


682 
67.6 
89.2 

27-f 


The  above  draughts  is  about  all  these  vessels  can  draw  to  enter  New  York;  the 
"  Plimpsol  mark  "  is  somewhat  higher. 

The  above  seems  all  the  data  which  it  is  necessary  to  give,  in  addition  to  that 
given  in  our  issue  of  July  14,  1888,  and  in  the  following  article.  This  is  certainly 
the  most  important  engineering  project  now  before  the  world,  and  we  can  not  doubt 
will  be  triumphantly  carried  through  to  completion.  Had  the  project  in  its  present 
shape  ^een  before  the  Lesseps  congress  of  1879,  it  can  no^  reasonably  be  donbted  that 
even  that  most  prejudiced  body  would  have  adopted  it  nem.  con.,  as  it  is  from  every 
point  of  view  so  vastly  superior  to  that  at  Panama,  and  the  Nicaragua  Canal  would 
now  be  open  to  the  world ;  but,  unfortunately,  there  was  only  the  old  survey  of  1872-'73, 
ixdjh  its  20  locks,  4  dams  of  the  Sau  Juau,  6^  miles  of  extra  distance,  and  49  instead 
oi27  miles  of  canal  excavation  tr)  lay  before  that  body. 

Preliminary  work  has  been  now  for  some  weeks  in  progress  on  the  canal,  mainly 
in  the  way  of  getting  the  camps  establiRhed ;  water  pipes  to  supply  Greytown  laid  ; 
railway  located  and  right  of  way  cleared;  deep  drillings  made  through  the  rock 
cut;  harbor  works  at  Greytown  started,  etc.  No  contracts  have  as  yet  been  let, but 
negotiations  are  in  progress  with  several  parties.  When  the  contracts  are  let  they 
will  probably  be  very  large  ones,  to  three  or  four  parties  only.  We  understand  that 
the  question  of  raising  the  money  ia  now  regarded  as  merely  one  of  detail^  not  of  dif- 
ftcolty. 


HICAEAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY.  271 


Appendix  F. 


THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL. 
(From  the  Odlifomia  Bcmker's  Magazine,  October,  189Q.] 

The  active  and  successful  prosecution  of  work  on  the  interoceanic  waterway 
through  Nicaragua  is  a  matter  of  such  vital  importance  to  the  Pacific  coast  that  it 
should  receive  the  cordial  support  of  all  our  people.  Like  all  great  works  of  this 
character^  however,  the  far-reaching  results  are  little  considered  by  those  whose  in- 
terests will  be  the  most  affected. 

When  the  subject  was  first  introduced  to  the  people  of  this  coast  in  1880  the  grow- 
ing interest  of  agriculturists  was  met  by  the  assertion  that  the  railways  would  furnish 
all  the  necessary  transportation  for  wheat  to  Atlantic  ports,  whence  it  could  be 
cheaply  carried  to  Europe  by  sea.  The  promise  was  not  fulfilled,  and  the  Cape  Horn 
route  still  controls  the  Pacific  coast  wheat  trade,  which  is  as  much  a  gamble  as  any 
hazardous  game  of  chance  can  be.  Ships  are  now  generally  chartered  and  loaded  by 
one  party ;  the  cargo  is  purchased,  loaded,  insured,  and  sails  on  its  voyage  of  four  to 
four  and  a  half  months  of /ree  storage,  during  which  time  it  must  be  disposed  of,  fre- 
quently at  a  loss,  unless,  as  a  last  resort,  consigned  to  an  European  firm,  in  which 
case  commissions  and  the  usual  multiplicity  of  charges  generally  make  a  heavy  loss 
to  the  shipper.  The  market  here,  under  normal  conditions,  follows  the  English 
market  so  closely  that  it  is  seldom  that  a  cargo  just  loaded  shows  any  profit  with 
charges  added ;  often  on  the  day  of  sailing  it  shows  a  loss,  and  becomes  a  gamble, 
with  chances  against  the  shipper.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  fortunes  have  been  lost 
her©  in  the  export  wheat  trade,  while  none  have  been  made.  It  is  not  in  the  pre- 
science of  humanity  to  foresee  the  future ;  to  correctly  forecast  the  rainfall  and 
weather  months  in  advance,  and  to  correctly  gauge  crops  at  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe  not  yet  planted;  it  becomes  a  gamble  against  the  forces  of  nature.  Such  has 
been  the  Pacific  coast  export  wheat  trade ;  such  it  will  cease  to  be  the  day  the  canal 
is  open ! 

The  time  for  transportation  will  be  reduced  to  twenty-five  days'  easy  steaming,  and 
the  distance  decreased  by  10,000  miles.  Wheat  will  be  shipped  as  other  merchandise, 
In  any  quantity,  from  5  tons  to  5,000,  already  sold  by  wire,  or  consigned  with  a  mar- 
gin already  ascertained,  with  a  delivery  practically  assured  within  a  day  or  two.  It 
will  become  a  mercantile  transaction  on  comparatively  assured  profit,  however  small, 
the  gambling  element  almost  entirely  eliminated.  The  producer  of  small  or  large 
quantity  can  ship  his  own  product,  if  he  wishes,  as  ocean  steamers  will  be  always 
ready  to  receive  it,  or  any  other  freight,  in  any  quantity.  Ocean  transportation  is  the 
cheapest  fcnown  to  commerce,  comparing  with  average  railway  transportation  as  one  to 
five  in  cost,  and  the  ocean  is  free  to  aU;  admitting  of  no  pools  or  combinations.  It 
is  God's  great  highway — nature's  anti-monopoly  route,  a  road  that  never  wears  out  I 

"  Not  so  thou ; 
TJnchangeahle  save  to  thy  wild  waves  play 
Time  writes  no  wrinkle  on  thine  aznre  brow  : 
Sach,  as  creation's  dawn  beheld,  thou  rollest  now  I" 

One  large  ship  can  carry  a  cargo  equal  to  twenty  railway  trains  of  ten  cars  each. 
The  completion  of  the  canal  will  open  the  markets  of  northern  Europe  to  California 
fruits  and  garden  products,  by  the  use  o'f  steamship  refrigerators.  A  temperature  of 
38°  to  40°  Fahr.  will  prevent  decay  in  fruit  indefinitely,  if  the  cold  atmosphere  be 
devoid  of  moisture.  Fresh  meats  have  been,  for  a  few  years,  successfully  transported 
in  this  manner  from  Australia  and  New  Zealand  to  Europe.  The  transportations  of 
meats  in  refrigerators  on  sea  voyages  requires  a  teioperature  about  26°  Fahr.,  which 
is  a  much  more  severe  test  than  will  be  required  in  transporting  fruit.  The  past 
season  has  opened  the  Eastern  market  to  our  horticulturists,  and  they  can  fully  ap- 


272  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

predate  the  still  frreater  advantages  of  a  market  in  northern  Europe  for  their  ^apea, 
pears,  peaches,  plums,  oranges;  all  the  varied  products  of  the  orchard  and  the  farm; 
arriving  tbcre  during  a  portion  of  the  year  at  a  time  when  local  products  of  this 
character  are  not  to  be  pnrchased  at  any  price.  With  such  a  demand  added  to  our 
domestic  market,  overproduction  will  be  impossible. 

Tbe  export  lumber  trade  of  the  northwest  coast  will  be  vastly  increased  by  the  water- 
way through  Nicaragua.  Already  occasional  cargoes  are  sent  via  Cape  Horn  to  Eu- 
rope, and  via  cars  to  the  eastern  seaboard.  But  when  lumber  can  bo  freighted  at 
materially  decreased  cost,  and  in  one-tifth  the  time,  the  trade  will  rapidly  grow  in 
importance.  Europe  and  our  Eastern  seaboard  is  mostly  denuded  of  timber,  and  the 
demand  will  steadily  augment  at  improving  prices.  Tbe  States  of  Washington  and 
Oregon,  as  well  as  the  Territory  of  Alaska,  will  in  this  trade  promptly  realize  the 
benefit  of  the  new  commercial  route. 

The  trade  of  India,  China,  and  Japan  can  not  fail  to  be  greatly  affected.  The  Suez 
route  will  no  longer  be  able  to  supply  our  Atlantic  ports  with  tea,  silks,  etc.,  the 
route  across  the  Pacific  and  via  Nicaragua  being  three  days'  shorter  steaming  dis- 
tance, under  much  more  favorable  conditions  as  regards  navigation,  with  Honolula 
as  a  port  of  call  and  coaling  station.  The  mistaken  policy  of  making  our  Pacific  coast 
ports  tcay  stations  aud  New  York  the  main  distributing  poiul  must  then  be  discarded, 
and  distribution /rom  the  Pacific  coast  eastward  will  be  the  aim  of  railway  companies 
with  terminals  at  Pacific  ports.  Tbe  diversion  of  this  trade  need  not  be  feared  at 
San  Francisco,  and  the  conditions  connected  therewith,  now  imposed  upon  us  by  the 
present  railway  policy,  can  not  well  be  made  worse,  as  under  them  we  have  been 
gradually  losing  the  trade  of  China  and  Japan,  which  properly  belongs  to  us  by  ge- 
ographical position. 

The  territory  in  northwestern  America  tributary  to  the  canal  will  extend  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  and  eastward  to  the  100°  meridian.  For  five  months  in  the  year  water 
communication  eastward  from  the  interior  of  the  great  northwest  is  cut  off  by  frozen 
laAies,  rivers,  and  canals.  During  this  period,  instead  of  yearly  awaiting  the  open- 
ing of  navigation,  transportation  to  the  Pacific  coast  will  solve  the  question  of  time 
and  interest,  with  the  assistance  of  the  open  waterway  through  Nicaragua  to  Atlan- 
tic ports.  This  alone  will  more  than  compensate  our  Western  railway  systems  for  any 
diversion  of  trade  caused  by  the  canal,  and,  with  the  adoption  of  the  policy  of  dis- 
tribution eastward  from  Pacific  coast  posts,  will  materially  improve  their  earning 
capacity,  independent  of  the  rapid  development  of  the  Pacific  coast  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  new  waterway. 

The  fisheries  of  the  Pacific  coast,  now  in  their  infancy,  will  add  to  the  revenues 
of  the  canal,  and  greatly  increase  our  shipping  interests.  Already  the  attention  of 
parties  engaged  in  this  industry  on  the  Atlantic  coast  has  been  attracted  to  this 
new  field,  and  when  they  can  place  their  vessels  on  the  fishing  ground  in  a  compara- 
tively short  voyage,  and  return  cargoes  unbroken  in  bulk,  there  will  be  inducement 
for  a  large  and  remunerative  business.  We  have  considered  thus  far  only  the  commer- 
cial advantages  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal ;  much  more  might  be  written  on  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  but  the  limits  of  this  paper  forbidding,  we  must  pass  on  to  the  consid- 
eration of  political  conditions. 

The  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  under  present  auspices  will  secure  the 
domination  of  the  United  States  over  the  American  Continent,  politically  as  well  as 
commercially.  The  position  of  Lake  Nicaragua  is  unique ;  Gibraltar  is  not  a  circum- 
stance to  it  in  importance.  A  naval  station  on  this  inland  sea,  with  fortified  termini 
and  an  efficient  fleet,  will  control  the  Atlantic  eastward  to  the  Wiiulward  Islands  of 
the  West  Indies  and  westward  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Samoa.  On  its  fresh 
waters  iron-clads  can  lay  without  diminished  speed  caused  by  foul  bottoms,  with 
fresh  water  for  boilers,  in  a  delightful  climate,  splendid  harbors,  surrounded  by  a 
territory  producing  maintenance  for  the  personnel  of  fleets  and  armies.  The  nation 
that,  with  the  Nicaraguan  Government  on  a  joint  agreement,  controls  Lake  Nicaragua  will 
then  control  the  destiny  of  the  Western  Hemisphere;  it  will  be,  in  fact,  a  constant 
assertion  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  securing  respect  for  its  requirements  by  the  peacea- 
ble possession  of  power  to  assert  them.  The  foreign  policy  of  our  country  will  be- 
come of  greater  importance  every  year.  A  nation  of  65,000,000  can  not  ignore,  at 
this  age,  its  national  responsibilities  and  maintain  its  self-respect.  Tbe  protection 
of  its  citizens  and  their  property  abroad  is  as  much  a  duty  as  government  at  home. 
In  vain  may  we  send  out  com  missions  to  seek  ontlet«for  our  products  and  manufac- 
tures if  we  do  not  propose  to  follow  them  with  our  national  protection.  The  public 
demand  for  a  modem  navy  indicates  the  will  of  our  countrymen  on  this  momentous 
question. 

One  great  advantage  possessed  by  the  Nicaraguan  Canal  over  any  other  project 
of  the  kind  is  the  fertility  and  resources  of  the  territory  through  which  it  passes. 
The  Suez  Canal  has  a  sandy  desert  on  each  side  ;  the  Panama  Isthmus  is  a  region  of 
floods  without  local  resources,  but  Nicaragua  is  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  world. 
Witli  a  climate  tempered  by  the  northeast  trades,  which,  in  this  favored  region,  blow 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  273 

perennially  across  the  Republic,  with  a  fertile  soil,  assured  rainfall,  and  internal  wa- 
ter communication,  we  shall  there  see  a  development  of  resources  shortly  after  the 
canal  is  opened  which  will  alone  pay  the  cost  of  its  maintenance,  and  aid  in  its  in- 
creasing dividends.  Coffee,  sugar,  cochineal,  indigo,  the  finest  cocoa  in  the  world, 
India  rubber,  cotton,  and  all  the  tropical  fruits  are  among  its  productions,  while  a 
large  part  of  the  Republic  is  covered  with  valuable  forests  of  mahogany,  cedar, 
grenadilla,  black  walnut,  ebony,  and  various  dye  woods.  In  the  eastern  department, 
bordering  the  lakes,  are  found  rich  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  some  of  which  have 
been  worked  for  years,  mostly  by  European  capital.  When  Lake  Managua  has  been 
connected  with  Lake  Nicaragua  by  the  short  canal  provided  for,  and  all  this  fertile 
region  is  connected  by  water  communication,  supplemented  by  railroads,  it  needs  no 
prophet  to  predict  the  development  which  will  ensue  on  ibis  highway  of  the  world's 
commerce.  It  would  demand  a  canal  on  its  local  conditions,  aside  from  its  character 
as  an  interoceanic  highway. 

What  can  be  expected  from  the  canal  financially  t  This  fundamental  question  is 
worthy  of  critical  investigation. 

The  character  of  the  work,  with  its  twenty-eight  miles  of  canal  in  excavation  on 
the  surface,  with  its  easily-solved  engineering  problems,  the  most  difficult  of  which 
(the  restoration  of  the  harbor  at  San  Juan  del  Norte)  is  already  partially  solved, 
permit  us  to  predict  that  its  limit  of  cost  can  be  assured  with  reasonable  certainty. 
The  several  surveys  have  been  exhaustive  and  satisfactory,  and  the  borings  have 
furnished  the  necessary  information  as  to  material  to  be  excavated.  With  this 
abundant  data,  the  engineer's  estimate  is  $64,043,697,  exclusive  of  interest  during 
construction  and  banker's  commissions.  The  careful  report  of  the  canal  committee 
of  the  board  of  trade  of  San  Francisco  (of  which  the  writer  had  the  honor  to  be 
chairman)  in  1880,  places  the  estimate  of  possible  cost  at  $100,000,000,  and  we  now 
see  no  reason  for  increasing  this  except  for  the  substitution  of  larger  locks,  which  it  ia 
now  proposed  to  increase  to  the  following  dimensions :  1,000  feet  long,  100  feet  wide, 
and  30  feet  deep,  which  will  enable  two  to  four  vessels  to  pass  through  at  one  lock- 
age. The  estimated  tonnage  by  the  report  of  1860,  alluded  to,  was  5,000,000  tons 
per  annum.  Subsequent  developments  assure  us  of  6,000,000  tons  before  the  canal 
can  be  completed  in  lb97.  At  $2.50  per  ton  toll  (about  the  same  as  now  charged  at 
Suez),  this  will  make  an  annual  revenue  of  $15,000,000,  from  which,  deducting  the 
liberal  estimate  of  $1,000,000  per  annum  for  operating  expenses  and  repairs,  leaves 
a  net  revenue  of  14  per  cent,  per  annum.  Even  if  the  cost  bo  increased  to 
$150,000,000,  wo  have  a  net  revenue  per  annum  of  ^i  per  cent.  The  Suez  Canal,  cost- 
ing $94,000,000,  has  returned  larger  dividends  than  these,  and  is  still  increasing. 
These  estimates  do  not  include  the  local  traffic,  which  would  rapidly  develop  into 
larger  proportions,  or  the  passenger  traffic,  which  would  be  large,  for  a  trip  through 
the  Nicaragua  Canal  will  become  a  favorite  recreation,  owing  to  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery  and  the  climate  of  the  lake  region.  There  is  not  a  doubt  that  the  property 
would  start  out  on  a  paying  basis,  and  rapidly  develop  into  one  of  the  best-paying 
investments  in  the  world;  ultimately  better  than  the  Suez  Canal,  which  served  to 
divert  a  commerce  already  developed,  while  the  American  Canal  has  all  the  possibil- 
ities of  an  equal  traffic,  with  illimitable  development  in  the  future. 

The  lockage  question  is  one  of  interest  to  students  of  this  subject,  and  I  may  be  per- 
mitted in  this  connection  to  quote  from  the  recent  report  of  Charles  T.  Harvey,  C.  E., 
regarding  the  operation  of  the  lock  canal  at  Sault  San  Marie,  between  Lake  Superior 
and  Ontario.  This  work  shows  the  following  comparison  with  the  Suez  Canal  (water 
level)  in  the  year  1889 : 

Tons 
freight. 

Lako  Superior  canal  lockages 
Saez  Canal  passages 

Total 1,259        709,168 

The  American  lake  canal  with  lock  has  thus  exceeded  the  Suez  Canal,  in  1889,  33 
per  cent  in  voyages  and  10  per  cent  in  freight,  and,  therefore,  ranks  first  as  to  commerce 
among  the  world's  artificial  water  ways.  And  this  was  done  in  seven  months'  day  and 
night  work,  against  the  twelve  months  at  Suez,  the  American  work  having  been 
blocked  by  ice  during  five  months  of  the  year,  approximately. 

Wby  this  enormous  development  of  tonnage,  except  that  it  is  unapproachably 
cheaper  than  land  carriage  can  ever  be?  Eleven  minutes  fills  the  lock  and  eight 
minutes  discharges  it;  87  vessels  have  been  passed  through  daily.  On  this  showing 
the  capacity  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  with  one  set  of  locks  maybe  placed  at  14,000,000 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt4 18 


274  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

tons  per  annnm,  which  can  be  doubled  by  duplicating  locks,  as  the  wat«r  used  for 
lockage  with  one  set  of  locks  is  only  10  per  cent  of  that  now  being  discharged  by  the 
Rio  San  Juan  at  ordinary  lake  level,  without  regard  to  rainfall  and  without  lower- 
ing the  lake  level.  The  expense  of  operating  locks  is  well  attested  by  the  Lake  Su- 
perior Canal,  where  nearly  S,000,000  tons  were  lock-lifted  in  1889  at  an  expense 
of  $36,000,  making  a  rate  o{ four-tenths  of  a  mill  per  ton.  The  liability  to  accident  is 
illustrated  by  the  experience  of  a  third  of  a  century  at  the  same  water  way'.  The  lock 
gates  are  operated  by  hydraulic  power  and  guard  gates  are  placed  at  a  proper  dis- 
tance, to  be  used  when  necessary.  Occasionally  minor  accidents  have  occurred  at  the 
entrance  of  the  lock,  but  nothing  that  materially  interfered  with  tratSc.  Alluding 
to  the  work  of  the  Lake  Superior  Canal  Mr.  Harvey  writes :  "  I  have  seen  fifteen  steam- 
ers, some  of  3,000  tons,  as  passed,  passing,  or  wailing  to  pass  tlie  locks,  and  within  one 
hour  all  had  disappeared  on  their  respective  voyages."  1  may  conclude  these  observ- 
ations on  locks  by  quoting  from  the  report  of  the  board  of  trade  of  San  Francisco, 
published  in  1880,  before  alluded  to:  "We  see  no  reason  why  the  philosophy  that 
nature  teaches  should  not  be  made  use  of  to  conquer  the  obstacles  that  nature  places 
before  us;  and  we  claim  that  it  is  better  and  more  reasonable  to  carry  a  ship  over  a 
snmmit  by  means  of  lift  loeks  than  to  build  a  sea  level  canal  at  an  incalculably  in- 
creased cost." 

The  Nicaragua  Canal,  supplemented  by  increased  facilities  for  distribution  by  rail, 
is  the  great  need  of  San  Francisco  and  other  Pacific  coast  ports.  It  will  certainly 
change  the  highways  of  commercial  transportation  ;  but,  where  a  temporary  injury 
is  intlicted,a  three-fold  compensation  comes  with  the  atljustment  of  the  new  conditions. 
Our  coast,  our  country,  and  the  world  are  ready  for  this  great  and  beneficent  enter- 
prise. It  will  be  a  prosperous  day  for  San  Francisco  when  its  wharves  are  crowded 
with  ocean  steamers  wMch  have  passed  "the  Gate  of  the  Pacific,"  and  through  the 
Golden  Gate  to  our  commercial  metropolis.  The  ocean — God's  great  highway — will  be 
open  to  us,  with  a  reduction  in  distance  of  10,000  miles  to  European  and  Atlantic 
seaports — two-thirds  of  the  navigable  distance  discarded  forever — nearly  one-half  of 
the  earth's  circumference.  The  American  flag  restored  to  the  oc^an  ;  American  sea- 
men ready  to  defend  their  country  abroad ;  increased  markets  for  our  producers ;  in- 
creased business  for  our  merchants;  increased  values  for  our  land  owners;  all  these, 
with  increased  prestige  and  political  influence  to  the  great  Republic  will  follow  the 
opening  of  this  ocean  highway.  Before  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  this  will 
have  been  accomplished,  marking  another  epoch  in  the  commercial  history  of  the 
world;  a  monmnont  to  American  energy  and  a benison  to  mankind. 

William  L.  Mkrbt. 


HICAKAUUA   CA^Al.    UUMi'AiiY,  275 


Appendix  G. 

mcaeagua  canal  construction  company, 
report  on  pinal  location  op  the  canal, 

fBy  A.  Qt.  Mbnocal,  Ohief  Engineer i 

Nbw  York,  January  31,  1889. 
To  the  President  and  Board  of  Direetort  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company: 

Gentlemen:  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  report  of  the  results  of  the 
final  surveys  for  the  location  of  the  canal  through  the  territory  of  the  Republic  of 
Nicaragua  and  in  that  of  Costa  Rica,  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company 
nnder  contract  with,  and  on  account  of,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association. 

These  surveys  were  commenced  in  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  December,  1887, 
and  were  conducted  with  marked  ability  and  uniform  devotion  to  duty  by  eight  well 
equipped  parties,  supplemented  by  a  well-organized  and  efficient  medical  department 
and  the  necessary  force  of  draughtsmen,  artists,  clerks,  stenographers,  and  other 
subordinate  assistants. 

The  eight  parties  comprising  the  regular  field  working  force  were  divided  as  fol- 
lows: 

Six  land  surveying  parties,  each  composed  of  one  engineer  in  charge,  four  assistants, 
and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  laborers. 

One  hydrographic  party  with  one  engineer  in  charge,  three  assistants  and  ten  men. 

One  boring  party  in  charge  of  an  engineer,  with  ten  laborers. 

In  addition  to  this  permanent  force,  two  or  three  smaller  pai-ties,  each  composed  of 
one  or  two  engineers  and  a  sufficient  number  of  assistants  and  laborers,  were  con- 
stantly employed  in  carrying  out  local  surveys  and  reconnaissances,  either  in  advance 
of  the  locating  force  or  supplementing  the  location  by  local  detailed  surveys  at 
places  where  additional  information  was  regarded  as  necessary  for  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  complicated  topography. 

This  large  and  efficient  force  was  kept  constantly  employed  from  the  15th  of  Decem- 
ber until  the  latter  part  of  June,  when  the  advanced  state  of  the  work  made  neces- 
sary a  reduction  in  the  number  of  employes.  In  fact,  at  this  time  the  canal  had 
been  located  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  but  little  information,  and  this  not 
essential  to  the  solution  of  the  problem,  but  desirable  only  in  order  to  arrive  at  the 
degree  of  accuracy  prescribed  by  the  company,  remained  to  be  obtained.  Some  of 
the  engineers  were  then  ordered  to  the  company's  office  in  New  York,  to  be  engaged 
in  plotting  and  developing,  in  a  comprehensive  and  concise  form,  the  results  of  the 
field  operations.  The  field  working  force  was  reduced  to  three  surveying  parties  and 
the  boring  party,  which  force  has  been  actively  at  work  and  is  still  engaged  in  mak- 
ing local  surveys,  cross-sectioning  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canal  work,  locating  the 
flowage  line  in  the  San  Francisco  Basin  and  in  the  valley  of  the  river  San  Carlos, 
and  surveying  for  a  canal  between  Lakes  Managua  and  Nicaragua. 

The  work  accomplished  to  the  present  time  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

First.  Location  of  the  canal  from  the  Pacific  to  Lake  Nicaragua,  with  numerous 
cross-sections  and  the  survey  of  the  flowage  line  in  the  proposed  basin  in  the  valleys 
of  the  rivers  Grande  and  Tola.  Through  these  valleys  two  locations  have  been  made, 
one  for  a  canal  in  excavation  throughout  and  the  other  for  a  canal  partly  through  a 
deep  basin.  Both  have  been  located  with  the  same  care  and  attention  to  detail. 
The  estimate  submitted  with  this  report  is  based  on  the  latter  plan. 

The  proposed  flooded  area  contaius  over  4,000  acres  of  grazing  land,  and  the  rela- 
tive cost  of  the  two  methods  of  caualization  can  only  be  ascertained  after  this  land 
has  been  legally  condemned.  Borings  have  been  made  at  numerous  points  along  the 
tXfUte,  including  the  basin,  the  curves  having  been  actually  located  oh  the  ground 


276  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

and  detailed  ■nrreys  for  artificial  draina,  embaQkmeats,  and  weirs,  and  of  the  sites  of 
tho  locka,  etc.,  having  been  elaborated  for  both  plans,  there  need  be  no  delay  in  the 
progress  of  the  work  when  a  final  decision  is  reached. 

^cond.  The  hydrographic  party  has  completed  the  survey  of  the  harbor  of  Brito, 
of  the  west  coast  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  month  of  the  river  Lajas, 
of  the  east  coast  of  the  lake  at  Fort  San  Carlos,  several  local  surveys  in  the  river 
San  Jnan,  and  the  survey  of  Qreytown  and  adjacent  coast  and  lagoons.  These  sur- 
veys have  been  carried  out  with  remarkable  skill  and  accuracy  and  very  much  in 
detail.  In  the  lake  the  soundings  have  been  carried  out  beyond  the  40-foot  contour, 
and  offshore  at  Brito  and  Greytown  to  the  9-fathom  line.  In  the  inner  harbors 
and  in  the  rivers  in  the  vicinity  thereof  the  exact  contour  of  the  bottom  can  be  de- 
termined by  the  numerous  soundings  taken.  Observations  for  determining  the  car- 
rents,  both  inside  and  outside  the  harbors,  for  the  direction  of  the  winds,  and  for  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  tide,  have  also  been  taken.  All  this  comprises  a  mass  of  most 
valuable  data,  which  has  been  used  to  great  advantage  in  designing  the  necessary 
work  for  the  improvement  of  the  harbors  and  in  estimating  the  amonnt  and  cost  of 
the  dredging  required  therein. 

Third.  Local  surveys  have  been  made  in  the  river  San  Juan  at  all  places  where  the 
data  on  hand  were  deemed  insufficient  for  a  close  estimate  of  the  amount  and  cost  of 
excavation  needed,  or  to  determine  with  reasonable  precision  the  difficulties  likely  to 
be  encountered  in  the  construction  of  dams,  embankments,  or  other  works  entering 
as  important  factors  in  the  general  scheme. 

Fourth.  The  river  San  Carlos  has  been  surveyed  from  its  confluence  with  the  San 
Juan  to  a  point  about  3  miles  above  its  tributary  "Tres  Amigos,"  where  the  con- 
tour 106  feet  above  sea  level  was  reached.  From  that  point  this  lOG  feet  contour  has 
been  instrumentally  located,  east  of  the  main  river,  and  up  both  banks  of  all  it«  trib- 
utaries coming  from  that  side,  following  all  the  sinuosities  in  the  expansions  and  con- 
tractions of  the  valley  until  Ochoa  was  reached,  at  the  south  abutment  of  the  pro- 
posed dam  across  the  river  San  Juan,  thus  establishing,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  practi- 
cability, at  a  comparatively  small  cost,  of  impounding  the  waters  of  the  San  Carlos 
at  the  elevation  of  106  feet  above  sea  level,  as  raised  by  the  proposed  dam  at  Ochoa. 

Fifth.  The  survey  of  that  region  from  the  valley  of  the  Machado  above  the  site  of 
the  dam  at  Ochoa  to  Greytown  has  been  the  subject  of  much  labor  and  serious  con* 
sideration,  and  has  consumed  much  time,  and  not  less  than  four-fifths  of  the  labor  of 
the  expedition.  The  primeval  condition  of  the  country,  covered  as  it  is  with  dense 
vegetation  and  high  forest  growth,  through  which  no  extended  view  can  be  obtained 
from  any  point,  of  itself  renders  an  accurate  knowledge  of  its  topographical  features 
both  laborious  and  difficult  to  obtain  ;  but  if  I  add  to  this  the  absolute  want  of  means 
of  communication  except  by  canoe  through  capricious  water  courses,  of  which  but 
little  information  has  been  acquired  by  previous  explorations,  and  an  nnusnally  com- 
plicated topography,  in  which  extensive  swamps  and  more  or  less  connected  ranges 
of  bills  are  constantly  met  with  in  such  an  irregular  and  unexpected  manner  as  to 
baffle  completely  all  calculation  as  to  its  actual  condition  without  an  instrumental 
examination  of  every  inch  of  the  gronnd,  some  idea  may  be  gathered  of  the  difficul- 
ties with  which  we  have  been  confronted. 

Two  routes  through  the  last  mentioned  region  had  been  proposed  by  previous  sur- 
veys; and  it  was  the  object  of  the  association  to  make  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
entire  area  so  as  to  eliminate  all  doubtful  questions,  and,  with  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  all  the  conditions  involved,  to  select  that  route  presenting  the  greatest  facilities 
for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  both  in  regard  to  the  economy  and  permanency  of 
the  work. 

One  of  the  routes  ext«nd8  on  a  nearly  direct  line  from  Ochoa  to  Greytown,  and  has 
been  designated  the  "  Upper  route  "  by  reason  of  its  being  located  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  valley  and  its  most  striking  feature  of  retaining  and  extending  the  summit 
level  to  within  a  short  distance  of  Greytown  itself. 

The  other  is  known  as  the  "  Lower  route,"  since  it  descends  to  the  valley  level  of 
the  San  Juan  a  short  distance  below  Ochoa,  stretches  along  and  at  several  points 
runs  in  close  proximity  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  until  it  reaches  Puuta  Petaca,  above 
the  San  Juanillo,  where  it  turns  to  the  north,  and  by  a  straight  line  reaches  Greytown 
at  about  the  same  point  as  the  "  Upper  route."  This  route  was  located  by  the 
United  States  surveying  expedition  of  187:i-'73,  and  the  former  was  the  result  of  my 
surveys  of  IHSS,  conducted  by  order  of  the  same  Government.  The  work  of  reloca- 
tion was  undertaken  for  both  routes  from  end  to  end  with  the  whole  force  of  the  ex- 
pedition, previous  explorations  and  surveys  being  ignored  except  for  the  information 
to  be  derived  therefrom  and  for  purposes  of  comparison,  the  object  being  to  improve, 
if  possible,  on  what  had  already  been  done.  It  required  the  constant  labors  of  six 
snrveying  parties,  and  the  boring  party  six  months,  before  the  location  of  the  two 
roat«8  h.ifl  been  elaborated  and  advanced  to  the  point  where  a  fair  comparison  of 
their  relative  merits  could  be  made  ;  and,  since  the  selection  of  the  "  Upper  route," 
two  parties  hare  been  engaged  for  five  months  in  perfecting  the  location  and  gath- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY.  277 

ering  such  a  mass  of  valuable  information  as  to  leave  no  doubt  whatever  regarding 
its  superiority,  and  the  amount  and  character  of  all  the  work  involved  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  canal.  No  problem  has  been  left  unsolved,  and  what  is  now  pre- 
sented as  the  result  of  these  arduous  labors  is  an  actual  representation  of  the  natural 
conditions. 

THE   PROPOSED  ROUTE. 

The  proposed  route  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  is  in  general  direction  and,  with 
but  slight  modifications,  identically  the  same  as  that  proposed  by  me  in  1885.  The 
changes  introduced  consist  principally  in  the  addition  of  two  new  basins,  and  the 
extension  of  free  navigation  in  the  San  Francisco  Basin,  by  which  the  length  of  canal 
in  excavation  has  been  considerably  reduced,  with  proportionally  increased  facilities 
to  navigation,  and  the  problem  of  draining  the  country  traversed  by  the  canal  satis- 
factorily solved. 

San  Juan  del  Nort6  (Greytown)  on  the  Atlantic,  and  Brito  on  the  Pacific,  are  the 
termini  of  the  canal,  the  total  distance  from  port  to  port  being  169.448  miles,  of  which 
26.783  miles  will  be  excavated  canal,  and  142.659  miles  free  navigation  by  Lake  Nica- 
ragua, the  river  San  Juan,  and  through  basins  in  the  valleys  of  the  streams  Deseado, 
San  Francisco,  and  Tola.  Lake  Nicaragua  is  necessarily  the  summit  level  of  the 
canal,  and  its  elevation  above  mean  sea  level  is  taken  at  its  mean  as  110  feet.  It  will 
be  connected  with  the  Pacific  by  two  sections  of  canal  in  excavation  and  the  Tola 
Basin,  and  with  the  Atlantic  by  slack-water  navigation  through  the  valley  of  the 
river  San  Juan,  and  a  series  of  basins  in  the  valleys  of  the  San  Francisco  and  De- 
seado,  connected  by  short  sections  of  canal,  the  sea  level  on  each  side  being  reached 
by  three  locks  which  have  been  located  as  near  as  possible  to  the  extremities  of 
the  canal,  viz,  3^  miles  from  Brito  and  12J  miles  from  Greytown,  thereby  giving 
a  clean  summit  level  of  153^^  miles  in  extent  out  of  a  total  distance  of  169^  miles,  as 
stated  above.  For  the  purposes  of  this  report  the  whole  route  has  been  divided  into 
four  divisions,  viz,  eastern,  San  Francisco,  Lake  and  River,  and  western. 

Eiutern  division. 

[Prom  the  Inner  harbor  of  San  Joan  del  Nort£  (Oreytown)  to  the  San  Francisco  Basin,  18.864  mUes.] 

The  line  selected  and  located  starts  from  the  inner  harbor  of  San  Juan  del  Nort6, 
and  extends  in  a  southwesterly  direction  for  a  distance  of  9.297  miles  to  Lock  No.  1,  in 
the  valley  of  the  small  stream  Deseado,  which  descends  from  the  high  ridge  separa- 
ting the  valley  of  the  San  Juanillo  from  that  of  the  Cafio  San  Francisco.  Where  the 
stream  Deseado  interferes  with  the  course  of  the  canal  it  is  to  be  diverted  by  artificial 
channels.  The  first  9.297  miles  of  canal  will  be  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  forming,  prac- 
tically, a  prolongation  of  the  harbor  of  Greytown,  the  width  proposed  allowing  ample 
room  for  the  passage  of  vessels  going  in  both  directions.  The  excavation  will  be  en- 
tirely through  flat  alluvial  deposits,  as  shown  by  the  numerous  borings  taken  along 
the  whole  line. 

The  first  lock  from  this  reach  will  have  a  lift  of  30  feet,  and  the  uniform  dimensions 
of  chamber  adopted  for  all  the  locks,  viz,  650  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide.  A  suitable 
bit  of  high  ground  for  the  site  of  the  lock  is  met  with  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  De- 
seado. From  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  1  to  Lock  No.  2  the  canal  follows  the  val- 
ley of  the  Deseado,  which  is  here  partially  flooded  by  the  construction  of  four  low 
embankments  connecting  the  site  of  Lock  No.  1  with  the  sides  of  the  valley.  In  this 
manner  the  canal  excavation,  which  here  consists  chiefly  of  a  stiff,  red  clay,  under- 
lying a  thin  strata  of  loam,  is  much  reduced,  and  the  drainage  economically  and 
eflficiently  controlled  by  suitable  weirs  of  maximum  flood  capacity. 

Lock  No.  2,  located  1.258  miles  above  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  1,  has  a  lift  of  31 
feet  and  will  rest  on  solid  ground,  a  hill  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley  affording  an 
excellent  site  for  it. 

Lock  No.  3,  with  a  lift  of  45  feet,  is  located  12f  miles  from  Greytown  and  1.927 
miles  from  the  head  gate  of  Lock  No.  2.  This  section  of  the  canal  occupies  the  lower 
basin,  made  in  the  valley  of  the  Deseado  by  the  erection  of  a  dam  38  feet  high  and 
1,300  feet  long  across  the  stream,  and  two  embankments  of  an  aggregate  length  of 
1,400  feet  and  about  20  feet  high  on  the  top  of  the  confining  ridges.  The  only  exca- 
vation needed  through  this  basin  is  in  cutting  across  three  low  hills  of  red  clay. 

At  this  point  the  valley  of  the  Deseado  is  spanned  by  an  embankment  70  feet  high 
and  1,050  feet  long,  resting  on  two  high  hills,  and  the  gaps  on  the  ridge  connecting 
this  embankment  with  the  sides  of  the  valley  are  closed  with  smaller  embankments, 
aggregating  5,800  feet  on  the  crest,  with  an  average  height  of  20  feet  to  the  level  112 
leet  above  sea  level.  By  this  means  a  basin  3.086  miles  long  is  created  in  the  valley 
ol  the  stream,  in  which  a  depth  of  from  30  feet  to  70  feet  is  obtained,  without  exca- 


278  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY, 

▼ation,  for  a  distancn  of  2.594  miles.  It  is  proposed  to  retain  the  water  in  this  basin 
at  an  elevation  of  10(5  feet  above  sea  level ;  in  other  words,  the  summit  level  of  the 
canal  is  carried  across  the  "divide"  and  extended  to  Loclc  No.  3,  or  to  within  121 
miles  of  the  Atlantic,  and  but  '.^  miles  from  the  sea  level,  which,  as  stated  above, 
reaches  9J  miles  up  from  Greytown.  The  advantage  of  these  two  large  reservoirs  in 
close  proximity  to  the  locks  need  not  be  commented  npon,  and  the  facilities  afforded 
as  a  "tnrn  ont"  for  ships  in  waiting-and  traveling  in  opposite  directions  can  not  be 
overestimated.  The  dam  is  proposed  to  be  built  of  stone,  or  what  is  termed  "rock 
fill"  with  earth  backing,  and  will  have  a  weir  COO  feet  long  on  the  crest,  and  a  fall  of 
45  feet,  for  the  discharge  of  the  surplus  water  into  the  lower  basin.  This  will  be 
supplemented  by  another  weir  800  feet  long  located  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley  in 
a  gap  between  the  hills  inclosing  the  upper  basin,  giving  a  total  length  of  weir  of 
1,400  feet. 

At  the  western  end  of  this  basin  begins  the  "eastern  divide  cut"  connecting  the 
valley  of  the  Deseado  with  that  of  the  Ca!io  San  Francisco.  This  cut  is  2.917  miles 
long,  has  a  maximum  cut  of  298  and  an  average  depth  of  111.2  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  water,  the  depth  in  the  canal  being  30  feet,  and  contains  abont  21  per  cent,  of  the 
total  excavation  estimated  for  the  whole  canal. 

The  magnitude  of  this  work  grows  less  striking  as  we  proceed  to  examine  its  im- 
portance as  a  factor  in  the  solution  of  the  problem,  the  local  advantages  for  its  exe- 
cntion,  its  permanency  when  finished,  and  the  advantageous  and  economical  disposi- 
tion of  the  ni.iterial  to  be  excavated. 

First.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  cut  is  almost  in  a  direct  line  between  Ochoa  and 
Greytown,  which  are  the  two  objective  points  of  the  canal;  the  former  being  the 
point  at  which  it  mnst  of  necessity  leave  the  San  Juan  River,  and  the  latter  equally 
necessary  at  its  terminus  on  the  Atlantic. 

Second.  It  is  the  lowest  point  along  the  whole  ridge  which  intervenes  between  those 
two  points,  and  nearly  equidistant  from  each.  ^ 

Third.  It  is  also  the  narrowest  pass,  by  several  miles,  of  any  other  on  the  ridge,  the 
valleys  of  the  Deseado  on  one  side  and  the  San  Francisco  on  the  other  here  penetrat- 
ing it  further  than  elsewhere,  thns  allowing  the  greatest  possible  extension  of  their 
basins  with  the  least  excavation. 

Besides  the  above  there  are  several  other  important  advantages  connected  with 
this  particular  pass  entitled  to  much  consideration. 

First.  The  material  to  be  removed  is  in  the  main  solid  rock,  therefore  the  volume  of 
excavation  is  reduced  to  a  minimnm,  and  the  cnt  when  made  will  remain  so  for- 
ever without  further  expense. 

Second.  The  material  is  needed  for  the  construction  of  the  dam  at  Ochoa,  for  the  em- 
bankments between  Oeboa  and  Greytown,  for  the  construction  of  the  locks,  for  the 
breakwater  at  Greytown,  and  for  pitching  the  sides  of  the  canal,  alid  whatever  is  left 
over  can  be  dumped  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 

Third.  The  center  of  distribution  is  most  conveniently  located,  and  were  not  this 
material  available,  at  the  sole  expense  of  transportation  down  grade,  it  would  have 
to  be  obtained  at  considerable  cost  from  qnarries  in  the  vicinity,  as  there  is  no  rock 
easy  of  access  between  Ochoa  and  Greytown,  except  in  this  ridge. 

Fourth.  The  locality  is  one  of  the  healthiest  in  Nicaragua,  the  drainage  is  perfect, 
and  water  abundant  and  excellent  for  domestic  uses. 

Fifth.  There  is  close  at  hand  on  both  sidis  of  the  ridge  an  inexhaustible  water  power 
for  the  economical  and  convenient  operation  of  all  the  machinery  required  to  do  the 
work. 

Posessing,  therefore,  as  it  does,  this  trnly  marvelous  coincidence  of  favorable  cir- 
cnmstances,  it  would  seem  as  though  the  very  hand  of  Nature  had  made  this  particn- 
lar  spot  with  the  view  of  facilitating  the  execution  of  the  greatest  undertaking  of 
this  or  any  other  age.  With  proper  appliances  and  good  management,  so  much  of 
the  work  in  the  adjacent  nfctions  being  dependent  upon  the  material  to  begot  from 
this  cut,  an  even  rate  of  progress  can  easily  be  maintained  and  the  whole  work  be 
pushed  to  completion  well  within  the  six  years  estimated  as  the  time  for  completing 
the  canal. 

San  Franoitoo  division  12.500  miles. 
[From  the  western  end  of  the  Divide  Gat  to  the  river  San  Jaan  at  Ochoa.] 

On  the  western  slope  of  the  Divide  the  canal  follows  the  valley  of  the  Limpio  for 
1,477  miles  to  the  end  of  the  Cnt.  Before  falling  into  the  San  Francisco  basin  it  pjisses 
for  .738  miles  through  a  roUing  couutry  into  the  lower  valley  of  the  Limpio,  the 
average  depth  of  the  cutting  for  this  distance  being  16  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the 
canal. 

Passing  into  the  basin  of  the  CaQo  San  Francisco  it  follows  the  valleys  of  the  Limpio 
and  Chanchos  to  near  the  oonflaenoe  of  the  latter  with  the  San  Francisco,  and  then 


NICAEAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  279 

np  the  valley  of  the  stream,  skirting  the  hills  on  the  west  to  a  favorable  pass  in  the 
range  separating  this  valley  from  the  swampy  region,  called  Florida  Lake,  extending 
towards  Ochoa.  The  line  of  location  follows  this  swamp  to  its  western  extremity, 
where  it  strikes  the  high  rolling  country  intervening  between  this  low  region  and 
he  valley  of  the  Machado;  and  following  a  tributary  of  the  latter,  it  strilces  the 
river  San  Jnan  1,600  feet  above  the  mouth  of  the  Machado.  The  distance  from  the 
western  end  of  the  Divide  Cut  to  the  bank  of  the  river  San  Juan  is  12.500  miles,  of 
which  7.481  miles  are  tangents  and  5.019  miles  comprised  in  eleven  curves  of  from 
4,000  to  11,459  feet  radius.  The  hills  surrounding  the  basin  on  the  south  do  not  form 
an  unbroken  range  rising  at  all  points  above  the  level  of  the  water,  which  in  this 
section  also  is  maintained  at  106  feet  above  sea  level.  Eight  gaps  will  have  to  be 
closed  by  embankments  aggregating  in  length  to  2,440  feet  measured  on  the  valley 
floor,  and  12,260  feet  on  the  crest,  the  maximum  depth  being  60  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  water  in  the  basins. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  59  smaller  embankments,  aggregating  in  length  18,280  feet 
on  their  crest,  rising  6  feet  above  water  level  and  varying  in  height  from  1  to  50 
feet,  will  be  required  from  Ochoa  to  the  main  ridge  of  the  Divide.  All  the  embank- 
ments resting  on  the  valley  or  swamp  level  are  designed  of  rock  fill  and  earth  back- 
ing, with  three  parallel  rows  of  sheet  piling  between  abutments. 

The  total  length  of  basin  secured  by  this  plan  is  11.267  miles  from  flowage  line  to 
flowage  line,  of  which  8.697  miles  is  in  water  varying  from  30  to  60  feet  in  depth. 
That  is,  of  the  12.500  miles  in  the  division,  but  1.2.33  miles  will  be  wholly  and  2.570 
miles  partly  in  excavation.  This  is  not,  however,  the  only  advantage  gained  by  the 
creation  of  this  basin.  Without  it  the  cut  across  the  "Divide"  would  be  of  such 
proportions  as  to  make  the  route  commercially  impracticable,  and  the  basin  of  the 
Deseado  an  impossibility.  Not  less  important  are  the  additional  considerations  of 
free  navigation  through  a  wide  and  deep  basin,  instead  of  a  restricted  excavated 
channel.  In  the  former  vessels  can  travel  at  full  speed,  lie  at  anchor  or  pass  each 
other  at  all  points,  while  in  the  latter  the  position  and  speed  of  all  ships  must  con- 
form to  rigid  regulations. 

Attention  is  also  invited  to  another  striking  feature  of  this  work,  as  compared  with 
that  close  to  the  bank  of  the  San  Juan. 

In  a  country  subject  to  observed  rainfalls  of  more  than  six  inches  in  24  hours,  the 
problem  of  drainage  involves  dealing  with  forces  of  Nature  whose  enormous  destruc- 
tive powers  are  a  constant  menace  to  engineering  works,  however  careful  and  skillful 
their  design  and  execution.  And  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  therefore,  to  reduce 
these  forces  to  a  minimum  before  the  construction  of  works  to  withstand  them.  The 
large  territory  embraced  between  the  ridge  confining  the  basin  to  the  south  and  the 
"  Lower  Route  "  is,  by  the  adoption  of  the  "  Upper  Route,"  entirely  eliminated  from 
the  problem  of  drainage,  leaving  only  that  portion  of  the  watershed  north  of  the 
ridge  from  the  Divide  to  the  valley  of  the  Machado  to  be  provided  for.  The  area  of 
this  catchment  basin  is  about  65  square  miles. 

It  is  proposed  to  build  all  embankments  across  the  valleys  in  the  disconnected  por- 
tions of  the  ridge  of  "rock  fills"  and  earth  backing,  the  crest  to  be  107  feet  above 
sea  level,  and  with  the  top  and  outer  slope  so  shaped  and  paved  with  large  stones  as 
to  admit  the  free  flow  of  water  over  the  surface  without  danger  of  injury,  all  other 
embankments  to  be  112  feet  above  sea  level.  All  these  embankments  will  be,  in  fact, 
so  many  waste  weirs  for  the  discharge  of  the  surplus  water  at  several  points  in  the 
basin,  with  an  aggregate  length  of  4,720  feet  of  spillway  and  assuming  that  the  em- 
bankments are  perfectly  tight,  which  will  not  be  the  case  until  several  years  after 
construction,  and  therefore  that  all  the  surplus  water  passes  over  the  weirs  the  maxi- 
mum thickness  on  the  crest  will  not  exceed  15  inches. 

An  extraordinary  freshet  in  the  San  Juan  above  the  dam  would  probably  cause 
some  of  the  river  water  to  flow  towards  the  basin,  but  it  will  be  observed  that  the 
weirs  in  the  basin  alone  are  capable  of  discharging  90,200  cubic  feet  per  second  be- 
fore the  water  reaches  the  top  of  the  higher  embankments,  and  that,  in  such  extreme 
cases,  the  basin  would  also  be  discharging  through  the  divide  cut,  over  the  Deseado 
Dam  and  weirs,  and,  if  need  be,  through  the  culverts  of  Lock  No.  3.  As  an  addi- 
tional precaution,  a  guard  gate  is  provided  in  the  first  cut  east  of  the  Machado,  by 
which  the  waters  of  the  river  San  Juan  may  be  shut  off  from  the  basin.  With  these 
ample  provisions  the  destruction  of  the  smaller  earth  embankments  by  an  overflow 
of  the  basin  seems  to  be  well  guarded  against. 

Lake  and  river  divinon,  121.04  miles. 

[Trom  Oohoa  to  the  western  coast  of  Lake  Kicaragna.] 

This  division  extends  from  the  western  extremity  of  the  San  Francisco  division  in 
the  valley  of  the  Machado  to  the  entrance  of  the  canal  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake 
Nicaragua.    The  total  distance  i«  121.04  miles,  divided  as  follows :  Navigation  bj  the 


280  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

river  San  Jnan,  64.54  miles ;  Lake  navigation,  56.5  miles.  The  section  of  the  river 
from  Ochoa  to  the  lake  is  to  be  made  navij^able  by  the  construction  of  a  dam  at 
Ochoa,  jnst  below  the  Macbado,  maintaining  the  water  at  the  summit  level  of  106 
feet  above  sea  level.  It  may  here  be  explained  that  this  elevation,  hitherto 
'reated  as  the  summit  level,  is  4  feet  below  the  lake,  a  fall  of  three^uarters  of  an 
inch  to  tho  mile  being  allowed  for  the  slope  necesssury  to  discharge  its  waters,  al- 
though, for  all  the  purposes  of  navigation,  that  portion  of  the  river  is  converted  into 
an  extension  of  the  lake. 

The  dam  is  located  between  two  steep  hills,  and  its  length  of  weir  on  the  crest  will 
be  l,'.ioO  feet,  and  abutments  650  feet.  The  average  depth  of  the  water  in  the  river 
was  at  the  time  of  the  survey  8  feet,  and  the  maximum  depth,  close  to  the  sonthem 
abutment,  14  feet,  the  width  between  banks  being  950  feet.  With  a  mean  flow  in  the 
river  of  20,000  cubic  feet  per  second,  the  thickness  of  water  on  top  of  the  weir  will 
be  about  3^  feet. 

The  dam  is  proposed  to  be  bnilt  of  rock  till  and  earth  backing,  in  all  respects 
similar  to  all  the  other  large  embankments  and  weirs  already  described.  Its  average 
height  above  the  river  bottom  is  61  feet,  its  thickness  at  the  top  25  feet,  and  at  the 
bottom  500  feet.  The  core  of  the  rock  portion  will  be  made  of  smaller  stones, 
gravel,  and  refuse  from  the  rock  cuts,  with  three  rows  of  sheet  piling  from  abutment 
to  abutment,  and  substantial  concrete  core  walls  from  the  ends  of  the  sheet  piling 
carried  well  into  the  abutment  hills  and  up  along  the  slope  beyond  the  maximum 
flood  level.  The  upper  portion  and  long  flat  apron  will  be  composed  of  stones  of  the 
largest  dimensions  that  can  be  properly  handled  and  arranged,  the  interstices  being 
filled  from  behind  with  small  stones,  gravel,  and  earth  dumped  from  suitable  trestles. 

By  this  dam,  slack-water  navigation  in  the  river  San  Juan  will  be  obtained  in  the 
whole  distance  from  the  lake,  in  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  28  miles  above 
Toro  Rapids,  the  navigable  channel  will  be  at  no  point  less  than  1,000  feet  wide,  with 
depths  varying  from  28  to  130  feet.  Between  the  Lake  and  Toro  Rapids,  rock  blast- 
ing under  water  and  dredging  to  an  average  depth  of  4^  feet  will  be  required  at 
several  places,  amounting  in  all  to  24  miles,  most  of  the  rock  blasting  occurring  at 
Toro.  The  average  depth  of  water  as  raised  by  the  dam  over  the  shallow  places, 
where  deepening  has  been  estimated  for,  is  23  feet,  and  the  excavated  channel  is  125 
feet  at  the  bottom,  the  slopes  varying  with  the  character  of  the  material. 

A  further  important  effect  Of  the  dam  will  be  to  raise  the  water  of  the  river  San 
Carlos  to  the  level  attained  by  the  San  Juan  at  their  confluence  above  Ochoa,  con- 
verting the  valley  of  that  stream  into  a  spacious  lake  or  port,  and  an  integral  part 
of  the  summit  level  and  of  the  canal  itself.  Thousands  of  square  miles  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  Costa  Rica  now  inaccessible  by  land  or  water  will  thus  become  the  richest 
portion  of  that  Republic  ;  and  the  sediment  now  being  brought  down  by  the  rapid 
current  of  the  river  will  then  be  deposited,  for  want  of  transporting  power,  at  the 
mouths  of  the  ravines  and  mountain  torrents  emptying  into  the  basin.  In  fact,  the 
area  now  sconred  will  be  so  much  reduced  that  comparatively  little  material  will 
be  transported. 

The  coufiiiing  ridge  to  the  east  of  the  valley  of  the  San  Carlos  is  a  generally  high 
range  extending  in  a  nearly  straight  line  from  the  south  abutment  of  the  Ochoa  Dam 
about  S.  15°  W.  7J  miles  to  the  foot  of  the  high  mountains  of  the  interior.  The  length 
of  the  ridge  following  its  crooked  crest  line  is  about  10  miles.  The  hills  forming  the 
ridge  do  not  form  an  unbroken  range  at  all  points  higher  than  the  level  of  the  water 
which  is  here  also  maintained  on  106  feet  above  sea  level.  A  number  of  short  de- 
pressions will  have  to  be  closed  by  embankments,  the  tops  of  which  wUl  be  at  an 
elevation  of  112  feet. 

The  total  number  of  embankments  necessary  is  twenty-one.  Of  these  eight  will 
be  very  small,  the  ridge  being  now  above  the  water  line  but  below  112  feet.  Only 
two  will  reach  the  floor  of  the  valley,  having  a  depth  of  48  feet.  The  remaining 
eleven  have  an  average  depth  of  19  feet.  The  aggregate  length  of  embankments  on 
crest  is  5,540  feet;  on  floor  of  valley,  130  feet. 

The  embankments  proposed  will  be  entirely  of  clay,  15  feet  wide  on  top,  with  slope 
of  3  to  1  on  both  sides. 

It  is  proposed  to  build  a  large  waste  weir  In  the  ridge  about  2f  miles  from  the  Oehoa 
Dam.  This  weir  having  its  crest  of  106  feet  elevation  will  discharge  tho  flood  waters 
of  the  San  Carlos  into  the  San  Juan  independently  of  and  below  the  dam. 

The  valley  of  Curefio  Creek  runs  directly  from  the  site  of  the  proposed  weir  to  the 
San  Juan,  5^  miles  below  Ochoa,  hence  no  channel  for  tbe  discharged  waters  need  be 
provided. 

In  the  east  side  of  Lake  Nicaragua  dredging  in  soft  mnd  will  be  needed  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  14  miles  to  reach  the  depth  of  30  feet,  the  average  depth  of  the  cut 
being  9.8  feet,  and  the  proposed  channel  150  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  with  side  slopes 
of  3  to  1  to  the  present  bottom  of  the  lake. 

From  the  end  of  this  cut  to  within  1,400  feet  of  the  west  coast,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  canal,  the  depth  in  the  lake  varies  from  30  to  150  feet.    The  excavation  on  the 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  281 

west  side  Ib  estimated  as  rock.  No  borings  were  takea  on  this  tide  of  the  lake,  bat 
the  indications  on  the  shore  and  the  resnlt  of  the  borings  in  the  vicinity  point  to 
rock  as  predominating  in  the  sabmariue  excavation. 

In  view  of  the  nature  of  the  bottom  and  the  prevailing  winds  on  that  coast  of  the 
lake,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable,  if  not  essential,  to  estimate  for  two  crib  piers  or 
breakwaters  at  the  entrance  of  the  canal  and  extending  to  deep  water,  a  distance  of 
1,800  feet  and  2,400  feet,  respectively.  These  piers  will  have  the  eftect  of  arresting 
d6bri8  traveling  along  the  coast  by  the  action  of  the  waves,  insure  smooth  water  at 
the  entrance  of  the  canal,  and  serve  as  guides  to  approaching  vessels. 

Western  division. 
[From  the  lake  to  Brito,  17.04  miles.  J 

This  section  of  canal  connects  the  lake  with  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  17.04  miles 
long  from  the  shore  of  the  lake  when  at  102.5  feot  above  sea  level,  the  elevation  at 
the  time  the  surveys  were  made,  to  the  ])ort  at  Erito. 

As  the  canal  is  now  estimated  for,  11.44  miles  of  that  distance  will  be  wholly  in 
excavation  and  5.60  miles  through  a  basin  in  the  valleys  of  the  rivers  Grande  and 
Tola. 

In  this  basin  from  30  to  70  feot  of  water  can  be  had  for  a  distance  of  4,568  miles. 
The  basin  has  an  area  of  4,000  acres,  an  extreme  width  of  12,500  feet,  and  an  average 
of  5,500  feet.  An  alternative  route  has  been  located  tlirough  the  valleys  proposed  to 
be  flooded,  for  a  canal  in  excavation,  should  it  be  found  more  economical  on  account 
of  the  value  of  the  land  through  which  it  passes.  The  only  new  feature  of  this  divis- 
ion is  the  basin  now  introduced. 

The  first  section  begins  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lajas,  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake 
Nicaragua,  and  follows  the  valley  of  that  stream  for  a  distance  of  8,2G0  feet,  in  which 
the  width  of  the  canal  is  120  feet  at  the  bottom  and  the  side  slopes  IJ  to  1,  both  in 
rock  and  earth.  The  river  Lajas  here  turns  to  the  south,  and  it  is  proposed  to  divert 
it  and  make  it  discharge  into  the  lake  a  short  distance  south  of  its  present  mouth. 
The  canal  continues  on  the  same  straight  line,  crosses  a  plain  about  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  wide,  and  enters  the  valley  of  the  Guiscoyal,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Lajas, 
and  at  4.70  miles  from  the  lake  it  crosses  the  highest  elevation  on  the  line  between 
the  lake  and  the  Pacific.  This  point  is  42  feet  above  high  lake,  or  152  feet  above 
mean  tide  in  the  Pacific,  and  is  situated  in  a  valley  about  2  miles  wide,  deserving 
special  mention  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  is  the  lowest  depression  of  the  main 
ridge  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans  on  the  American  continent. 

After  crossing  this  divide  the  line  gradually  descends  at  the  rate  of  about  9  feet 
per  mile  and  in  If  miles  further  it  meets  the  Rio  Grande,  a  mountain  stream  which 
drains  an  extensive  area  of  the  western  slope  of  the  Cordillera.  The  line  of  the  canal 
follows  the  tortuous  channel  of  the  Grande,  cutting  across  some  of  its  sharp  bends  or 
occupying  the  channel  in  short  reaches.  In  1^  miles  it  frees  itself  from  this  con- 
tracted valley  and  cuts  across  a  broad  plain  as  it  turns  to  the  westward,  and  enters 
the  basin  of  Tola9  miles  from  the  lake.  The  distance  across  the  basin  by  the  sailing 
line  is  5.504  miles.  This  basin  is  formed  by  the  construction  of  an  embankment  1,800 
feet  long  and  70  feet  high,  resting  on  two  high  hills  at  a  place  called  La  Flor.  The 
method  of  construction  of  this  embankment  is  in  all  respects  similar  to  that  adopted 
for  the  construction  of  the  Ochoa  Dam  and  embankments  in  the  San  Francisco  Val- 
ley. The  rock  for  the  fill  will  be  obtained  from  the  excavations  for  Locks  Nos.  4  and 
5  in  the  north  abutment,  and  the  earth  from  the  canal  excavation  east  of  the  basin. 
The  level  of  the  lake  will  be  extended  through  the  divide  cut  and  the  basin  to  this 
dam,  the  top  of  which  is  established  at  112  feet  above  sea  level.  Therefore  the  lake 
will  have  to  rise  more  than  2  feet  above  the  proposed  snmmit  level  before  any  water 
runs  over  the  weir.  With  a  length  of  weir  of  1,300  feet  and  the  lock  culverts  capable 
of  discharging  not  less  than  4,.'i00  cubic  feet  per  second,  the  level  of  the  lake  can  be 
kept  under  control,  even  in  extraordinary  floods.  Yet  a  guard  gate  is  proposed  in 
the  section  of  canal  between  the  lake  and  the  divide  to  shut  ofl^  the  water  from 
the  lake  in  case  of  necessity.  No  special  provision  has  been  made  for  the  control  of 
the  rivers  Grand*^  and  Tola,  and  none  is  deemed  necessary.  These  streams  will  flow 
into  the  summit  level,  one  between  the  lake  and  the  Tola  Basin,  and  the  other  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  basin.  The  waters  will  be  distributed  between  the  basin 
and  the  lake  or  p.irtly  used  for  feeding  the  locks,  and  should  both  rivers  be  in  flood 
while  the  water  in  the  basin  is  below  the  crest  of  the  weir,  and  therefore  most  of  the 
combined  flow  discharging  into  the  lake,  the  current  in  the  canal  through  its  nar- 
rowest portion  in  the  divide  will  not  exceed  2  miles  an  hour,  which  can  do  no 
harm  in  the  rock  cut,  while  in  the  larger  portions  of  the  canal  the  velocity  would,  of 
course  be  proportionally  less. 

From  the  western  end  of  the  valley  of  Tola  to  Brito,  the  canal,  after  leaving  Locks 
Nob.  4  andS^  cutB  aoross  a  broad,  flat  conntry,  with  an  inclination  of  about  9  feet  per 


282  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

mile,  to  the  port,  •  distance  of  2.28  miles,  in  which  the  excavation  does  not  exceed 
that  required  for  the  canal  prism. 

These  locks  are  proposed  to  OTercome  the  dififorence  of  level  between  the  snnimit 
and  the  Pacific.  Locks  Nos.  4  and  5  are  located  in  the  hill  north  of  La  Flor  dam; 
their  chambers  are  65J  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide  and  the  lifts  42^  feet  in  each. 
Lock  No.  6,  of  the  same  dimensions  of  chamber,  is  situated  1.58  miles  bcluw,  its  lifts 
being  21  feet  and  29  feet,  respectively,  at  high  and  low  tide.  Between  this  lock  and 
the  port  of  Brito,  a  distance  of  0.57  mile,  the  canal  will  be  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  with 
an  enlarged  section,  and  may  be  regarded  as  an  extension  of  the  harbor  similar  to 
that  at  the  Qreytown  end  of  the  route. 

HARBORS. 

Greytoten. — The  observations  and  surveys  conducted  by  the  hydrographic  party 
and  subsequent  investigations  by  other  engineers  of  the  company  have  fully  con- 
firmed the  theory  based  on  previous  surveys  as  to  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the 
forces  which  caused  the  destruction  of  this  harbor  and  consequently  the  plan  hereto- 
fore recommended  for  resisting  these  forces  and  restoring  the  harbor  is  now  adhered 
to  with  but  slight  raodificatious  in  the  details. 

The  plan  of  restoration  involves  the  construction  of  a  jetty  or  breakwater  1,700  feet 
long,  nearly  normal  to  the  shore  of  the  outer  bar  and  extending  to  the  6-fathom 
curve,  and  dredging  from  this  latter  depth  offshore  across  the  sand  bank  now  clos- 
ing the  harbor  and  in  the  inner  bay.  The  jetty  is  located  to  the  windward  of  the 
excavated  channel  which  it  is  intended  to  shelter  from  the  sea  and  protect  from  the 
wash  of  the  waves  and  the  traveling  sands  of  the  coast. 

The  first  section  of  the  jetty,  extending  from  the  shore  to  15  feet  of  water,  is  pro- 
posed to  be  built  of  creosoted  timber,  fascinage,  and  stoue,  and  that  portion  in  deep 
water  to  be  of  "pierre  perdue  "  or  rubble,  the  stone  to  be  obtained  from  the  divide 
cnt.  The.  entrance  channel  is  estimated  to  have  a  depth  of  30  feet  and  a  width  of 
500  feet  at  the  bottom,  and  the  inner  basin  is  designed  of  sufficient  dimensions  to  af- 
ford easy  access  to  the  canal  and  to  accommodate  a  large  number  of  vessels,  its  ex- 
cavated area  on  the  bottom  being  206  acres,  which,  with  the  area  of  the  enlarged  sec- 
tion of  the  canal  at  sea  level  to  Lock  No.  1,  gives  a  total  area  of  341  acres  of  water  28 
feet  deep,  exclusive  of  slopes  of  3  to  1  and  the  remaining  portions  of  the  inner  bay  not 
deepened,  yet  having  in  many  places  a  depth  of  20  feet,  in  which  a  large  nnmber  of 
vessels  of  ordinary  size  can  lie. 

Brito. — The  recent  surveys  have  greatly  added  to  previous  information  as  to  the 
natural  conditions  of  this  locality,  which  by  reason  of  its  being  of  necessity  the  ter- 
minus of  the  canal  on  the  Pacific  coast,  has  been  spoken  of  as  "  the  harbor,"  when, 
as  remarked  by  Professor  Mitchell,  it  is  not  even  a  roadstead.  Yet  the  practicability 
of  constructing  a  harbor  at  this  point  has  not  been  disputed,  the  only  difference  of 
opinion  being  confined  to  details.  The  plan  now  proposed  combines  as  nearly  as 
possible  the  most  economical  form  of  constrnction  with  that  best  adapted  to  the  phys- 
ical conditions,  and  meets,  it  is  believed,  most  efiectually  the  objections  raised  against 
former  designs. 

The  broad  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  stretches  to  the  coast  at  this  point  through  a 
wide  gap  in  the  main  range  of  hills  extending  along  the  Pacific  coast.  This  valley, 
it  is  believed,  formed  once  a  considerable  bay,  but  is  now  filled  up  for  a  distance  of 
about  6,000  feet  from  the  beach  to  about  the  level  of  high  water.  The  proposed  plan 
for  the  constrnction  of  the  harbor  consists,  first,  in  a  breakwater  900  feet  long,  ex- 
tending from  a  rocky  promontory  projecting  from  the  beach  at  the  western  extremity 
of  the  range  of  hills,  and  second,  another  jetty  830  feet  long,  normal  to  the  beach 
nearly  opposite  the  extremity  of  the  one  before  mentioned.  The  proposed  harbor 
will  be  partly  in  deep  water  confined  by  the  jetties,  but  its  main  portion  is  proposed 
to  be  excavated  in  the  alluvial  valley,  the  whole  forming  a  deep  and  broad  basin 
penetrating  3,000  feet  from  the  present  shore  line  at  high  water  and  3,900  feet  from 
the  entrance  between  jetties.  As  an  extension  of  the  harbor,  the  canal  itself  is  ex- 
cavated at  sea  level  with  an  enlarged  prism  for  a  distance  of  3,000  feet  further  in- 
land, where  the  tide  lock  has  been  located.  It  is  believed  that  with  the  basin  as 
designed  and  the  prolongation  of  the  sea  level  through  the  canal  sufficient  tran- 
quillity will  be  secured  at  the  look  and  in  the  harbor,  but  should  this  prove  not  to  be 
the  case  an  enlargement  of  the  main  basin  by  dredging  in  soft  material  would  be  a 
question  of  but  comparatively  small  expense. 

The  breakwaters  as  estimated  for  are  of  "  pierre  perdue,"  the  material  to  be  ob- 
tained from  the  rocky  promontory  or  from  the  western  divide  cnt,  the  price  allowed 
being  on  the  latter  basis.  The  harbor  has  an  area  of  95^  acres  on  the  bottom  or  ex- 
cavated portion,  and  with  the  sea-level  section  of  the  canal  the  total  area  is  103}  acres 
of  water,  30  feet  deep,  exclnsive  of  the  slopes  of  3  to  1. 

MATBRIAU  FOR  CONSTRUCTIOX. 

As  has  been  stated  in  previous  reports  the  whole  line  of  the  canal  is  well  supplied 
with  timber,  generally  of  excellent  qaaUty,  though  in  some  sections  of  the  MMtern 


NICAEAQUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


283 


division  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  estimate  for  its  nse  only  on  temporary  works 
during  constriKsfcion,  such  as  trestles,  laborers'  dwellings,  etc.,  the  sheet  piling  and 
most  of  the  bearing  piles  being  imported  from  the  Southern  States  and  creosoted 
where  necessary.  On  the  western  division,  however,  the  wood  growing  on  ground 
less  moist  is  ot  a  very  superior  quality  and  it  is  proposed  to  use  it  for  all  purposes, 
its  durability  having  been  amply  proved  in  every  class  of  construction  throughout 
the  country. 

The  rock  proposed  to  be  used  for  the  dams,  weirs,  and  breakwaters  will  be  got  from 
the  divide  cuts,  which  consist  chiefly  of  basalt  and  various  descriptions  of  trap  of 
excellent  quality  for  the  purpose. 

Lime  of  she  best  quality  is  obtainable  in  the  western  division  at  many  places  and 
the  numerous  specimens  of  work  on  which  it  has  been  used  hav«  stood  the  test  of 
many  generations  and  are  to-day  in  a  state  of  preservation,  but  it  is  calculated  to 
supplement  this  supply  with  imported  cement,  which  will  be  used  largely  in  the  form 
of  concrete  in  the  construction  of  locks,  etc.,  clean  sharp  sand  beiug  found  in  great 
abundance  in  the  beds  of  most  of  the  streami^  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canal. 

DIMENSIONS  AKD  CAFACITT  OF  THB  CANAL. 

In  establishing  the  dimensions  of  the  canal  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  profit  by  the 
experience  of  the  Suez  Canal,  where  a  yearly  traffic  of  6,000,000  tons  could  not  be 
carried  through  without  serious  delays  to  navigation.  The  reduction  in  the  length 
of  excavated  canal  accomplished  by  the  last  location  in  Nicaragua  through  the  sub- 
stitution of  free  navigation  in  deep  and  broad  basins  for  a  restricted  channel,  gives 
additional  facilities  for  the  construction  of  a  water  way  capable  of  accommodating 
not  less  than  12,000  vessels  with  a  net  tonnage  of  20,000,000  a  year  at  but  a  small  in- 
erease  cost  as  compared  with  the  advantages  secured,  both  for  the  commerce  of  the 
world  and  the  economical  administration  of  the  enterprise.  In  fact,  the  immediate 
and  prospective  benefits  obtained  by  the  enlargement,  in  the  increased  facilities  for 
passing  vessels  and  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  cost  of  maintenance  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  work,  fully  justify,  it  is  believed,  the  additional  expense  in  the  original 
cost.  It  will  be  seen  on  examination  of  the  subjoined  table  that,  of  the  169.448  miles, 
the  total  length  of  the  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  121.04  miles  is  unim- 
peded navigation  in  the  River  San  Juan,  and  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  and  21.619  miles 
through  basins,  making  a  total  distance  of  142.659  miles  in  which  ships  can  travel 
with  little  or  no  restriction  as  to  speed.  Of  the  remaining  26.789  miles,  .759  is  taken 
np  by  the  six  locks  leaving  but  26.030  miles  of  canal  actually  in  excavation.  Of  this 
latter  distance  18.189  miles  are  of  canal  large  enough  for  vessels  traveling  in  opposite 
directions  to  pass  each  other,  the  sectional  area  being  in  excess  of  the  largest  area  of 
the  Suez  Canal.  The  two  sections  of  canal  with  contracted  prisms  are  in  the  eastern 
and  western  divide  cuts;  the  first  is  2.917  miles  and  the  other  4.924  miles  in  length 
and  located  as  they  are  almost  at  the  extreme  ends  of  the  summit  level,  and  in  close 
proximity  to  the  upper  locks  it  is  believed  that  the  slight  additional  facilities  to  navi- 
gation secured  by  enlarging  the  dimensions  of  the  canal  in  these  heavy  rock  cuts, 
and  the  inconsiderable  gain  in  the  time  of  transit  would  not  compensate  for  the  larger 
outlay  necessary. 

Table  showing  the  dimensions  of  the  several  sections  of  the  proposed  canal. 


Section  of  canaL 


Length. 


"Width, 
top. 


Widtli, 
bottom. 


Depth. 


Area  of 
prism. 


OroTtowntoLookKo.l 

Lock  No.  1  to  Lock  Ko.  2  (canal) .....;.. 

Lock  No.  2  to  Lock  No.  3  (canal) 

Lock  No.  2  to  Lock  No.  3  (basin) 

Lock  No.  3  to  western  end  of  eastern  divide  out  (cannl) . 
Lock  No.  3  to  vestem  end  of  eastern  divide  out  (Deso- 

ado  baain) 

Western  end  of  divide  cnt  to  Ochoa  (canal) 

Western  end  of  divide  cnt  to  Ochoa  (San  Francisco 

basin) , 

River  San  Jnan  to  Toro  Rapids ..... 

River  San  Jnan  where  dredging  isneeded. 

Lake  Nicaragua 

Lake  to  western  divide  cnt  (canal)  ..................... 

"Western  divide  cat  (canal) 

Divide  cnt  to  east  end  of  Tola  basin  (canal) 

East  end  of  Tola  basin  to  Lock  No.  i  (basin) 

Lock  No.  5  to  Lock  No.  6  (canal) 

Lock  No.  6  to  harbor  of  Brito,  (canal) 


Milet. 
9.297 
1.258 
L65 
1.762 
2.917 

8.086 
1.233 

11.267 

37.040 

27.500 

56.  500 

1.565 

4.924 

2.519 

6.504 

L582 

.570 


Feet. 
288 
210 
210 


184 
288 


Feet. 

120 
120 
120 


80 

80 

184 

80 

""'125' 

150 

210 

120 

80 

80 

184 

80 

80 
120 


Feet. 
28 
30 
30 
*30 
30 

*45 
30 

40 

♦62 

*28 

♦50 

30 

30 

30 

•60 

30 

28 


Sq./eet. 
5,712 
4,050 
4,950 


2,400 

(t) 
3,673 

ft) 

(») 

(t) 

(t) 
4,950 
2,400 
3,673 

(t) 
3,673 
5,713 


'Mean. 


t  ITndeternuued. 


284  HICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY, 

BECAPITULATION. 

MOta. 

CsbaI  la  •zeATktion,  east  aide 14.870 

Canal  iu  excaration,  weat  aide IL  160 

Sixlocka,  bolb  sides 750 

Total  canal  in  excavation 28.781 

Baainsof  the  Deseado 4.848 

Basin  of  the  San  Francisco 11.367 

Baain  of  ttie  Tola S.504 

Total  length  of  basins 21.619 

Birer  San  Jnan 64.540 

Lake  Nicaragna 56.500 

Total  uatnral  water  ways 121.040 

Total  length  of  canal  (from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific) 169.448 

In  the  lake  and  in  the  greater  part  of  the  River  San  Juan  vessels  can  travel  with 
unrestricted  speed,  and  in  some  sections  of  the  river  and  in  the  basins,  altliough  the 
channel  is  at  almost  all  points  deep  and  of  considerable  width,  yet  the  speed  will  be 
somen  hat  checked  by  reason  of  the  cnrves. 

OiBcial  reports  show  that,  in  the  Saez  Canal,  steamers  of  4,400  tons  can  travel  at  an 
average  speed  of  6  statnte  miles  per  hour,  and  that  snialler  vessels  travel  through 
the  canal  at  the  rate  of  from  6  to  8  miles  an  hour.  On  this  basis  the  following  esti- 
mate of  the  time  of  transit  has  been  prepared : 

Estimated  time  oj  through  transit  by  steamer. 

JLU. 

26.030  miles  of  canal,  at  5  miles  an  hour 5  l'^ 

22.619  miles  in  three  basins,  at  7  miles  an  hour 3  0^ 

64.540  miles  in  the  River  San  Juan,  at 8  miles  an  hour 8  04 

56.500  miles  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  at  10  miles  an  hour 5  39 

Six  lockages  at  forty-five  minutes  each 4  30 

Allow  for  detentions  in  narrow  cuts 1  30 

Total  time  of  transit 28  00 

The  traffic  of  the  canal  will  be  limited  by  the  time  required  for  avessel  to  pass  a  lock, 
and  on  the  basis  of  forty-five  minnte8,and  that  but  one  vessel  will  pass  in  each  lockage, 
the  number  of  vessels  that  can  pass  through  the  canal  in  one  day  will  be  32  or  in  one 
year  11,680,  which  at  the  average  tonnage  of  vessels  going  through  the  Suez  Canal, 
will  give  an  annual  traffic  of  20,440,000  tons.  This  estimate  is  on  the  assumption 
that  the  traffic  will  not  be  stopped  during  the  night,  for  with  abundant  water  power 
at  the  locks  and  at  the  basins  the  whole  canal  can  be  economically  illuminated  by  elec- 
tricity, and  with  beacons  and  range  lights  in  the  lake  and  river  there  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  vessels  should  not  travel  day  and  night  with  perfect  safety,  and  the 
outlay  necessary  for  the  illnmlnation  has  consequently  been  incladed  in  the  estimates. 

Water  supply. 

Lake  Nicaragua  has  a  snrface  area  of  about  2,600  square  miles,  and  a  watershed  of 
not  less  than  8,000  square  miles.  Ganges  of  its  outlet,  the  River  San  Juan,  at  its 
lowest  stage  between  the  lake  and  Toro  Rapids  showed  a  minimum  flow  of  11,390 
cubic  feet  per  second.  Colonel  Childs  estimated  the  discharge  with  full  lake  in  the 
wet  season  at  18,059  cubic  feet  per  second,  which  gives  a  mean  flow  of  14,724  cnbio 
feet  per  second,  or  1,272,530,600  cubic  feet  per  day. 

Water  required/or  lockage. 

Cnlie  feel 
Water  required  for  one  lockage : 

On  the  east  side 2,047,500 

On  the  west  side 1,933, 750 

On  both  sides 3,981,250 

Water  required  for  32  lockages  per  day 127,400,000 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  285 

This  gives  a  daily  exoess  for  the  lake  supply  only  of  1,144,753,600  onbio  feet. 

To  the  latter  amount  must  be  added  the  flow  of  the  several  tributaries  of  the  San 
Juan  River  between  the  lake  and  the  Ochoa  dam,  and  also  the  tributaries  of  the  basins 
forming  part  of  the  summit  level,  which  would  fully  compensate  for  leakage  and 
evaporation. 

It  is  expected  that  considerable  leakage  will  take  place  at  the  rock-fill  dams  and 
embankments  before  they  consolidate  and  become  tight,  but  this  may  well  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  desirable  condition  to  aid  in  gradually  disposing  of  the  surplus  water 
without  a  large  discharge  over  the  weirs. 

The  above  statement  shows  that  the  lake  discharge  is  abount  ten  times  larger  than 
the  maximum  amount  needed  for  the  canal,  and  it  may  be  safely  estimated  that  for 
many  years  after  the  canal  is  opened  for  traffic,  the  surplus  from  that  source  alone  will 
be  double  that  amount,  while  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  San  Juan  and  San  Car- 
los, above  the  Ochoa  dam,  the  excess  may  even  reach  forty  times  the  quantity  needed 
for  the  canal.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  as  long  as  the  summit  level  can  be  main- 
tained at  the  required  elevation,  the  leakage  through  the  rock  fills,  acting  as  safety 
valves,  may  be  regarded  as  an  element  of  security  rather  than  one  of  danger,  espe- 
cially as  the  tightening  of  the  dam  can  be  regulated  by  depositing  suitable  material 
on  the  upstream  side  or  by  dumping  more  stone  on  the  lower  slopes  or  on  the  crest, 
so  as  to  preserve  the  desired  elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  water. 

ESTIMATES. 

The  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  canal,  submitted  with  this  report,  is  the  result  of 
careful  computations  of  all  the  works  required  for  the  completion  of  the  canal  and  its 
accessories,  based  upon  the  data  obtained  by  the  last  location  with  numerous  borings 
along  the  whole  route.  Where  no  rock  was  met  with  the  borings  were  carried  to  the 
bottom  of  the  canal,  and  all  material  which  the  auger  or  hand  drills  could  not  pene- 
trate has  been  assumed  to  be,  and  estimated  for,  as  rock.  The  result  is  a  much  larger 
amount  of  rock  in  proportion  to  the  cube  to  be  removed  than  had  been  estimated  be- 
fore ;  and  although  the  length  of  canal  in  excavation  has  been  reduced  by  13.5  miles 
and  the  total  amount  of  excavation  by  3,567,565  cubic  yards,  in  that  portion  covered 
by  the  report  of  1885,  yet  the  cost  of  that  item  of  expense  is  now  put  down  at  $31,- 
936, 136,05  as  compared  with  $33,447,338.80,  in  1885.  It  is  believed  that  when  a  more 
efiective  system  of  drilling  is  applied  in  certain  portions  of  the  line  a  much  smaller 
amount  of  actual  work  will  be  found  than  now  appears  on  the  estimate.  In  the 
meantime  the  error,  if  any,  is  made  on  the  safe  side.  The  eastern  "  divide  out,"  of 
but  less  than  3  miles  in  length,  is  represented  in  the  estimate  with  7,000,230  cub'c 
yards  of  rock  in  place  and  22  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  the  whole  work,  and  reference 
has  been  made,  in  describing  the  eastern  division,  to  the  existing  facilities  for  doing 
this  work  and  to  the  several  purposes  to  which  the  material  to  be  removed  can  be 
advantageously  applied  in  the  construction  of  the  canal  for  the  expense  of  transpor- 
tation alone. 

In  the  western  division  the  excavation  in  rock  through  the  divide  cut  is  estimated 
at  5,696,507  cubic  yards  in  a  distance  of  9  miles,  but  that  work  presents  no  serious 
difficulties,  the  maximum  depth  of  excavation  being  only  42  feet  above  the  surface 
of  the  water  in  the  canal,  and  the  mean  only  20  feet,  with  ample  facilities  for  dispos- 
ing of  waste  material  not  needed  for  the  construction  of  the  breakwaters,  the  locks, 
the  embankments,  and  pitching  the  slopes  of  the  canal. 

A  comparison  of  the  figures  given  in  the  estimate  with  those  of  the  1885  report  dis- 
closes what  at  first  sight  appears  to  be  an  inconsistency,  viz,  an  increase  in  the  total 
estimated  cost  of  the  canal  of  $1,047,978.25,  and  a  decrease  in  the  length  of  actual 
canal  to  be  excavated  of  13.5  miles,  and  in  the  cube  to  be  removed  of  3,567,565  cubic 
yards,  as  stated  before.  It  will,  however,  be  observed  that  the  surveys  made  by  the 
expedition  of  1885  were  confined  exclusively  to  the  land  portions  of  the  canal,  the 
estimates  for  the  other  portions  being  based  on  previous  incomplete  hydrographic 
surveys,  while  the  recent  location,  covering,  as  it  does,  the  whole  line  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  has  produced  the  following  results : 

First.  A  reduction  of  the  quantities  in  all  the  sections  actually  located  by  the  1885 
expedition,  by  the  introduction  of  basins,  etc.,  and  certain  modifications  in  detail  in 
the  location,  thus :  54,015,602  cubic  yards  excavation  in  canal  proper  in  1885  report, 
and  50,448,037  cubic  yards  by  present  estimate,  a  difference  of  3,567,565  cubic  yards  in 
favor  of  the  new  location  ;  though,  with  regard  to  cost,  this  has  been  more  than  bal- 
anced by  the  increase  in  the  proportion  of  rock  now  estimated,  as  already  explained. 

Second.  In  all  the  work  connected  with  the  lake  and  harbor  of  Greytown  the  in- 
crease in  consequence  of  the  more  accurate  data  now  obtained  is,  for  excavation  in  the 
lake  4,902,908  cubic  yards,  against  877,675  cubic  yards  in  1885,  and  in  the  harbor  of 
Greytown  9,550,000  cubic  yards,  against  4,080,100  cubic  yards.  Besides  the  addition 
of  certain  other  improvements,  which  have  been  spoken  of  in  the  body  of  this  report, 
fally  explaining  the  apparent  contradiction  between  the  claims  and  the  results  of  the 


286  NICARAGUA    CaNAJL   COMPANY. 

recent  expedition,  and  giving  further  evidence  of  its  extensive  scope  as  well  as  ita 
minute  attention  to  detail,  making  it,  as  claimed,  an  improved  location,  the  estimated 
cost  only  increased  by  more  accurate  knowledge  of  tht;  country  and  conditions. 

Of  the  20,789  miles  of  canal  in  excavation,  more  than  12  miles  will  be  done  by 
dredging,  the  material  to  be  deposited  directly  on  both  sides  of  the  cut,  and  the  short 
cuts  in  the  San  Francisco  division,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  1^  miles,  are  sub- 
divided in  small  sections  across  narrow  ridges  separating  deep  valleys,  where  the 
excavated  material  not  needed  for  embankments,  can  be  dumped  in  the  immediate 
vicinity. 

A  railroad  has  been  estimated  for  from  Lock  No.  1  to  the  dam  at  Ochoa,  and  between 
Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  Pacific,  which,  together  with  the  lake  and  river  and  the 
smaller  streams  penetrating  into  the  valleys  of  the  Deeeado  and  San  Francisco,  will 
afford  easy  and  economical  commnnication  along  the  whole  route.  These  nmall 
streams  will  be  of  special  value  at  the  start,  as  they  proved  to  be  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  surveys.  It  is  admitted  that  the  prices  adopted  in  estimating  the  cost  of  this 
work  should  be  greater  than  would  be  required  for  similar  work  located  in  any  well- 
developed  section  of  this  country.  A  large  percentage  of  the  increased  cost  is  charge- 
able to  the  transportation  of  tools  and  machinery,  and  to  the  difficulty  in  obtaining 
and  providing  for  the  workmen,  the  country  from  Greytown  to  the  lake  being  unin- 
habited, and  that  between  the  lake  and  Brito  but  sparsely  populated.  The  erection 
of  houses  for  the  protection  of  the  property  and  accommodation  of  employes  will  be 
a  necessary  item  of  expense;  but  the  country  is  exceptionally  healthy,  and  these 
structures  need  not  be  either  substantial  in  character  or  expensive.  The  majority 
need  be  but  temporary  sheds  built  with  material  gathered  along  the  line  of  the  canal, 
at  but  little  more  cost  than  the  labor  in  handling  it ;  yet,  some  delay  and  expense 
may  be  fonnd  unavoidable  in  the  preliminaiy  preparations  for  commencing  the 
work. 

Another  contingency  which  may  canse  a  marked  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  work 
is  the  physical  inability  of  the  imported  workmen  to  perform  the  ordinary  labor,  as 
compared  with  that  accomplished  in  a  more  temperate  climate.  The  lalioring  classes 
of  Nicaragua,  when  under  proper  control,  are  capable  of  an  activity  and  endurance 
under  great  fatigue  and  exposure  to  the  elements  scarcely  equaled  in  any  other 
country,  and  with  no  apparent  injury  to  health  ;  yet  the  same  capabilities  can  not 
be  expected  in  unacclimated  foreigners,  accustomed  to  diflerent  conditions  of  life. 
It  is  believed  that  not  less  than  6,000  excellent  laborers  can  be  obtained  from  the  Cen- 
tral American  States,  and  that  with  a  judicious  management  all  the  help  needed 
can  be  had  from  the  Gulf  States  io  this  country,  where  the  climatic  conditions  are  in 
many  respects  similar  to  those  prevailing  over  a  large  portion  of  the  canal  route. 
The  number  of  skilled  laborers  employed  will  be  comparatively  small.  On  the  west 
side  of  the  lake,  where  the  greater  number  of  laborers  will  be  employed,  the  climate 
is  not  excelled  for  salubrity  by  any  other  portion  of  Central  America,  and  in  that 
portion  of  the  eastern  section  fronj  Ochoa  to  Greytown,  which  is  the  only  locality 
where  trouble  &om  climatic  causes  might  be  expected,  the  unexceptional  good  health 
enjoyed  by  the  employes  of  the  company  during  more  than  six  months  of  constant 
exposure  to  the  influence  of  the  climate,  while  undergoing  all  kinds  of  hardships 
and  privations,  seems  to  be  an  evident  demonstration  that  no  apprehensions  need 
be  entertained  as  to  the  climate.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  section  the  work 
is  divided  into  two  large  classes,  viz,  the  divide  cut  and  dredging.  The  first  is  lo- 
cated in  the  most  elevated  and  healthy  portion  of  the  line,  and  in  the  second  the 
number  of  employes  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  as  manual  labor  is  almost  entirely  ex- 
cluded. The  small  force  necessary  to  handle  and  care  for  the  machinery  will  be 
either  housed  on  the  dredges  or  in  quarters  in  the  "  divide  "  where,  with  the  purest 
of  waters  from  the  mountain  streams  and  the  cool  "trades"  constantly  sweeping 
in  from  the  sea,  the  slightest  sanitary  regulations  will  insure  perfect  health  at  all 
times. 

The  prices  adopted  are  believed  to  be  ample  to  cover  all  possible  contingencies, 
provided  the  work  is  conducted  by  an  intelligent  and  business-like  management. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  canal  can  be  completed  in  six  years,  of  which  time  one  year 
will  be  expended  in  marking  out  the  line,  and  clearing  the  groond,  and  in  making  the 
necessary  preparations  to  commence  active  operations. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  closing  this  report  I  beg  to  express  my  firm  convictions,  the  result  of  several 
years  of  constant  labor  and  careful  investigations,  that  the  route  here  described  and 
recommended  is  perfectly  practicable,  free  from  complicated  engineering  problems, 
and  the  most  economical  as  well  as  the  safest  for  interoceanic  ship  commnnication 
between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  across  the  American  Isthmus. 

In  making  this  location  the  information  obtained  by  iireviouB  surveys  and  explor- 
ations has  been  utilized  with  mnch  saving  of  time  and  labor,  and  has  greatly  eon- 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


287 


tribated  to  the  thoronjjh  knowledge  of  the  country  traversed  by  the  canal  now  in 
possession  of  the  company;  and  it  maybe  safely  stated  that  the  present  location  can 
not  be  materially  improved  upon, 

I  take  pleasure  in  expressing  my  high  appreciation  of  the  valuable  services  ren- 
dered by  the  officers  of  the  expedition,  to  whose  untiring  energy  and  devotiqn  to 
duty,  under  many  adverse  conditious,  is  due  the  success  of  the  surveys.  With  such 
a  large  and  efficient  staff  in  which  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  each  seems  to  have 
been  to  excel  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  make  individual 
references  to  merit,  but  my  sincere  thanks  are  extended  to  all ;  yet  I  feel  confident 
I  can  make  two  exceptions  with  the  unanimous  approval  of  all  concerned. 

Subchief  R.  E.  Peary,  on  whom  devolved  the  onerous  duty  of  taking  the  surveying 
expedition  to  Nicaragua,  displayed  from  the  moment  of  his  arrival  in  the  country 
the  most  untiring  energy,  perseverance,  and  ability  in  the  proper  management  and 
distribution  of  the  force  under  his  charge,  and  in  pushing  the  work  forward,  deserv- 
ing the  highest  commendation.  After  I  took  charge  of  the  work  his  cooperation  was 
equally  valuable. 

The  other  is  Mr.  J.  Francis  Le  Baron,  who  has  been  for  the  last  six  months  in  charge 
of  the  surveying  parties  left  in  Nicaragua,  and  has  rendered  very  valuable  services 
in  completing  and  perfecting  the  location  of  certain  portions  of  the  route,  where 
additional  information  was  deemed  necessary. 

The  medical  corps  rendered  most  important  services  both  in  attending  to  the  sick 
and  in  giving  preventive  advice,  which  proved  both  valuable  and  effective.  It  shared 
also  in  the  field  work  and  in  the  draughting  at  headquarters. 

Kespectfully  submitted. 

A.  G.  Menocal, 

Chief  Engineer. 


ESTIMATES  OP  COST  ON  LOCATION  OF  1887-1890. 

EASTERN  DIVISION,  18.864  MILES. 

[Trom  Greytown  to  the  eastern  limit  of  the  San  Francisco  Basin.] 

Section  1 — From  Greytown  to  the  Divide,  15.947  miles. 

1,819,820  cubic  yards  excavation  in  earth  above  water,  at  40  cents..  $727,928. 00 

13,547,597  cubic  yards  dredging,  at  20  cents 2,709,519.40 

172,288  cubic  yards  stone  pitching  sides  of  canal,  at  $2 344,576.00 

925  acres  grubbing  and  clearing,  at  $100 92,500.00 

Lighting  canal  (at  one-half  mile  intervals),  24  incandescent  electric 

beacons  and  plant 67,000.00 

Lighting  locks,  30  electric  arc  lights,  with  separate  dynamos  for  each 

look 9,000.00 

$3,950,523.40 
Section  2— The  Divide,  2.917  miles. 

7,000,230  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock,  at  $1.50 10,500,345.00 

3,034,904  cubic  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents - 1,213,961.60 

169  acres  grubbing  and  clearing,  at  $100 16,900.00 

Lighting  canal  (at  one-half  mile  intervals),  6  incandescent  electric 

beacons  and  plant - 8,500.00 

11,600  lineal  feet  of  narrow  section  of  canal,  to  receive  double  fen- 
der wales  each  side,  at  $4 46,400.00 


11,786,106.60 


Bailroad  and  telegraphs. 


12  miles  railroad  from  Lock  No.  1  to  San  Francisco  Basin,  at  $60,000.  720, 000. 00 

22  miles  telegraphs,  Greytown  to  San  Francisco  Basin,  at  $500 11, 000. 00 

731, 000. 00 


288 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


Lock  No.  1. 


463,603  oabio  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents $185,441.20 

120,044  cnbio  yards  concrete  (rock  obtained  from  the  Divide  Cat), 

atte 720,264.00 

2,400  onbic  yards  stone  pitchinr^  in  ba^in,  at  |2 4,ti00. 00 

3,699  cubic  feet  fender  wales,  at  50  cents 1,849.50 

1,020  fender  piles  45  feet  long,  at  $13.50 13, 770. 00 

Gates  .• 114.934.40 

Machinery 100,000.00 

Buildings 30,000.00 

Pnmping 100,000.00 


Lock  No.  2. 


Lock  No.  3. 


Harbor  of  Greytoum. 


Auxtliary  Workt. 


1.271,059.10 


308,918  cnbio  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 123, 567. 20 

120,430  cubic  yards  concrete  (rock  obtained  from  the  Divide  Cut), 

at  $6    722,580.00 

2,400  cubic  yards  stone  pitching  in  basin,  at  $2........... 4,800.00 

3,699  cubic  feet  of  fender  wales,  at  50  cents............... 1,849.50 

1,020  fender  piles  45  feet  long,  at  $13.50 13,770.00 

Gates 114,934.40 

Machinery 100,000.00 

Buildings 30,000.00 


1,111,501.10 


528,673  cnbio  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 211,469. 20 

147,627  cubic  yards  concrete  (rock  obtained  from  the  excavation, ) 

at$6 885,762.00 

32  fender  cribs,  at  $500 16,000.00 

Gates 188,440.00 

Machinery 100,000.00 

Buildings 30,000.00 


1,631,671.20 


Brjish  and  pile  pier,  900  feet  long 190,214.50 

225,907  cubic  yards  stone  in  breakwater  (from  Divide  Cut),  at  $1.50.  338, 860. 50 

9,550,000  cubic  yards  dredging  in  sand,  at  20  cents 1, 910, 000. 00 

Piers  at  entrance  to  canal 100,000.00 

Lighting  and  buoying: 

One  first-order  lighthouse  complete 100,000.00 

Three  range  beacon  lights 1,000.00 

One  breakwater  beacon  light  and  signal  tower .............  7,000.00 

Two  pier-head  lights 2,000. 00 

One  first  class  (middle  channel)  Nun  buoy 200.00 

Two  second  class  (side  channel)  Nun  buoys 200.80 

Two  third  class  (side  channel)  Nun  buoys.... 100.00 


2,649,575.00 


105,500  cubic  yards  dredging  in  earth  and  sand  in  diversion  of 

Deseado,  at  20  cents 21,100.00 

Embankment  and  weirs  in  valley  of  the  Deseado : 

2l0,62r>  cubic  yards  rock  fill  (from  the  Divide  Cut),  at  40  cents..  84, 250.  C<0 

83t),329  cubic  yards  earth  in  embankments  and  backing  of  weirs, 

at  30  cents 250,898.70 

79,658  cnbic  yards  excavation  of  surface  soil  for  embankments, 

at40cent8 31,863.20 

5,100  lineal  feet  of  sheet  piling,  30  feet  long  8  inches  thick,  say 

1,350,000  feet  B.  M.,  at  $70 94,500.00 

250,000  feet  B.  M.  timber  for  cross-ties  and  guides  for  sheet  pil- 
ing, etc.,  at  $60 15,000.00 

200  bearing  piles  for  trestles  and  guides  to  sheet  piling,  at  $10..  2, 000. 00 

2,500  lineaJ  feet  of  trestles^  for  dumping  stone,  etc.,  at  $22 .......  55, 000. 00 

554,61L90 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  289 

EECAPITULATION,  EASTERN  DIVISIOIT. 

Section  1,  from  Greytown  to  the  Divide $3,950,523.40 

Section  2,  the  Divide ll,7H6, 106.60 

Railroad  and  telegraphs 731, 000. 00 

Lock  No.  1 1,271,059.10 

Lock  No.  2 1,111.501.10 

LockNo.  3 1, (i31, 671. 20 

Harbor  of  Greytown 2,649,575.00 

Anxiliary  Works 554,611.90 

23,686,048.30 
SAN  FKANCISCO  DIVISION,  12.600  MILES. 

[From  the  western  end  of  the  eastern    divide  out"  to  the  River  San  Juan.] 

725  acres  clearing  trees  from  line  of  canal,  at  flOO 72,500,00 

30,309  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock,  at  $1.  50 -        45,463.50 

2,098.195  cubic  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 1,079,278.00 

Light! ug  caual  at  oue-half  mile  intervals,  24  incandescent  electric 

beacons  and  plant 65,000.00 

Guard  gate  or  movable  dam  to  control  waters  of  the  San  Joan . .  300, 000. 00 

1,562,24L50 
Bailroad  and  telegraphs. 

^5  miles  railroad  at$60,000 900,000.00 

40  miles  telegraphs,  from  Divide  to  Castillo,  at  $500 20, 000. 00 

920, 000. 00 
Embaukments  and  weirs  in  the  valley  of  the  San  Francisco: 

3,239,705  cubic  yards  earth  in  embankments  from  canal  excava- 
tion, at  30  cents 971,911.50 

1,575,459  cubic  yards  rock  fill  from  the  "divide  cut,"  at  40  cents  630, 183. 60 

192, 415  cubic  yards  excavation  of  surface  soil  for  embankments, 

at  50  cents 96,207.50 

12,600  lineal  feet  of  sheet  piling  40  feet  long  8  inches  thick,  say 

4,500,000  feet  B.  M.,at$70 315,000.00 

1,458  guide  piles  fqr  sheet  piling  and  for  bearing  trestles,  average 

30  feet  Jong,  at  $8 11,664.00 

524,000  feet  B.  M.,  of  timber  in  guides  and  cross-ties  for  sheet  pil- 
ing, etc.,  at  $60 31,440.00 

27,585  lineal  feet  of  trestles  for  dumping  rock  and  carrying  rail- 
road, at$22   606,870.00 

178  acres  grubbing  and  clearing  for  embankments  at  $100 17, 800. 00 

2,681,076.60 
RECAPITULATION,  SAN  FRANCISCO  DIVISION. 

Excavation,  lighting,  clearing,  etc ..  1,562,241.50 

Railroad  and  telegraphs 920,000.00 

Embankments  and  weirs  in  valley  of  the  San  Francisco 2,681,076.60 

5,163,318.10 
LAKE  AND  RIVER  DIVISION,  121  MILES. 

[From  Oohoa  to  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Nicaraf^a  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bio  L^jas.  ] 

Section  1 — Bio  San  Juan,  64.5  milea. 

398,613  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock  under  water,  at  $5 1, 993, 065. 00 

422,540  cubic  yards  excavationin  earth  above  water,  at  40  cents  ....  169, 416. 00 

2, 150,900  cubic  yards  dredging  in  earth  at  30  cents 645, 270.  00 

377  acres  grubbing  and  clearing  across  bends  at  $100. 37,700.00 

Lighting  and  buoying  : 

10  middle  channel  spar  buoys  (Fort  San  Carlos  to  Toro),at  $25..  250. 00 

80  western  river  light  beacons,  at  $50 4,000.00 

One  electric  arc  lamp  In  signal  tower  at  Dam 3, 000. 00 

Three  incandescent  electric  light  beacons,  at  Dam  basin 1,000.00 

70  miles  telegraphs,  at  $500 35,000.00 

8, 888, 701.  00 
S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 19 


290  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

8«otion  2— Lake  Nioaragva,  56.5  nUIet. 

176,832  cabio  yards  Hubmarine  rook  excavation  (weat  abore  of  lake), 

at$5 1884,1(50.03 

4,726,076  cubic  yards  dredging  (east  side  of  lake),  at  20  cents 945,215.20 

Lighting  and  bnoying : 

One  fonrth-orderlensin  signal  tower  at  month  of  Bio  Lajas  ....  7,000. 00 

One  2-mile  range  beacon 100.00 

One  fourth-order  lens  in  keeper's  dwelling  at  end  of  Solentirame 

Island 9,000.00 

One  second-order  lens  on  hill,  old  Fort  San  Carlos 80, 000. 00 

One    fourth-order  range  light    in  signal  tower,  old  Fort  Han 

Carlos 7,000.00 

One    second-class  (middle    channel)  nan  bnoy  at  month    of 

Lajas 100.00 

Two  third-class  (side  channel)  nan  bnoys   art  month  of  Lajas.. .  100.00 

Five  third<ola88  (middle  channel)  nun  buoys  at  eutrauce  Uio  San 
JiUUl 150.00 


1,857,825.20 


Dam  aoroM  Rio  Sam  Juan  at  Oehoa. 

18,5(X)  onbio  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 7,400.(X) 

1,550  onbic  yards  concrete  in  core  walls  of  abutments,  at  $10 15,500.00 

t^  bearing  piles  for  trestles  and  sheet  piling  45  feet  long,  at  (13.50..  11,205. 00 
3,330  lineal  feet  of  sheet  piling,  30  feet  deep  by  8  inches  thick,  800,000 

feetB.  M.,at$75 60,000.00 

1,180,000  feet  B.  M.  of  timber  in  trestles,  guides  for  sheet  piling,  cross 

ties,  etc.,  at  $60 70,800.00 

807,920  cubic  yards  rock  fill  (from  divide  cut),  at  50  cents 403,1160.00 

629,090  cubic  yards  earth  filling  from  excavation  at  25  cents 157, 272. 50 


BmbankmenU  on  San  Carlo*  Bidge  line. 


726,137.60 


293,240  cubio  yards  earth  in  embankments  (borrowed),  at  70  cents  ..  205, 408. 00 

^,370  cubic  yards  excavation  of  surface  soil,  at  50  cents ^       11, 185. 00 

450  lineal  feet  sheet  piling  40  feet  long,  8  inches  thick,  144,(X)0  feet 

B.  M.,  at  $70 1,510.00 

45  guide  piles  for  sheet  piling,  averaging  30  feet  long,  at  $8 360. 00 

18,000  feet  B.  M.  of  timber  in  guides  and  cross-ties  for  sheet  piling, 

etc.,  at  $60 1,080.00 

3^  acres  grubbing  and  clcari  ng  for  embankments,  at  $100 350. 00 


SSOAPIXULATIOK,  LAKB  AND  BIVBB  DITISION. 


219, 893. 00 


Section  1,  River  San  Juan 2,888,701.00 

Section  2,  Lake  Nicaragua 1,867,825.20 

Embankments  in  San  Carlos  Ridge  Line 219,893.00 

Dam  across  Rio  San  Juan  at  Ochoa 726,1^7.50 


5, 692, 556. 70 


WESTEBN  DIVISION,  17.04  MILKS. 

SeeUon  1. — From  Lalce  2fioaragua  to  Briton  17.04  tnile$. 

5,696,507  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock  above  water,  at  $1.25 7, 120, 633. 75 

5,399,316  cnbio  yards  excavation  in  earth  above  water,  ac  40  cents..  2, 159, 726. 40 

1,066,666  cubic  yards  dredging  in  sand,  at  20  cents 21;>,;{33.20 

20,753  cubic  yards  stone  pitching  sides  of  canal,  at  $2 41,500.00 

1,033  acres  grubbing  and  clearing,  at  $50 51,(J50. 00 

Lighting  20  incandescent  electric  beacons  and  plant 54,000.00 

30  electric  arc  light«  and  two  separate  dynamos  at  locks 9,000.00 

26,000  lineal  feet  of  narrow  section  of  canal  to  have  double  fender 

waleaeach  aide,  atf4 104,000.00 

9,753.849.35 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  291 
Diversion  of  the  Bio  Lagas  into  the  lake. 

249,508  oabic  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  ceuts f99,803.20 

164,786  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock,  at  $1.25 205,982.50 


Bailroad  and  telegrapha. 


Im  Flor  dam. 


Looks  Noa.  4  and  5. 


Tidal  Lock  No.  6. 


305,785.70 


18  miles  narrow-gange  railroad,  at  $25,000 450,000.00 

18  miles  telegraphs,  at  $500 9,000.00 


459,000.00 


17  acres  grabbing  and  clearing,  at  $50 850.00 

320,000  cubic  yards  excavation  of  surface  soil,  at  40  cents 128,000.  (.0 

3,320  lineal  feet  of  sheet  pilinj?  in  two  rows,  30  feet  long,  8  inches 

thick,  796,800  feet  B.  M.,  at$75 59,760.00 

322  bearing  piles  for  trestles  and  guiding  sheet  piling  20  feet  long, 

at  $5 1,610.00 

50,000  feet  B.  M.  of  lumber  for  guides  and  cross-ties  for  sheet  piling, 

at  $50 2,500.00 

1,600  lineal  feet  of  trestles  for  dumping  material,  at  $22 35,200.00 

918,000  cubic  yards  earth  from  canal  excavation,  at  20  cents 183,600.  00 

830,000  cubic  yards  rock  fill  from  excavation  for  locks,  at  20  cents..  166, 000. 00 


Other  Auxiliary  Work, 


577,520.00 


664,194  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock,  at $1.25 830,242.50 

127,646  cubic  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 51,058.40 

100,000  cubic  yards  concrete  (rock  from  tbe  excavations),  at  $6 600, 000. 00 

1,020  fender  piles,  at  $13.50 13,770.00 

3,699  cubic  feet  fender  wales,  at  50  cents 1,849.50 

2,400  cubic  yards  stone  pitching  in  basin,  at  $2 .  4,800.00 

Gates 250,000.00 

Machinery. 150,000, 00 

Buildings 45,000.00 


1,946,720.40 


61,698  cubic  yards  excavation  in  rock,  at  $1.25..' $77,122.50 

124,800  cubic  yards  excavation  in  earth,  at  40  cents 49,920.00 

126,000  cubic  yards  concrete  (rock  obtained  from  the  Divide  Cut), 

at  $6 756,000.00 

1,020  fender  piles,  at  $13. 50 13,770.00 

3,698  cubic  feet  offender  wales,  at  50  cents 1,849.00 

2,400  cubic  yards  stone  pitching  in  basin,  at  $2 4,800.00 

Gates 114,934.40 

Machinery 100,000.00 

BuUdings 30,000.00 

Pumping 100,000.00 


1,248,395.90 


Guard  gate  or  movable  dam  in  the  Divide...... 300,000.00 

Crib  piers  at  lake  entrance  to  canal 493,710.00 

Three  swinging  bridges  over  canal 60,000.00 

189,016  cubic  yards  embankment  near  site  of  locks,  at  50  cents 94,508.00 

19,080  cubic  yards  masonry  walls  at  head  of  Look  No.  4,  at  |10 190, 800. 00 

1,139,018.00 


292  mCARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Harbor  of  BHto. 

5,658,898  cubic  yards  dredging,  at  20  cents 11,131,779.60 

383,899  oabic  yards  stone  in  breakwaters  (^tone  from  Divide  Cut), 

at  f  1.50....*. 575,848.60 

Lighting  and  buoying  1  second  order  leus  in  signal  tower  on  pro- 
montory   10,000,00 

One  range  light  beacon,  inner  base  of  promontory 100.00 

Two  pier-headlight!* 2,000.00 

One  hrst  class  (middle  chuunul)  Nun  buoy 200.00 

Foot  third  class  (side  channel)  Nun  buoys 200.00 

1,720,128.10 

Bightof  way  indemnity 100,000.00 

RECAPITULATION.  WESTERN  DIVISION. 

Section  1,  canal 9,753,849.35 

Diversion  of  the  Rio  Lajas  into  the  lake 305,785.70 

Railroads  and  telegraphs 459,000.00 

LaFlordam 577.520.00 

Locks  Nos.  4  and  5 1,946,720.40 

Tidal  Lock  No.  6 1,248,395.90 

Other  auxiliary  works 1,139,018.00 

Harbor  of  Brito 1,720,128.10 

Right  of  way  indemnity 100,000.00 

Tipitapa  Canal 275,000.00 

17,625,417.4:> 

GRAND  RECAPITULATION. 

Eastern  division $23,686,048.30 

San  FranciHco  division 5,163,318. 10 

Lake  and  river  division 5,692,556.70 

Western  division 17,525,417.45 

52,067,340.55 
Surveys,  hospitals,  shops,  manageiucnt,  and  coiitiiigencica,  25  pei 

cent 13,016,835.45 

Orand  total 65,084,176.00 

Respectfully  submitted. 

A.  Q.  Mknocal, 

Chief  Engineer. 

[NOTK.— Jan.  31„  1890     Theaa  estimates  have  been  lerised  to  conform  to  informa 
tion  obtained  to  date.] 


NICABAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  293 


Appendix  H. 


XIGABAOUA  CANAL  CONSTRUCTION  COMPANY. 
REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OP  CONSULTING  ENGINEERS  MAY  9,  1889. 

To  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company : 

Gentlemen:  The  undersigned  were  requested  by  your  letter  of  January  10,  1889, 
to  examine  the  plana  and  estimates  prepared  by  your  chief  engineer,  Mr.  A.  G.  Men- 
ocal,  for  a  ship  canal  between  the  two  oceans  at  Nicaragua,  and  to  indicate  the  cost, 
in  their  judgment,  of  constructing  a  canal  along  the  line  proposed  and  following,  in 
general,  the  plans  of  your  chief  engineer.  You  also  requested  an  opinion  upon  the 
practicability  of  the  canal  as  now  proposed,  with  due  reference  to  the  end  in  view, 
namely,  the  sale  and  convenient  passage  of  sea-going  ships  from  ocean  to  ocean.  We 
beg  to  present  the  following  report : 

We  have  carefully  examined  the  unusually  full  maps,  profiles,  borings,  samples  of 
materials,  etc.,  which  have  been  prepared  and  collected  under  the  directions  of  your 
chief  engineer,  and  the  completeness  and  excellent  form  of  which  reflect  credit  upon 
your  engineering  staff. 

We  find  certain  elements  of  the  designs  submitted  which  may  probably  be  advan- 
tageously modified.  This  would  in  some  cases  reduce  and  in  others  increase  the 
quantities. '  It  is  also  altogether  likely  that  some  parts  of  the  work  may  be  let  at 
lower  and  other  parts  at  higher  prices  than  are  estimated.  We,  however,  are  dis- 
posed to  base  our  conclusions  on  quantities  and  prices  which  should  prove  sufficient 
to  accomplish  it  upon  the  assumption  of  good  and  honest  management,  backed  by  an 
ample  treasury.  We  have  necessarily  borne  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  cost  of  the 
notable  precursors  of  this  canal  project,  both  at  Suez  and  Panama,  has  greatly  ex- 
ceeded the  amount  of  the  original  estimates,  and  that  this  has  been  true  of  many 
other  important  wcjrks.  While  this  might  be,  perhaps,  in  a  large  measure  traced  to 
unfortunate  management,  as  well  as  the  lack  of  such  careful  preliminary  studies  as 
have  been  laid  before  us  in  this  case,  we  have  nevertheless  endeavored  to  gnard 
against  a  similar  result  by  a  liberal  allowance  for  every  apparent  contingency. 

Acting  on  this  principle,  we  have  not  yet  deemed  it  wise  to  reduce  the  quantities 
or  prices  of  your  chief  engineer's  estimates  in  any  instance,  even  when  it  appeared 
possible  th«t  this  might  prudently  be  done.  His  figures  are,  of  course,  founded  upon 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  local  conditions  than  we  can  now  possess.  But  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  has  appeared  at  all  doubtful  we  have  liberally  increased  one  or  both. 
Our  conclusions  are  as  follows: 

The  project,  as  a  whole,  appears  to  have  comparatively  few  elements  of  doubt 
about  it,  as  contrasted  with  other  works  of  at  all  similar  magnitude,  and  we  coHsider 
it  to  be  unquestionably  feasible.  The  great  area  of  Lake  Nicaragua  ofters  immunity 
from  serious  floods  by  regulating  flow.  Much  of  the  earth  excavation  and  dredging, 
the  rock  drilling,  and  the  concrete  mixing  can  be  done  by  mechanical  means,  to  that 
extent  reducing  the  need  for  manual  labor.  The  dams  and  embankments  are  pro- 
posed to  be  made  largely  from  the  immense  mass  of  otherwise  useless  rock  spoil. 
Under  the  climatic  conditions,  as  we  understand  them,  an  adequate  supply  of  labor 
should  be  obtainable.     The  project  in  detail  consists  of  the  following  elements  : 

First.  Of  10  miles  on  the  east  end  and  0.57  miles  on  the  west  end  of  sea-level  canal 
dredged  in  from  the  coast.  The  borings  submitted  seem  to  warrant  the  opinion  that 
this  will  be  entirely  through  alluvial  deposits,  as  Is  also  the  case  in  certain  parallel 
river  diversions.  The  samples  of  material  taken  from  these  borings  all  appear  favor- 
able for  dredging  and  the  cost  of  such  dredging  can  be  foreseen  with  the  greater  pre- 
cision, because  less  influenced  by  climate,  weather,  and  rates  of  wages  than  most 
other  engineering  work. 

Second.  Of  a  flight  of  thxee  locks  on  each  end,  all  within  a  distance  of  about  one 


294  NICARAGUA  CANAL   COMPANY. 

and  one-half  miles  at  one  end  and  two  miles  at  the  other,  by  which  the  a8C«Dt  is 
made  from  the  sea-level  to  the  anmrnit-leTel  of  110  feet  (this  elevation  being  some 
four  feet  less  on  the  eastern  end  to  allow  for  a  necessary  fall  of  three-fourths  of  an 
inch  per  mile  in  the  San  Juan  River).  These  locks  are  shown  by  the  borings  sub- 
mitted to  be  all  founded  on  rock.  The  proposed  size  for  locks,  650  feet  by  70  feet  by 
30  feet  deep,  seems  sufficient  for  all  demands. 

Third.  Of  a  very  long  summit  level  of  155.98  miles,  consisting  of  four  main  parts: 
(a)  The  great  divide  cnts  of  3  and  8  miles  in  length,  respectively,  which  are  shown 
by  the  evidence  submitted,  to  consist  chiefly  of  rock,  overlaid  with  a  few  feet  of 
earth. 

(5)  The  Deseado,  San  Franciseo,  Michado,  and  Tola  basins  formed  by  dams,  fnr< 
nish  21.57  miles  of  slack-water  navigation,  18.13  miles  of  which  require  no  excava- 
tion and  the  remaining  3.44  miles  earth  dredging  only. 

(c)  The  river  San  Juan,  raised  in  level  by  a  dam  at  Ochoa,  so  as  to  furnish  slack- 
water  navigation,  and  Lake  Nicaragua  furnish  together  121  miles  of  free  navigation 
of  which  36.5  miles  require  some  earth  dredging  and  3.83  miles  some  rock  dredging. 

(d)  An  inconsiderable  amount  (1.63  miles)  of  canal  section  in  earth,  chiefly  to  con- 
nect the  San  Francibco  and  Machado  basins. 

The  two  great  rock  cnts  are  by  far  the  heaviest  features  of  the  work.  In  consid- 
ering the  plans  for  them  and  determining  the  proper  amount  and  cost  of  work  we 
have  felt  that  every  provision  should  be  made  to  secure  permanent  slopes  and  to  pro- 
vide a  section  suitable  for  any  vessels  which  can  pass  the  locks.  We  think  that  the 
estimates,  as  modified  by  ns,  will  secure  these  resulta 

The  four  great  basins  present  a  most  admirable  feature  of  the  plans.  As  compared 
with  a  restricted  canal  channel,  they  facilitate  navigation  as  well  as  reduce  the  cost. 
They  are  made,  as  is  also  the  slack-water  navigation  of  the  Sun  Juan  River,  by  dams 
and  embankments  of  considerable  extent,  none,  however,  of  very  great  height  The 
plans  submitted  provide  for  forming  these  dams  and  embankments  chiefly,  of  heavy 
rock  filling,  the  proximity  of  the  great  rock  cuts  (from  which  material  must  other- 
wise be  wasted)  to  the  sites  of  these  dams  and  embankments  facilitating  their  per- 
manent construction  at  moderate  cost.  While  we  are  not  ready  to  say  that  the  details 
of  the  plans  submitted  may  not  be,  in  some  respects,  modified,  we  regard  the  esti- 
mates adopted  as  sufficient  to  attain  the  results  desired,  sabject  to  the  following 
contingency : 

There  is  the  possible  hazard  in  respect  to  the  San  Francisco  and  other  basins,  that 
they  may  not  prove  sufficiently  retentive,  owing  either  to  leakage  around  the  ends  or 
under  the  bases  of  the  dam  and  embankments,  <.r  to  conceal  permeable  sti:'  i  beneath 
the  natural  surface.  We  deem  this  a  remote  danger  since  both  the  surface  and  sub- 
terranean formations,  so  far  as  revealed  by  borings  and  by  the  rsports  of  the  obser- 
vations of  reliable  men,  familiar  with  the  locality,  are  favorable. 

For  a  work  of  ordinary  magnitude  we  would  accept  such  evidence  as  ample,  but  in 
view  of  the  great  area  and  volume  of  the  basins,  we  agree  that  the  possibility  ought 
to  be  covered  by  the  estimate.  The  probability  is  great  that  there  are  no  permeable 
strata  beneath  the  surface ;  if  they  exist  they  might  not  necessarily  cause  leakage, 
and  even  if  leakage  resulted,  it  would  not  necessarily  do  serious  harm.  Concentrated 
leakage  if  it  occurred  might  possibly  be  remedied,  and  if  it  should  develop  at  all 
would  be  likely  to  occnr  at  an  early  stage  of  the  work  of  construction.  The  worst 
result  to  be  feared  is  that  it  might  impel  a  modification  of  the  original  features  of  the 
project,  enforcing  a  lowering  of  the  water  level  at  certain  points,  and  at  an  additional 
cost  of  about  $7,000,000.  Under  the  circumstances,  we,  out  of  abundant  caution, 
have  deemed  it  wise  and  right  to  make  the  general  contingency  of  allowance 
($14,633,262)  large  enough,  in  our  opinion,  to  cover  this  amount. 

The  requisite  depth  in  the  San  Juan  River  and  in  Lake  Nicaragua  is  obtained  by  a 
considerable  amount  of  dredging,  largely  of  earth  but  also  with  an  amount  of  rock 
blasting  under  water,  the  precise  extent  and  cost  of  which  it  is  exceptionally  difficult 
to  foresee.     We  have  therefore  made  an  allowance  for  this  work. 

We  have  included  in  the  estimates  the  sum  of  $1,035,000,  for  the  diversion  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  as  it  seems  proper  to  provide  for  the  ]iossible  necessity  of  the  diversion 
of  this  important  stream  from  the  canal.  We  have  also  included  in  the  estimate  the 
amount  named  by  the  chief  engineer  for  the  work  that  may  be  necessary  in  the 
valley  of  the  San  Carlos  and  in  the  construction  of  the  canal  between  Lake  Managua 
and  Lake  Nicaragua,  this  construction  being  a  requirement  of  the  concession. 

The  estimates  for  the  harbor  improvements  at  IJrito  and  Greytown  we  leave  un- 
changed. It  appears  probable  that  the  amounts  estimated  may  prove  ample  for  all 
requirements  other  than  gradnal  enlargement  of  basin  areas,  but  whether  so  or  not 
(and  it  is  always  extren  ely  difficult  to  anticipate  with  certainty  what  may  be  the 
ultimate  requirements  for  work  of  this  class),  we  do  not  see  the  necessity  in  this  work 
as  we  do  in  the  canal  proper  for  the  endeavor  to  provide  at  the  outset  for  all  future 
demands  of  commerce.  Sufficient  expenditure  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  canal  to 
meet  reasonable  requirements  for  the  first  year  or  two  sfter  opening  is  all  that  we 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  295 

have  taken  into  con-ineiiition  iu  our  ehtimales.  The  cuual  once  opened  adequate 
harWora  can  ceriuiuly  be  provided  at  a  moderate  percentage  on  the  total  cost  of  the 
riiniil,  even  should  the  sum  herein  estimated  for  harbors  and  contingencies  prove 
insufficient.  We  must  not  be  understood  as  Implying  by  this  statement,  however, 
that  we  now  see  reason  to  fear  that  the  present  estimate  for  harbor  work  will  probably 
prove  inadequate.   Such  is  not  the  fact. 

It  may  not  be  regarded  as  improper  to  mention  also  that  while  the  cuts,  locks,  dams, 
etc.,  should  be  completed  for  the  full  depths  at  the  outset,  something  like  one-fifth  of 
the  total  amount  of  the  estimate  is  for  dredging  and  earth  excavation  under  water, 
which  is  not  required  to  aflford  20  feet  draught,  and  which  can  be  completed  with 
little  or  uo  disadvantage  after  the  canal  has  been  so  far  constructed  as  to  pass  vessels 
of  that  draught,  making  it  possible — if  found  advisable — to  open  the  canal  for  20  feet 
draught  for  about  four-tifths  of  the  final  cost. 

Our  estimate,  which  is  intended  to  represent  the  maximum  sum  which  the  canal 
ought  to  cost,  assuuiing,  as  afo^e^said,  integrity,  good  management,  and  no  interrup- 
tion of  work  from  financial  or  other  causes,  is  as  follows : 

Auxiliary  railways,  double  track,  standard  gauge,  from  divide  cut  east  to 
Greytown,  and  I'roui  divide  cut  west  to  Ochoa  Dam,  20  miles,  and  tele- 
graph, temponiry  and  permanent  systems $1, 110,000 

Same  on  Pacilioslope,  Kio  Lajas  toBrito,  18  miles 459,000 

1,569,000 

Harbor  works,  Greytown .' $2,550,667 

HiirUor  works,  Brito 1,720,128 

4,270,795 

Eastern  division  : 

Section  1,  from  Greytown  to  the  divide 5,298,527 

Section  2,  the  eastern  divide 18,333,639 

Locks  Nos.  1,2,  and  3 4,195,828 

Diversion  of  the  Dcsiado  and  San  JaanlUo 982,016 

San  Francisco  division 5,411,551 

Lake  and  river  division  : 

Rio  San  Juan 3,685,701 

Lake  Nicaragua 2,211,825 

Dam  at  Ochoa 726,137 

Western  division : 

From  Lake  Nicaragua  to  the  Paciflo 12,133,849 

Diversion  of  Rio  Lajas 346,786 

LaFlordam 577,520 

Locks  4,  5,  and  6,  and  guard  gates 3,899,116 

Right  of  way  indemnity 100,000 

Auxiliary  work — guard  gates  in  divide,  piers  at  lake,  bridges,  etc  ...  1, 139, 018 
Embankments  and  weirs  in  the  valley  of  the  San  Carlos  and  canal 

between  Lake  Managua  and  Nicaragua 1,000,000 

Diversion  of  the  Rio  Grande 1,035,000 

For  engineering,  management,  labor  agencies,  shops,  police,  sanitary 

service,  and  incidentals 6,250,000 

73, 166, 308 
Add  to  cover  specified  and  unspecified  contingencies  of  constractiou,  20  per 
cent 14,633,262 

Grand  total  of  estimate 87,799,570 

In  conclusion,  we  think  it  proper  to  express  oar  opinion  that  the  exploration  and 
studies  of  the  region  have  been  sufficient  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that,  unless  hin- 
dered by  obstacles  or  sinister  influences  such  as  would,  if  permitted  to  weigh,  forbid 
the  success  of  all  ventures,  this  enterprise  is  fall  of  promise. 
Bespectfally, 

John  Bogart. 
E.  T.  D.  Myers. 
A.  M.  Wellington. 
H.  A.  Hitchcock. 

I  concur  in  the  foregoing  estimates  as  being  in  the  aggregate  ample  for  the  pur- 
poses stated. 

Chas.  T.  Hakvby. 
May  9,  1889. 


296  ^lCAiU.GUA,CA2JAL.C0MPANY. 


Appendix  I 


OONOESaiON  Aim  DECREES  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  NICARAGUA  TO  THE 
NICARAGUA  CANAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  ZORK. 


The  President  of  the  Republic  to  the  inhabitants  thereof: 

Know  ye  that  Congress  has  ordered  as  follows : 

The  senate  and  chamber  of  deputies  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  do  nereby  de- 
cree^ 

Only  article. — The  contract  for  a  maritime  interoceanic  canal  entered  into  the 
23d  of  March,  nit.,  between  Dr.  Adan  Cdrdenas,  conimissioi  ed  especially  by  the 
supreme  government,  and  Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  member  and  representative  of  the  Nic- 
aragua Canal  Association  organized  in  New  York,  is  hereby  ratified.  This  contract 
shall  be  a  law  of  the  Republic  if  Mr.  Menocal  accepts  it  as  soon  as  be  be  notified,  with 
the  following  modifications  and  upon  the  following  terms: 

The  undersigned,  Adan  Cardenas,  commissioner  of  the  Government  of  the  Re- 
public, party  ot  the  first  part.,  and  Aniceto  G.  Menocal,  representative  of  the  Nica- 
ragua Canal  Association,  party  of  the  second  part,  both  having  sufficient  powers, 
have  entered  into  the  following  contract  for  the  excavation  of  an  iuteroceauio  canal 
through  the  territory  of  Nicaragua : 

ArticIiE  I. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  grants  the  aforesaid  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  and 
Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  representative  of  the  said  nssociatiou,  accepts  on  its  behalf,  for 
the  purposes  set  forth  in  article  7,  the  exclusive  privilege  to  excavate  and  operate  a 
maritime  canal  across  its  territory,  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 

Abticlb  IL 

The  canal  shall  be  of  sufficient  dimensions  for  the  free  and  commodious  passage  of 
vessels  of  the  same  size  as  the  large  steamers  used  for  ocean  navigation  in  Europe 
and  America,  provided  that  no  locks  used  iu  said  work  shall  be  less  than  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  (550)  feet  in  length  and  thirty  feet  iu  depth. 

Article  in. 

The  State  declares  this  work  to  be  one  of  public  utility. 

Article  IV. 

The  duration  of  the  present  privilege  shall  be  for  ninety-nine  (99)  years,  to  be 
counted  from  the  day  the  canal  shall  be  opened  to  universal  traffic.  During  the 
aforesaid  period  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  construct  and  operate  a  railway 
along  the  whole  extent  of  the  canal,  or  those  parts  of  I  hu  same  that  may  be  consid- 
ered convenient  for  the  better  service  and  operation  of  the  said  work. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  297 

Articlx  v. 

The  State  binds  itself  not  to  make  any  subsequent  concession  for  the  opening  of  a 
canal  between  the  two  oceans  during  the  term  of  the  present  concession,  and  also  to 
abstain  from  granting  a  concession  for  a  railroad,  such  as  might  compete  with  the 
canal  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise,  during  the  same  period ;  but  nothing 
in  this  article  shall  prevent  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  from  constructing  or  per- 
mitting the  construction  of  such  railways  as  it  may  deem  advisable  for  commerce 
and  internal  traffic.  Said  Government  also  to  have  the  right  to  construct  or  permit 
the  constrnction  of  an  interoceauic  railway  if  in  course  of  time  it  be  demonstrated 
that  the  canal  is  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  traffic  of  all  nations. 

The  grantee  company  shall  have  the  right  to  establish  such  telegraph  lines  as  it 
may  deem  necessary  for  the  construction,  management,  and  operation  of  the  canal. 
The  Government  shall  have  the  right  to  occupy  these  lines  for  the  public  service 
without  any  remuneration  to  the  company. 

Article  VL 

The  Government  of  the  Republic  declares,  during  the  term  of  this  concession,  the 
ports  at  each  extremity  of  the  c.Tual,  and  the  canal  itself,  from  sea  to  sea  to  be  neutral, 
and  that  consequently  the  transit  through  the  canal  in  case  of  war  between  two  pow- 
ers or  between  one  or  more  and  Nicaragua  shall  not  be  interrupted  for  such  cause  ; 
and  that  merchant  vessels  and  individuals  of  all  nations  of  the  world  may  freely  enter 
the  ports  and  pass  through  the  canal  without  molestation  or  detention. 

In  general,  all  vessels  may  pass  through  the  canal  freely,  without  distinction,  ex- 
clusion, or  preference  of  persons  or  nationality,  provided  they  pay  the  dues  and  ob- 
serve the  regulations  established  by  the  grantee  company  for  the  use  of  the  said 
canal  and  its  dependencies.  The  transit  of  foreign  troops  and  vessels  of  war  will  be 
subjected  to  the  prescriptions  relating  to  the  same  established  by  treaties  between 
Nicaragua  and  other  powers  or  by  international  law.  But  entrance  to  the  canal  will 
be  rigorously  prohibited  to  vessels  of  war  of  such  powers  as  may  be  at  war  with  Nic- 
aragua or  with  any  other  of  the  Central  American  Republics. 

Nicaragua  will  endeavor  to  obtain  from  the  powers  that  are  to  guarantee  the  neu- 
trality that  in  the  treaties  that  shall  be  made  for  that  purpose  they  shall  aj^ree  also 
to  guarantee  a  zone  of  land  parallel  to  the  canal  and  also  a  maritime  zone  in  both 
oceans,  the  dimensions  of  which  will  be  deteruiined  in  such  treaties. 

Article  VII. 

This  present  agreement,  with  all  its  charges  and  advantages,  shall  be  the  object  of  a 
company  of  execution  in  agreement  with  Articles  I,  X,  and  those  following  there- 
after. 

Said  company  shall  be  the  grantee,  and  whenever  said  name  ia  used  in  this  present 
contract,  reference  is  made  to  it. 

Article  VIII. 

The  present  concession  is  transferable  only  to  such  company  of  execution  as  shall 
be  organized  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  and  in  no  case  to  Governments  orto 
foreign  public  powers.  Nor  shall  the  company  cede  to  any  foreign  Govern niLut  any 
part  of  the  lands  granted  to  it  by  this  contract ;  but  it  may  make  transfers  to  private 
parties  under  the  same  restriction. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  cannot  transfer  its  rights  or  shares  by  selling  them  to 
any  Government. 

Article  IX. 

The  people  of  all  nations  shall  be  invited  to  contribute  the  necessary  capital  to  the 
enterprise,  and  it  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  requirenient  to  publish 
an  advertisement  for  thirty  (30)  consecutive  days  in  one  of  the  principal  daily  papers 
of  each  of  the  cities  New  York,  London,  and  Paris, 

The  capital  stock  of  the  final  company  shall  be  composed  of  shares,  bonds,  or  obliga- 
tions of  any  other  kind,  in  such  proportion  as  it  may  deem  convenient.  The  issue 
and  transfer  of  these  obligations  shall  be  exempt  from  stamp  dues  and  from  any  other 
imposts  or  taxes  established  or  that  may  be  hereafter  established  in  the  Republic. 

Of  the  capital  with  which  the  company  shall  organize,  and  which  it  proposes  to 
distribute  among  the  different  countries  interested  in  the  enterprise,  there  shall  be 
reserved  at  least  five  (5)  per  cent  for  the  Central  American  Government  and  citizens 
that  may  desire  to  subscribe. 


298 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


As  soon  as  the  company  ih  ready  to  opnn  snbsoription  books  it  shall  advise  the  Got- 
ernment  of  Nicaragua,  wh  cli  will  invite  the  other  GovemmentH  und  throufjh  them 
private  parties  tu  Huliscribe.  All  such  shares  not  taken  within  six  months  following 
the  date  on  which  the  Government  shall  have  been  advised  of  that  olrcuinstaQoa 
shall  remain  subject  to  the  free  disposition  of  the  company. 

Article  X. 

The  company  shall  be  organized  in  the  manner  and  under  the  conditions  ([generally 
adopted  for  such  companies.  Its  ])riucipal  office  shall  be  iu  New  York,  or  wliem  it 
may  be  deemed  most  convenient,  and  it  may  have  branch  otlices  in  the  diHerent 
countries  of  Europe  and  America,  where  it  may  consider  it  expetlient. 

Its  name  shall  be  the  "  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Niciira<:iia,"  and  its  board  of 
directors  shall  be  composed  of  persons,  one-half  at  least,  of  them  shall  be  chosen  from 
the  promoters  who  may  yet  preserve  their  quality  as  such. 

Article  XI. 

The  Government  of  Nicaracrna  in  its  character  of  shareholder  in  the  company  of 
execution,  as  hereinafter  provided,  shall  have  the  perpetual  rijjht  of  naming  one  di- 
rector, who  shall  be  an  integral  part  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  company,  with 
all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  advantages  conferred  upon  them  by  the  statutes  of  the 
company  and  the  laws  of  the  country  under  which  it  shall  organize. 

The  Government  shall  also  have  the  right  in  its  aforesaid  capacity  of  shareholder 
to  take  part  in  such  elections  as  the  company  may  hold. 

Article  XIL 

The  company  is  bound  to  keep  a  representative  in  Nicaragua  vested  with  all  pow- 
ers necessary  for  the  proper  conduct  of  the  service  and  for  the  transaction  of  its  busi- 
ness with  the  Government. 

Article  XIIL 

Tlie  canal  will  follow  the  valley  of  the  River  San  Juan  to  Lake  Nicaragua,  through 
which  will  be  designated  the  most  convenient  route  for  communicatiou  with  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean.  In  any  event  the  company  siiall  have  the  most  ample  freedom  to  select 
the  route  which  it  considers  most  convenient  between  the  two  oceans  for  the  excava- 
tion of  the  canal  and  its  dependencies  and  its  port<,  particularly  those  serving  for 
entranc  and  exit  on  both  oceans.  The  company  shall  have  the  same  liberty  to  adopt 
the  route  which  may  be  d  cined  most  advantageous  and  economical  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  canal,  after  the  final  survey  by  a  commission  of  competent  engineers. 

However,  should  the  company,  after  the  survey  of  the  river  San  Juan,  find  it  nec- 
essary to  abandon,  in  any  place,  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  cnt  a  lateral  canal,  the 
Government  of  Nicaravna  reserves  the  right  of  requiring:  from  the  company  theduty 
of  establishing  a  communication  between  the  part  of  the  San  Jnan  not  used  for  canal 
purposes  and  the  dividing  level  of  the  canal,  by  means  of  a  lock,  or  a  seriesof  locks, 
suitable  for  the  navigation  of  ships  of  six  feet  draft.  As  soon  as  the  final  plans  are 
adopted  and  laid  before  the  Government,  it  shall  notify  the  company  within  one 
month  after  their  receipt  whether  or  not  they  meet  with  its  approval,  in  order  that 
the  company  may  proceed  in  accordance  therewith.  It  is  nnderstood  that  this  duty 
does  not  in  any  manner  compel  the  company  to  place  or  maintain  in  navigable  con- 
dition for  small  craft  the  lower  part  of  the  river  which  these  locks  may  be  intended 
to  place  in  communication  with  the  canal. 

Article  XIV. 

Within  three  years,  to  be  counted  from  the  commencement  of  the  work  npon  the 
Interoceanic  Canal,  the  company  shall,  at  its  own  expense,  construct  a  navigable 
canal  between  Lake  Managua  and  the  navigable  part  of  the  Tipitapa  River,  near 
Pasquier,  of  sufficient  dimensions  to  admit  of  the  free  passage  of  vessels  drawing  six 
feet  and  of  150  feet  in  length.  When  completed  this  canal  shall  be  taken  possession 
by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua,  and  will  be,  after  that  date,  the  property  of  the 
Republic,  which,  by  virtue  of  its  ownership,  shall  be  bound  to  bear  all  exj)en8es  re- 
quired in  the  future  for  the  service,  maintenance,  repair,  and  operation  of  the  canal. 
But  the  company  shall  have  thn  right  to  make  use  of  it  for  nil  iiurposes  useful  for  the 
maritime  canal  enterprise,  and  to  pass  through  it  freely  with  its  vessels  and  those 
belonging  to  contractors  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Interoceanic  Canal  daring  th« 


NICARAGUA    CANAI    COMPANY. 


299 


term  of  this  concession  without  being  subject  tt>  any  charge  whatever,  or  to  pay  toljs 
or  contributions  of  any  kind  to  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  or  to  any  person  or  com- 
pany that  may,  through  any  cause,  be  in  charge  of  the  administration  and  operation 
of  the  work  and  its  dependencies. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua  will  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  company,  free  of  all 
expenses  and  charges,  all  the  lands  that  may  be  required,  as  well  as  the  materials 
found  thereon,  or  on  those  belonging  to  the  Government  and  that  may  be  utilized  by 
the  company  in  the  execution  of  this  work. 

Article  XV. 

All  expenditures  for  surveys,  construction,  maintenance,  and  operation  of  the  In- 
teroceanic  Maritime  Canal  shall  be  borne  by  the  concessiouary  company,  without 
any  subvention  in  money  nor  guaranty  of  iuterest  on  the  part  of  the  Republic,  nor 
other  concessions  than  those  specified  in  the  present  agreement. 

Abticlk  XVI. 

The  Company  shall  construct,  at  its  expense,  and  maintain,  in  good  condition,  two- 
large  ports,  one  in  the  Atlantic  and  one  in  the  Pacific,  to  serve  as  termini  of  the 
canal,  each  of  thorn  to  have  a  lighthouse  of  the  first  order.  It  shall  also  construct  at 
the  two  points  on  the  borders  of  the  lake,  where  the  canal  disembogues,  two  ports  of 
lesser  size,  with  the  respective  lighthouses. 

The  company  is  also  obliged  to  maintain  and  improve  said  i)ort3  by  means  of 
dredges,  dikes,  piers,  embankments,  or  any  other  works  it  may  deem  advisable,  hav- 
ing always  in  view  the  good  service  of  the  traffic  through  the  caual. 

It  may,  for  this  purpose,  select  on  the  coasts  of  the  two  oceans,  within  the  territory 
of  Nicaragua,  the  localities  which  the  surveys  made  indicate  as  preferable. 

Article  XVII. 

All  the  space  necessary,  whether  on  the  main  land,  in  the  lake,  and  its  islands,  at 
the  ports,  roadsteads,  or  rivers  of  the  two  oceans,  for  the  establishment  of  the  canal, 
its  paths,  and  embankments,  for  depositing  the  materials  from  the  excavations,  and 
cuttings  for  the  necessary  spaces  to  be  occupied  by  water  after  raising  the  dams 
which  are  to  be  constructed  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  for  all  necessary  deviations  of 
streams,  as  well  as  for  reservoirs,  dikes,  spaces  about  the  locks,  stations,  lights  and 
beacons,  storehouses,  buildings  and  workshops,  deposits  for  materials,  and  also  all 
those  spaces  necessary  for  the  routes,  ( ervice  railways,  and  canals  ol  the  same  nature 
for  the  transportation  of  the  materials  to  the  line  of  the  work  and  for  feeders  for 
the  canal ;  in  short,  all  lands  and  places  necessary  to  the  construction  and  operation 
of  the  canal,  as  laid  down  in  the  drawings  and  plans  made  by  the  engineers  of  the 
company,  shall  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  company  by  the  State,  under  the  con- 
ditions set  forth  in  the  following  articles. 

Article  XVIII. 

Said  lands  belonging  to  the  State  will  be  given  to  the  company  without  any  com- 
pensation whatever;  and,  with  regard  to  those  belonging  to  private  parties,  the 
State  charges  itself  with  their  expropriation  if  the  company  so  requests.  The  com- 
pensation which  may  be  required  in  this  case  shall  be  paid  by  the  company. 

Article  XIX. 

In  all  relating  to  the  appropriation  that  may  be  made  in  conformity  with  the  pre- 
ceding article,  the  company  shall  enjoy  all  the  immunities  and  privileges  which  the 
laws  of  the  country  accords  to  the  State ;  so  that  in  no  case  shall  the  company  be 
obliged  to  pay  more  than  the  State  would  under  similar  circumstances. 

Article  XX. 

The  Government  obliges  itself  to  place  the  company,  within  six  months  after  Its 
request,  in  possession  of  up  to  one  thousand  (1,000)  manzanaa  of  land  between  the 
lake  and  the  Pacific,  at  such  places  as  the  company  shall  designate,  but  they  are  to 
serve  exclusively  for  cutting  the  canal,  its  havens,  ports,  and  other  accessory  works. 
The  Government  shall  on  its  own  account  cause  the  necessary  expropriation  to  be 
made,  and  the  company  shall  pay  to  it  for  all  indemnity  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  ($50,000.00)  American  goid.  This  payment  to  be  made  by  the  company  im 
Managua  within  four  months  after  the  date  of  its  reqaesfe. 


300  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

AbticlxXXL 

The  company  gball  have  the  right  to  take,  free  of  charge,  from  the  poblio  lands, 
for  the  )iurpo8e  of  coDstrnctioo,  operation,  and  maintenance  of  the  canal,  whatever 
materials  may  be  found  on  them,  e8pecia)ly  timber  for  construction  and  for  fuel,  the 
lime,  stone,  clay  for  bricks,  and  earth  for  fillings  as  may  be  necessary.  As  regards 
materials  found  on  private  lands,  the  company  shall  pay  for  what  it  may  need  thereof, 
enjoying  in  this  respect  the  same  rights  and  privileges  which  the  State  enjoys  accord- 
ing to  law. 

Abticlk  XXIL 

Should  the  company  reqnire  to  occupy,  temporarily  and  dnringtbe  construction  of 
the  canal,  lands  in  the  territory  of  Niciinigna  which  are  not  included  in  those  desig- 
nated in  articles  17,  Iti.  and  21,  it  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay  any  indemnity  for  them 
if  they  are  public  lauds  ;  and  the  state  shall  not  have  the  right  to  sell  or  dispose  of 
them  in  any  other  manner  after  the  company  has  determined  to  occupy  them,  unless 
under  the  reservation  of  this  right,  whose  limit  shall  be  the  completion  of  the  works 
on  the  interoceanic  canal.  Shonld  the  lands  belong  to  private  parties  the  company 
shall  enjoy, in  regard  to  their  temporary  occupation,  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
which  the  law  accords  to  the  state,  with  the  special  privilege  of  occupying  them  im- 
mediately after  the  declaration  of  necessity  and  utility,  and  after  paying  the  com- 
pensation, which  shall  not  exceed  that  which  the  state  should  be  compelled  to  pay 
in  a  similar  case. 

Abticlb  xxin. 

The  Republic  of  Nicaragua,  desiring  to  assist  the  company  efficaciously  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  interoceanic  canal,  a  work  in  which  it  takes  the  deepest  interest, 
cedes  in  fee  simple  to  the  said  company  the  public  lands  hereinafter  mentioned  in 
alt«rnate  lots  with  other  similar  ones  which  it  reserves  toitself,  and  of  the  dimensions 
and  in  the  places  as  specified  hereinafter: 

Ist.  On  the  left  bank  of  the  river  San  Juan,  from  the  Atlantic  co  Castillo  Viejo, 
lots  of  three  miles  frontage  on  the  canal  and  six  miles  in  depth  from  the  banks  of  the 
river.  Where  the  canal  diverges  more  than  six  miles  from  the  banks  of  the  river  the 
lots  are  to  be  measured  on  both  sides  of  it,  and  shall  be  three  miles  wide  and  six  miles 
deep.  And  where  this  distance  is  less  than  six  miles  the  lots  shall  be  thre«^  miles 
front  and  three  miles  deep,  and  they  shall  be  measured  from  the  bank  of  the  canal 
to  the  river,  taking  what  may  be  lacking  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the  canal. 

2d.  Three  miles  distance  trom  Castillo  np  stream,  on  the  right  bank  and  up  to  the 
lake,  lots  of  two  miles  in  depth  and  two  of  frontage  on  the  canal.  From  the  lake 
along  its  south  shore  to  the  river  Sapo^  and  thence  to  the  river  Lajas,  lots  of  one 
mile  frontage  and  one  mile  de|)th.  On  the  left  bank  of  the  river  from  a  point  in 
front  of  Castillo  and  up  to  the  lake,  lots  of  three  miles  of  frontage  on  the  canal  and 
four  miles  in  depth. 

3d.  On  the  north  shore  of  the  lake,  as  far  as  the  River  Tule,  lots  of  two  miles  front- 
age on  the  lake  and  two  miles  deep. 

4th.  In  the  places  which  the  company  selects  in  accordance  with  the  government 
of  the  existing  public  lands,  forty  (40)  lots,  each  fonr  miles  frontage  by  five  miles 
deep,  reserving  always  the  acquired  rights. 

It  is  understood  that  the  government  reserves  around  each  of  the  forts  Castillo  and 
San  Carlos  the  lands  included  in  a  circle  of  one  and  on&-half  (1^)  miles  radius,  whose 
center  shall  be  the  respective  fortresses. 

Asa  general  rule,  at  the  extremities  of  the  interoceanic  canal  and  at  its  points  of 
contact  with  the  lake,  the  opposite  lota  will  be  allotted  one  to  the  government  and 
one  to  the  company,  bat  if  this  be  not  possible  the  first  will  belong  to  the  govern- 
ment. 

From  the  Atlantic  to  the  lake  that  part  of  the  river  bed  occupied  by  the  canal 
shall  be  considered  as  part  of  the  latter  for  all  purposes  of  this  article. 

The  measurement  and  setting  out  of  all  lands  ceded  by  this  contract  shall  be  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  grantees  under  the  supervision  of  the  Government. 

The  state  shall  vest  in  the  company  the  possession  of  said  lands  so  soon  as  the  said 
company  shall  begin  operations  on  the  canal.  Operations  shall  be  regarded  as  begun 
when  the  provisions  set  forth  in  article  47  shall  have  been  complied  with.  Tlie  final 
title  deeds  shall  not  be  granted  except  as  the  work  of  the  canal  progresses  and  in  due 
proportion. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  ^"^ 

Akticub  XXIV. 

Id  the  nnibreseen  case  that  a  new  survey  should  show  the  necessity  of  adopting  an- 
other Hue  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  which  varies  wholly  or  in  part  from  the 
line  set  forth  in  article  13,  the  company  shall  have  the  ripht  to  the  lands  and  other 
elements  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  accordingto  articles  16, 17, 18, 19, 
21,  and  22. 

The  company  shall,  in  that  event,  also  have  the  right  to  the  lands  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  article,  in  the  same  proportions,  conditions,  and  dimensions  therein  estab- 
lished, with  the  single  proviso  that  if  it  alter  the  line  the  localities  whence  these  lands 
shall  he  taken  shall  be  altered  accordingly. 

Abticlb  XXY. 

The  state  reserves  the  right  to  occupy,  in  the  several  lots  of  land  granted  the  com- 
pany, such  places  as  it  may  need  for  such  roads  and  public  buildings  as  it  may  deem 
convenient.  In  the  same  manner  it  may  use  timber  and  other  building  materials 
found  on  such  lands  whenever  they  may  be  necetisary  for  any  work  upon  which  it 
may  determine.  However,  these  lands  with  all  their  products,  vegetable  and  min- 
eral, shall  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  country  so  soon  as  tbey  become  the  property 
of  individual  citizens  by  transfer  from  the  company,  and  then,  should  the  State  need 
them  for  the  ends  set  forlh  in  this  article,  or  for  asy  others,  it  shall  make  compeusa- 
tion  to  their  owners  according  to  law,  without  any  right  on  the  part  of  the  expro- 
priated owners  to  reclaim  against  the  company. 

Should  the  company  have  improved  the  lands  so  taken  for  purposes  of  use,  orna- 
ment, or  pleasure  the  state  shall  be  bound  to  reimburse  it  for  such  damages  as  it  may 
have  suffered,  according  to  the  assessment  of  experts. 

Abticij:  XXVL 

Mines  of  coal,  stone,  gold,  silver,  iron,  or  other  metals  situated  in  the  lands  granted 
to  the  company  shall  belong  to  it  by  right,  without  need  of  previons  "  denounciation," 
it  having  the  right  to  work  them  when  considered  expedient,  snbject  to  the  laws  of 
the  country. 

Article  XXVII. 

The  company  shall  also  have  the  right  to  utilize  for  its  account,  for  sale  or  exporta- 
tion, the  lumber  in  the  forests  situated  in  the  lands  ceded  to  it  by  the  state  from  the 
time  they  enter  into  possession  of  them  in  accordance  with  this  contract ;  that  is, 
from  the  time  of  commencement  of  the  works,  always  saving  the  acquired  rights. 

Article  XXVIII. 

From  the  day  on  which  the  present  concession  is  ratified  by  Congress  the  public 
lands  included  in  those  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  can  not  be  sold,  nor 
can  any  of  those  ceded  to  the  company  on  the  banks  of  the  canal  by  article  23.  Nor 
can  they  be  leased  to  the  prejudice  of  the  company. 

Article  XXIX. 

The  company  shall  have  the  right,  thronghout  the  extent  of  the  canal  as  well  as  at 
its  mouths  on  both  oceans,  and  in  the  lake  and  throughout  the  extent  of  the  lands 
ceded  by  virtue  of  Articles  16, 17, 22,  and  23,  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  locating,  leveling, 
excavating,  dredging,  and  in  general  any  other  work  of  whatsoever  nature  that 
may  be  judged  useful  for  the  establishment  and  feeding  of  the  canal,  or  for  its  opera- 
tion, preservation,  and  maintenance.  The  company  is  specially  authorized  to  execute 
along  the  canal  line  and  on  the  banks  of  the  River  San  Juan  and  its  affluents,  within 
the  territory  of  Nicaragua,  and  also  on  the  tributaries  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  the  lakes 
or  water  courses  which  can  be  utilized  in  their  flow  to  the  Pacific,  the  system  of 
dikes,  rectifications,  dredgings,  embankments,  dams,  cuts,  location  of  buoys,  and  in 
general  all  the  works  that  in  the  opinions  of  the  engineers  of  the  company  are 
deemed  indispensable  for  the  construction,  feeding,  navigation,  and  operation  of  the 
canal.  The  company  may  also  do  all  works  of  like  character  deemed  necessary  at 
the  entrances  of  the  canal  into  Lake  Nicaragua,  as  well  as  in  the  lake  itself,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  route  that  may  be  determined  upon  in  order  to  secure  in  it  easy 
navigation,  and  as  may  be  found  necessary  in  the  other  lakes  or  lagoons  that  are 
to  be  traversed. 


302  NICABAQUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

The  embankments,  fillings,  and  dikes  formed  in  the  months  of  the  canal  in  the 
lake  and  in  the  ports  on  the  oceans,  by  deposits  of  materials'  resulting  from  the  ex- 
cavations of  (he  canal,  shall  belong  in  fee  simple  to  the  company  ;  the  Govemment 
having  the  right  to  use  them  if  necessary,  after  compensation  made.  Bat  it  may 
never  obatmct  said  ports  nor  widen  the  beaches  in  trout  of  theni,  unless  there  is 
absolute  necessity  to  do  so,  and  in  this  case  the  embaukmeuts  and  iillings  that  it 
may  be  necessary  to  construct  in  front  of  the  ports  shall  belong  to  the  Republic. 

In  general  the  company  shall  have  the  right  to  use  all  the  lakes  and  rivers  of 
Nicaragua,  the  waters  of  which  may  be  necessary,  in  the  judgment  of  the  engineers 
of  the  company,  for  the  construction  and  supply  of  the  canal  and  for  maintaining  its 
operations.  It  being  understood  that  the  damages  caused  to  private  parties  by  the 
deviation  of  the  water  courses  shall  be  compensated  for  by  the  company  according 
to  a  just  assessment  by  experts  in  agreement  with  the  laws  of  the  Bepublic. 

AsncLB  XXX. 

The  company  shall  not  import  merchandise  into  the  territory  of  the  Republic  for 
the  purpose  of  trafficking  without  paying  the  import  duties  established  by  law.  But 
it  may  import  free  of  custom  duties,  and  of  any  tax  whatsoever,  the  articles  needed 
for  the  works  of  the  enterprise,  such  as  surveys,  examination  of  localities,  construc- 
tion, use,  operation,  maintenance,  repairs,  and  improvements  of  the  canal ;  for  the 
telegraphic  service  and  for  that  of  the  railways;  forrnuniug  the  workshops  the  com- 
pany may  keep  in  operation;  and  snch  articles  may  consist  of  tools,  machinery,  ap- 
paratus, coal,  limestone  of  all  classes,  lime,  iron,  and  other  metals,  raw  or  manufac- 
tured, mining  powder,  dynamite,  or  any  other  analogous  substance.  These  articles 
may  be  transported  between  whatever  points  they  may  be  required  during  the  works 
of  opening  of  the  canal,  and  be  discharged  and  stored  free  of  all  local  taxes. 

The  company  may  import  free  of  duties  and  taxes,  during  the  work  on  the  canal, 
provisions  and  medicines  absolutely  necessary  for  its  own  consumption.  Goods,  the 
commerce  of  which  is  not  free,  are  excepted  from  the  privileges  contained  in  this 
article,  which  goods,  excepting  powder,  dynamite,  and  other  explosives,  remain  sab- 
jeot  to  the  requisites  and  duties  prescribed  by  the  laws. 

AsncLE  XXXI. 

The  vessels  employed  by  the  company  as  tugboats  or  for  the  service  of  the  canal 
shall  be  free  from  all  duties  and  also  the  materials  for  their  repair  and  the  fuel 
they  use.  The  vessels  and  appurtenances  from  whatever  place  they  may  be  coming 
for  the  use  of  the  company  shall  also  be  exempt  from  all  duties. 

Abucle  XXXII. 

The  Government  will  establish  such  regulations  as  it  may  judge  necessary  to 
prevent  smuggling  and  to  maintain  public  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal. 

The  company  is  bound  to  lend  its  assistance  for  the  enlorcement  of  such  regula- 
tions. Bat  in  the  free  zone  along  the  margin  of  the  canal,  as  hereinafter  provided, 
measures  for  the  prevention  of  smuggling  shall  be  limited  to  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  the  employ^  or  employes  whom  it  may  concern  without  any  further  measures 
being  taken  against  passengers,  vessels,  or  their  cargoes,  excepting  when  an  attempt 
at  smuggling  is  discovered  ;  it  being  the  intention  of  the  State  that  there  should  be 
the  most  ample  liberty  of  transit  by  the  canal  lor  persons  and  property,  with  the  sole 
limitations  established  by  this  contract.  Consequently  the  company  shall  have  the 
right  to  discharge  and  reload  ships  in  transit  at  such  points  as  may  be  necessary  in 
order  to  make  repairs,  lighten  the  vessel,  shift  cargo,  or  on  account  of  any  acciclent 
that  renders  it  absolutely  necessary,  without  being  subject  to  search,  exactions,  or 
contributions  of  any  kind,  provided  that  in  each  case,  and  before  beginning  opera- 
tions, the  nearest  castomhonse  authority  shall  be  notified. 

AsncLE  XXXUL 

The  Government  shall  lend  its  protection,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  coun- 
try, to  the  engineers,  contractors,  employes,  and  laborers  engaged  in  the  preliminary 
Borveys  or  in  the  works  of  construction  and  operation  of  the  oanal. 

AsTicxB  xxxrv. 

The  company  shall  be  exempt  from  all  forced  loans  and  military  exactions  in  time 
of  peace  and  of  war.    The  foreign  agents  and  employees  shall  likewise  be  exempt 


NICARAGUA    CAiVAL    COMPANY.  303 

from  direct  contributions,  forced  loans,  and  military  exactions  dnring  the  time  they 
are  in  the  service  of  the  canal,  but  they  shall  pay  the  taxes  established  by  the  laws 
if  they  acquire  real  property. 

Articlk  XXXV. 

The  company  may  freely  introduce  immigrants  into  the  lands  ceded  to  it,  and  the 
employes  and  workmen  needed  in  its  worlis  and  workshops.  Asiatics,  however,  are 
excepted.  Both  the  immigrants  and  the  employ 6s  and  workmen  will  be  subject  to 
the  laws  of  the  Republic  and  the  regulations  of  the  company.  The  Government  as- 
sures them  aid  and  protection  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  guarantees  in 
conformity  with  the  constitution  and  the  national  laws  during  the  time  they  remain 
on  Nicaragnan  territory. 

Artioub  XXXVI. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua  assures  to  the  company  and  its  agents  under  the 
laws  of  the  country,  as  it  does  to  the  other  inhabitants,  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
guarantf  es  and  rights  which  the  constitution  and  the  saiue  laws  grant  to  them.  And 
reciprocally  the  company  and  its  agents  bind  themselves  strictly  to  respect  the  laws 
and  regulations  that  are  in  force  in  Nicaragua,  and  especially  to  comply  with  the 
executory  judgments  of  the  tribunals  without  considering  themselves  vested  with 
other  rights  than  those  which  the  laws  concede  in  favor  of  the  Nicafaguans. 

Article  XXXVII. 

The  Government  shall  establish  all  along  the  line  of  the  canal  included  between 
the  two  terminal  ports  such  police  stations  and  revenue  offices  as  in  its  judgment  are 
necessary  to  preserve  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal  and  for  the  observance  of  the 
fiscal  laws  of  the  Republic.  All  expenses  incident  to  this  service,  including  those  of 
buildings,  endowments,  salaries  and  allowances  of  employees,  and  transportation  of 
tlie  forces,  shall  be  paid  to  the  Government  by  the  company  on  such  terms  and  con- 
ditions as  may  be  established,  taking  into  consideration  the  requirements  and  neces- 
sities of  such  service.  The  company,  however,  shall  have  the  power  to  establish 
guards  and  watchmen  for  the  service  of  the  canal  and  the  enforcement  of  its  regula- 
tions. 

articlb  xxxvin. 

Contracts  for  labor  on  the  canal  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  which  the  laws  of  the 
country  accord  to  agricultural  contracts,  provided  they  be  clothed  with  the  formali- 
ties that  the  laws  require  in  such  contracts.  And  the  contracts  in  regard  to  canal 
labor  that  the  company  execute  in  foreign  countries  shall  be  valid  and  lawful  in 
Nicaragua  during  the  term  stipulated  in  them,  provided  they  do  not  violate  the  Jaws 
of  the  Republic  ;  provided  also  the  documents  containing  them  be  presented  to  the 
proper  authorities,  with  due  authentication,  that  they  may  be  registered. 

Article  XXXIX. 

The  company  shall  be  exempt  during  the  period  of  this  concession,  in  peace  and  in 
war,  from  all  manner  of  taxes  upon  the  real  property  it  may  acquire  by  virtue  of  this 
contract,  and  from  every  kind  of  direct  contributions,  local  taxes,  or  any  other  tax 
relating  to  the  property  and  use  of  the  canal,  its  buildings,  and  constructions  apper- 
taining thereto,  in  its  entire  length,  including  those  that  are  situated  in  the  ports 
and  maritime  establishments  on  the  two  oceans,  as  also  the  lauds  conceded  to  the 
company  for  the  whole  term  of  the  privilege.  This  franchise  is  not  assignable  to  those 
who  buy  the  real  estate  which  the  company  may  dispose  of  by  virtue  of  this  conces- 
sion. 

Abticlb  XL. 

The  Bepnblio  of  Nloaragna  shall  not  establish  any  tonnage,  anchorage,  pilot,  light- 
house dues  or  charges  of  any  kind  whatsoever  upon  vessels  of  whatever  class,  or  upon 
the  merchandise,  baggage,  and  passengers  which  may  pass  thrpugh  the  canal  from 
one  ocean  to  the  other,  aU  such  dues  being  reserved  for  the  benefit  of  the  company, 
as  hereinafter  set  forth  in  article  43. 

But  all  such  merchandise  as  shall  be  loaded  or  discharged  at  any  point  of  the  canal 
intended  for  sale  shall  pay  the  import  and  export  duties  fixed  by  the  revenue  laws  of 
the  state. 


304  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

Abticlk  XLL 

With  the  view  of  secaring  the  most  ample  freedom  in  the  transit  of  persons  and 
property,  and  in  order  to  reniovo  as  far  as  possible  occasions  for  disagreeable  ques- 
( ions,  tiiere  shall  be  on  each  side  of  the  canal  a  free  zone,  the  extent  of  which  shall 
lie  one  hundred  yards  measured  from  the  water's  edge  in  the  canal,  it  being  under- 
8tuod  that  the  borders  of  the  lake  shall  not  be  considered  as  margin  of  the  canal  for 
the  purposes  of  this  stipulation. 

All  traffic  declared  illegal  by  the  laws  of  the  Republic  shall  be  prohibited  within 
the  said  zoue,  and  the  revenue  authorities  charged  with  watching  and  preventiug 
smuggling  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  stipulations  in  article  ^^2. 

It  is  expressly  agreed  that  every  vessel  that  passes  through  the  canal  shall  carry 
on  board  an  officer  named  by  the  Government  when  the  authorities  think  it  necessary, 
and  this  employ^  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  law  in  case  he  discovers  its  infringe- 
ment. 

The  two  ports  to  be  constructed  for  the  entrance  and  exit  of  the  canal  on  the  two 
oceans  shall  be  dechired  free  ports,  and  they  shall  be  recognized  as  such  from  the 
beginning  of  the  work  to  the  termination  of  this  concession. 

The  Government  in  agreement  with  the  company  shall  establish,  by  special  degree, 
the  limits  of  the  freedom  of  these  ports,  which  limits  shall  not  ext«nd  beyond  the 
waters  of  the  port,  which  are  those  inolnded  between  the  mouth  of  the  canal  and  the 
entrance  to  the  said  ports. 
• 

Abticlb  XLU. 

For  the  proper  administration  of  the  canal  and  its  appurtenances,  and  in  order  to 
facilitate  its  construction  and  operation,  tbe  company  shall  establish  the  necessary 
regulations,  which  shall  be  hinding  on  all  persons  fuuud  in  its  waters  or  its  appur- 
teuances,  the  sole  reservation  being  that  tbe  rights  and  sovereignty  of  the  State  be 
respected. 

It  being  understood  that  the  company  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  by 
this  article  may  not  make  other  regulations  than  those  necessary  for  the  administra- 
tion and  particular  management  of  the  canal,  and  that  before  executing  and  enforc- 
ing these  regulations  they  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Goveruuient  for  approval.  The 
state  will  lend  the  aid  of  its  authority  for  the  enforcement  of  these  regulations. 

Abticlk  XTJIT. 

By  way  of  compensation  for  the  expenses  of  surveys,  construction,  maintenance, 
and  operation  of  the  canal,  which  under  the  present  concession  shall  be  at  the  cost 
of  the  company  during  the  period  of  said  privilege,  it  shall  have  the  right  to  estab- 
lish and  collet  t  for  the  passage  of  all  kinds  of  vessels,  travelers,  and  merchandise 
through  the  canal,  and  in  the  waters  and  ports  pertaining  to  it,  taxes  on  navigation, 
tonnage,  and  pilotage,  towage,  storage,  lay  days,  anchorage,  light,  roadstead  dues, 
wharfage,  hospital  dues,  and  any  other  similar  charges  in  conformity  with  the  tariff 
to  be  established  by  it  in  accordance  with  Article  LII  of  this  contract. 

These  tariffs  may  be  modified  by  the  company  at  any  time  on  condition  that  all 
modifications  that  may  be  introduced  shall  previously  be  communicated  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, which,  in  case  of  finding  them  within  the  limits  established  by  the  said 
Article  LII,  shtJl  cause  them  to  be  complied  with  as  if  they  were  regulations  enacted 
by  itself. 

The  payment  of  all  the  tariff  dues  shall  be  exacted  without  any  exception  or  pref- 
erence, and  nnder  identical  conditions,  ftom  all  vessels,  whatever  be  the  place  they 
come  ftom  or  their  nationality,  with  the  exception  stipulated  in  the  following  article. 

Abticlk  XLIY. 

As  compensation  for  the  privileges  and  concessions  that  Nicaragua  grants  by  this 
contract,  it  is  hereby  stipulated  that  the  Republic  shall  enjoy  the  special  privilege 
that  Niuaraguan  vessels  sailing  nnder  the  Nicaraguan  flag  may  navigate  the  canal 
St  a  reduction  of  fifty  {^  per  cent.)  per  centum  from  the  general  tariff  while  en- 
gaged in  the  coasting  trade  or  in  the  reciprocal  trade  with  the  other  Republics  of 
Central  America.  It  is  declared  that  the  vessels  referred  to  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph must  be  exclusively  of  the  register  of  the  Republic,  and  they  must  not  be 
owned,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  citizens  of  other  countries. 

A  rednctionof  fifty  (50  per  cent.)  per  cent,  from  the  general  tariff  is  also  granted 
to  vesMels  that  begin  their  voyage  for  a  foreign  country  in  any  of  tbe  ports  belonging 
to  the  Republic,  with  a  cargo  wholly  composed  of  products  of  the  country.    All  tbe 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  305 

privileges  to  which  this  article  refers  shall  be  extended  to  the  other  Repnblios  ol 
Central  America  whenever  Nicaragaa  shall  find  itself  free  from  international  obli- 
gations which  may  prevent  it,  or  whenever  one  or  more  of  the  said  Republics  shall 
form  a  single  nation  with  Nicaragua.  The  company  can  not  collect  any  navigation 
dues  whatever  upon  vessels  and  craft  navigating  the  lake  of  Nicaragua  and  its  pro- 
longations without  passing  out  of  the  locks.  The  Kicaraguan  vessels  of  war,  and  in 
the  case  above  provided  those  of  the  Republic  of  Central  America,  shall  not  pay  any 
dues  on  passing  through  the  canal. 

Articij:  XLV. 

In  case  it  may  be  possible  to  utilize  the  waters  of  the  canal  and  its  dependencies 
for  the  irrigation  of  plantations,  gardens,  and  streets,  or  for  the  supply  of  towns  that 
may  be  without  it,  or  as  motive  power  for  private  enterprises,  the  company  shall 
have  power  to  supply  it,  collecting  dues  in  proportion  to  the  amount  furnished,  ac- 
cording to  the  tariff  that  it  may  be  establish  in  agreement  with  the  Government. 

Article  XL VI. 

In  view  of  the  existence  of  an  exclusive  privilege  granted  by  the  Republic  in  favor 
to  Mr.  F.  Alf.  Pellas,  by  a  contract  ratified  on  the  16th  of  March,  1877,  for  the  navi- 
gation by  steam  on  the  lake  and  river  for  the  purposes  of  the  internal  commerce  of 
the  Republic,  the  canal  company  shall  have  the  right  of  expropriation  against  Mr. 
Pellas,  as  regards  his  rights  and  properties,  on  just  assessments  by  experts,  after 
making  a  corresponding  compensation  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Republic. 

It  is  also  stipulated  that  the  company  binds  itself  to  pay  to  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  all  it  may  from  now  on  expend  in  any  way  for  the  improvement  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  river  and  the  port  of  San  Juan  del  Norte.    This  payment  shall  be  made, 
within  six  months  of  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  works  of  the  ci»pal,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  original  accounts  of  the  corresponding  office. 

Article  XLYII. 

The  company  shall  undertake  at  its  expense  the  final  surveys  of  the  ground  and  the 
location  of  the  line  of  the  canal  by  a  commission  of  competent  engineers,  two  of  whom 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  Government  of  the  Republic,  which  shall  protect  as  far  as 
it  may  the  said  commission. 

There  is  granted  to  the  concessionary  company  a  term,  not  exceeding  one  year,  in 
which  to  commence  the  final  surveys  for  the  canal,  and  one  year  and  one-half  addi- 
tional for  completing  them  ;  to  organize  the  executing  company,  and  commence  the 
work  of  construction.  Said  terms  snail  begin  to  be  counted  from  the  date  of  the  rati- 
fication of  the  present  contract  by  the  Nicaraguan  Congress,  published  in  the  official 
paper,  which  shall  be  construed  as  notification.  Furthermore,  said  terms  are  not  to 
be  extended,  and  it  is  understood  that  operations  are  not  considered  to  have  been 
begun  if  during  the  first  year  of  the  work  two  million  dollars  ($2,000,000)  are  not  ex- 
pended on  it. 

Article  XLVIIL 

A  term  often  years  is  also  granted  to  the  company  for  the  construction,  completion, 
and  opening  of  the  canal  for  maritime  navigation.  However,  should  events  of  main 
force  arise,  duly  justified  and  sufficient  to  impede  the  regular  progress  of  the  works 
during  the  period  of  the  said  ten  years,  an  extension  shall  be  granted  equal  in  dura- 
tion to  the  time  that  may  have  been  lost  by  such  delays. 

If,  at  the  expiration  of  the  ten  years  aforesaid,  the  works  should  not  be  completed 
so  as  to  have  the  maritime  communication  between  the  two  oceans  opened,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  great  capit.'il  the  company  may  have  invested  in  the  enterprise,  and 
of  the  good  will  and  ability  it  may  have  shown,  and  the  diffionlties  encountered,  the 
Republic  binds  itself  to  concede  a  new  extension. 

Article  XLIX. 

As  a  guaranty  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations  which  the  company  incurs  in  ac- 
cordance with  Article  47,  it  shall  deposit  to  the  order  of  the  Government  of  Nicar- 
agua in  a  bank  or  in  a  mercantile  house  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  the 
Government  maj'  designate  and  within  sixty  (60)  days  from  the  date  of  the  ratification 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 20 


306  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

of  this  contract,  tbe  snni  of  one  hnndred  thonsand  ($100,000)  dollars,  American  gold, 
which  tbe  company  shall  forfeit  to  the  Republic  if  it  do  not  fulfill  the  said  obligations ; 
and  which  sum  otherwise  shall  be  co'isidered  an  advance  to  the  Govi'rntncnt  on  ac^ 
count  of  tbe  necessary  expenses  of  payment  of  the  police  of  tbe  canal  accurding  to  tbe 
stipulations  set  forth  in  Article  37.  This  deposit,  as  soon  as  made,  shall  be  at  tbe  dis- 
posal of  the  Government. 

Articue  L. 

In  consideration  of  the  valuable  privileges,  franchises,  and  concessions  granted  to 
tbe  company  by  this  contract,  the  Republic  shall  receive  in  shares,  bonds,  certificates 
or  other  securities  which  ilie  company  may  issue  to  raise  tbe  corporate  capital,  six 
per  centum  of  the  total  amount  of  the  issue. 

Such  shares,  bonds,  ceriilicates  or  other  securities  shall  be  free  of  all  payment  on 
the  part  of  the  Republic,  being  considered  as  paid  in  full.  The  six  per  centum  shall 
in  no  event  be  less  than  four  million  dollars  ($4,000,000),  that  is  to  say,  forty  thou- 
sand shares  or  obligations  of  whatsoever  kind  of  one  hundred  ($100)  dollars  each. 

Of  said  shares,  bonds,  certificates,  orsecuritiesof  whatsoever  class,  two-thirds  shall 
not  lie  transferable  ;  but  all  shall  participate  in  the  benefits,  interests,  partition^, 
dividends,  sinking  fnnds,  rigbt-s,  privileges,  and  in  all  the  advantages  given  to  paid 
up  shares  without  any  distinction.  The  Government  in  its  capacity  of  shareholder 
shall  besides  have  tbe  right  to  appoint  one  director  who  shall  represent  its  interest 
in  tbe  board  of  directors  uf  the  canal  company  from  tbe  time  of  its  definite  establish- 
ment. The  shares  referred  to  in  this  article  shall  be  delivered  to  tbe  agent  tbe  Gov- 
ernment may  appoint  to  receive  them  and  as  soon  as  the  company  shall  be  ready  to 
issue  the  certificates  for  its  capital. 

Abticolb  LI. 

In  order  that  the  canal  association  may  indemnify  itself  for  the  expenses  it  may 
have  had  to  incnr  for  the  verifications,  preparation.s,  explorations,  and  surveys  here- 
inbefore mentioned,  and  for  all  other  expenditures  that  it  will  have  to  make  until  tbe 
definite  organization  of  tbe  company,  it  shall  have  tbe  right  from  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  said  company  to  six  per  cent,  in  shares,  bonds,  certificates,  or  other 
securities  which  the  company  may  issue  for  tbe  piiqioHC  of  raising  tbe  corporate  capi- 
tal, and  which  are  to  be  issned  in  excess  of  the  capital  to  be  snbscril>ed. 

These  bonds,  shares,  or  securities  shall  be  identically  like  tbe  subscription  shares, 
and  issued  from  the  same  register  or  stock  book.  As  a  consequence  they  shall  parti- 
cipate in  all  benefits,  interests,  partitions,  dividends,  sinking  fund,  rights,  privileges, 
and  of  all  the  advantages  given  to  the  paid  np  shares,  bonds,  or  seuurities  without 
any  distinction  whatever. 

Article  LIL 

From  the  receipts  of  the  enterprise  the  company  shall  take  in  the  first  i»lace  the 
necessary  amount  to  cover  all  the  expenses  for  maintenance,  operation,  and  adminis 
tration ;  all  the  sams  necessary  to  secare  the  interest  which  shall  not  exceed  six  per 
ceutnm,  and  the  amortization  of  tbe  obligations  and  of  the  shares,  and  what  remains 
shall  form  the  net  profits,  of  which  at  least  eighty  per  centum  (80  per  cent. )  shall  be 
divided  among  the  shareholders,  it  being  agreed  that  after  tbe  lapse  of  ten  years  after 
tbe  completion  of  tbe  canal  the  company  shall  not  divide  among  the  shareholders  in 
payment  of  dividends,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  issue  of  shares  or  otberwise,  more 
than  fifteen  per  centum  (15  per  cent.)  annually  or  in  this  proportion,  from  dues  col- 
lected from  the  aforesaid  canal  and  where  it  shall  appear  that  t  bese  dues  yield  a  greater 
profit,  they  shall  be  reduced  to  tbe  fixed  limit  of  fifteen  per  cent,  per  annum. 

Abticlk  LIIL 

The  present  concession  shall  be  forfeited : 

Ist.  Throngh  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the  company  to  comply  with  any  of  the 
conditions  contained  in  Articles  8,  46,  47,  48,  and  49. 

2d.  If  tbe  service  of  the  canal,  after  its  completion,  be  interrupted  for  six  months, 
except  in  cases  of  main  force. 

When  the  concession  shall  have  been  declared  forfeited,  from  whichever  of  these 
causes  the  public  lands  granted  by  this  convention  will  revert  to  the  Republic,  in 
whatsoever  state  they  may  be,  and  without  compensation  even  in  the  case  that  build- 
ings may  have  been  erected  thereon. 

Such  lands  shall  be  excepted  as  may  have  been  alienated  to  private  parties  by  the 
company,  with  tbe  formalities  prescribed  by  law,  provided  that  snch  alienations  shall 
not  have  taken  place  within  tbe  six  months  preceding  the  date  on  which  the  com- 
pany may  have  become  legally  liable  to  the  penalty  herein  established. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  307 

Article  LIV. 

On  the  expiration  of  the  ninety-nine  years  stipulated  in  this  concession,  or  in  the 
event  of  the  forfeiture  contained  in  the  precf  ding  article,  the  Republic  shall  enter 
upon  possession  in  perpetuity,  of  the  canal,  of  works  of  art,  lighthouses,  storehouses, 
stations,  deposits,  stores,  and  all  the  establishments  used  in  the  administration  of  the 
canal,  without  being  obliged  to  pay  any  indemnity  to  the  company. 

There  shall  be  excepted  from  this  condition,  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  company, 
its  stores  of  coal  and  other  materials,  its  mechanical  work  shops,  its  floating  capital 
and  reserve  fund,  as  also  the  lands  ceded  to  it  by  the  State,  excepting  those  m  which 
are  established  the  works  indicated  in  the  first  part  of  this  article,  and  which  will 
revert  to  the  State  together  with  their  immediate  appurtenances,  as  necessary  for 
the  service  of  the  canal,  and  as  an  integral  part  of  the  same. 

But  the  company  shall  have  the  right,  at  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid  term  of 
ninety  nine  years,  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  free  use  aud  control  of  the  caual  in 
the  capacity  of  lessee,  with  all  the  privileges  and  advantages  granted  by  the  said 
concession,  and  for  another  term  of  ninety-nine  years,  on  the  condition  of  paying 
twenty -five  per  cent  of  the  annual  net  profits  of  the  enterprise  to  the  Government  of 
the  Republic,  besides  the  dividends  due  to  it  for  its  shares  in  the  capital  stock. 

The  company  furthermore  shall  have  the  right  to  fix,  at  its  discretion,  the  dues  re- 
ferred to  in  article  43  of  this  concession,  so  that  the  shareholders  still  receive  divi- 
dends not  to  exceed  ten  per  centum  i)er  annum  on  the  whole  capital  after  deducting 
the  payment  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  net  gains  to  the  Government. 

At  the  expiration  of  this  second  term  of  ninety-nine  years  the  Government  shall 
ent«r  into  perpetual  possession  of  the  canal  and  other  properties  referred  to  in  the 
first  part  of  this  article,  including  also  in  this  possession  all  that  which  is  excluded 
in  the  said  first  part  with  the  exception  of  the  reserve  and  amortization  funds.  The 
failure  to  comply  with  any  of  the  terms  of  the  lease  shall  terminate  it,  and  the  State 
shall  enter  into  possession  of  the  canal  and  other  works  belonging  to  it  in  acooidunce 
with  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  paragraph. 

Akticlk  LV. 

Any  misunderstanding  that  may  arise  between  the  State  of  Nicaragna  and  the  com- 
pany in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the  present  stipulations  shall  be  submitted  to 
a  court  of  arbitrators  composed  of  four  members,  two  of  which  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  State  and  two  by  the  company. 

These  arbitrators  shall  be  designated  by  each  of  the  parties  within  the  period  of 
four  months  from  the  day  on  which  one  of  the  contracting  parties  shall  have  informed 
the  other  in  writing  of  the  want  of  agreement  on  the  point  at  issue.  Should  one  of 
the  parties  allow  the  aforesaid  term  to  pass,  it  shall  be  considered  as  assenting  to  the 
opinion  or  claim  of  the  other. 

The  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  arbitrators  shall  decide  finally  and  without  re- 
course. In  case  of  a  tie  vote  the  arbitrators  shall  select,  by  mutual  consent,  a  fifth 
person,  who  shall  decide.  If  unable  to  agree  to  such  nomination,  they  shall  draw  by 
lot  the  names  of  the  diplomatic  representatives  accredited  to  Nicaragna,  and  the  first 
one  drawn  out  shall  exercise  the  functions  of  the  fifth  arbitrator;  he  shall  either 
adopt  the  opinion  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties  to  the  controversy,  or  render  his 
opinion  between  these  extremes,  and  his  decision  shall  be  final  and  without  any  ap- 
peal whatever;  the  fifth  arbitrator  failing,  the  second  person  drawn  shall  exercise 
these  functions,  and  so  on  successively  until  a  decision  is  reached. 

Prior  to  the  initiation  of  the  works  of  opening  the  canal  the  Government  shall 
formulate,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  company,  rules  to  be  observed  by  the  arbitra- 
tors in  all  matters  relating  to  procedure. 

Questions  between  the  company  and  individnals  residing  in  Nicaragna  shall  be 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  Nicaragua,  in  conformity  with  the 
legislation  of  the  country.  In  matters  pertaining  to  nonresidents  of  Nicaragua  the 
rules  of  international  private  law  will  be  observed. 

In  witness  of  the  foregoing  stipulations,  we  have  signed  two  instruments  of  the 
same  tenor  in  Managua,  on  the  23d  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty- seven. 

Ad.  Cardjenas. 
a.  q.  msnocai.. 

The  Grovemment,  finding  the  foregoing  contract  in  conformity  with  the  instructions 
transmitted,  determines  to  approve  it  in  all  its  parte  and  to  snbmit  it  to  Congress  for 
its  ratification. 
Managua,  April  twelfth,  one  thonsand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-aeven. 

£.  Cabazo. 
The  acting  subsecretary  of  the  interior. 

Caxtoh. 


308 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


Done  in  the  hall  of  aeasions  of  the  chamber  of  deputies,  Managaa,  April  20, 1687. 

TouAb  Armuo. 

Lbopoldo  M.  Momtenkgbo. 
Ltns  £.  Saknz. 


To  the  8.  E.  P.,  hall  of  the  senate,  Managaa,  April  23,  1837. 
8.  Mo&iLSB. 

Therefore  be  it  executed.    Managua,  April  24, 18S7. 

The  anbeecretary  of  the  interior  in  charge  of  the  office: 

Accepted  on  the  same  date. 


JoAQUiK  Zavala. 

£l.IODORO  RiVAS. 

E.  Carazo. 
Alejandro  Camtom. 


Canton. 

A.  O.  Mengcal. 


I  do  hereby  certify  the  preceding  Bignatnre  of  the  sabsecretary  of  the  interior, 
which  reads  Alejandro  Canton,  to  be  genuine. 
Managua,  April  25, 1887. 

Joaquin  Euzonso. 


filCABAGUA  CANAL   COMPANY.  309 


Appendix  El 


CONCESSIONS   AND  DECREES  OF  THE  BEPUBLTC   OF  COSTA    RICA    TO 
THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL  ASSOCIAtlON  OF  NEW  YORK. 

The  Constitutional  Congress  of  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica,  in  the  exercise  of  the 
powers  granted  to  it  by  section  4,  article  73,  of  the  constitution,  decrees — 
Article  First. — The  contract  entered  into  on  the  21st  of  July  last  between  the 
honorable  minister  of  public  works,  authorized  for  this  purpose  by  the  honorable 
President  of  the  Republic,  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  same,  and  Mr.  Aniceto 
6.  Menocal,  on  behalf  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  for  excavating  and  operat- 
ing an  interoceanic  canal  crossing,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  through  the  territory 
of  the  Republic,  or  running  along  the  whole  or  part  of  its  boundary  with  Nicaragua, 
is  hereby  approved. 

The  aforesaid  contract  with  the  modifications  agreed  to  by  Congress  reads  literally 
as  follows: 

The  undersigned,  Pedro  P6rez  Zeled6n,  secretary  of  the  state  bureau  of  public 
works,  especially  authorized  by  the  honorable  general.  President  of  the  Republic,  to 
celebrate  ad  referendum  the  present  contract,  party  of  the  first  part,  and  Aniceto  G. 
Menocal,  representing  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  with  full  powers  from  it,  and 
also  authorized  for  this  purpose  by  the  executive  committee  of  the  said  association, 
party  of  the  second  part,  have  revised  the  contract  for  the  canal  made  in  Washington 
on  the  17th  of  last  May,  by  the  party  hereto  of  the  first  part,  in  his  capacity  as  envoy 
extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  Mr.  Hiram  Hitchcock,  president 
of  the  aforesaid  association ;  the  said  contract,  with  the  modifications  now  agreed  to 
by  the  undersigned,  reads  as  follows : 

Abtioijb  L 

The  Republic  of  Costa  Rica  grants  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  its  succes- 
sors and  assigns,  the  exclusive  privilege  to  excavate  and  operate  a  maritime  canal  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans,  running  either  wholly  or  in  part  through 
the  territory.of  the  said  Republic  or  along  the  whole  or  a  part  of  her  border  line 
with  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua. 

To  render  this  contract  fully  efllcient  between  the  contracting  parties  hereto,  it 
will  be  sufficient  if  the  association  aforesaid  should  use  or  occupy  for  the  works  of 
the  said  canal,  or  for  any  of  its  ports  in  one  or  the  other  oceans,  any  Costa  Rican 
waters  or  at  least  waters  in  which  Costa  Rica  has  joint  ownership  or  has  rights  of 
use  and  navigation. 

Whenever  the  word  "association"  is  used  in  this  present  document  reference  is 
made  to  the  "Nicaragua  Canal  Association,"  its  successors  and  assigns. 

Abticlb  n. 

The  canal  must  be  of  sufficient  dimensions  for  the  free  and  commodious  passage  of 
vessels  of  the  same  size  as  the  large  steamers  used  for  ocean  navigation  between 
Europe  and  America. 

Article  IQ. 
The  State  leclares  this  work  to  be  one  of  public  utility. 


310  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

Articlb  IV. 

The  dnratioD  of  the  present  privilege  shall  be  for  ninety-nine  years,  to  be  connted 
from  the  day  on  which  the  canal  shall  be  opened  to  universal  traffic. 

DnrinK  the  aforesaid  period  the  as-sociatiou  shall  have  the  right  to  construct  and 
operate  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica  a  railroad  along  the  whole  extent  of  the 
said  canal,  or  those  parts  of  the  same  which  it  may  consider  convenient  for  the  better 
service  and  operation  of  the  said  work. 

The  Republic  binds  itself  not  to  make  any  sabseqaent  concession  for  the  opening  of 
a  canal  between  the  two  oceans  as  long  as  the  present  privilege  lasts. 

The  Republic  will  also  abstain  during  the  same  period  from  granting,  within  a  zone 
of  twenty-five  miles  along  the  canal,  concessions  tor  railroads  from  sea  to  sea  that 
might  compete  with  the  canal  in  the  traffic  between  foreign  nations.  This  restriction 
shall  not  prevent  the  construction  of  new  railroads  that  may  be  convenient  for  Costa 
Rica  to  build  to  the  canal,  or  to  any  point  on  the  northern  frontier  of  the  Eepnblio, 
either  connecting  or  not  with  any  other  railroads. 

Article  V. 

The  grantee  association  shall  have  the  right  to  establish  such  telegraph  lines  as 
may  be  considered  necessary  for  the  construction,  management,  and  operation  of  the 
canal. 

The  Government  shall  have  the  right  to  ose  the  telegraph  lines  of  the  company  from 
any  station  to  an^  station  that  may  be  included  within  the  line  from  sea  to  sea, 
without  being  obhged  to  pay  the  company  for  such  service. 

Article  VI. 

The  Government  of  the  Republic  declares  and  accepts  that  the  ports  at  each  extrem- 
ity of  the  canal  and  the  canal  itself  from  sea  to  sea  during  the  time  of  this  concession 
shall  be  neutral ;  and  cousequently  in  case  of  war  between  other  nations,  or  between 
one  or  more  nations  and  Costa  Rica,  the  transit  through  the  canal  shall  not  be  inter- 
mpted  for  such  cause,  and  the  merchant  vessels  and  individuals  of  all  nations  of  the 
world  may  freely  enter  the  aforesaid  ports,  or  pass  through  the  canal  without  moles- 
tation or  detention. 

In  general,  all  vessels  shall  freely  pass  through  the  canal  without  distinction,  exclu- 
sion, or  preference,  whether  of  pen>ons  or  nationalities,  provided  that  they  pay  the 
dnes  and  comply  with  the  rules  established  by  the  association  for  the  use  of  the  said 
canal  an  d  its  dependencies. 

The  transit  of  foreign  troops  and  vessels  of  war  shall  be  regulated  by  such  provisions 
in  regard  thereto  as  are  now  or  may  be  hereafter  established  in  the  treaties  between 
Costa  Kica  and  other  powers,  or  by  international  law.  But  the  entrance  of  the  canal 
shall  be  strictly  forbidden  to  vessels  of  war  of  any  nation  which  may  be  at  war  with 
Costa  Rica  or  with  any  other  of  the  Republics  of  Central  America. 

Costa  Rica  shall  endeavor  to  obtain  from  the  powers  that  are  to  guarantee  the  neu- 
trality that  in  the  treaties  t>o  be  made  for  that  purpose  they  shall  also  bind  them- 
selves to  guarantee  the  same  conditions  to  a  zone  of  land  ])arallel  to  the  canal  and 
also  to  a  maritime  xone  in  both  oceans,  the  dimensions  of  which  shall  be  fixed  by  such 
treaties. 

Article  VII. 

The  present  concession  shall  be  transferable  only  to  such  company  or  companies  as 
may  be  organized  for  the  purpose  of  constrncting  or  operating  the  canal,  and  in  no 
case  to  foreign  Governments  or  to  fon»ign  public  powers. 

Nor  shall  the  asso'-iation  have  the  right  to  transfer  to  any  foreign  Government  or 
pnblic  power  any  part  of  the  lands  granted  to  it  by  this  contract.  But  it  shall  have 
the  right  to  make  such  transfers  to  private  parties  nr  'or  the  same  restrictions. 

The  Republic  of  Costa  Rica  shall  not  transfer  its  rights  and  privileges  in  respect  to 
the  canal  to  any  foreign  Government  or  public  power. 

The  people  of  all  nations  shall  be  invited  to  contribute  the  necessary  capital  to  the 
enterprise,  and  it  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  requirement  to  publish 
an  advertisement  for  twenty  coosecotive  days  in  one  of  the  principal  daily  papers  of 
each  of  the  cities  New  York,  London,  and  Paris. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  311 

AsncLE  VIII. 

The  capital  stock  (capital  social)  of  the  final  company  which  is  to  operate  the  cana 
shall  consist  of  shares  of  the  iace  value  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  which  shall 
be  issued  in  such  amounts  as  may  be  deemed  necessary.  The  issue  and  transfer 
both  of  these  shares  and  of  all  the  bonds  and  obligations  that  the  company  may  issue 
8h;ill  be  exempt  from  stamp  dues  and  from  all  other  taxes  or  imposts  now  established 
or  to  be  hereafter  established  in  the  Republic. 

A  five  per  ceutum,  at  least,  of  the  capital  stock  with  which  the  said  company  maybe 
organized  shall  be  reserved  for  such  Central  American  Governments  and  citizens  as 
may  wish  to  subscribe.   . 

As  soon  the  said  company  is  ready  to  open  subscription  books  notice  shall  be  given 
by  it  to  the  Governments  of  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua,  which  shall  invite  the  other 
Governments  of  Central  America  and  through  them  private  parties  to  subscribe. 

'J'he  shares  which,  within  six  months,  to  oe  counted  from  the  date  of  the  notice 
given  to  the  Government,  of  the  opening  of  the  subscription  books,  are  not  paid  for 
■hall  remain  at  the  free  disposition  of  the  company. 

Article  IX. 

The  company  shall  be  organized  in  the  manner  and  under  the  conditions  generally 
adopted  for  such  companies.  Its  principal  office  shall  be  either  in  the  city  of  New 
York  or  in  such  place  as  may  be  deemed  convenient. 

Its  first  board  of  directors  shall  be  composed  of  persons,  one-half,  at  least,  of  whom 
shall  be  chosen  from  those  members  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  who  were 
promoters  of  the  enterprise. 

Abticlb  X. 

The  Government  of  Costa  Rica,  in  its  capacity  of  stockholder  in  the  final  company 
as  hereinafter  provided,  shall  have  the  perpetual  right  of  appointing  one  director,  who 
shall  be  an  integral  part  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  said  company,  witb  all  the 
rights,  privileges  and  advantages  conferred  upon  the  other  directors  of  said  com- 
pany, by  the  charter,  by-laws,  and  statutes  of  the  company  and  the  laws  of  the  country 
under  which  it  shall  organize. 

The  Government,  in  the  said  capacity  of  stockholder,  shall  also  have  the  right  to 
take  part  in  the  elections  that  the  company  may  hold. 

Article  XI. 

The  said  final  company  is  bound  to  keep  a  representative  in  Costa  Rica,  vested 
with  ample  powei-s  for  everything  that  may  be  of  interest  to  the  company,  either  ac- 
tively or  passively. 

Article  XII. 

The  association  shall  have  the  most  ample  liberty  to  select  and  adopt  the  route 
which  it  may  deem  most  convenient,  advantageous  and  economical  between  the  two 
oceans  for  the  excavation,  construction,  and  operation  of  the  canal  and  its  depend- 
encies and  ports,  whether  the  same  passes  wholly  or  in  part  through  the  territory 
of  Costa  Rica  or  only  along  its  border  line. 

Should  the  canal  deviate  from  the  river  San  Juan,  in  that  section  of  the  same  in  which 
Costa  Rica  has  the  right  of  navigation,  the  association  binds  itself  to  establish  at 
such  points  as  the  engineers  may  deem  proper,  a  communication  between  such  parts 
of  the  San  Juan  River  as  may  not  be  canalized  and  the  dividing  level  of  the  canal, 
to  the  end  of  facilitating,  without  payment  of  any  dues  whatever,  the  navigaliou  of 
Costa  Rica  vessels  between  the  non-canalized  part  of  the  San  Juan  River  and  the 
canal,  by  means  of  a  lock  or  series  of  looks  suitable  for  the  navigation  of  vessels  of 
six  feet  draught. 

It  is  understood  that  this  obligation  does  not  in  any  manner  bind  the  association  to 
place  or  to  keep  in  navigable  condition  the  lower  part  of  the  river  which  these  locks 
may  be  intended  to  place  in  commnuioation  with  the  canoL 

Article  XIII. 

All  expenditures  for  surveys,  construction,  maintenance,  and  operation  of  the  canal 
■hall  hu  borne  by  the  association  without  any  subvention  in  money  or  guaranty  of 
interest  on  the  part  the  Republic. 


312  HICAEAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY, 

Articlk  XIV. 

The  sssociatioD  Bhall  construct,  at  its  expense,  and  shall  keep  in  f^ood  condition, 
two  large  ports,  one  on  the  Atlantic  and  one  on  the  Pacific,  at  bucIi  points  or  locali- 
ties as  it  may  select  within  or  without  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  to  serve  aa 
termini  of  the  canal;  and  each  of  them  shall  have  a  light-hooae  of  the  lirst  order. 

AcncLK  XV. 

All  the  area  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  whether  at  the  ports,  roadsteads, 
or  rivers  of  the  two  oceans,  which  may  he  necessary  for  the  establishment  of  the 
canal,  its  paths,  and  embanliments,  or  which  may  be  occapied  an<l  covered  by  water 
after  raising  the  dams  which  are  to  be  constructed  in  the  beds  of  the  rivers,  or  for 
all  necessary  deviations  to  be  made,  as  well  as  for  reservoirs,  dikes,  spaces  about  the 
locks,  stations,  light-houses,  and  canals,  store-houses,  buildings,  and  workshops,  de- 
posits for  materials,  and  also  all  those  required  for  the  routes,  service  railways,  and 
canals  of  the  same  nature,  for  the  transportation  of  materials  to  the  line  of  the  work, 
and  lor  feeders  of  the  canal ;  in  short,  all  lands  and  places  within  the  territory  oi 
Costa  Rica  necessary  to  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  canal,  as  may  be  laid 
down  in  the  final  drawings  and  plans  made  by  the  engineers  of  the  association,  shall 
be  placed  by  the  State  at  the  disposal  of  the  said  association  under  the  conditions 
get  forth  in  the  following  articles. 

Article  XVL 

Booh  nnappropriated  lands  as  belong  to  the  Stat«  shall  be  giren  to  the  association 
without  any  compensation  whatever,  and  with  regard  to  those  lands  belonging  to 
private  parties  the  state  nndertakes  to  condemn  them  should  the  association  de- 
mand it. 

The  compensation  which,  in  agreement  with  the  laws  of  Costa  Rica,  may  have  to 
be  paid  in  such  cases,  shall  be  paid  by  the  association,  and  to  it  shall  be  a<lded  the 
amount  of  the  expenses  and  costs  of  the  respective  actuations,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
national  tieasury  shall  suffer  no  loss. 

abticus  xyn. 

In  all  relating  to  the  condemnation  to  he  made  under  the  provisions  of  the  preced- 
ing articles  the  association  shall  enjoy  all  the  immunities  and  privileges  that  the 
laws  of  the  country  graut  to  the  state,  so  that  the  association  may  not  be  obliged  to 
pay  more  than  the  state  wcilild  under  similar  circumstances. 

abticle  xvm. 

For  ths  construction,  maintenance,  and  operation  of  the  canal  the  amociation 
shall  have  the  right  to  take  free  of  charge  from  the  lands  belonging  to  the  State 
whatever  material  of  a  spontaneous  production  of  the  land  that  may  be  found  on 
them,  especially  timber  for  construction  and  fuel,  and  limestonti,  clay  for  bricks,  and 
earth  for  fillings  that  are  to  be  made.  As  regards  materials  of  the  said  class  found 
on  lauds  belonging  to  private  parties,  the  association  shall  have  the  same  rights  and 
privileges  granted  by  the  laws  to  the  State. 

Abticle  XIX. 

If  it  shonld  be  necessary  for  the  association  to  occnpy  temporarily  and  dnring  the 
construction  of  the  canal  lands  in  the  territory  of  Cosla  Rica  which  are  not  included 
in  those  designated  in  the  Aiticles  XV,  XVI,  andXVlII,  it  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay 
any  compensation  for  them  if  they  are  unappropriated  lands.  And  the  state  shall 
not  have  the  right  to  sell  or  dispose  of  them  in  any  other  manner  after  the  associa- 
tion hasonce  determined  to  occupy  them,  unless  under  the  reservation  of  thia  right,  the 
limit  of  which  shall  be  the  execution  of  the  works  of  the  Inter-oceanic  Canal.  Should 
the  said  lands  belong  to  private  parties,  then  the  association  shall  enjoy,  so  far  as  the 
temporary  occupation  thereof  is  concerned,  all  the  rights  and  franchises  which  the 
laws  grant  to  the  State,  with  the  special  privilege  of  occupying  them  immediately 
after  the  declaration  of  utility  and  necessity  and  after  payment  of  the  proper  com- 
pensation, which  shall  never  exceed  that  which  the  state  would  be  obliged  to  pay 
in  a  similar  case. 


mCAEAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  313 

Abticle  XX. 

The  Republio  of  Costa  Rica  desirino:  to  aid  efHciently  the  association  in  tbis  »oter- 
prise  cedes  in  fee  simple  to  the  said  association  the  public  lands  h*reinafter  oien- 
tioned,  in  alternate  lots,  with  other  similar  ones  which  it  reserves  for  itself,  to  wit : 

Ist,  On  the  right  or  southern  bank  of  the  San  Juan  River,  from  a  point  three  Eng- 
lish miles  below  Castillo  Viejo  to  the  confluence  of  the  San  Carlos,  should  the  canal 
follow  the  valley  of  the  San  Juau,  lots  fronting  on  the  canal  three  English  miles  front 
by  six  deep. 

2d.  Between  the  San  Carlos  River  and  the  Atlantic,  should  the  canal  pass  wholly 
or  in  part  through  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  or  along  the  boundary  of  Coata  Rioa, 
lots  of  three  English  miles  frontage  on  the  canal  and  four  deep. 

3d.  Should  the  route  of  the  Selinas  Bay  be  adopted,  lots  of  two  English  miles  front- 
age on  the  canal  by  two  deep  in  the  Costa  Rican  territory  crossed  by  the  canal  or 
along  which  it  may  rnn,  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  a  point  two  English  miles  distant 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Sapoa  River  in  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua. 

4th.  Should  the  canal  deviate  from  the  San  Juan  River  more  than  four  miles  towards 
the  interior  of  Costa  Rica,  lots  to  be  measured  on  both  sides  of  the  canal  of  two  miles 
front  and  two  deep.  Should  the  deviation  be  less  than  four  miles,  then  the  lots  of 
the  northern  bank  of  tlie  canal  shall  have  a  front  of  two  miles  and  extend  in  depth 
until  they  touch  theSati  Juan  River. 

5th.  From  the  Rio  Frio  to  the  Sapoa  on  the  south  coast  of  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua, 
at  two  miles  distant  from  the  same  and  following  the  curve  of  its  bank,  lots  of  two 
English  miles  front  by  two  deep. 

6th.  In  the  places  where  the  company  in  accordance  with  the  Government  may 
select  from  the  existing  uuaiipropriated  public  lands  twenty-five  lots,  each  two  Eng- 
lish miles  in  frontage  by  four  deep.  As  a  general  rule,  at  the  extremities  of  the  Inter- 
oceanic  Canal,  should  the  same  be  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  the  opposite 
lots  will  be  allotted,  one  to  the  Government  and  one  to  the  company ;  but,  if  this  be 
not  possible,  the  first  will  belong  to  the  Government. 

The  state  shall  vest  in  the  association  the  posession  of  said  lands  as  soon  as  the 
location  of  the  canal  is  finally  determined  and  its  construction  begun  by  the  associa- 
tion. 

The  rights  required  by  private  parties  in  the  lands  set  forth  in  the  preceding  clauses 
are  hereby  reserved. 

The  measurement  and  setting  out  of  all  lands  ceded  by  this  contract  shall  be  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  grantee,  with  the  intervention  of  the  government. 

The  final  title  deeds  shall  be  issued  in  due  proportion  as  the  work  advances  and 
not  before. 

Between  the  Atlantic  and  the  point  three  miles  below  Castillo  Viejo  all  parts  of 
the  San  Juan  and  Colorado  rivers  occupied  by  the  canal  shall  be  considered,  for  the 
purposes  of  the  present  article,  as  a  part  of  the  said  canal. 

It  is  hereby  understood  that  the  whole  of  the  lands  transferred  to  the  association 
by  Costa  Rica,  in  the  different  places  and  in  the  form  as  set  forth  in  the  foregoing 
article,  shall  not  exceed  in  amount  one-fourth  of  the  total  amount  of  lands  granted  to 
the  company  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua,  according  to  the  contract  made  by  it. 
Should  they  exceed  such  amount,  the  difference  shall  be  deducted  by  reducing  the 
number  of  lots  mentioned  in  subdivision  5th  of  this  article. 

Abticle  XXI. 

The  state  reserves  the  right  to  occupy,  in  the  several  lots  of  land  ceded  to  the  Asso- 
ciation, such  space  as  may  be  needed  for  such  roads  and  public  buildings  as  it  may 
deem  convenient.  In  the  same  manner  it  shall  have  the  right  to  use  timber  and 
other  building  materials  which  may  be  found  on  said  land  whenever  they  may  be 
necessary  for  any  work  upon  which  it  may  determine.  Should  these  lands  be- 
come the  property  of  private  persons  by  virtue  of  a  transfer  made  by  the  company, 
and  the  State  should  need  them  for  the  purpose  set  forth  in  this  article,  or  for  some 
other  purposes,  it  shall  pay  their  owners  for  them  in  conformity  with  the  laws,  and 
the  expropriated  parties  shall  have  no  right  or  claim  against  the  association. 

Should  the  association  have  made  improvements  on  the  lands  referred  to  whether 
for  the  purposes  of  utilitj',  ornament,  or  pleasure,  the  State  shall  be  bound  to  com- 
pensate it  for  such  damages  as  it  may  suffer  according  to  appraisals  of  experts. 

abticlk  xxn. 

Mines  of  coal,  gold,  silver,  iron,  or  other  metals,  and  stone  quarries  situated  in  the 
lands  ceded  to  the  association  shall  belong  to  it  Ijy  right  without  tlie  necessity  of 
previoos  denimoiation,  aud  it  shall  have  the  right  to  work  them  whenever  it  may 


314  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

deem  it  eonTeniAnt,  snbjeot  to  tho  laws  of  the  Rppnblic,  but  sncli  lands  as  may  be 
trausferred  by  the  associatioa  to  private  parties  shall  uot  enjoy  this  privilege. 

articue  xxm. 

The  association  shall  also  have  the  right  to  utilize  for  the  works  of  the  canal  and 
itsapparteuances  the  timber  in  the  forests  sitaated  in  the  lands  grunted  to  it  i<\  the 
state  from  tho  very  moment  from  which  it  enters  into  posseivsiou  of  the  same  under 
the  preseai  ooutraot,  the  ikoqaired  rights  always  being  reserved. 

Article  XXIV. 

From  the  day  fn  which  the  present  concession  shall  be  TAtified  by  Congress,  no 
alienation  shall  be  made  of  any  unappropriated  lands  necessary  for  tlie  consi  ruction 
of  the  canal  nor  of  those  ceded  to  th«  association  on  the  bankH  of  the  same.  Nor  shall 
the  said  lands  be  leased  to  the  prejudice  of  the  oompauy.  However,  siionld  the  loca- 
tion of  the  canal  nut  be  definitely  settled  when  thix  contract  is  ratitied,  tho  line  of 
the  canal  shall  for  the  purposes  of  this  article  be  presumed  to  follow  the  uortheru 
boundary  line  of  Coeta  Bioa. 

Abticle  XX7. 

The  association  shall  have  the  right  of  doing  throughont  the  whole  extent  of  the 
canal  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Kica,  at  the  mouths  of  the  canal  on  the  two  oceans, 
and  in  the  whole  extent  of  the  lauds  which  nnder  the  present  contract  have  been 
granted  to  it  according  to  articles  15, 16,  and  20,  all  such  works  as  may  be  necessary 
for  locating,  leveling,  excavating  and  dredging  the  canal,  and  all  other  works  that 
may  be  required  for  the  establishment,  feeding,  operation,  preservation,  and  main- 
tenance of  the  canal. 

The  association  is  especially  authorized  to  make  along  the  line  of  the  canal  and  on 
the  Costa  Rican  bank  of  the  San  Juan  River  and  its  Costa  Kican  affluents  and  conilu- 
ents,  as  well  as  on  the  Costa  Rican  rivers  tributary  to  the  Lake  of  Nicaragua,  the 
lakes  or  water  courses  which  may  be  utilized  in  their  flow  to  the  Pacific  or  to  the 
Atlantic;  to  construct  dikes  anddains;  make  rectifications,  dredgings,  embankments, 
and  deviations ;  to  locate  buoys,  and  in  general  to  do  all  the  works  that  in  the  opinion 
of  the  engineers  of  the  association  may  be  deemed  iudispensible  for  the  construction, 
feeding,  navigation,  and  operation  of  the  canal.  The  embankments,  fillings,  and 
dikes  which  may  be  made  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica  at  the  mouths  of  the 
canal  on  the  ports  on  the  two  oceans,  by  using  materials  resulting  from  the  excava- 
tion of  the  canal,  shall  belong  in  fee  simple  to  the  association ;  but  tho  Government 
shall  have  the  right  to  occupy  them  in  whole  or  in  part  after  compensation  made. 
Should  any  port  of  the  canal  be  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  the  association 
shall  not  obstruct  such  port  nor  widen  its  beaches  unless  there  is  absolute  necessity 
to  do  so,  and  in  this  case  the  embankments  and  fillings  that  it  may  be  necessary  to 
construct  in  front  of  said  port  shall  belong  to  the  Republic. 

In  general  the  association  shall  have  the  right  to  use  all  the  lakes  and  rivers  of 
Costa  Rica  the  waters  of  which  may  be  necessary  in  the  judgment  of  the  engineers  of 
the  association  to  construct  and  feed  the  canal  and  to  maintain  its  operations,  bnt 
this  right  shall  have  the  following  restrictions,  to  wit : 

1st.  The  navigation  of  the  Costa  Rican  rivers,  which  the  association  may  dam  or 
otherwise  use  for  the  benefit  of  the  can.-il,  shall  remain  at  the  termination  of  the  re- 
spective works  in  as  good  condition  as  it  was  before  they  were  made. 

2d.  In  the  places  where  the  waters  of  said  rivers  may  overflow  in  consequence  of 
the  erection  of  dams  or  other  artificial  obstrnctions  made  by  the  association,  the  said 
association  shall  be  obliged  to  do  whatever  may  be  practicable  to  prevent  the  forma- 
tion of  swamps  and  marshes. 

3d.  Such  damages  as  may  be  cansed  to  private  parties  in  consequence  of  the  devia- 
tion or  elevation  of  the  streams  shall  be  compensated  for  by  the  association  accord- 
ing to  appraisals  made  by  experts  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  Republic,  but 
the  association  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay  more  than  the  state  woold  under  similar 
circnmstances. 

Abticuc  XXVI. 

The  association  can  not  Inport  merchandise  into  the  territory  of  the  Republic  ftw 
the  purposes  of  trafficking  with  it  without  paying  the  custom  duties  established  by  law, 
bnt  it  shall  have  the  right  to  import  free  from  custom  duties  and  of  anj'  other  imposts 
whatsoever  the  articles  needed  for  the  works  of  the  enterprise,  its  surveys,  exploit- 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  315 

tions,  examination  of  loctilitios,  oonstnictious,  use,  operation,  maintenance,  repairs, 
and  improvements  of  the  canal,  and  also  for  the  telegraphic  and  railroad  service  of 
the  same,  and  for  the  works  and  workshops  of  the  company,  and  the  said  articles 
may  consist  of  implements,  machinery,  apparatus,  coal,  limestone  of  all  clashes,  lime, 
iron,  and  other  metals,  whether  raw  or  manufactured,  mining  powder,  dynamite,  or 
any  other  analogous  substance.  These  articles  may  be  transported  between  what- 
ever points  they  may  be  needed  during  the  work  of  the  construction  of  the  canal,  and 
shall  be  landed  and  stored  free  from  all  local  taxes. 

The  association  shall  also  have  the  right  to  import  free  from  duties  or  imposts,  dur- 
ing the  work  of  constructing  the  canal,  such  provisions,  clothing  for  the  "workmen, 
and  medicines  as  may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  its  own  cousftmption. 

Those  articles  the  commerce  of  which  is  not  free  are  excepted  from  the  privilegea 

f ranted  in  this  article  and  shall  remain  subject,  with  the  exception  of  gunpowder, 
ynamite,  and  other  explosives,  to  such  requisites  and  duties  as  are  established  by 
law. 

ARTICI.K  XXVII. 

The  vessels  that  the  association  may  employ  as  tug  boats  or  for  the  service  of  the 
canal  shall  be  free  from  all  imposts  or  taxes  of  any  kind  whatevei,  and  also  the 
material  to  be  used  for  their  repair  and  the  fuel  that  they  may  consume. 

The  vessels  and  their  appurtenances,  from  whatever  place  they  may  come,  for  the 
service  of  the  association  shall  be  exempt  from  all  duties  and  imposts. 

Article  XXIII. 

The  Government  shall  enact  such  regulations  as  it  may  deem  necessary  to  prevent 
smuggling  and  for  the  preservation  of  public  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal  lying 
within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica  or  bordering  on  it  and  in  the  waters  where  it  may 
exert  joint  jurisdiction.  The  company  shall  be  bound  to  lend  its  assistance  for  the 
enforcement  of  such  regulations.  But  in  the  free  zoue  along  the  margin  of  the  canal 
as  hereinafter  provide<l,  measures  for  the  prevention  of  smuggling  shall  be  limited  to 
vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  employ^  or  employes  whom  it  may  concern,  without  right 
to  any  further  measures,  either  against  passengers,  vessels,  or  their  cargoes  excepting 
when  an  attempt  at  smuggling  may  be  discovered  ;  it  being  the  intention  of  the  State 
that  there  shall  be  most  ample  freedom  of  transit  through  the  canal  for  persons  and 
property,  with  the  sole  limitations  established  by  this  contract.  Consequently  the 
association  shall  have  the  right  to  unload  and  reload  ships  in  transit  at  such  point  as 
may  be  necessary  in  order  to  make  repairs  or  lighten  the  vessels  or  shift  their  cargoes^ 
or  on  account  of  any  accident  that  unavoidably  may  render  it  necessary,  without 
being  subject  thereby  to  search,  exactions,  or  contributions  of  any  kind,  provided  in 
each  case,  and  before  beginning  operations,  notice  is  given  to  the  nearest  custom 
house  authority. 

Abticle  XXIX. 

The  Government  shall  afford  its  protection,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the 
Republic,  to  the  engineers,  contractors,  employes,  and  laborers  that  may  be  engaged  in 
the  preliminary  surveys  or  in  the  works  of  construction  and  operation  of  the  canal. 

Article  XXX. 

The  association  shall  he  exempt  from  all  forced  loans  and  military  exactions 
whether  in  time  of  peace  or  of  war.  The  foreign  agents  or  employes  shall  also  be 
exempt  from  direct  taxes,  forced  loans,  and  military  exactions  during  the  time  in 
which  they  are  in  the  service  of  the  canal,  but  they  shall  pay  the  direct  taxes  estab- 
lished by  law  in  case  they  may  become  owners  of  real  property  or  commercial  or 
industrial  establishments. 

Abtiolb  XXXI. 

The  association  may  freely  introduce  into  the  lands  granted  to  it  employes  and 
laborers  of  every  race  who  may  be  needed  in  its  works  and  workshops;  and  it  may 
al8o  introduce  immigrants  of  all  nationalities,  excepting  Asiatics  and  negroes.  .  Both 
the  immigrants  and  the  employes  and  laborers  shall  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  the 
Republic  and  to  the  regulations  of  the  company.  The  Government  assures  them  aid 
and  protection  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  guarantees  in  conformity  with 
the  constitution  and  the  national  laws  during  the  time  that  they  may  remain  within 
Costa  Rioan  territory. 


316  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

AKTICLE   XXXII. 

The  (government  of  Costa  Rica  shall  assure  the  association  and  its  agents,  nnder 
the  laws  of  the  Republic,  as  it  does  to  the  other  inhabitants,  the  fnll  enjoyment  of  the 
guarantees  and  rights  which  the  constitatioii  and  laws  grant  to  them.  Reciprocally 
the  association  and  its  agents  bind  themselves  strictly  to  respect  the  laws  and  regu- 
lations in  force  in  Costa  Rica,  and  especially  to  comply  with  the  final  decisions  of  the 
courts,  without  considering  themselves  vested  with  other  rights  than  those  granted 
by  law  to  Costa  Rican  citizens. 

Abticuc  XXXIII. 

The  (Government  shall  establish  all  along  the  line  of  the  canal  which  may  be  within 
the  territory  of  Costu  Rica  or  along  its  frontier  or  in  the  waters  appertaining  to  it 
in  nwnei-ship  or  joint  jurisdiction,  such  police  stations  and  revenue  ofiBces  as  in  its 
judgment  may  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  order  in  the  region  of  the  canal 
and  for  the  observance  of  the  fiscal  laws  of  the  Republic. 

The  expenses  incident  to  said  services,  including  those  of  buildings,  salaries,  wages, 
and  allowances  of  the  employes  and  transportation  of  the  forces,  and  which  may  be 
in  excess  of  such  as  are  now  borne  by  the  Government  for  the  custom  house  actually 
established  at  the  month  of  the  San  Carlos,  or  on  any  other  point  that  may  be  crossed 
by  the  canal,  shall  be  paid  to  the  public  treasury  by  the  company  on  such  terms  and 
conditions  as  may  be  established  hereafter,  taking  into  consideration  the  require- 
ments and  necessities  of  such  services. 

The  association  shall  also  hav(>  the  right  to  establish  guards  and  watchmen  for  the 
service  of  the  canal  and  the  enforcement  of  its  regulations. 

AKTICLK  XXXIV. 

All  contracts  in  regard  to  the  works  of  the  canal  that  the  association  may  enter 
into  in  foreign  countries  shall  be  valid  and  effective,  and  shall  have  full  force  and 
effect  in  Costa  Rica,  provided  they  do  not  violate  the  laws  of  the  Republic. 

Articlk  XXXV. 

The  association  shall  be  exempt  during  the  period  of  this  concession  both  in  time  of 
peace  and  in  time  of  war  from  all  kinds  of  taxes  upon  the  real  estate  that  it  may  ac- 
qnire  by  virtue  of  this  contract  and  from  all  kinds  of  direct  taxes,  local  charges,  or  any 
other  imposts  relating  to  the  property  and  use  of  the  canal,  or  of  its  buildings  and  the 
construction  and  dependencies  thereof,  all  along  its  extent,  including  those  situated  in 
the  ports  and  maritime  establishments  on  the  two  oceans. 

This  franchise  is  not  trnusferablo  to  the  purchasers  of  the  real  estate  which  the  asso- 
ciation may  alienate  under  this  grant. 

Articlk  XXXVI. 

The  Repnblic  of  Costa  Rica  shall  not  establish  any  tonnage,  anchorage,  pilot, or 
lighthouse  dues  or  any  other  charges  of  any  kind  whatsoever,  upon  vessels  of  any  class 
whateverornpon  the  merchandise,  baggage,  and  passengers  which  may  pass  through 
the  canal  from  one  ocean  to  the  other ;  all  such  dues  are  reserved  for  the  benefit  of  the 
association  as  provided  for  in  article  39. 

Abticle  XXXVIL 

For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  most  ample  liberty  of  transit  of  persons  and  property 
a  free  zone  shall  be  established  on  each  side  of  the  canal,  and  the  width  thereof  shall 
be  90  meters  and  288  millimeters,  measured  from  the  water's  edge  in  the  canal. 

All  traffic  declared  illegal  by  the  laws  of  the  Republic  shall,  however,  be  prohibited 
within  the  said  zone  and  the  revenue  authorities  whose  duty  it  is  to  watch  for  and  pre- 
vent smuggling  shall  act  in  conformity  with  the  stipulations  of  Article  XXVIII. 

It  is  expressly  agreed  that  every  vessel  that  may  pass  through  the  part  of  the  canal 
which  way  be  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica  or  along  its  borders  or  in  waters  over 
which  it  exerts  co-jurisdiction  shall  carry  on  board  an  officer  appointed  by  the  Govern- 
ment whenever  the  authorities  may  deem  it  convenient,  and  that  officer  shall  act  in 
conformity  with  the  law  should  he  discover  that  it  is  being  violated. 

The  two  ports  to  be  constructed  for  the  entrance  and  exit  of  the  canal  on  both 
oceans,  which  may  be  wholly  or  in  part  within  the  territory  or  in  waters  of  Costa  Rica, 
shall  be  declared  free  ports  and  shall  be  recognized  as  such  from  the  opening  of  the 
canal  to  the  end  of  this  concession. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


317 


Tlie  Government,  in  agreement  with  the  company,  shall  establish,  by  means  of  a 
special  decree,  the  limits  of  this  franchise,  which  shall  never  extend  beyond  the  waters 
of  the  ports  comprised  between  the  mouth  of  the  canal  and  the  entrance  of  said 
ports. 

All  merchandise  that  shall  be  loaded  or  discharged  at  any  point  of  the  canal  within 
the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  and  intended  for  internal  commerce,  shall  pay  the  import 
and  export  duties  fixed  by  the  revenue  laws  of  the  State. 

Abticlb  XXXVIII. 

For  the  proper  administration  of  the  canal  and  its  dependencies,  and  in  order  to  fa- 
cilitate its  construction  and  operation,  the  association  shall  establish  the  proper  reg- 
ulations, which  shall  be  binding  upon  every  person  who  may  be  found  in  its  waters  or  in 
its  dependencies ;  the  sole  reservation  being  that  the  rights  and  sovereignty  of  the 
State  be  respected. 

It  is  understood  that  the  association,  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  by  this 
article,  shall  not  make  other  regulations  than  those  necessary  for  the  administration 
and  particular  management  of  the  canal ;  and  that,  before  carrying  them  into  eflfect, 
they  shall  be  submitted  for  the  approval  of  the  Government.  The  State  shall  lend  the 
aid  of  its  authority  to  enforce  these  regulations. 

Akticlk  XXXIX. 

By  way  of  compensation  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  surveys,  construction, 
maintenance,  and  operation  of  the  canal,  or  any  part  thereof,  during  the  period  of  said 
privilege,  the  said  association  shall  have  the  right  to  establish  and  collect,  for  the  pas- 
rjage  of  all  kinds  of  ships,  vessels,  travelers,  and  merchandise  through  the  canal  and  in 
the  waters  and  ports  pertaining  to  it,  such  dues  of  navigation,  tonnage,  pilotage,  tow- 
age, storage,  lay  days,  anchorage,  light,  roadsteads,  wharfage,  hospital  dues,  and  any 
other  similar  charges,  in  conformity  with  the  tariff's  to  be  established  by  it  in  accord- 
ance with  article  45  of  this  contract. 

These  tariffs  may  be  modified  by  the  association  at  any  time,  on  condition  that  all 
modifications  that  maj  be  introduced  in  it  shall  be  previously  communicated  to  the 
Government,  which,  in  case  of  finding  them  within  the  limits  established  by  said 
article  45,  shall  cause  them  to  be  complied  with  as  if  they  were  regulations  enacted 
by  itself. 

The  payment  of  all  the  tariff  dues  shall  be  exacted  without  any  exception  or  prefer- 
ence, and  under  identical  conditions,  from  all  vessels,  whatever  be  the  place  they 
come  from  or  their  nationality,  with  the  exception  stipulated  in  the  following  ar- 
'^icle. 

ARTIOIiE  Xli. 

In  compensation  for  the  privileges  and  concessions  that  Costa  Rica  grants  by  this 
contract,  it  is  hereby  stipulated  that  the  Republic  shall  enjoy  the  special  privilege 
that  Costa  Rican  vessels,  navigating  under  the  flag  ot  Costa  Rica,  shall  be  entitled 
to  navigate  the  canal  at  a  reduction  of  fifty  per  centum  of  the  general  tariff  while 
engaged  in  the  coasting  trade,  or  in  the  reciprocal  trade  with  the  other  Republics  of 
Central  America. 

To  enjoy  this  privilege,  the  said  vessels  shall  be  necessarily  of  the  register  of  the 
Republic,  and  belong  to  citizens  of  the  same. 

A  reduction  of  fifty  per  centum  of  the  general  tariff  is  also  granted  to  all  vessels 
that  begin  their  voyage  for  a  foreign  country  at  any  of  the  ports  belonging  to  the 
"Republic  with  a  cargo  wholly  consisting  of  products  of  the  country. 

Costa  Rican  vessels  of  war  and  revenue  cutters  shall  pay  no  dues  in  passing 
through  the  canal.  No  dues  shall  be  paid  by  the  vessels  of  the  National  Register 
navigating  either  Costa  Rican  waters  connected  with  the  canal  or  the  canal  itself, 
without  passing  out  of  the  locks,  but  said  vessels  are  not  in  any  way  to  obstruct  the 
free  navigation  of  the  canal. 

Costa  Rica,  on  its  part,  shall  not  object  to  the  enjoyment  by  Nicaraguan  ships  of 
the  advantage  granted  in  this  article  to  those  of  Costa  Rica,  provided  that  Nicara- 
gua, on  its  part,  consents  that  the  ships  of  Costa  Rica  shall  enjoy  in  Nicaraguan 
waters  the  said  privilege. 

All  the  concessions  to  which  this  article  refers.shall  be  extended  to  the  other  Repub- 
lics of  Central  America,  or  any  of  them,  whenever  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua  shall 
find  themselves  free  from  international  obligations  which  may  prevent  it,  or  when- 
ever one  or  more  of  said  Republics  shall  form  a  single  nation  with  Costa  Rioa. 


318  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY, 

ARTICI.B  XLI. 

In  case  it  may  be  possible  to  utili/.e  tbe  waters  of  tbe  canal  and  its  dependercies 
for  the  irrigation  of  plautatioDH,  gardens,  and  streeta,  or  for  the  supply  of  towns  that 
may  be  without  it,  or  as  motive  power  for  private  enterprises,  the  company  shall 
have  the  power  to  supply  it,  collecting  dues  iu  propoitiuu  to  the  amount  furnished, 
according  to  the  tarid*  that  it  may  establish  in  agreement  with  the  Goyernment. 

Article  XLU. 

The  association  shall  undertake  at  its  expense  the  final  surveys  of  the  ground  and 
the  location  of  the  line  of  the  canal  by  a  commission  of  competent  engineers.  The 
Govemiient  of  Costa  Rica  shall  have  the  right  of  visiting  and  inspecting  the  final 
surveys  which  are  iu  progress,  and  those  already  completed  by  an  engineer  appointed 
by  said  Government,  and  whose  salary  shall  be  paid  by  the  association,  the  amount 
thereof  to  be  fixed  hereafter  by  special  agreement  betwetn  the  Government  and  the 
company. 

A  period  of  two  years  and  a  half,  to  be  counted  from  the  date  of  the  ratifiitatiou  of 
this  contract,  is  granted  the  association  for  the  final  surveys  of  the  canal,  an<l  within 
the  said  time  the  association  shall  have  to  make  the  said  final  surveys,  organize  the 
company  which  is  to  carry  on  the  work,  and  begin  the  work  of  construction. 

The  work  of  coustructioo  shall  bo  understood  to  have  commenced  if  within  three 
years  after  its  inception  two  millions  of  dollars  have  been  expeuded  on  it. 

The  period  herein  provided  for  shall  admit  of  extension  by  the  Republic  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  association  and  upon  grouudts  of  justice,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Article  XLIII. 

A  term  of  ten  years  is  also  granted  to  the  association  for  the  construction  comple- 
tion, and  opening  to  traffic  the  canal  for  maritime  navigation.  However,  should 
events  of  main  force  arise,  duly  justified  and  sufficient  to  impede  the  regular  progress 
of  the  works  during  the  period  of  the  saiti  ten  years,  an  extension  shall  be  granted 
equal  in  duration  to  the  time  that  may  have  been  lost  by  such  delays. 

If  at  the  expiration  of  the  ten  years  aforesaid  the  works  should  not  be  completed 
so  as  to  have  the  maritime  communication  between  the  two  oceans  opened,  in  consid- 
eration of  the  great  capital  the  company  may  have  invested  in  the  enterprise  and 
the  good  will  and  ability  it  may  have  shown  and  tbe  difficulties  encountered|  the 
Republic  binds  itself  to  grant  a  new  extension. 

Article  XLIV. 

As  a  guaranty  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations  which  the  final  company  which 
is  to  construct  the  canal  incurs  in  accordance  with  article  42,  it  shall  deposit  to  the 
order  of  the  Government  of  Costa  Rica,  in  a  bank  or  in  a  mercantile  house  in  this 
city,  or  with  an  agent  which  the  Government  may  desi'iuate,  immediately  after  the 
certificates  are  issued,  one  thousand  shares  of  its  capital  stock  of  the  nominal  value 
of  f  100  each.  The  said  one  thousand  shares  of  capital  stock  shall  be  considered  an 
advance  to  the  Government  of  the  payment  of  the  police  and  revenue  expenses  to 
be  made  under  article  33,  and  the  association  shall  be  credited  with  the  actual  value 
of  said  shares  at  the  time  such  payments  are  made. 

Article  XLV. 

In  consideration  of  the  valuable  privileges,  franchises,  and  concessions  granted  by 
virtue  of  this  contract  to  the  association,  the  Republic  shall  receive  in  shares,  cer- 
tificates, or  other  values  representing  the  capital  stock  of  the  final  company,  an 
amount  equal  to  one  and  one-half  per  centum  of  the  total  amount  of  the  issue  of  said 
capital  stock,  in  shares  or  certificates  of  $100  each.  This  sum  shall  in  no  event  be 
less  than  $l,r>00,000.  Said  shares  shall  be  considered  as  fully  paid  up,  and  two-thirds 
thereof  shall  not  be  transferable.  All  these  shares  shall  participate  in  the  benefits, 
interests,  distributions,  dividends,  amortizations,  rights,  privileges,  and  all  other  ad- 
vantages granted  to  paid-up  shares,  without  any  ditt'orence  whatever.  These  shares, 
together  with  the  other  privileges  herein  granted  by  the  association  to  the  Govern- 
ment, shall  be  in  full  compensation  to  the  Republic  for  all  public  unappropriated  lands 
that  may  be  fiooded  and  for  all'  the  privileges  and  concessions  conferred  by  this  con- 
tract, and  shall  cover  completely  all  claims  of  this  description  on  the  part  of  the 
state  against  the  association  or  the  final  coHi])any.  The  shiires  to  which  this  article 
refers  shall  b(*  delivered  to  the  agent  appointed  by  the  Goveruiueut  for  this  purpose 
as  soon  as  the  company  may  be  ready  to  issue  certificates  of  its  capital. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  319 

Article  XL VI. 

From  the  earnings  of  the  enterprise  the  company  shall  take,  in  the  first  place,  the 
necessary  amoi^nt  to  cover  all  the  expenses  for  maintenance,  operation,  and  admin- 
istratioii  ;  all  the  suras  necessary  to  secure  the  interest,  wbich  shall  not  exceed  six 
per  centum,  and  the  amortization  of  the  obligations  and  of  the  shares,  and  what  re- 
mains shall  form  the  net  profits,  of  which  at  least  eighty  per  centum  (80  per  cent.) 
shall  he  divided  among  the  shareholders,  it  being  understood  that  after  the  lapse  of 
ten  years  after  the  completion  of  the  canal,  the  company  shall  in  no  case  divide 
among  its  shareholders  in  payment  of  dividends,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  issae  of 
shares  or  otherwise,  more  than  fifteen  per  centum  (15  per  cent.)  annually  or  in  this 
proportion,  from  dues  collected  from  the  aforesaid  canal;  and  where  it  shall  appear 
that  these  dues  yield  a  greater  profit,  they  shall  be  reduced  to  the  fixed  limit  of  fif- 
teen per  cent,  per  annum. 

Articlk  XL VII. 

The  present  concession  shall  be  forfeited  : 

Ist.  Through  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the  Company  to  comply  with  any  one  of 
the  conditions  contained  in  Articles  VII,  XLII,  and  XLIII. 

2d.  If  the  service  of  the  canal,  after  it  is  completed,  is  interrupted  for  six  months, 
unless  iu  case  of  unforeseen  accidents  or  main  force. 

When  the  concession  shall  have  been  declared  forfeited  from  whichever  of  these 
causes,  the  public  lands  granted  by  virtue  of  the  present  contract  shall  revert  to  the 
Republic  in  whatever  condition  they  may  be,  and  without  compensation,  such  lands 
as  may  have  been  alienated  by  the  Company  with  the  formalities  prescribed  by  law, 
shall  be  excepted,  provided  that  such  alienations  shall  not  have  taken  place  within 
the  six  months  preceding  the  date  on  which  the  company  may  have  become  legally 
liable  to  the  penalty  herein  established. 

Akticlb  XLVin. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  ninety-nine  years  stipulated  in  this  concession,  or  in  the 
event  of  the  forfeiture  expressed  in  the  preceding  article,  the  Republic  shall  enter 
into  the  possession  iu  perpetuity  of  that  part  of  the  canal,  its  warehouses,  stations 
and  other  establishments  used  for  the  management  thereof  that  may  be  found  within 
the  national  territory.  Such  works  as  may  be  found  in  waters  in  which  the  Republic 
hiis  join:  Ni)V(  iiifiuty  shi.ll  belong  to  her  in  joint  ownership.  Ami  in  ifgisril  to  such 
parts  of  the  canal  or  of  the  waters  thereof  in  which  Costa  Rica  has  not  the  eminent 
domain,  but  siinjily  the  right  of  use  and  free  navigation,  the  Republic,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  ninety-nine  years,  or  in  the  cases  of  forfeiture  above  named,  shall  retain 
iu  perpetnity  the  said  rights  of  use  and  free  navigation.  The  Republic  shall  not  be 
obliged  to  pay  to  the  company  any  compensation  for  the  same. 

There  shall  be  excepted  from  this  condition  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  company, 
its  stores  of  coal  and  other  materials,  its  mechanical  workshops,  its  floating  capital 
and  reserve  fund,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  said  ninety-nine  years  also  the  lands 
ceded  to  it  by  the  state  under  the  present  contract,  excepting  those  in  which  the 
works  indicated  in  the  first  part  of  this  article  may  be  found  established,  which  will 
become  the  property  of  the  state,  with  their  immediate  dependencies  as  necessary 
for  tiie  service  of  the  canal  and  an  integral  part  of  the  same. 

But  the  company  shall  have  the  right,  at  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid  term  of 
ninety-nine  years,  to  the  full  enjoyment  and  a  free  use  and  control  of  the  canal  and 
such  parts  thereof  as  may  be  within  the  territory  of  Costa  Rica,  with  all  the  priv- 
ileges and  advantages  granted  by  this  couce«sion  in  the  capacity  of  lessee  for  asecond 
period  of  ninety  nine  years,  upon  payment  to  the  Government  of  Costa  Rica  of  six 
and  one-quarter  per  centum  of  the  annnal  net  profits  of  the  enterprise,  besides  the 
dividends  due  to  it  for  its  share  in  the  capital  stock. 

The  company  shall  have  the  right  to  fix  at  its  discretion  the  dues  referred  to  in 
aniclii  39  tf  this  concession,  so  that  the  shareholders,  after  the  payment  of  31^  per 
cent  is  deducted,  shall  still  receive  dividends  of  ten  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  whole 
capital. 

At  the  expiration  of  this  second  period  of  ninety-nine  years  the  Government  shall 
enter  into  perpetual  possession  of  the  canal  and  the  other  property  referred  to  in  the 
first  part  of  this  article;  and  this  delivery  shall  also  embrace  everything  excluded  in 
the  said  first  part,  except  the  lands  ceded  to  the  association  by  this  contract  and  the 
reserve  and  sinking  fund. 

The  failure  to  comply  with  any  of  the  conditions  of  the  lease  shall  terminate  it, 
and  the  state  shall  enter  into  the  possession  of  the  part  of  the  canal  which  corre- 
sponds to  it,  owing  to  it  being  situated  in  Costa  Rican  territory  or  iu  the  places  in 
which  Costa  Rica  is  joint  owner,  and  also  of  the  other  works  which  helcog  to  the 
canal,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  paragraph. 


320  IJICAHAGUA   CANAL   COMPANT. 

Abticls  XLIX. 

Any  misnnderstanding  that  may  arise  betw«en  the  Repnblio  &nd  the  company  in 
regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the  prenent  stipulations  shall  be  sabmitted  to  a  conrt 
of  arbitrators,  composed  of  four  members,  two  of  whom  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
state  and  two  by  the  company. 

These  arbitratorti  shall  be  designated  by  each  party  within  the  period  of  four 
mouths  from  the  day  on  which  one  of  them  shall  give  notice  to  the  other  in  writing 
of  the  want  of  a<;reonicut  on  the  point  at  issue.  Should  ono  of  the  parties  allow 
this  period  to  lapse  it  shall  be  considere>l  as  assenting  to  the  opinion  or  claim  of  the 
other. 

The  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  arbitrators  shall  finally  decide  without  recourse. 
In  case  of  a  tie  vote  the  arbitrators  shall  appoint,  by  mutual  consent,  a  fifth  person, 
who  shall  decide,  and  in  case  of  their  default  the  respective  parties  will  appoint  him. 
If  they  cannot  agree  to  such  appointment  they  shall  draw  by  lot  the  names  of  the 
diplomatic  representatives  accredited  to  Costa  Rica,  and  the  first  one  drawn  out  shall 
exercise  the  functions  of  the  fifth  arbitrator.  He  shall  concur  on  one  of  the  two 
opinions,  and  what  may  be  so  decided  shall  be  final  and  without  recourse  of  any  kind. 
It  the  fifth  arbitrator  should  fail,  the  second  person  drawn  shall  exercise  these  func- 
tions, and  so  on  successively  until  the  decision  is  reached. 

Prior  t'lthe  initiation  of  the  works  of  opening  the  canal  the  Government,  in  con- 
ourreuce  with  the  company,  shall  formulate  a  set  of  rules  to  be  observed  by  the  arbi- 
trators in  all  matters  relating  to  procedure. 

All  questions  between  the  association  and  private  parties  residing  in  Costa  Rica 
shall  be  determined  by  the  ordinary  courts  of  Costa  Rica  in  conformity  with  the  leg- 
islation of  the  Republic.  In  matters  pertaining  to  parties  not  residing  in  Costa  Bioa 
the  rules  of  private  international  law  shall  be  observed. 

Articlb  L. 

This  contract,  after  being  approved  by  the  Hon.  General  President  of  the  Repnblio, 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  supreme  legislative  power  for  tlie  purpose  that  if  they  deem 
it  convenient  they  should  in^partto  it  the  necessary  ratification,  and  in  case  such  ap- 
proval is  not  obtained,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  will  be  released  from  all  the 
obli'tationsto  which  it  is  bound  by  it.  Such  ratification  or  non-ratification  shall  be 
made  within  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  from  this  date. 

In  witness  whereof  the  undersigned  have  set  their  hands  to  four  copies  of  the  pres- 
ent ooutraot,  two  for  each  party,  in  San  Jos^  de  Costa  Rica,  3Ist  July,  1888. 

Pedro  Perez  Zelbd6n. 
A.  G.  Menocal. 

Palace  ov  the  President, 

San  J096,  July  31,  1888. 
In  consideration  that  the  foregoing  contract  agrees  with  the  instructions  given  for 
its  celebration  to  the  honorable  secretary  of  state,  who  authorizes  it,  it  is  hereby  ap- 
proved in  all  its  parts  for  the  purpose  that  it  may  be  submitted  to  the  deliberation  of 
the  Constitutional  Congress. 
Countersigned  by  his  honor  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

Perez  Zelki>6n. 

Articls  2. — ^The  contract  to  which  the  foregoing  article  refers  is  hereby  exempted 
from  the  payment  of  stamp  duties. 

To  the  executive  power: 

Given  in  the  hall  of  sesuooB  of  the  national  palace  in  San  Jos^,  on  the  9th  day  of 
Aagust,  1888. 

A.  £sQni%'EL, 

President. 

MaKUBL  J.  JlMl^NEZ, 

Secretary. 
FfiLix  GonzXlez, 

Vice  Secretary. 

pBKSIDEinTAI.  PaLAOB, 

Ban  Joti  August  9,  1888. 
Therefore  be  it  exeonted. 

Bernardo  Soto. 

The  secretary  of  state  of  the  department  of  pnhllo  works : 

Maximo  Fbrnandxz. 


NICAEAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  321 


Appendix  L. 

BEPOBT  OK  THE  TONNAGE  OF  TRAFFIC  WITHIN  THE  ZONE  OF  ATTRAC- 
TION OF  THE  MARITIME  CANAL  OF  NICARAGUA,  IN  1890,  AND  AS 
ESTIMATED  FOR  1897. 

[By  Thos.  B.  Atkins,  Secretary  and  Treasarer  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nioaragaa.] 

THE  MARITIME  CANAL  OF  NICARAGTTA. 

REPORT  ON  THE  TONNAGE  OP  TRAFFIC. 

The  question  of  the  amount  of  traffic  which  will  be  attracted  to  any  interoceanio 
canal  across  the  American  Isthmus  is  one  concerning  which  there  has  been,  and 
probably  will  continue  to  be,  a  wide  diftereuce  of  opinion. 

The  problem  is  unquestionably  an  intricate  one.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  the 
relative  valne  of  the  factors  of  which  it  is  composed ;  and  it  is  made  more  complex 
by  the  elements  of  futurity  which  enters  into  it. 

The  most  serious  attempt  at  its  solution  was  made  for  the  information  of  the  Inter- 
natioual  Congress,  which  assembled  at  Paris  in  1879  to  consider  the  various  projects 
at  that  time  before  the  public  for  an  interoceanio  canal  across  the  Isthmus  and  the 
questions  pertinent  thereto.  The  question  was  then  made  the  subject  of  careful  in- 
vestigation and  study  by  a  statistical  commission  composed  of  eminent  scientists, 
statisticians  and  officials,  of  which  M.Levasseur,  member  of  the  "  Institute  National " 
of  France,  was  chairman. 

In  the  report  at  the  time  presented  by  M.  Levassenr  it  was  estimated  upon 

"Lev."   premises  set  forth  at  some  length,  and  which  further  on  shall  have  more 
particular  consideration,  that  the  tonnage  of  traffic  existing  in  1876,  within 
the  zone  of  attraction  of  such  a  canal,  upon  the  basis  of  an  estimated  average  value 
per  ton,  was  5,268,000  tons. 

Upon  a  statistical  basis,  partly  furnished  by  Rear- Admiral  Ammen,  U.  S.  Navy, 
and  Mr.  EllLazard,  of  San  Francisco,  it  was  also  estimated  at  4,833,000  tons. 

Both  estimates  being  duly  considered,  5,250,000  tons  was  finally  accepted  by  the 
commission  as  a  "  very  moderate  "  estimate  of  the  tonnage  existing  in  1878  within 
the  zone  of  attraction. 

In  arriving  at  this  conclusion  the  commission  justly  remarked :  "  Whatever 

"  Lev."   may  be  the  latitude  at  which  the  American  Isthmus  may  be  pierced  between 
Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  Atrato,  under  whatever  technical  conditions  the 
canal  may  be  constructed,  the  commerce  of  the  two  oceans,  considered  as  a  whole 
will  profit  equally  by  it." 

From  these  results  thus  arrived  at  it  was  argued  in  the  report  that  the  natural 
growth  of  commerce  would,  in  ten  years'  time,  say  by  1888,  increase  the  total  of 
tributary  tonnage  from  the  5,250,000  tons,  recognized  as  existing  in  1878,  to  7,250,000 
tons,  from  which  the  canal,  at  the  time  of  its  expected  completion,  would  be  able  to 
draw  for  its  revenue. 

At  the  time  when  the  report  was  prepared  and  submitted  the  statistics  of  inter- 
national commerce  were  neither  as  abundant  nor  as  accessible  as  they  are  at  the 
present  time ;  even  now  they  are  not  by  any  means  as  complete  as  is  desirable  for 
an  exact  examination  of  the  question.  South  American  returns  of  tonnage  are  par- 
ticularly misleading ;  oftentimes  the  same  vessel  is  registered  in  more  than  one  port 
of  the  same  country,  and  thus  is  made  to  count  twice  or  more  times  in  the  tonnage 
reports  of  registered  entries  and  clearances.  The  only  traffic  data  of  those  countries 
of  reliability,  are  the  values  of  exports  and  imports,  which,  from  the  channel  through 
which  they  are  collected — customs  returns — are  not  apt,  at  all  events,  to  be  exag- 
gerated. 

In  making  a  new  estimate  it  is,  therefore,  not  only  expedient  but  almost  imper- 
ative to  follow  the  method  adopted  by  M.  Levassenr  and  his  eminent  associates  in 
their  work,  and  in  doing  so  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  how  fully  the  growth  of 
commerce  has  verified  their  anticipations.  This  estimate  of  a  time  so  long  passed 
is  chiefly  valuable  for  comparison  as  indicating  what  growth  of  commerce  may  be 
anticipated  in  the  lapse  of  time  required  for  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal, 
and  it  is  of  some  importance  in  that  respect  to  ascertain  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
correctness  of  the  premises  with  which  comparison  is  to  be  made. 

Accepting  the  report  of  the  commission  as  a  fair  estimate  of  tributary  commerce 
existing  in  1878,  we  have  5,250,000  tons  as  a  basis  for  comparison. 

In  an  estimate  furnished  the  United  States  Treasury  Department  in  1880  it  is 
elaimed  that  the  meridian  of  110°  east  from  Greenwich  will  be  the  dividing  line  be- 
yond which  the  attraction  of  the  canal  will  cease  to  be  influential.    We  are  not  pre- 


S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 21 


322 


WICARAOUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


pared  to  admit  this,  for  the  reason  that  ocean  onrrents  and  prevailing  winds  and 
more  favorable  climate  will  at  least  influence  much  of  the  trade  of  Europe  to  cir- 
enmnavigate  the  globe  by  way  of  the  Nicaragua  Caual,  when  it  is  opened,  as  a  return 
route  rather  tbau  to  use'  the  6uez  Canal  both  going  and  returning;  and  thuB  the 
attraction  of  the  canal  will  be  felt  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  even  by  the  enormous 
trade  of  Europe,  or,  more  exactly  speaking,  of  England  with  India.  This  principle 
seems  to  have  been  accepted  by  the  statistical  commission.    Adopting  for  the  pur- 

Soseofan  estimate  the  dividing  line  suggested,  the  meridian  of  110^  east  from 
reenwich,  the  commerce  of  the  world  which  wotild  have  been  directly  subject  to  the 
attraction  of  the  canal  in  1888,  had  it  then  existed,  is  largely  shown  in  the  following 
table,  carefully  compiled  from  official  returns. 

It  is  proper  to  premise  (1)  That,  as  previonsly  stated,  the  most  reliable  statis- 
tics of  commerce  are  given  in  values  and  not  in  bulk  or  weight;  where  it  is  other- 
wise, the  fact  is  noted.  (2)  Tliat  wherever  local  statistics  are  accessible  they 
are  accepted  as  the  more  reliable ;  in  other  cases  the  figures  of  the  British  Board  of 
Trade  are  accepted.  (3)  That  as  returns  are  made  in  different  currencies  they 
are  roundly  converted  into  dollars  at  f.'i  for  the  pound  sterling,  20  cents  for  francs,  40 
cents  for  guilders,  T.')  cents  for  pesos,  $1,15  for  Haikwan  taeJs,  25  cents  for  marks, 
^1  for  the  yen  of  account,  20  cents  for  pesetas.  These  figures  do  not  vary  materially 
from  actual  valnes,  and  are  very  much  more  convenient  for  computation.  (4) 
In  the  instance  where  returns  are  made  in  bulk  they  are  reduced  to  tons  at  the 
round  allowance  of  1,000  grams  to  the  ton. 

Table  op  Commerce  Subject  to  the  Attbaction  op  the  Canal. 

(To  be  dirided  into  three  classes :  Clasa  1,  entirely  tributary ;   class  2,  largely  tribatary ;   o1m0  t, 

partially  tnbatary.] 

Commerce  of  the  plates  named,  exports  and  imports. 


Beferenoe. 


Class. 


Coantries. 


Amount. 


&T.  B.,  111. 
8.Y.  B..  235 
8.Y.B.,  261 
S.Y.  B.,  268. 
8.T.B.,  288 
8.T.  B.,  292. 
aY.B,  250. 
8.Y.  B.,  276 
8.Y.  B.,  776 
S.Y.B.,  944 
8.Y.  B.,  410 
8.Y.B.,  715. 
aY.B.,  452. 
8.Y.  B.,  809. 
8.Y.  B.,  387. 
8.Y.B.,  406. 
RY.B.,    78. 

S.Y.B.,  515. 
8.Y.  B.,  715. 
aY.  B.,  406. 

8.T.B.,546 
RY.B..  715 
8.Y.B.,  406 
RY.B.,  577. 
RY.B.,  416 
RY.B.,  944 
RY.B.,  379. 
RY.B.,  762 


O.&N.,  40  .. 
0.&N.,  49 ... 
C.  &  N.,  39.  . 
C.&N.,  40.  . 
C.&N.,  iO  .. 
C.&N.,  41... 
C.  &,  N..  39. . . 
a&N.,  39... 
aftN.,  42. .. 
a&N.,  43... 
O.ttTf.,40... 
a*N..  41. .. 

a*ir..4s... 


"With  Great  Britain: 

JIons-Kon^r,  114°  east  from  Greenwich 

Ni'w  South  Wales 

Queen.'^land 

South  Anstralla 

Victoria..        ;.. 

Western  Australia 

New  Zealand . 

Tasmania 

Java ....................... 

Philippine  Islands 

China 

Japan 

Ecuador 

Peru .. 

Bolivia 

Chili 

Central  America 

With  Franco: 

New  Caledonia 

Japan — 

Chili 

With  Germany : 

Australia ...... 

Japan 

Chili    

HambnrK  with  Australia 

China  with  Germany,  France,  eto 

Spain  with  Philippine  Islands 

Beljrium  with  Peru ........ 

Netherlands  with  J)utch  East  Indies 

With  United  States  (Atlantic  ports,  chiefly  Kew  York 
Pacific  portB,  chiefly  San  Francisco): 

British  East  Indies,  Atlantic  ports 

British  East  Indies,  Pacilic  ports 

French  East  Indies,  Atlantic  ports 

Dutch  East  Indies,  Atlantic  ports 

Hon;;-Kong,  Atlantic  ports 

Hong  Konj;,  Pacific  ports 

China,  Atlantic  ports ..............^... 

China,  Pacific  poits 

Jayan,  Atlantic  ports 

Japan,  Pacific  ports 

British  Australia,  Atlantic  ports , 

British  Australia,  Pacific  ports 

Philippine  Islands,  Atlantic  porta 


$20,  508, 00« 
83,  932,  800 
23,  055,  480 
24, 098,  480 
73,  601,  350 

3, 380,  850 
44,564,000 

3,  COS,  010 
22,  358, 760 
14,  394,  690 
54, 157, 657 
87, 403,  580 

2, 489, 910 
15, 245, 870 

1,267.830 
62,  437, 161 
10,412,250 

1, 565,  812 
17,  761, 441 
7, 85T,  430 

8,129,000 
6, 878, 462 

14, 008,  930 
(*) 

18, 2a3, 315 
4, 12;i,  000 
6, 44C,  095 

66,  080, 000 


22,  765,  826 
1,432,041 
319, 427 
7, 042,  412 
2, 113,  021 
3, 050, 656 

12,484,834 
6, 932,  940 

10,  038, 673 
0, 380,  330 

13,  270, 828 
6, 040,  310 
8.71%  0« 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 
Commerce  of  places  nam^,  exports  and  imports — Contfinued. 


323 


Reference. 


Class. 


Conntriea. 


AiDoant. 


C.&N.,  43 

C.&N.,42 

C.  &  N.,43 

C.&N.,  32 

C.&N.,  34 

C.&N.,  36 

C.&N.,  22  and  24 

C.&N., 5 

C.&N., 7 

C.&N.,7 

C.&  N.,  6-10 

C.&N.,  30 

C.&N.,  33 


"With  United  States  (Atlantic  ports,  chiefly  New  York 
Pacific  ports,  chiefly  San  BYancisco) — Continued. 

Philippine  Islands,  Pacific  ports 

Hawaii,  Atlantic  ports 

Hawaii,  Pacific  ports 

Chili 

Ecuador 

Peru 

Central  America  (Nicaragua,  Costa  Bica,  and  Salvador) 
Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  with — 

Belgium 

France 

Germany 

Great  Britain 

Cuba 

Brazil 

Total 


$2. 053,  aeo 

197,  619 
16,  025,  780 
4, 814, 625 
1, 331, 370 
1,024,497 
5, 170, 980 

837, 840 

5,  632, 359 

1, 136,  506 

33, 944, 476 

535,  111 

166, 012 


825, 110, 167 


*  Value,  not  reported;  weight,  65,300,000  kilos,  say  about  65,300  tons. 

In  the  table  the  trade  of  Asia,  etc.,  with  interior  ports  of  entry  of  the  United 
C  &N  45  States,  which  is  chiefly  transshipped  at  San  Francisco,  is  omitted  because 
■'  ■  it  is  almost  entindy  in  high-priced  commodities  which  yields  only  a  low 
tonnage.     It  amounts  to  $2,305,138. 

To  this  large  aggregate  there  should  be  added  the  commerce  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  coasts  of  the  American  continent,  each  with  the  other,  and  any  other  trade  of 
the  Pacific  coast  not  already  included.  Some  portion  of  the  trade  i-eferred  to  now 
finds  its  way  around  Cape  Horn,  a  part  goes  by  the  way  of  the  Panama  Railroad 
across  the  Isthmus,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  it  helps  to  make  up  the  tonnage 
of  the  Pacific  railroads.  A  large  part  of  the  Pacific  railroad  portion  is  included  in 
the  items  of  commerce  between  China,  Japan  and  Australia,  and  the  United  States, 
particularly  that  part  of  such  commerce  as  is  entered  via  San  Francisco. 

In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  large  traffic  between  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  sea- 
board already  established  and  likely  to  increase  with  such  strides  as  is  known  to 
trade  and  commerce  in  the  Western  hemisphere  only  as  soon  as  an  advantageous 
waterway  is  oflered  for  its  transportation.  It  is  now  limited  by  the  high  cost  of 
railroad  transportation  or  the  length  of  the  ocean  voyage.  The  rate  for  transporta- 
tion between  New  York  and  San  Francisco  by  rail  in  carload  lots  is  not  less  than 
$20  per  ton  on  low  class  freight  and  much  higher  on  general  merchandise.  By  sail- 
ing vessels  freights  are  rarely  over  $10,  and  more  often  $8  or  $9.  The  difference  in 
time  of  transit  by  existing  routes  is  that  between  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  for  a 
voyage  around  Cape  Horn  and  fifteen  to  eighteen  days  for  fast  freight  by  rail  across 
the  continent. 

From  Hong-Kong  to  New  York,  around  the  Cape,  is  about  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  to  one  hundred  and  seventy  days  by  sailing  vessel ;  by  steamer  across  the  Pacific 
and  rail  across  the  continent  it  is  thirty-eight  to  forty  days ;  by  the  canal  route 
it  would  be  one  hundred  days  by  sail  and  thirty-eight  to  forty  days  by  steamer. 
Under  certain  conditions  commerce  pays  the  difference  in  cost  to  save  the  difference 
in  time  between  the  quicker  and  the  slower  route,  for  by  so  doing  capital  is  turned 
over  and  made  to.  yield  its  profit  more  frequently,  the  risks  of  unforeseen  contingen- 
cies are  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  the  accidents  which  bring  disaster  to  the  mer- 
chant are,  to  an  equal  extent,  avoided.  High-priced  commodities,  such  as  come 
to  us  from  Asia  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  will  bear  the  additional  charge  in 
consideration  of  the  saving  of  time,  but  lumber  and  other  low-priced  material  can 
not.  Recently  the  bark  W.  W.  Crapo  brought  from  Port  Townsend,  Wash.,  a  cargo  of 
shingles  and  spars  to  Boston,  Mass.  The  Crapo  is  a  1,650-ton  bark,  and  could  be  run 
at  a  cost  of,  say,  $75*  per  day,  not  including  port  charges.  She  occupied  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  days  in  her  voyage  and  sailed  16,200  miles.  By  the  Nicaragua 
route  the  distance  from  Port  Townsend  to  Boston  is  about  5,600  miles  and  the  saving 
about  10,600  miles,  nearly  76  per  cent.,  or,  say,  more  than  eighty-three  days  of  her 
passage,  which  would  amount  to  a  saving  in  actual  expense  of  $6,225,  without  regard 
to  the  advantage  to  both  shipowner  and  lumber  merchant  in  their  economies  of  time, 
insurance,  and  use  of  capital,  which  upon  her  cargo  could  not  have  been  less  than 
$40  per  day,  or  an  aggregate  of  $3,300  more. 

*76  ■p«T  day  for  costs  includes  interest  upon  cost  of  vessel,  insurance,  depreciation  of  value,  repairs, 
WMge*,  and  provisioning. 


324  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

Under  snoh  advantages  an  the  canal  wonld  offer  an  enormons  coastwise  commerce 
in  coal,  provisions,  lumber,  and  the  various  conmiodities  of  commerce,  the  traffic  in 
which  is  largely  dependent  upon  advautageons  transportation,  would  of  necessity  be 
developed,  the  magnitude  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  estimate.  The  same  reasons 
wiH  operate  to  divert  to  the  canal  a  very  considerable  i)ortiou  of  the  trans-continental 
traffic  from  China,  Japan,  Australia,  and  the  Sandwich  islands,  which  has  been 
diverted  originally  from  the  Cape  Horn  ronte,  and  now  constitutes  a  large  part  of  the 
tonnage  of  the  Panama  or  Pacific  railroads.  It  is  in  this  view  of  the  matter  that  we 
have  included  in  the  table  of  commerce  the  traffic  between  these  countries  and  the 
port  of  San  Francisco  as  tributary  in  a  degree  to  the  canal. 

There  should  also  be  added  to  the  table  a  proper  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  the 
commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  her  East  Indian  colonies  wliich  will  seek  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  as  a  return  route  in  perference  to  the  Suez  Canal,  because  of  favor- 
ing winds  and  currents,  more  favorable  temperature,  and  other  reasons  which  the 
merchant  will  be  quick  to  discover. 

The  first  item  mentioned,  existing  traffic  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts 
of  the  continent  not  otherwise  included,  has  been  estimated  at  figures  varying  from 
265,531  tons  in  1887  to  275,000  tons  in  18«8,  distributed  as  follows : 

Tons. 
Between  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports  of  United  States,  around  Cape  Horn.. .     145,713 

British  Columbia  with  Europe,  around  Cape  Horn 69,818 

To  which  add  similar  tonnage  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  estimated  at 50,000 

Estimate  of  1887 265,531 

D  n  a  nA  oa       ^^^  ^^^  *'^®  foUowiug  cstimato  hds  been  made: 

B.P.,8-Z4-88.  By  Panama 75,000 

Between  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports  of  United  States,  around  Cape  Horn . . .  185, 000 

British  Colombia  with  Canada,  around  Cape  Horn 15,000 

275,000 

In  this  last  estimate  the  trade  of  British  Columbia  with  Europe  is  entirely  omitted 
as  apparently  of  no  value ;  we  may,  however,  assume  that  it  was  not  less  in  1888 
and  1889  than  in  1887,  say  70,000  tons,  and  we  may  safely  accept  less  than  the  mean 
of  the  two  years,  this  included,  as  a  just  estimate  of 'the  annual  amoant,  say,  in 
round  numbers,  275,000  tons. 

As  we  have  already  included  in  the  table  of  tributary  traffic  the  commerce  of  Asia 
and  the  Pacific  Islands  with  San  Francisco,  we  make  no  separate  estimate  of  the  pro- 
portion of  it  which  ought  to  be  attracted  to  the  canal,  but  in  the  distribution  of  the 
total  consider  it  as  among  the  probably  tributary  business.  It  is  admitted  without 
question  that  a  considerable  portion  of  this  trade  is  directly  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Pacific  coast  and  for  local  consumption,  but  a  certain  proportion  of  it  is  trans- 
shipped by  rail  across  the  continent  for  consumption  or  distribution  at  points  not 
ports  of  entry  and  where  it  can  not  be  shipped.  "  in  bond. '  This  portion  of  the  trade 
would,  because  of  the  comparative  cheapness  of  water  transportation,  be  attracted 
by  the  canal,  for  the  difference  in  time  of  transit  by  the  canal  and  that  of  entry  at 
the  Pacific  port,  reshipment,  and  of  freight  transportation  by  rail  across  the  conti- 
nent would  not  be  sufficient  to  warrant  the  additional  cost  of  overland  transportation ; 
indeed,  it  would  probably  consume  quite  as  much  if  not  more  time  than  the 
route  by  the  canal.  The  time  from  Hong-Kong  to  New  Orleans  by  steamer  through 
the  canal  would  be  less  than  via  San  Francisco  by  steamer  and  rail  from  thence  to 
New  Orleans. 

The  value  of  the  return  commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  her  East  Indian  col- 
onies remains  to  be  considered.  It  is  possible  that  the  export  trade  from  Great  Brit- 
ain to  the  East  Indies  will  always  seek  the  ronte  by  the  Suez  Canal,  but  there  are 
reasons  in  the  favoring  winds  and  currents  and  more  temperate  climate  to  traverse, 
which  make  it  exceedingly  probable  that  the  return  voyage  may  be  made  more 
speedily  and  therefore  less  expensively,  and  at  the  same  time  more  comfortably,  by 
the  Nicaragua  Canal  than  by  the  route  used  for  out-bound  trade.  It  is  not  impossi- 
ble, however,  that  the  northeast  trades  which  carried  Columbus  so  successfully  to 
Porte  Rico  may  sufficiently  favor  the  out-bound  voyage  to  attract  even  some  por- 
tion of  that  trade,  but  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  that  the  canal  will  exert  an  attrac- 
tion on  that  which  is  homeward  bound.  Moreover,  not  an  inconsiderable  part  of 
the  material  of  this  traffic,  such  as  plumbago  from  Ceylon  and  straw  braid  from 
China  is  immediately  transshipped  from  London  to  New  York  for  consumption  in  this 
country.  What  part  of  the  export  trade  will  seek  the  Nicaragua  route  may  be  dis- 
puted, but  of  that  which  now  moves  to  Great  Britain  from  that  portion  of  the  world 
the  canal  may  with  reason  expect  a  lair  share.  The  total  of  these  imports  into  Great 
Britain  from  her  East  Indian  possessions  amounts  to  nearly  $200,000,000  per  annum. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


325 


To  recapitulate.  The  amount  of  traffic,  thus  indicated,  which  would  be  attracted 
to  a  gre.iter  or  less  degree,  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  today,  if  it  were  open  to  busi- 
ness, is  briefly : 

The  aggregage  of  the  table $825,110,167 

The  return  trade  from   India  and  the  Straits  Settlements  to  Great 

Britain 195,683,679 

Total  value 1,020,793,846 

Add  to  this  value  the  trade  of  Hamburg  with  Australia,  reported  in 

quantity tons..  65,300 

The  Atlantic  and  Pacitic  coastwise  trade  of  the  United  States  and  British 

Columbia  and  other  trade  (not  included  in  table) tons..  275,000 

Amount  in  bulk,  not  valued do...  340,300 

It  remains  to  reduce  the  statistics  of  value  to  a  tonnage  basis  and  to  distribute  the 
whole  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  clearly  show  the  relative  importance  of  the  canal  to 
the  parts  thus  distributed. 
„T^  „  In  the  estimate  of  the  Statistical  Commission  of  1879  it  was  calculated 
that  1,000,000  tons  of  the  aggregate  of  commerce  to  be  regarded  as  tributary 
to  the  canal  consisted  of  flour,  guano, -and  other  k)w-priced  commodities,  which 
should  be  valued  at  200  francs,  or,  say,  $40  per  ton.  The  remainder  was  valued  at 
375  francs,  or  $75  per  ton,  and  the  result  was  the  estimate,  after  liberal  allowance 
made,  of  5,250,000  tons  already  cited. 

When  the  low  values  of  the  commodities  which  constitute  the  great  bullc  of 
material  transported  are  considered,  it  may  well  be  questioned  whether  this  valuation 
was  not  too  high,  and  the  allowance  for  low-priced  commodities  too  small.  As  cor- 
roborating this  opinion  the  following  approximate  values  are  submitted : 

Per  ton 

Coal  is  worth,  say $3.00 

Crude  oil  is  worth,  say 16.00 

Refined  oil  is  worth,  say 25.00 

Sugar  is  worth,  say 44.00 

Flour  is  worth,  say 50.00 

Wheat  is  worth,  say 35.00 

Corn  is  worth,  say.* 15.00 

Guano  is  worth,  say . . 30.00 

Nitrates  are  worth,  say 3.20 


Reference. 


S.F.J.C, 

S.  Y.  B., 

S.  Y.  B., 
S.  Y.  B., 

S.  Y.  B., 
8.  Y.  B., 


90 
40B 


405 
405 


809 
809 


S.  T.  B.,      387 


The  wheat  and  flour  fleet  from  San  Francisco  carried  in  1889,  692,500 

tons  (over  90  per  cent,  wheat),  mostly  to  Europe. 
Chili  exported  in  1888  of  nitrates  (680,000  of  which  which  went  to  Eu- 
rope, 80,000  to  the  United  States). 

Of  guano  (estimated  from  report  of  value) 

Of  wheat  (estimated  from  report  of  value) 

Peru  exported  in  the  same  year : 

Of  guano 

Of  nitrates 

And  Bolivia  exported : 

Of  nitrates,  by  way  of  Arica ;  Peru  (estimated  from  report  of  value) 

Making  a  total  of 


Tons. 


692,500 

760,000 

40, 000 
150,000 

14,000 
1,773,135 

124, 000 


3, 553, 635 


The  statistics  of  Chili,  Peru,  and  Bolivia  for  1889  are  not  yet  accessible,  but  the 
business  was  larger  than  for  1888. 

Of  this  total  over  2,650,000  tons  was  of  nitrates,  1,897,000  tons  of  which  was  cubic 
nitre,  worth  only  about  $3  per  ton  at  place  of  shipment  and  valuation.  Coal  and  coal 
oils,  crude  and  refined,  enter  largely  into  outbound  freights,  and,  being  also  articles 
of  low  valuation,  must  materially  affect  the  general  average  of  values.  That  this 
tonnage,  as  well  as  its  return  freight,  or  rather  the  outbound  freight  of  which  it  is  the 
return,  would  be  almost  entirely  tributary  to  the  canal,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 

the  canal  will  cut  out  from  the  voyage,  as  between  San  Francisco,  Callao, 
Appendix  A.    Valparaiso,  and  Liverpool,  in  the  first  case,  6,996  miles;  in  the  second, 

4,090  miles,  and  in  the  third  case,  2,144  miles,  including  the  stormy,  dan- 
gerous, and  destructive*  passage  around  Cape  Horn.  The  difference  from  Valparaiso, 
the  principal  port  of  Chili,  may  not  be  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  charges  of  the 
canal,  but  from  Callao  and  ports  north  of  it  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  advan- 
tage to  be  gained  by  its  use. 

*  Destructive  in  its  wear  and  tear  upon  vessel  and  rigging. 


326 


NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY 


Following  the  method  of  the  statistical  oommissioQ,  which,  so  far,  is  the  best  thai 
has  been  suggested,  and  modifying  it  only  to  pay  regard  to  ascertained  facts,  we  may 
deduct  from  the  aggregate  of  the  table  the  following  items  as  nut  open  to  estimate, 
their  value  and  quantity  both  being  already  determined  : 


Reference. 

Tons. 

▼alne. 

Wheat  and  floor  from  South  American  porta  (page  10) 

n-n^^^  (page  M) 

150,000 

54,000 

2, 657, 135 

$3,411,532 
1,  762, 389 

KitratesCpageiO) 

30, 013, 199 

Wheat  and  floor  fh>m  San  Francisco  (pa^  10) .^... . . 

Total -. 

8.P.J.C.,W... 

2, 861, 135 
692,500 

35, 187, 120 
21,527,725 

8,553,635 

56, 714, 845 

We  have  remaining  a  valuation  of  $768,395,:i2'2  as  the  balance  of  the  table  on  page 
6  for  which  to  determine  a  tonnage  equivalent. 

For  this  purpose  we  have  mnch  information  that  is  of  importance  in  relation  to 
averages  of  vahie.  The  total  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  for  year  ending 
Jane  30, 1889,  is  reported  as  follows  (merchandise  only) : 


References 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Tons. 

Imports  and  exports. 

Valne. 

0.  &  N.,  810 

Entered,  cargo  only 

Cleared,  cargo  only 

Total 

12,913,400 
14,263,430 

$745,181,652 
742,401,375 

C.&lir.,812 

Exports 

27,176,830 

1,487,633,027 

Average  valoe,  $54.74  per  ton. 

Complete  statistics  for  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Grermany  are  as  yet  accessible 
only  for  the  year  1888.  In  that  year  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain  with  other  coun- 
tries is  reported  as  follows: 


References. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

THUS. 

&Y.B.,85 

Entered,  car^oonly ^... 

Cleared ^ « 

Total 

27, 077, 000 
31,064,000 

S.Y.  B.,85 

58,741,000 

References. 

Imports  and  exports. 

Yaloe. 

8.T.B.,79 

$386,582,026 
298,  047, 374 

8.Y.  B.,  79 

Total 

684,629,400 

Average  valoe,  £11 13<.  2d.=$5&28. 

Of  France  the  commerce  is  reported  as  follows  (foreign  trade  by  sea): 


Referenoes. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Tons. 

8.Y.  B.,488 

Entered,  cargo  only ....^..... 

Cleared _ 

Total 

13, 637, 734 

8.Y.  B.,488 

9, 854, 225 

22, 891, 959 

References. 

Imports  and  exports. 

Valne. 

8.Y.  B.,486 

Imports....... ..................................... .......... 

Franct. 
9, 620,  000, 009 

&Y.B.,486 

Exports...... ............_..........................  ....... 

2, 955.  000.  000 

Total ~. ~ 

6,584,000,009 

Avwace  viaiM,  »8  fiM08=|67.M. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


327 


8.  Y.  B.,  549.  Of  Germany  the  only  statistica  which  are  in  a  form  available  for  use 
are  those  of  the  port  of  Hamburg,  which  is  the  principal  port  of  entry 
of  the  German  Empire.  Out  of  a  total  tonnage  of  17,489,235  tons  ontered  and  cleared 
at  the  seven  principal  ports  of  Germany  in  the  year  1888,  Hamburg  is  credited  with 
8,846,117  tons,  being  over  50  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  For  some  reason  not  stated  no 
return  ia  made  of  the  value  of  exports,  but  the  value  of  imports  at  that  port  is  given 
as  follows : 

S.T.  B.,  677.      Imports  by  sea,  weight kDos..  3,884,422,400 

Exact  equivalent tons..  3,823,786 

Value marks..  1,114,906,000 

Average  valne,  291  marks  =$72.75. 

We  have,  then — 


Countries. 

Tons. 

Psrton. 

Great  Britain  ......... ... .. ........ .......................... 

68, 741,  000 

22, 891,  959 

3, 823, 786 

27, 176, 830 

$58.28 

57.60 

Germany,  Hamburg  (imports  only)  ......................................... 

72.75 

United  States 

64.74 

Total 

112,633,575 

5f.77 

Statistics  of  the  commerce  of  the  British  Colonies  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand 
may  be  regarded  as  free  from  exaggeration  of  the  repeated  entries  and  clearances, 
before  mentioned,  as  vitiating  returns  of  tonnage  on  the  Pacific  coast.  From  them  we 
gather  the  following  data : 

Commerce  of  New  Zealand  in  1888. 


Seferences. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Tons. 

S.T.B.,254 

456,237 
624,874 

S.Y.  B.,  254 

Cleared,  cargoes 

Total 

981,111 

BeferenoM. 

Imports  and  exports. 

Value. 

S.T.  B.,252 

Imports,  exclnsiTe  of  specie 

£5, 430, 050 

8.Y.B.,252 

6,487,897 

Total ,.. 

11,017,947 

Average  value,  £12  3<.  =$60. 75. 

The  commerce  of  Queensland,  Australia,  in  1888  was : 


Beferenoes. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Taos. 

8.  T.  B.,  262 

Entered.............................................................. 

478, 517 

aT.  B.,  262». 

Cleared _ 

617, 712 

Total 

096,229 

Beferenoes. 

Imports  and  exports. 

Yalott. 

8,  T.B.,  261 

Imports.... „ 

£6, 646, 738 

8.  Y.  B.,  261 

Exports ..................................... ........................ 

6, 126, 362 

Total ^ 

12,778,1M 

▲verase  value,  £12  16*.  5d.  =$64.10. 


328  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

The  commerce  of  Victoria  in  1888  was : 


References. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Tons. 

S.  Y.  B.,  286 

Bntered ................... .................................... 

2, 182, 071 

S.  Y.  B.,  286 

Cleared 

1, 125, 812 

Total 

8, 807, 883 

Beferenoes. 

Importa  and  exports. 

Yalae. 

S.  Y.  B.,284   

£23, 972, 134 

S.  Y.  B.,  284 

E^orts  ......................... ........................  ............ 

13, 853, 763 

Total 

87,825,887 

Average  valne,  £11  8«.  6d.  =$57.10. 

The  commerce  of  New  South  Wales  in  1888  was: 


Beferenoes. 

Entered  and  cleared. 

Tons. 

S  Y  B.  237  

Entered .......................................................... 

2,414,760 
2  350,660 

S  Y.  B.  237   

Cleared .............................................................. 

Total 

4, 765, 410 

Average  ralne,  £8 15*.  Sd.  =$43.8& 

In  the  retnms  of  the  Australian  colonies  the  tonnage  of  vessels  arriving  and  clear- 
'  ing  in  ballast  and  of  specie  and  ballion  exported  and  imported  are  not  separated 
from  the  general  aggregates,  and  make  the  average  of  tonnage  valuation  obtained 
from  them  less  usefiil  t£an  those  obtained  from  the  commerce  of  the  four  great  na- 
tions; bnt  the  including  of  specie  and  bullion  in  export  values  overbalances  the  in- 
cluding of  vessels  entered  and  cleared  in  ballast,  and  the  tendency  is  to  make  an 
increased  average  value.  This  is  demonstrated  by  the  returns  of  New  Zealand  as 
compared  with  those  of  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales.  They  serve,  then,  notwith- 
standing their  defects,  to  corroborate  the  other  estimates  in  a  general  way,  although 
they  are  not  of  specific  value  in  themselves. 

The  commerce  of  New  Zealand,  of  which  the  statistics  are  properly  divided,  show- 
ing the  tonnage  of  cargoes  entered  and  cleared  and  the  values  of  imports  and  exports, 
exclusive  of  specie,  bullion,  and  gold  and  silver,  shows  an  average  value  of  ^0.75 
per  ton.  It  embraces  in  its  aggregate  all  the  commodities,  in  similar  proportions, 
which  go  to  make  up  the  commerce  of  other  Australian  countries,  and  its  average, 
therefore,  is  of  direct  value. 

Deducting  from  the  total  tonnage  and  the  total  value  of  the  commerce  of  Europe, 
which  amounts  to  85,456,T45  tons,  at  a  valuation  of  $5,018,674,000,  the  total  tonnage 
and  value  of  the  nitrates,  wheat,  etc. — say  3,553,635  tons,  valued  at  $56,714,845 — which 
goes  almost  entirely  to  Europe,  and  which  has  been  deducted  similarly  from  the 
table  of  values,  the  average  value  per  ton  of  the  remainder  is  $60.59. 

From  these  data,  which  approximate  each  other  so  closely,  we  may  safely  assume 
$61  to  be  a  full  valuation  for  determining  the  equivalent  tonnage  of  the  $768,395,322, 
remainder  of  the  table  of  tributary  commerce.    We  have  then  the  following  results : 

Tons. 

Equivalent  of  $768,395,32-2,  $61  per  ton,  average  value 12,596,644 

Tonnage  of  Hamburg  with  Australia,  not  appraised  in  table 65, 300 

Tonnage  of  nitrates,  etc..  South  America 2,861,135 

Tonnage  of  wheat  and  flour,  San  Francisco 692,500 

Tonnage  between  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts,  United  States  of  America 

and  British  Columbia,  etc 275,000 

Total 16,490,579 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


329 


To  this  innst  be  added  an  estimate  of  the  export  touuage  from  Asia  to  Great  Britain. 
As  many  commodities  of  high  vahie,  sucli  as  teas,  silks,  and  spices,  enter  more  largely 
into  this  trade,  in  order  to  convert  its  value,  we  may  properly  advance  the  tonnage 
equivalent.     One  hundi'ed  dollars  per  ton  will  be  sufficient  valuation. 

The  exports  to  Great  Britain  for  the  year  1888  from  the  following  countries  were 
as  below : 


Beferenoes. 

From— 

Value. 

Equivalent 

in  United 

States  money. 

S.  T.  B.,  139  .. 

£30, 763, 677 
2, 532, 999 

$153, 818,  335 
12,  6G4, 995 
29, 200, 349 

S  Y.  B.  104 

S.  Y.  B.   158 

Total 

195, 683, 679 

Equal,  at  $100  per  ton,  to tone..    1,956,837 

To  which  add  tonnage  already  estimated do...  16,490,579 

Add  for  increase  of  coal-oil  exports  to  Japan,  China,  etc do...       237,934 


Aggregate  tonnage 18,785,350 

We  have  thus  18,785,350  tons  as  the  aggregate  of  the  enormous  traffic  which  exists 
to-day,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  within  the  zone  of  attraction  of  the  proposed  canal. 
"We  have  now  to  consider  in  what  varying  measure  and  to  what  extent  this  traffic  will 
be  attracted. 

It  will  not  be  questioned  that  the  trade  of  the  Pacific  coast,  at  least  from  CaUao 
north,  with  the  United  States  and  with  Europe  will  seek  the  canal  as  its  most  ad- 
vantageous route,  provided  charges  for  its  use  are  not  prohibitory.  The  difi'erence 
in  distance  between  Callao  and  Liverpool  or  Plymouth  by  ordinary  sailing  route  and 
A      Bdi  A    ^X  *^®  ^^^^  °^  ^^'^  Nicaragua  Canal  is  4,090  nautical  miles.    Allowing  110 

^^®  ^  ■  miles  per  day  as  the  average  capacity  of  a  sailing  vessel  of  2,00U  tons  reg- 
ister, and  double  that,  or  220  miles  per  day,  for  a  freight  steamer  of  like  capacity,  this 
saving  of  distance  is  equivalent  to  a  saving  of  thirty-seven  days'  time  for  a  sailing 
vessel,  or  eighteen  and  a  half  days  for  a  steamer. 

As  the  increased  capacity  and  speed  of  the  steamship  is  proportionately  counter- 
balanced by  increased  original  cost  and  increased  expense  of  operation,  perhaps  a 
full  illustration  of  one  class  of  vessel  will  be  sufficient  to  warrant  an  arbitrary  state- 
ment of  premises  concerning  both. 

A  sailing  vessel  of  2,000  tons  register  will  cost  for  construction,  equipment,  etc., 
about  $60  per  ton,  say  $120,000. 

Twenty-four  per  cent,  per  annum  is  the  usual  allowance  of  cost  for  the  following 
items : 

P«r  cent. 

For  interest  on  cost - .  6 

Insurance 8 

Annual  depreciation,  etc - - 10 

24 

Charge  for  these  items,  instead  of  24  per  cent.,  say  20  per  cent  =  $24,000  per  annum, 
or  $66.40  per  day. 

For  wages  and  subsistence  the  cost  will  be  about  $1,000  per  month,  or,  say  $33.33 
per  day.    Total,  say  $100  per  day. 

But  such  a  vessel  on  a  long  voyage  will  lie  from  thirty  to  sixty  days  in  port  load- 
ing and  discharging  cargo,  and  this  time  is  equally  chargeable  to  the  voyage.  Allow- 
ing, then,  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  as  sailing  time  between  New  York  or  Liver- 
pool and  San  Francisco  by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  and  forty  days  in  port  (less  than  the 
average)  we  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  days  for  the  voyage  at  a  cost  of  $100  per 

day $16,000 

Add  part  charges,  say 4,000 

Total  cost,  say 20,000 

Freights  pay  from  $7  to  $10  per  ton,  according  to  market ;  assuming  $8  as  a  low 
rate,  a  2,000  ton  vessel  will  earn  on  her  cargo  of  about  3,000  tons, 

Say ; $24,000 

Deduct  expenses 20,000 

Profit,  at  low  estimate,  per  voyage 4,000 


330  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

The  foUowiDg  ia  aa  estimate  of  the  saviug  which  would  be  made  by  the  use  of  the 
canal  between  the  ports  of  San  Francisco  and  Liverpool : 

Miles. 

Distance  from  Liverpool  to  Sau  Francisco,  by  Capo  Horn 14, 690 

Appendix  A..  Djgtance  from  Liverpool  to  Sau  Francisco,  by  Nicaragua  route..     7,694 

Distance  saved 6,996 

Equal  to,  at  110  miles  per  day,  more  than  sixty-three  days;  that  is  to  say,  sixty- 
threo  one-hnndred-aud-sixtietha  of  the  expenses  of  the  voyage  may  be  saved,  or 
about  $6, 300,  to  which  must  be  added  an  equal  proportion  of  the  profits  of  the  voyage 
because  of  the  increased  voyaging  capacity  through  lessened  distance,  say  $1,580, 
showing  $7,880  as  the  immediate  advantage  to  the  shipowner  alone  of  the  use  of  the 
canal  between  San  Francisco  and  Liverpool ;  at  higher  freight  rates  the  advantage 
would  be  proportionately  increased — but  there  are  other  advantages  which  can  not 
be  so  easily  computed,  yet  which  will  be  of  great  weight  in  turning  the  current  of 
trade  into  this  new  channel.  The  increased  safety  of  the  voyage  and  reduced  rates 
of  insurance  to  both  shipowner  and  merchant,  and  with  the  merchant,  the  ability  to 
turn  his  capital  so  much  more  frequently,  are  arguments  of  the  weightiest  import- 
ance, which  can  not  be  measured  by  dollars  and  cents  in  anticipation,  except  theo- 
retically, yet  added  to  the  facts  before  stated  which  are  ascertainable,  they  serve  to 
multiply  the  evident  advantages  of  the  canal  route. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  advantage  of  the  canal  to  Northern  ports ;  there 
may  be  some  as  to  how  far  south  it  may  be  considered  preferable  to  the  route  around 
Cape  Horn.  We  do  not  doubt  bat  that  its  influence  will  be  felt  much  farther  than 
is  demonstrable,  bnt  it  is  better  not  to  claim  too  much,  for  that  which  can  clearly  be 
claimed  is  abundantly  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  most  exactiug  inquirer. 
We  ask  attention  to  the  following  facts  concerning  the  nitrate  trade  : 

Cubic  nitre  is  worth  at  place  of  production,  say  from  $3  to  $3.23  per  ton, 
a  V  -R   oAo    alow-priced  commodity,  and  fi  eights  by  sailing  vessels  are  about  32«. 
».  X.  J5.,  WW    g^  ^jj  4Qg  ^  g^y  p  to  $10.    In  1888,  Peru  shipped  to  Great  Britain  1,773,135 
tons  from  the  different  ports  along  the  coast  from  Callao  to  Iquique. 

MUea. 

The  distance  from  Callao  to  Liverpool,  by  Cape  Horn,  is 10,539 

Appendix  A.  By  Nicaragua  Canal  route  it  is 6,449 

Distance  saved.... 4,099 

Days. 
Time  saved  at  110  miles  per  day,  thirty-seven  days  oat  of  a  voyage  of,  sail- 
ing days 96 

In  port 40 

136 
Estimating  expenses  as  before,  at  $100  per  day — 

They  amount  to . $13,600 

Port  charges,  say '... ., 4,000 


Profits  of  voyage 6,400 

We  have  the  following  as  the  advantage  by  use  of  the  canal  roate : 

37-136  of  expenses  saved $3,700 

37-136  of  profits  to  be  added 1,800 

Gain 5,500 

Allowing  a  charge  of  $2..^i0  per  registered  ton  as  the  canal  toll,  it  would  pay  the 
shipowner  at  least  $500  to  use  the  canal  coming  from  a  port  as  far  south  as  Callao. 
To  vessels  from  ports  within  that  limit,  and  to  vessels  of  less  tonnage,  the  ratio  of 
advanta.£;e  would  be  proportionately  greater.  The  advantage  to  the  snipper  may  be 
compnteid  as  follows:  Allowing  such  a  ship's  cargo  (2,000  tons  register)  to  be  worth 
$150,000,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  rate  of  $50  per  ton  for  the  cargo  carried,  which  is 
maoh  below  the  average,  the  saving  in  interest,  at  6  per  cent  per  aiiuum,  and 
insurance  at  4  per  cent  per  annum,  for  the  thirty-seven  days,  would  be  over 
$1,500,  to  be  added  to  the  $500  advantage  to  the  shipowner.  On  a  cargo  valued  only 
at  $50,000,  which  would  necessarily  be  made  np  very  largely  of  nirate  at  a  low  val- 
uation, the  saving  would  be  $500  to  the  shipper,  the  advantage  to  the  shipowner 
being  the  same  in  either  case. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  we  may  regard  the  trade  of  Peru  and  of  .the  Pacific  coast 
of  the  Amerioaa  continent  north  mm  Callao  as  entirely  tnbutwy  to  the  oanal. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  331 

Soath  of  Callao  it  will  become  gradually  less  so  until  canal  tariffs  overbalance  its 
benefits,  but  exactly  at  what  point  the  division  will  take  place  only  experience  can 
determine. 

It  does  not  seem  that  further  illustrations  are  necessary ;  the  same  methods  may 
be  applied  to  any  and  every  case  in  which  it  may  be  desired  to  test  the  advantages 
of  the  canal;  but  investigation  shows  that  where  the  saving  in  distance  approaches 
2,800  miles  for  a  2,000-tou  vessel  with  a  cargo  worth  $150,000  or  over,  there  will  be 
an  advantage  to  the  shipowner  and  the  shipper  conjointly,  in  the  use  of  the  canal  at 
a  toll  of  $2.50  per  registerpd  ton.  To  decrease  the  rate  would  extend  its  influence 
still  farther  and  increase  the  tributary  tonnage  in  more  than  a  proportionate  rate, 
for  the  added  zone  of  attraction  would  be  on  the  outside  of  an  already  widely  ex- 
tended circle,  stretching  out  into  rich  and  densely  populated  territory  in  Asia. 
Even  at  $2.50  per  ton  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  difficulties  of  the  passage  around 
Cape  Horn  and  advantages  of  insurance,  etc.,  may  bring  the  trade  of  Valparaiso 
as  well  as  of  Callao  within  the  zone  of  strong  attraction ;  we  have,  however,  preferred 
to  treat  it,  so  far  as  Europe  is  concerned,  as  belonging  to  a  class  likely  to  contribute 
to  the  canal  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  its  volume. 

If  it  be  asked :  How  shall  the  shipper  and  the  merchant  avail  himself,  each  of  his 
representative  share,  of  the  advantage  to  accrue  T  The  answer  is :  As  they  have 
done  in  the  past. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  the  merchant  bought  his  teas  in  Hong-Kong  or  else- 
where, insured  and  shipped  them  home;  each  transaction  was  the  subject  of  a  sepa- 
rate negotiation.  To-day  he  buys  them  at  what  is  known  in  New  York  as  a  C.  F.  and 
I.  price,  that  Is  to  say.  Cost,  Freight,  and  Insurance  included.  The  shipper  profits 
by  any  reduction  in  insurance  or  freight  which  he  may  be  able  to  obtain,  and  adjusts 
his  price  with  reference  to  it  and  to  promptness  of  delivery.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
buyer  sufters  no  risk  of  change  in  freight  rates  nor  any  of  the  embarrasments  and 
costs  of  rehandling  at  any  intermediate  point.  This  new  metliod  of  purchase  and 
sale  has  grown  up  entirely  in  connection  with  the  requirements  of  transcontinental 
traffic.  In  like  manner  trade  will  provide  a  satisfactory  method  to  profit  by  any 
advantage  properly  belonging  to  herself  in  connection  with  the  canal,  probably  by 
a  C.  T.  and  I.  price,  that  is  to  say.  Cost,  Tolls,  and  Insurance  included;  or,  if  not  in 
that  way,  then  by  some  more  suitable  method. 

It  will  aid  in  arriving  at  a  proper  distribution  of  the  traffic  if  we  divide  it  into 
three  classes,  considering  the  facts  just  illustrated. 
First  class :  That  which  will  be  entirely  tributary  to  the  canal ; 
Second  class:  That  which  will  be  largely  tributary;  and, 

Third  class :  That  which  will  be  so  partially  and  perhaps  only  in  a  small  degree. 
In  making  the  distribution  we  make  use  of  data  already  given. 
In  the  first  class,  that  of  entirely  tributary  commerce,  we  place  the  following: 

Tons. 
Trade  between  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports.  United  States,  etc.,  not  incladed 

in  table  of  values;  estimated  at 275,000 

Trade  of  Pacific  ports  with  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Belgium, 
Cuba,  and  Brazil,  tabulated  at  $42,252,304.  (In  this  total  is  included 
the  value  of  the  wheat  export  fiom  San  Francisco.)  It  should  there- 
fore be  divided  as  follows : 

$21,527,725  wheat  and  flonr,  reported  at 692, 500 

$20,724,579,  estimated  at  $61  per  ton 339,747 

Trade  of  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  with  Hong-Kong,  China, 
Japan,  British  Australasia,  Philippine  Islands,  Hawaii,  Peru,  Ecuador, 
and  ChUi,  amounting  to  $54,003,533.  This  also  may  be  divided  as  fol- 
lows: 

$6,456,448  for  coal  oil  (C&N.,292) 322,626 

$47,547,085,  estimated  at  $61  per  ton 779,460 

(The  division  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  adding  the  increase  of  coal-oil 
shipments  for  the  years  1889-'90,  which  were  over  50  per  cent  greater 
than  those  of  1888-'89,  as  shown  by  British  consular  reports  of  receipts 
in  China,  Japan,  and  British  East  Indies.) 

Add,  therefore,  for' existing  coal  oil  traffic,  1889-90,  50  per  cent  of 

322,626  tons 161,313 

Coal  oil  to  British,  French,  and  Dutch  East  Indies  from  Atlantic 

ports  for  1888-'d9  (see  Second  Class  C.  &  N.,  292) 343,242 

Add  50  per  cent  increase  l889-'90 176,621 

619,863 

(United  States  Government  reports  give  the  export  of  coal  oil,  ornde 
and  refined,  to  the  countries  named  for  1888-89  at  665,868  tons.  Messrs. 
Frazar  &,  Co.,  of  Yokohama,  show  an  increase  of  shipments  received 
in  China,  Jap»n,  and  British  East  Indies  during  1889-'90  of  294,937  tons, 
«r  »T«r  61  p«r  sent  iaexease.) 


332  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

Tone. 
Trade  of  Great  Britain  with  Ecnador,  Pern,  and  Bolivia,  amonnting  to 
$19,003,610.     This  must  also  be  divided  as  follows: 

$5,225,170  foi  nitrates  aud  guano 1,911,433 

$13,778,390,  estimated  at  $61  per  ton 225,884 

Trade  of  Belgium  witli  Pern,  $6,440,905,  at  $61  perton 105,589 

Total  first  clasfl,  entirely  tributary,  tons 5,333,415 

Skcond  Class — largely  tributary. 

General  bnniness  between  British,  French,  and  Dutch  East  Indies  and  Nev7 
York,  $30,127,664. 

Of  this  total  a  part  has  already  been  considered  as  belonging  to  Class  1, 
viz,  the  exports  of  coal  oil  from  Atlantic  ports  ot  the  United  States; 
there  is,  therefore,  to  be  deducted  $6,27;>,800  for  its  value,  leaving 
$23,841,864  which,  at  $61  per  ton,  is  equal  to  390,850  tons,  of  which  we 
may  assume  one-half  as  tributary 195,425 

The  trade  of  Central  America  with  the  United  States  will  also  take  place 
in  this  class.  In  1889  it  amounted  to  $5,170,980,  at  $61,  equal  to  84,770 
tons,  but  as  much  of  itis  coastwise  with  San  Francisco,  and  considerable 
of  it  fruit  from  the  Caribbean  coast  to  New  (Jrleaus  and  New  York, 
we  may  take  one-quarter  only  as  tributary  say 21,192 

The  tradeof  Great  Britain  with  Houg-Kong,  China,  Japan,  the  Australian 
colonies,  New  Zealand,  Tasmania,  Philippine  Islands,  Chili,  and  Central 
America  will  be  attracted  in  proportion  to  distances.  It  amounts  to 
$457,059,30a    This  should  be  divided  as  follows : 

Tons. 
Exports  of  nitrates,  guano  and  wheat, 

value $29,962,470  =     9r30,00O 

Eemainder 427, 096, 838,  at  $61  =  7, 001, 588 


7,951,588 

Take  one-qnarter 1,987,899 

Trade  of  France  with  New  Caledonia,  Japan,  and  Chili,  amounts  to 

$27,184,683,  at  $61  equal  to  445,650  tons;  take  one-quarter 111,412 

Tons. 
Trade  of  Germany  with  Australia,  Japan,  and  Chili,  amounts  to 

$29,106,392,  at  $61  equal  to 477, 154 

Add  Hamburg  with  Australia 65,300 

542,454 

Take  one-qnarter 135,614 

China  with  Germany,  France,  and  Europe,  $10,283,315,  at  $61  equal  to 
300,000  tons;  take  one-quarter 75,000 

Total  second  class. 2,526,542 

Third  Culbs— partially  tributarp. 

In  this  class  we  mav  include — 

Tradeof  Spain  with  Philippine  Islands $4,123,000 

Trade  of  Netherlands  with  Dutch  East  Indies 66,080,000 

Tradeof  Great  Britain  with  Java 22,358,760 

Trade  of  San  Francisco  with  China,  Japan,  etc 43, 915, 593 

Total 136,477,853 

Tons. 

At  $61  equal  to 2,237,333 

To  which  add  for  British  imports  from  India,  Ceylon,  and  Straits  settle- 
ments, asestimated 1,956,837 

Total 4,194,170 

Of  which  take  one-sixteenth;  total  third  class,  .m...  m. ......         262, 136 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


333 


S'UMMART. 

Tons. 

First  class,  entirely  tributary .--..      5,332,415 

Second  class,  from  tonnage  largely  tributary ^ 2,526,542 

Third  class,  frcJm  tonnage  partially  tributary 262,136 

Total 8,122,093 

This  is  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  tonnage  existing  in  1889  and  to-day,  which 
the  canal  might  expect  to  control  if  it  were  open  to  traffic. 

M.  Levasseur  and  his  associates  in  1879  estimated  that  the  tributary  tonnage  which 
might  be  anticipated  for  1889  was  7,250,000.  Facts  more  than  confirm  their  expeO' 
tations,  and  demonstrate  the  propriety  of  their  method. 

A  study  of  the  Table  of  Distances  appended,*  and  a  consideration  of  the  in- 
fluences operating,  will  show  the  principle  upon  which  the  division  into  classes  has 
been  made.  In  taking  the  fraction  of  the  respective  aggregates  which  the  second 
and  third  classes  may  be  expected  to  contribute,  we  have  claimed  less,  rather  than 
more,  than  a,  reasonable  expectation  would  allow.  It  is  with  regard,  to  the  third 
class  only  that  any  explanation  seems  necessary  as  to  the  reasons  which  have  sug- 
gested the  claiming  a  portion  of  it  as  tributary.  A  majority  of  the  trade  in  this 
class  originates  beyond  the  recognized  dividing  line  of  110  degrees  oast  from  Green- 
wich, especially  the  trade  of  India,  and  can  not  be  expected  to  pay  any  large  tribute  to 
the  canal,  except,  perhaps,  of  at  a  rate  as  low  as  that  of  the  Suez  Canal,  whereas  we 
have  assumed  $2.50  as  the  probable  toll.  The  tolls  of  the  Suez  Canal,  all  charges  in- 
cluded, amount  at  present  to  about  $1.96  (9.80  francs)  per  registered  ton.  The  trade  of 
the  Philippine  Islands  with  Spain  is  not  open  to  the  same  objection,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  her  Mediterranean  ports  are  nearer  than  the  Atlantic  ports  of  that  country  or  of 
Europe.  We  have  referred  to  the  prevailing  winds  and  ocean  currents,  and  the  more 
favorable  temperature  of  a  passage  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  rather  than  by  the  Red 
Sea  and  Suez.  These  are  reaaous  of  some  importance  in  controlling  direction.  In 
addition  to  these  reasons  much  of  the  business  considered  is  carried  in  sailing 
vessels  which  do  not  go  by  the  Red  Sea  route  at  all;  they  have  to  double  one  or  the 
other  of  the  capes.  To  them  the  Nicaragua  Canal  and  prevalent  winds  and  currents 
will  afford  advantages  which  to  a  steamer  might  not  be  of  so  great  importance. 
Moreover,  there  is  a  large  traffic  which  now  goes  from  this  region,  first  to  England  or 
other  parts  of  Europe  and  comes  to  us  from  thence,  which,  when  the  canal  is  open, 
must  and  wi  11  come  direct.  Large  quantities  of  plumbago  used  in  the  foundries  through- 
out our  country  is  carried  from  Ceylon,  where  it  is  mined,  to  England,  and  then  sent 
here  to  supply  our  needs;  thousands  of  tons  of  straw  braids  from  China,  and  other 
commodities  from  other  parts  follow  the  same  route.  These  are  the  sufficient  reasons 
for  assuming  to  claim  a  portion,  and  we  have  claimed  only  a  very  small  portion,  of 
the  enormous  trade  of  these  remote  points. 

Thus  far  we  hare  considered  the  question  with  reference  only  to  what  exists  to-day, 
and  our  conclusions  are  biised  upon  statistics  for  the  years  18ri8  and  1889.  Allowing 
that  the  canal  will  be  ready  for  traffic  in  the  year  1897,  and  admitting  our  estimates 
to  inclnde  all  increase  realized  in  1b89  by  the  countries  whose  statistics  are'given 
oniy  for  1888,  we  have  eight  years  growth  of  commerce  to  make  allowance  for  in 
estimating  the  amount  of  business  which  at  the  opening  of  the  canal  will  be  ready 
for  transit. 

For  the  ten  years,  of  which  1888  was  the  last,  the  commerce  of  the  four  great  com- 
mercial nations  shows  the  following  increase: 


ConntrieB. 

1879. 

1888. 

Great  Britain..... 

$2,  977,  204,  200 
1, 917, 180,  874 
1,841,726,925 
1, 278,  7t52, 621 

$3,  336, 087,  84i 
1,  830,  682,  200 
2. 306, 258,  318 
1, 417, 172,  421 

United  States - - 

Total 

8.014,880,620 

8,890,200,783 

Increase,  $875,320,163,  or  about  10.9  per  cent. ;  prices  of  staple  commodities  have 
changed  but  little  during  the  time,  except  that  wheat  is  about  10  cents  per  bushel 
lower,  but  they  have  rather  declined  than  advanced.  The  tonnage  equivalent 
would  therefore  not  be  materially  changed.  We  may  then  estimate  the  advance  for 
the  years  1888  to  1897,  both  years  included,  say  nine  years,  at  10  per  cent.    But  this 

*  Appendix  ▲. 


334  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPAITT. 

is  onlv  normal  ^ro-w  th,  and  for  ivasons  worthy  of  consideration,  w©  hare  the  right  to 
expect  more  tlian  a  noriual  growth  of  the  commerce  to  which  the  Nicaragaa  Canal 
will  afford  a  means  of  transit. 

With  the  opening  of  the  canal  not  only  will  a  new  rente  be  prorided,  bnt  new 
fields  will  be  opened  for  commerce  as  well  as  usore  advantageously  provided  for. 

The  products  of  our  Alaskan  possessions,  as  well  as  of  Washington  and  Oregon, 
mostly  low-priced  commodities  famishing  a  large  bulk  of  tonnage,  will  be  brought  at 
less  cost  to  eastern  markets,  the  markets  of  the  western  coast  of  South  America  will 
be  opened  to  the  low-priced  coals  of  our  Southwestern  Stat«s,  and  the  coasting  trade 
now  carried  on  with  the  West  Indies  to  the  extent  of  over  500,000  tons  per  annum 
will  be  multiplied  beyond  calculation.  If  a  traffic  of  500,000  tons  has  been  developed 
within  the  limits  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  what  may  be  expected  when  the  markets  of 
the  Pacific  coast  of  Colombia,  Mexico  and  Central  America,  of  the  States  of  Ecuador, 
Pern,  Bolivia,  Chili,  and  of  ISonthern  California  are  opened  to  easy  access  for  onr 
coasting  vessels T 

In  onr  existing  lake  and  coastwise  trade,  steel  barges  carrying  from  1,500  to  .3,000 
tons  freight,  transported  by  powerful  tugs,  are  taken  at  low  cost  to  market  points, 
and  there  left  to  discharge  and  reload  for  a  return  voyage,  while  their  motive  power 
returns  without  delay  with  freights,  in  similar  barges,  made  ready  for  departure 
before  ita  arrival.  Thus  movement  of  freight  is  accelerated,  invested  capital  is  made 
to  yield  its  largest  returns,  shippers  profit  by  the  possibility  of  lower  rates,  and  con- 
snmers  by  the  possibility  of  lower  prioi^s.  Under  snch  methods  the  traffic  of  the 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  has  developed  from  1, 802,07 1  tons  in  1881  to  the  enormous 
aggregate  of  7,221,935  tons  in  1889,  and  is  exceeding  the  ratio  of  that  year  for  1890. 
And  this  traffic  has  grown  up  in  connection  with  the  internal  trade  only  of  a  portion 
of  our  Northwestern  States  with  the  East.  Like  results  will  follow  similar  methods, 
which  are  equally  possible  in  the  waters  opened  by  the  Nicaragaa  Canal,  and  Ameri- 
can enterprise  will  not  be  slow  to  avail  itself  of  the  unprecedented  opportunity. 
What  people  ever  have  had  such  an  opportunity  pat  before  them  f    To-day  England  is 

Eractically  as  near  the  markets  of  western  South  America  as  we ;  to-morrow  we  shall 
e  7,000  miles  nearer  than  she  is  to-day  in  a  distance  of  10,600  miles  by  existing  routes. 
We  shall  still  have  the  advantage  over  her  of  the  Atlantic's  width  when  the  canal  is 
opened,  nearer  by  so  many  miles  to  a  market  for  onr  cotton  goods  and  manufactures 
or  every  kind,  with  machinery,  agricultural  implements,  furniture,  woolen  goods, 
carpets,  and  coal  to  sell,  and  the  needs  of  75,000,000  of  people  at  home  to  foraish  a 
reciprocal  ma?  iet  for  the  prndncts  which  they  have  to  offer  us.  But  this  is  not  all, 
perhaps  only  tne  smaller  portion  of  the  whole.  We  have  only  briefly  mentioned  the 
products  of  our  own  possessions  north  of  California,  the  forests  and  fisheries  of  Ore- 
gon, Washington,  and  Abv^ka,  and  the  products  of  British  Columbia. 

The  salmon  pack  of  British  Colambia,  Alaska,  Washington,  Oregon,  and  California 
amounted  in  1888  to  1,G8:J,800  cases,  about  a4,200  tons,  valued  at  $9,064,000,  exceed- 
ing in  quantity  the  pack  of  1888  by  527,000  cases;  680,000  cases  of  the  product  was 
&om  Alaska,  and  422,000  from  British  Columbia.  This  is  a  growing  industry.  The 
pack  amounted  in  1880  to  only  679,490  cases;  in  ten  years  it  has  increased  nearly  250 
per  cent. ;  by  1897  at  the  same  ratio  of  increase  it  will  amount  to  nearly  3,500,000 
cases;  Hop  growing  as  an  industry  was  commenced  in  Oregon  and  Washington  in 
1866.  Last  year  the  product  was  70,000  bales,  regularly  quoted  and  competing  with 
other  goods  in  the  New  York  market.  The  fur-seal  and  whale  fisheries  are  also 
growing  and  important  industries. 

The  cultivation  of  India  rubber  in  Central  America  and  on  the  western  coast  of 
California  is  already  attracting  attention.  The  increasing  demand  for  the  gum  and 
the  destruction  of  trees  in  their  natural  state  by  the  reckless  hnleros  or  native  gum 
gatherers,  makes  attention  to  an  artificial  supply  for  future  demands  of  manufacture 
imperative.  AJready  large  manufacturing  corporations  in  this  country  are  making 
plantations  to  meet  it.  The  huleros  are  so  careless  that  not  only  are  they  destructive 
of  the  trees  bnt  much  of  the  gum  brought  by  them  to  market  is  in  bad  condition  and 
commands  only  26  cents  per  pound,  whereas  when  properly  collected  it  is  worth  as 
much  as  80  cents  for  the  best  quality.  The  tree  grows  naturally  in  Central  America 
and  Mexico.  The  western  coast  of  the  last-named  country,  between  the  ocean  and 
1,800  to  2,000  feet  of  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  seems  particnlarly  favorable 
to  its  best  development.  A  plantation  is  made  with  shoots  gathered  in  the  forests, 
and  with  proper  care  will  be  in  condition  to  yield  a  crop  in  six  or  seven  years;  a  tree 
in  good  condition  yields  10  to  12  pounds  per  annum,  and,  if  not  maltreated,  continues 
to  yield  year  after  year,  apparently  without  limit.  Its  yield  is  worth,  according  to 
quality — which  depends  chiefly  npon  its  treatment — from  50  cents  to  80  cents  per 
ponnd.     This,  too,  is  an  industry  which  will  pay  tribute  to  the  canal. 

But  in  ths  forests  of  the  northwestern  Pacific  coast  there  is  material  which  needs 
only  the  facilities  of  the  canal  for  its  transportation  to  a  favorable  market  to  yield  a 
tonnage  which  alone  will  probably  exceed  that  of  all  other  industries  combined. 
Th«  wonderful  growth  of  the  lumber  trade  of  that  section  under  present  UjoitatioDa 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  335 

of  tfsosportation  Is  an  indication  of  the  magnitude  to  which  it  will  grow  with  the 
opening  of  new  and  more  extended  markets  by  the  shortening  of  distances  to  them 
on  lines  witliin  the  still  waters  of  the  temperate  and  torrid  zones,  instead  of  by  the 
routes  now  existing  through  the  tempestuous  seas  of  the  storm  zone. 
V  -D  o  A  laa  ^°  1*^'^^  *^®  shipment  of  lumber  from  Oregon  amounted  to  6,000,000 
E.P.,3.24,88.  fgg^^  equal  to  12,500  tons;  in  1887,  to  48,0n0,000  feet,  equal  to  100,000 
tons.  In  1888  the  amount  cut  amounted  to  706,985,000  feet,  and  the  shipments  abroad 
to  471,325,000  feet,  equal  to  981,925  tons,  or  nearly  1,000,000  tons. 

Concerningthe  lumbertrade  with  eastern  markets,  the  Post-Intelligencer,  of  Seattle, 
Vi  ash.,  publishes  the  following  under  the  dates  indicated: 

July  11.  The  Sound  sawmills  (Pnget  Sound)  have  lately  been  filling  special  eastern 
and  southern  orders  for  extra  length  stuff.  Quite  a  large  number  of  huge  spars  have 
been  lately  shipped  from  Sound  ports  to  the  east,  where  there  is  ever  an  active  market 
sale  for  that  material. 

July  14.  The  Piiget  Sound  cedar  shingles  were  first  endered  in  the  eastern 
markets  five  years  ago.  The  demand  for  them  has  ever  since  steadily  increased,  and 
now  shingle  mills  all  over  the  Sound  are  shipping  their  product  east  as  far  as  Ohio 
(t.  e.,  at  railroad  rates). 

The  forests  of  Maine  no  longer  yield  the  timber  needed  for  masts  and  spars  of 
large  vessels.  In  the  forests  of  Oregon  trees  grow  to  12  feet  in  diameter  and  300  feet 
in  height.  The  average  length  of  sticks  to  boston  from  Puget  Sound  by  the  bark 
Crapo,  in  the  cargo,  the  arrival  of  which  has  been  already  mentioned,  was  126  feet, 
and  their  average  diameter  39  inches.  Sixty  of  the  sticks  were  bought  by  a  ship- 
builder of  Bath,  Me,,  and  were  made  into  a  raft  and  towed  around  to  his  yard.  This 
fact  shows  how  depleted  the  Maine  forests  are  of  spar  timber.  Cuba  has  attempted 
the  importation  of  lumber  for  building  purposes  around  Cape  Horn,  but  found  the 
experiment  too  costly  to  be  continued.  In  our  Sonthern  States  their  own  hard  pine, 
though  less  desirable,  is  taking  the  place  of  soft  pine  because  of  advancing  prices. 
All  these  demands  will  be  met  and  supplied  from  the  Oregon  and  Washington  lumber 
fields  with  the  opening  of  the  canal.  Any  estimate  of  what  the  demand  and  supply 
would  aggregate  is  mere  conjecture,  but  considering  as  a  whole  the  coastwise  trade, 
including  mahogany,  rosewood,  irouwood,  and  teak  of  Southern  Pacific  coasts,  the 
growing  trade  of  Central  America  in  coffee,  cocoa,  India  rubber,  mahogany,  and 
other  hard  woods,  the  furs  of  Alaska,  and  the  seal  fisheries,  whale  oil,  wheat,  canned 
salmon,  and  other  products  of  British  Columbia,  Washington,  and  Oregon,  spar 
timber  and  other  lumber  from  the  forests,  aud  our  outbound  trade  in  coal,  textile 
fabrics,  agricultural  implements,  machinery,  iron  goods,  etc.,  1,000,000  tons  per 
annum  will  seem  a  very  small  estimate  to  put  upon  it. 

Aggregating  the  various  items  thus  estimated  we  have  the  following: 

SUMMARY 

Of  trade  which  will  be  subsidiary  to  the  canal  at  its  opening: 

Tons. 

Traffic  existing  in  1889,  as  estimated 8, 122, 093 

Natural  growth  of  same  by  1897  (10  per  cent.) 812,209 

New  business  developed  by  opening  of  the  canal • 1,000,000 

Aggregate 9,934,302 

Which  may  be  considered  as  traffic  properly  belonging  to  the  canal,  and  to  be  drawn 
by  it  from  the  total  of  the  commerce  within  the  zone  of  its  attraction  in  1897. 

Tons. 
The  aggregate  of  tonnage  within  this  zone  of  attraction  in  1889  amounted 

to 18,785,350 

Deduct  subsidiary  traffic  existing  in  1889 8,122,093 

And  there  remains 10,663,257 

To  which  must  be  added  10  per  cent  for  growth  in  1897 1, 066, 326 

And  we  have  as  a  remainder 11,729,583 

From  which  the  canal,  after  its  opening,  may  farther  add  to  its  traffic  in  such 
degree  as  its  tolls  and  the  practical  derelopment  of  other  ooutrolling  iufiaences  may 
detexmiue* 


336 


KICARAOUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


Appkndix  a. 

Table  shotolng  distances  in  miles  between  commercial  ports  of  the  world  and  distances  saved 

by  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 


Tmu—' 


YiaCape 
Horn. 


ViftCape 
of  Gocfd 
Hope. 


Via  Nlo- 
araji^a 
Caual. 


DistanoA 
saved. 


New  York  to — 

San  Franciftco  . ......  ^... 

Bering  Strait ............. 

Sitka 

Acapalco 

Mazatlnn 

Hong-Kon);. .............. 

Yokohama 

Melbonme 

New  Zealand 

Sandwich  Islands 

Callao 

Ouayaqnil 

Valparaiso ^. 

New  Orleans  to — 

San  Francisco 

Acapnloo ................. 

Mazatlan 

Gnayaqnil...... 

Callao 

Valparaiso 

Lirerpool  to — 

San  Francisco 

Acapolco 

Mazatlan 

Mnlbonrne 

New  Zealand 

Hong-Kong 

Yokohama 

GnajMoil 

Callao 

Valparaiso 

Sandwich  Islands...... ... 

Spain  to  Manilla 

France  to  Tonqnin 

Hambarg  to — 

Mazatlan 

Acapulco 

Fooseca 

Panta  Arenas,  Costa  Bica 


MUe*. 
14,840 
17.921 
16, 105 
18,071 
13.031 
18,180 
17,679 
IS.  502 
12,650 
14,230 
10,689 
11.471 
»,7S0 

15, 052 
13,283 
13.843 
11,683 
10,901 
9,062 

14,690 
12,921 
13, 481 
13,  36-' 
12. 400 
18,030 
17,529 
11,321 
10,539 
9,600 
14,080 
16,900 
17,  750 

13,  931 
13, 371 
11,430 
11,120 


MiU*. 


15,201 
16, 190 
13,290 
14,125 


13.140 
13. 975 
15, 051 
16,040 


13,951 
15,  201 


MiUt. 

4,946 
8,026 
6,209 
3. 122 
3,682 

11,038 
9,:!63 

10, 000 
8,680 
6.:488 
8,701 
3,053 
4,688 

4,047 
2,400 
2,969 
2,340 
2,988 
3,987 

7,694 
5,870 
6,430 
12,  748 
11.349 
13,786 
12,  111 
5,t>90 
6,449 
7,436 
9.136 
13,520 
13,887 

6  880 
6,320 
5,530 
6,515 


MOea. 
9,894 
9,895 
9.896 
9,949 
0,949 
4.163 
6.827 
3,290 
3,870 
7.  S42 
6. 9)^8 
8,418 
5.062 

11,005 
10,  874 
10.874 
9,343 
7,913 
6,975 

6,996 
7,051 
7,051 

392 
1,051 
1.265 
3,929 
5,431 
4,090 
2,144 
4,944 

431 
1.314 

7,051 
7, 051 
6,900 
5,605 


From — 


To   eastern 

entrance  of 

Nicaragna 

CanaL 


To  western 

entrance  of 

Nicaragua 

CanaL 


New  York. 
Liverpool.. , 
Hamburg... 
Amsterdam 

Havre 

Cadis 


MHu. 

2,021 
4,769 
6,219 
4,994 
4,874 
4,220 


New  Orleans 
San  Francisco 
Valparaiso... 

Callao , 

Portland  ..... 
Victoria , 


MUet. 

1,308 
2,776 
2,518 
1,531 
3,219 
3,428 


NoTK. — The  distances  have  been  measured  by  customary  routes  most  convenient  for  sailing  shipa 
and  alow  freight  steamers. 

Appendix  B. 


AUTHORITIES  AND  ABBREVIATIONS. 


C.    &, 


N. — Annnal  Report  on  Foreign  Commerce  and  Navigation  for  year  ending 
June  30,  1889.     Treasury  Department,  U.  8.  A.,  Government  Printing 
Office,  1890. 
8.    T.     B.— The  Statesman's  Year  Book  of  Facts  for  1890,  MacMillan  &  Co.,  London 
and  New  York,  1890. 
Lev.     — Rapport    de  M.  Levassenr  snr  le  Commerce  et  le  Tonnage  relatifs  an 
Canal  Interoc^aniqne,  la  en  Stance  Gen^rale  da  Congres  Internation- 
ale, 1879. 
E.     P.    — Evening  Post,  March  24,  1888,  Article  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal;  fignree 
3,  24,  '88.         from  U.  S.  Bnrean  of  Statistics,  year  ending  Jnne  30. 
8.  F.  J.  C— 8an   Francisco  Joamal  of  Commerce,  Annual   Seriew,   Febmary   6, 
'90.  1890. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMrAlSTY.  337 


HBARINO  BEFORE  A  SUBCOMMITTEE  OP  THE  COMMTPTBB  ON 
FOREIGN  RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE,  THURS- 
DAY, MAY  22,  1890,  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL 
COMPANY. 

The  subcommittee  met  at  1  o'clock  p.  m.    Present:   Senator  Ed- 
munds (chairman).  Senator  Dolph,  and  Senator  Payne. 
Senator  Edmunds  read  the  following  resolution: 

In  Executive  Session,  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

April  11, 1890. 
Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  directed 
to  inquire  into  what  steps  have  been  taken  under  the  act  of  Congress  entftled  "An  act 
to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  20th  February, 
1889,  and  what  are  the  present  condition  and  prospects  of  the  enterprise ;  and  to  con- 
sider and  report  what,  m  its  opinion,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  may  require 
in  respect  of  that  interoceanio  communication. 
Attest:  Anson  O.  MoCook, 

Secretmrff, 

STATEMENT  OF  HON.  WAENER  ITILLEB. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  What,  Mr.  Miller,  is  yonr  present  relation  to  the  company  that 
I  assume  was  organized  under  the  act  of  Congress  to  incorporate  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  approved  February  20, 1889  ? — 
A.  I  am  the  president  of  what  is  known  as  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Cobq- 
struction  Company. 

Q.  What  sort  of  company  is  that,  and  under  what  law  organized  t — 
A.  That  company  is  organized  under  the  laws  of  Colorado — a  general 
law  of  the  State. 

Q.  Have  you  a  copy  of  the  articles  of  your  association  here  present  t — 
A.  I  have  not. 

Q.  Who  is  the  president  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nica- 
ragua?— A.  Mr.  Hiram  Hitchcock. 

Q.  What  are  the  relations  between  your  construction  company  and 
the  canal  company  organized  under  this  act  of  Congress? — A.  The 
canal  construction  company,  of  which  I  am  president,  has  contracted 
with  the  Maritime  Caual  Company  to  build  the  canal. 

Q.  Well,  was  a  company  organized  under, this  act  of  Congress?  I 
thought  until  this  moment  you  were  president  of  that  company. — A. 
The  Maritime  Canal  Company  was  regularly  organized  under  that  act 
and  exists  to-day,  having  its  oflBces  and  board  of  managers,  and  has 
fully  complied  with  the  law. 

Q.  And  Mr.  Hitchcock  is  the  president  of  that  company? — ^A.  He  is 
the  president  of  that  company. 

Q.  Do  you  know  who  make  up  the  whole  body  of  directors  of  the 
company  organized  under  the  act  of  Congress? — A.  Mr.  Hiram  Hitch- 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 22 


338  MCARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

cock,  Mr.  Hotchkiss,  Mr.  Stont,  Admiral  Ammen,  Mr.  Goodwin,  Mr. 
Fairbanks,  the  Nicaraguan  minister  and  others. 

Senator  Payne.  Suppose  you  furnish  a  list  with  full  names  and  resi- 
dences. 

Mr.  Miller.  I  will  do  so  with  pleasure. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  You,  then,  Mr.  Miller,  as  the  president  of  the  Construction  Com- 
pany, have  undertaken  to  do  the  work,  so  far  as  it  is  yet  provided  for, 
of  the  company  orpranized  under  this  act  of  Congress  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  will  j'ou  please  tell  us  how  much  money,  so  far  as  you  know, 
has  been  actually  raised  that  can  be  drawn  upon,  and  how  far  you 
have  expended  it,  and  what  has  been  done  on  the  Isthmus  down  there, 
in  detail — not  minute  detail,  of  course — but  so  that  we  can  see  just  how 
far  you  have  got  on  and  what  you  are  doing.  State  it  in  your  own 
way. — A.  Before  the  granting  of  this  charter  by  Congress  an  associa- 
tion of  gentlemen  existed,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  who  sub- 
scribed money  which  was  used  for  making  the  preliminary  surveys,  and 
for  all  the  work  pending  the  securing  the  concession  from  the  Govern- 
ment of  Nicaragua.  That  association  raised  and  expended  between 
a  quarter  and  half  a  million  dollars — I  have  not  the  exact  figures,  but 
prooably  in  round  numbers  not  far  from  $300,000 — in  making  surveys 
in  order  to  settle  to  their  own  satisfaction  as  to  whether  a  canal  could 
be  built  and  the  work  that  was  necessary  to  secure  a  concession.  Af- 
ter that  was  completed,  the  Construction  Comi)any  was  organized,  and 
they  raised  the  money  which  has  been  expended  upon  the  canal  dur- 
ing the  first  year.  That  stock  was  all  properly  subscribed  for  and  had 
been  paid  in  by  installments,  until  now  there  remains  two  installments 
of  10  per  cent,  to  be  paid  in  upon  that.  Out  of  that  money  the  work 
has  been  carried  on  during  the  past  year. 

(Memorandum. — Mr.  Miller  here  produced  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Mari- 
time Ship  Canal,  Nicaragua,  1890,"  with  inclosed  maps  and  delineations, 
and  referred  to  map  marked  A,  representing,  on  a  small  scale,  both 
oceans  and  Lake  Nicaragua,  Grieytown,  Brito,  and  the  river.) 

^r.  Miller.  I  will  make  a  general  description  of  what  we  have  done 
and  ask  Mr.  Menocal  to  give  you  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  engi- 
neering work  that  has  been  done  and  is  in  progress.  A  year  ago  the 
first  expedition  of  the  new  company  was  sent  out  to  Greytown,  and 
that  expedition  established  our  headquarters  at  a  point  where  the  Nica- 
ragnan  Government  decided  the  entrance  of  the  canal  should  be,  pro- 
ceeded to  erect  warehouses,  barracks,  headquarters  for  the  officers  and 
the  engineering  corps,  and  also  a  hospital.  From  this  site  we  sent  out 
six  engineering  parties,  consisting  of  six  engineers  and  twenty  men  each, 
who  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  the  location  of  the  canal  and 
making  the  surveys,  so  much  in  detail  as  to  enable  the  company  to  lay 
before  contractors  completed  details  of  the  work. 

Q.  That,  then,  is  the  actual  work  of  location  ?— A,  Yes.  A^ide  from 
the  engineering  work  the  first  work  undertaken  with  the  canal  proper 
has  been  that  of  opening  the  harbor  at  Greytown.  The  harbor  at  Grey- 
town  has  been  closed  for  twenty-five  years  by  a  bar  being  formed  across 
the  mouth  of  it.  All  communication  had  to  be  had  by  ships  lying  out- 
side and  going  in  in  small  boats  and  lighters. 

Q.  Is  that  harbor  within  the  area  of  the  mouth  of  the  river t-^A.  The 
harbor  that  we  are  to  occupy^— 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  339 

Q.  No,  I  mean  the  old  harbor.  Where  is  Grey  town  with  reference  to 
the  mouth  of  the  river  that  flows  out  of  Lake  Nicaragua  ? 

Mr.  Menocal.  It  is  at  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  outlets  of  the  San 
Juau  River. 

Mr.  Miller.  The  harbor  which  the  company  has  taken  as  its  harbor 
and  which  it  has  undertaken  to  improve  is  the  old  harbor  as  it  existed 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  which  consists  now  of  an  inclosed 
basin,  being  entirely  shut  oft"  from  the  sea  by  a  bar  which  has  formed 
across  the  mouth  of  it.  That  harbor  is  of  sufficient  capacity  for  all  the 
vessels  that  can  ever  go  through  the  canal — for  a  large  fleet.  It  has 
from  14  to  20  feet  of  water  now. 

Q.  Is  that  harbor  at  or  near  what  was  formerly  one  of  the  northern 
outlets  or  at  present  of  the  river  ? — A.  Yes ;  it  was  the  northern  outlet 
and  the  most  importaut  outlet  thirty  years  ago,  but  that  was  closed  by 
a  bar  and  the  river  has  broken  through  to  the  southeast.  The  first 
work  done  in  connection  with  that  was  to  build  a  pier  or  breakwater 
from  the  harbor  out  to  a  line  of  30  feet  of  water  at  sea. 

Q.  Crossing  that  bar  ? — A.  Crossing  that  bar,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
dredging  out  a  channel  alongside  the  pier  when  it  was  constructed. 

Q.  How  far  out  is  that  pier? 

Mr.  Menocal.  The  breakwater  will  have  to  be  about  2,500  feet  long. 

Q.  Well,  how  far  out  from  the  main-land  is  this  bar  ? — A.  This  bar 
extends  2,000  feet  from  the  main-land. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  Do  you  expect  to  get  any  greater  depth  of  water  in  the  harbor 
after  opening  a  channel  through  the  bar? — A.  The  harbor  is  to  be 
dredged  out  to  30  feet,  the  same  as  the  bar.    The  first  work  was  to 
build  a  pier  or  breakwater. 

By  Mr.  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Wait  a  minute ;  I  want  to  find  out  the  hydrography  and  topogra- 
phy of  it  inside  of  this  bar,  which  I  will  assume  to  be  2,000  or  3,000  feet 
out  on  the  shore  line.  How  deep  is  the  water  ? — A.  As  I  just  stated,  it 
varies  from  14  to  20  feet. 

Q.  And  on  the  bar  there  is  only  6  or  8  feet,  I  suppose  ? 

Mr.  Menocal.  Yes,  and  even  less  than  that,  because  this  river  had 
broken  out  at  another  place  and  what  used  to  be  the  outlet  is  now 
entirely  cut  off  from  the  sea. 

Q.  And  the  great  volume  of  the  water  goes  to  the  southeast! — 
A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  What  is  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide? — A.  Only  18  inches. 

Q.  Is  there  any  considerable  swell  ? — A.  Yes.    • 

Q.  How  does  it  compare  with  the  coast  of  California  ? — A.  Very  much 
less.  The  swell  there  on  the  bar  is  very  seldom  4  or  5  feet,  and  gener 
ally  very  much  less. 

By  Senator  Edmunds; 
Q.  Proceed,  Mr.  Miller,  with  your  general  statement  of  the  substance 
of  things  you  have  done  and  are  doing. — A.  The  company  began  build- 
ing this  pier  or  breakwater,  which  is  to  extend  to  the  bar  and  out  to 
deep  water,  or  30  feet  of  water  at  sea.  That  pier  has  been  extended 
out  about  700  feet.  It  is  constructed  first  of  creosoted  piles,  which  will 
resist  the  attacks  of  the  terredo,  40  feet  wide,  and  the  piles  are  driven 
into  the  sand  at  great  depth,  so  ae  to  make  it  very  secure.    Then  it  is 


340  NICA.RAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

filled  in  with  loose  rock  in  order  to  make  it  absolutely  secnre,  and  thns 
far  the  work  has  gone  on  most  satiefactorily. 

Q.  Are  there  any  cross-timbers  between  the  piles  f — A.  It  is  all 
heavily  framed  together. 

Q.  Makes  a  crib  in  fact,  though  it  is  not  sunk  and  piled  with  pile  on 
the  outside  ? — A.  Piled  with  piles  and  then  to  be  filled  with  large  rocks 
eventually.  An  immense  breakwater  will  eventually  cover  this  entire 
piling  and  make  it  perfectly  secure. 

Q.  So  that  this  crib- work,  we  might  call  it,  will  be  protected  finally 
with  a  riprap  t — A.  A  riprap  covering  the  whole  of  it.  This  break- 
water is  constructed  at  such  an  angle  as  to  anticipate  the  shifting  of 
the  sands  along  the  beach,  and  the  channel  is  to  be  dredged  on  what 
we  call  the  lee  side  of  the  breakwater.  The  first  work  alter  the  build- 
ing of  this  breakwater  has  now  got  out  to  a  depth  of  12  feet  at  sea;  so 
we  propose  to  commence  now  the  dredging  of  the  channel  through  the 
bar  in  order  that  vessels  of  light  draught,  like  schooners  and  sailing  ves- 
sels which  we  want  there  with  material,  may  be  able  to  come  in  and 
save  lighterage.  Once  inside  the  bar  they  are  in  a  perfectly  inclosed 
basin  or  harbor,  with  18  feet  of  water,  entirely  sufficient  for  ordinary 
vessels. 

The  contract  for  dredging  this  bar  and  harbor  to  a  depth  of  20  feet 
has  already  been  let,  and  the  first  dredges  are  now  on  the  way  to  Grey- 
town,  having  sailed  from  this  country  a  few  days  ago.  Two  other  dredges 
are  being  built,  and  will  go  forward  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks.  The 
first  cut  across  the  bar  is  at  a  depth  of  12  feet  of  water.  That,  under 
contract,  is  to  be  completed  in  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  days.  Then 
the  second  cut  is  to  be  20  feet,  and  that  is  to  be  completed  in  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  days  more.  When  the  first  cut  is  made  we  can 
get  in  with  schooners  and  vessels  such  as  we  are  sending  down,  and 
when  the  second  cut  is  made  we  shall  be  able  to  go  in  in  good-sized 
steamers.  The  company  thought  it  wise  to  do  this  work  first,  because 
one  of  the  important  engineering  questions  was  whether  a  safe  harbor 
could  be  made  at  this  point.  Without  trespassing  upon  Mr.  Menocal's 
statement  of  engineering  work,  I  will  say  that  this  harbor  when  open 
will  be  substantially  an  inclosed  harbor  in  which  the  river  San  Juan 
will  be  shut  off,  having  its  mouth  where  it  is  now,  further  south  and 
east,  so  that  whatever  debris  will  come  down  will  never  be  deposited  in 
this  harbor,  so  that  when  it  is  once  dredged  out  there  is  no  reason  why 
it  will  not  remain  perpetually,  because  it  is  entirely  an  artificial  harbor 
and  entirely  inclosed. 

Q.  If  I  understand  you,  once  the  breakwater  being  built  and  the  cut 
through  the  bar  into  the  deeper  water  inside  being  made,  this  very  bar 
itself  forms  against  storms  a  shelter  for  vessels,  as  breaking  the  seas 
down! — A.  Yes. 

Q.  So  that  nature  has  built  this  harbor  for  you,  providing  you  once 
cut  your  way  into  it  t — A.  Yes,  it  is  a  breakwater  now. 

Q.  Now,  about  what  is  the  size  of  that  inclosed  area,  that  being  thus 
formed  will  allow  vessels  to  come  in  where  without  any  dredging  you 
could  get,  say,  20  feet  of  water — how  broad  a  space  ? 

Mr.  Menocax.  It  is  about  2  miles  wide  by  1  mile  as  to  the  size  of  the 
the  lagoon  or  basin  we  are  going  to  convert  into  a  harbor. 

Mr.  Miller.  It  will  be  a  perfect  basin  1  by  2  miles. 

Q.  Now  go  on,  Mr.  Miller,  and  tell  us  what  else  you  have  done. — A. 
The  final  line  of  the  canal,  the  engineering  work,  has  been  done  down 
to  Ochoa,  the  dam  from  which  point  we  use  the  lake.  The  distance 
from  Greytown  to  Ochoa  by  the  line  of  the  canal  in  30  miles,  and  that 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  341 

engineering  work  has  been  substantially  completed.  The  definite  line 
of  the  canal  has  beeu  located  and  the  engineers  have  taken  borings  of 
all  the  cuts  that  have  to  be  made.  Where  the  rock  cut  is  located  we 
have  bored  down  toward  the  bottom  of  the  canal  at  distances  of  1,000 
feet  apart,  and  we  have  samples  of  all  the  kinds  of  rock  and  material, 
so  that  we  can  show  the  contractors  and  engineers  precisely  the  kind 
of  material  they  are  to  meet  with. 

Q.  This  distance  of  30  miles  brings  you  to  the  river  below  the  rapids 
or  to  the  lake,  does  it  ? — A.  It  brings  us  to  the  river,  at  which  point  we 
dam  the  river  where  it  is  on  the  level  of  the  lake. 

Q.  From  that  point  where  you  dam  the  river  below  the  rapids  how 
far  is  it  to  Lake  Nicaragua? 

Mr.  Menooal.  Sixty  four  and  one-half  miles. 

Q.  What  have  you  done  on  that  line?    Have  you  got  water  enough  ? 

Mr.  Miller.  We  have  advanced  to  Greytown,  and  have  been  clear- 
ing the  line  of  canal  of  the  dense  tropical  growth  and  have  cleared 
probably  one  half  of  the  distance  from  Greytown  to  the  first  lock,  or 
more  than  that  across  the  lagoon.  This  material  has  all  been  cut  down, 
a  dense  growth,  and  during  the  late  dry  weather  it  has  been  burned 
over,  so  that  it  is  ready  for  the  dredgers.  In  addition  to  that  we  have 
commenced  the  construction  of  a  fresh-water  aqueduct  13  miles  long 
to  bring  fresh  water  from  the  mountains  down  to  Greytown  in  order  to 
preserve  the  health  of  the  men  and  to  give  us  pure  and  fresh  water. 

Q.  What  sort  of  an  aqueduct  is  that? — A.  This  aqueduct  is  com- 
posed of  a  steel  pipe,  covered  inside  and  out  with  asphalt  to  preserve  it 
from  rusting,  and  it  is  estimated  it  will  furnish  Greytown  and  all  of  our 
ships  and  barracks  and  hospitals  with  pure  drinking  water. 

Q.  What  about  is  the  length  of  that  I — ^A.  It  is  about  13  miles  in 
length. 

Q.  What  is  the  head? — A.  One  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

Q.  That  will  give  you  a  good  head  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Have  you  told  us  about  the  hospital  work,  if  any,  and  the  state  of 
health,  and  how  many  men  you  have  got  there  altogether,  and  how  the 
thing  has  appeared  in  respect  of  the  possibility  of  white  men  living 
there  and  carrying  on  this  work? — A.  Among  the  first  things  that  the 
company  did  was  to  organize  a  medical  department  and  erect  hospitals. 
They  had  sent  the  buildings  down  complete,  having  been  built  in  New 
York,  and  appointed  a  chief  surgeon  and  four  assistants.  The  result 
has  been  that  we  have  a  perfect  record  of  the  health  of  all  the  men  who 
have  been  in  the  employ  of  the  company  during  this  year  from  the  hos- 
pitals, which  have  been  kept  very  carefully.  There  has  been  no  epidemic 
and  no  serious  sickness  on  the  force  at  all.  The  hospital  records  show 
that  the  two  principal  diseases  have  been  chills  and  fever  and  diarrhea, 
diarrhea  caused  by  the  drinking  of  the  bad  water  in  the  lagoons,  as  the 
men  would  do  of  course  when  they  were  in  camp  and  surveying  parties. 
The  chills  and  fever  seem  to  have  been  very  light  in  their  attacks,  as  the 
records  show  that  the  majority  of  the  men  going  into  the  hospital  have 
stayed  not  more  than  three  days  or  a  week,  perhaps  an  average  of  four 
to  five  days  in  the  hospital  from  chills  and  fever. 

Q.  Can  you  tell  us  what  has  been  the  percentage  of  mortality  since 
you  have  been  there  among  all  the  persons  who  have  been  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  company  ?  — A.  I  believe  that  there  has  not  a  single  person 
died  in  the  employment  of  the  company  from  any  disease  contracted 
there.  One  or  two  men  have  been  killed  by  the  natives  and  in  drunken 
quarrels. 

Q.  I  mean  mortality  from  diseases  of  the  country? — ^A.  The  only  case 


342  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPA^Y. 

that  can  be  charged  of  that,  and  perhaps  not  even  that,  was  one  me- 
chanic who  was  sent  down  from  New  York  and  became  dissipated  and 
was  discharged  for  drunkenness  and  sent  home,  and  after  being  home 
some  weeks  he  died,  it  is  perhaps  not  to  be  charged  even  to  the  cli- 
mate, but  all  the  engineers,  all  the  machinists  of  all  kinds,  who  are  all 
Americans  from  the  United  States,  not  a  single  one  of  them  has  died 
there,  and  sickness  has  been,  as  I  stated,  chiefly  due  to  the  two  canseA 
and  it  has  been  very  slight  as  to  them. 

Q.  Then,  if  I  understand  yon,  you  mean  to  say  that,  so  far  as  your 
experience  has  now  gone,  with  Northerners  going  down  there,  the  state 
of  the  climate  is  not  such  as  to  give  any  serious  apprehension  at  all ! — 
A.  That  is  the  experience  of  the  first  year. 

Q.  Yes,  as  far  as  you  have  gone? — A.  And  the  hospital  records  very 
fully  show  it,  and  from  this  time  on  the  conditions  ought  to  be  very 
much  better  than  they  have  been,  because,  now  we  have  houses  and 
barracks  and  everything  that  belongs  to  a  civilized  ujan,  and  we  shall 
very  soon  have  pure  water  for  all  to  drink,  and  we  have  not  any  doubt 
that  that  will  remove  almost  entirely  the  cause  of  diarrhea  and  dys- 
entery, as  to  the  engineers  and  machinists  who  are  now  there,  and 
have  been  there  for  a  year  and  become  acclimated ;  and  the  late  returns 
from  the  hospital  show  that  the  number  of  men  in  hospital  is  very 
much  less  than  it  was  six  months  ago.  There  have  been  on  the  average 
during  the  past  year  five  hundred  men  in  the  employ  of  the  company 
during  the  whole  year. 

Q.  If  you  know,  tell  us  what  is  the  highest  temperature  that  is  expe- 
rienced there t — A.  Well,  I  get  my  information  from  Mr.  Menocal  on 
that,  but  I  understand  the  highest  is  not  over  95°. 

Mr.  Menocal.  Eighty-four  or  85  is  the  average  at  noon  and  about 
75  in  the  evening ;  generally  about  75  in  the  night. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  That  is  at  Grey  town! — A.  Yes.  • 

Q.  I  suppose  it  is  higher  as  you  go  into  the  interior  t — A.  As  you  go 
into  the  interior  it  is  cooler  in  some  places,  and  in  some  places  warmer ; 
but  1  never  saw  it  above  90  or  below  70.  The  lake  region  is  never 
above  80. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Well,  that  is  the  presentcondition  of  the  thing  as  it  appears  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Miller.  We  have  not  got  through  with  detailing  our  work  yet. 
We  built  a  short  line  of  railroad  from  the  beach  up  into  the  town  in 
order  to  move  the  materials  from  the  landing-place,  about  2  miles  of 
road,  and  we  have  made  completed  surveys  for  a  line  of  railroad  from 
Greytown  to  what  we  call  the  divide  or  the  rock  cut  where  the  locks 
are  to  be  laid,  and  the  rise  is  made  which  brings  the  canal  up  to  the 
level  of  the  lake.  Seventeen  miles  of  surveys  of  that  road  are  entirely 
completed  and  it  is  now  in  process  of  construction. 

Q.  I  thought  Mr.  Menocal  said  the  distance  was  30  miles t — A.  No, 
the  distance  is  17  to  the  divide,  and  then  we  rise  up  and  run  through  a 
cut  or  basin  like  to  the  Ochoa  dam,  which  is  tnirty  miles. 

Q.  There  yon  have  reached  the  level  of  the  lake  which  the  dam  will 
produce  ? — A.  We  reach  the  level  of  the  lake  then.  We  reach  it  at  the 
third  lock.  You  understand  we  come  out  of  the  lake  a  distance  of  66 
miles  down  the  San  Juan  River  and  at  that  point  we  leave  the  river 
entirely  and  cut  straight  across  to  the  ocean,  saving  a  distance  of  30  or 
40  miles  by  reason  of  the  river  becoming  very  sinuous  and  crocked 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  343 

through  the  swampy  grouiul.  We  leave  the  river  entirely  at  Ochoa  dam 
and  go  straight  across  to  the  sea.  This  railroad  is  now  in  process  of 
construction.  The  construction  was  begun  about  six  weeks  ago,  the  first 
work,  and  there  are  now  at  work  upon  it  at  least  five  hundred  men.  We 
have  shipped  down  steel  rails,  two  locomotives,  a  large  number  of  flat 
cars  for  completing  the  road,  together  with  steam  shovels  and  pile- 
drivers  and  all  the  necessary  machinery  for  the  completion  of  this  road, 
which  is  to  be  finished  early  in  the  fall.  Tlie  necessity  of  this  road  will 
be  seen  from  the  condition  of  the  country.  It  is  impossible  to  move  any 
machinery  or  any  supplies  of  any  quantity  over  this  low  marshy  ground 
or  lagoons  in  any  other  way.  It  is  an  absolute  necessity  that  we  should 
build  the  railroad  and  we  build  this  first  piece  of  railroad  17  miles  until 
we  strike  what  is  called  the  great  rock  cut,  or  divide,  which  is  the 
heaviest  single  piece  of  work  on  the  entire  line  of  the  canal,  and  we  build 
the  railroad  to  attack  that  first.  It  will  take  one  or  two  years  to  do  that. 
Then  the  rest  of  the  work  we  cut  at  as  soon  as  possible,  when  every- 
thing that  is  necessary  for  this  great  cut  can  be  easily  moved  from  the 
sea  into  the  interior. 

Q.  What  sort  of  a  country  does  that  cross  ? — A.  The  first  10  miles 
entirely  level,  largely  swamps,  and  the  rest  only  a  very  few  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea. 

Q.  Where  do  you  get  your  material  for  making  your  embankment  or 
whatever  you  call  it  ? — A.  We  get  it  on  the  sides  ol  the  road  itself. 
The  swamps  are  quite  dry  now  at  the  end  of  the  season  and  dirt  is 
thrown  up  and  what  is  not  got  that  way  is  to  be  taken  from  the  sea- 
shore by  trains,  for  which  purpose  we  send  down  cars. 

Q  That  is  sea-sand  ? — A.  Sea-sand  taken  right  from  the  mouth  of 
of  the  canal.  We  get  a  large  part  of  it  right  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
canal,  so  that  while  we  are  building  the  railroad  we  are  excavating  the 
canal  at  the  same  time.  When  we  reach  this  rock  cut  at  the  end  of  17 
miles  we  shall  begin  to  take  rock  out  and  take  it  down  to  Greytown  to 
complete  this  breakwater,  or  pier  as  we  call  it.  A  very  large  amount  of 
the  rock  from  the  cut  will  be  used.  (The  rock  cut  is  marked  a  on  the  map 
with  red  pencil.)  In  addition  to  the  work  on  this  railroad  the  company 
began  early  to  build  a  telegraph  line  from  Greytown  up  to  Castillo  to 
meet  the  Government  telegraph. 

Q.  Where  is  Castillo? — A.  It  is  24  miles  below  the  lake  on  the  river 
San  Juan.  The  company  constructed  about  75  miles  of  telegraph  line 
and  has  it  in  operation,  connecting  Greytown  with  the  Nicaragua  Gov- 
ernment telegraph,  which  comes  down  to  Castillo;  so  that  we  are  in 
telegraphic  communication  with  our  headquarters  at  Greytown  all  the 
time  by  this  line,  which  it  is  of  course  very  important  that  we  should 
have. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  else  that  you  have  not  already  stated  in  regard 
to  the  actual  operations  that  you  have  already  carried  on  there? — A. 
Nothing  perhaps  of  very  much  importance  in  the  way  of  work  that  has 
been  done. 

By  Senator  Payne  : 
Q.  Have  you  stated  how  many  men  there  are  in  your  employ  ? — A. 
We  have  now  nearly  if  not  quite  a  thousand  men  employed  on  the  pier 
a.nd  upon  the  clearing  and  upon  the  line  of  the  canal  and  upon  the  rail- 
road, and  are  constantly  sending  more  in  from  Jamaica.  We  are  ship- 
ping down  large  quantities  of»railroad  material  and  machinery. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 
Q.  Supposing  you  have  a  thousand  men  now  employed,  how  many  of 


344  NICAKAOUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

those  are  AinericJius,  for  instance  t — A.  Probably  not  more  than  two 
hundred — one  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  those  are  Americans. 
The  entire  engineering  officers  and  all  the  skilled  laborers,  foremen, 
stationery  engineers,  locomotive  engineers,  and  men  that  work  on  the 
pier  and  the  pile  driving — all  the  skilled  work  is  in  the  hands  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  whom  we  have  sent  from  New  York. 

Q.  Out  of  all  these  during  the  time  you  have  now  been  operating,  as 
1  understand  you,  there  has  been  no  serious  climatic  disease  to  make  it 
extra  dangerous  for  a  person  from  the  United  States  to  go  there? — A. 
That  is  correct;  there  has  been  no  serious  sickness  of  any  kind  and  no 
deaths  among  any  of  that  force. 

Q.  Where  do  yon  get  the  rest  of  your  labor,  the  men  who  merely 
pull  and  digt — A.  We  get  some  native  Nicaraguans,  but  we  get  the 
balk  of  them  from  Jamaica — Jamaica  negroes — and  some  come  from  the 
West  India  Islands,  etc. 

Q.  Now  take  the  native  Niearaguan,  what  sort  of  people  are  they  as 
laborers  in  respect  of  intelligence,  capacity,  and  so  on  t 

Mr.  Menocax.  They  are  a  very  good  class  of  men,  very  industrious, 
and  preferable  to  any  other  class  of  laborers  that  I  have  been  able  to 
obtain. 

Q.  They  are  real  hardy,  effective  laborers,  are  they  T— A.  Yes,  excel- 
lent men. 

Q.  Are  they  willing  to  work  t'— A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  do  you  pay  for  labor  down  there  T — A.  We  are  now  paying 
about  $15  a  month,  American  money,  or  20  soles,  and  feed  and  board 
the  laborers.    Of  course  we  give  them  their  board  and  quarters. 

Q.  Now,  Mr.  Miller,  if  you  have  finished  the  general  statement  about 
the  present  situation 

Mr.  MiLLEB.  I  might  just  add  one  more  thing  in  regard  to  that.  We 
found  on  the  San  Juan  River  a  steam  navigation  company  which  had 
chartered  rights  from  Nicaragua,  and  as  they  had  the  exclusive  right 
of  navigating  the  river  with  steam  and  the  lake  also,  we  found  it  neces- 
sary to  become  the  owners  of  that  line  in  order  that  we  might  prose- 
cute our  work  and  use  it;  and  under  the  concession  we  had  a  right  to  do 
that,  and  we  took  in  this  entire  steam-ship  line,  with  its  vessels  and 
everything  connected  with  it,  and  are  now  carrying  it  on.  We  use  it, 
of  course,  as  a  means  for  delivering  our  goods  and  carrying  our  supplies 
up  the  river  and  up  the  lake. 

Q.  What  was  the  name  of  that  line  before  you  took  itt 

A.  The  Nicaragua  Mail  Steam  Navigation  (Jompany. 

Q.  Who  were  the  people  t    Were  they  people  Living  there  t 

Mr.  Menooal.  Mr.  Pellas. 

Q.  When  was  this  concession  made  to  the  steam  ship  line  f— A.  The 
concession  was  made — I  know  it  was  renewed  in  1877  or  1878.  It  had 
been  made  before  to  an  American  by  the  name  of  Hollenback  and  he 
afterwards  sold  it  to  Mr.  Pellas,  an  Italian,  who  became  interested  in 
this  navigation  company  and  bought  it,  then  the  concession  that  Mr. 
Hollenback  held  lapsed  in  1877  or  1878  and  a  new  concession  was 
granted  to  Mr.  Pellas. 

Q.  Direct  t — A.  Direct. 

Q.  Was  that  an  exclusive  concession  t 

Mr.  MiLLEB.  The  exclusive  privilege  of  navigation  by  steam  on  the 
lake  and  river. 

Q.  Have  you  within  reach  that  you  could  give  us  a  copy  of  that 
Nicaraguan  concession  f — A.  I  have  not  any  copy  here.  I  have  one 
inl^ewYork. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  345 

Q.  Is  it  in  print,  so  tliat  you  could  send  us  a  copy  without  serious  in 
convenience  ? — A.  Of  tbe  navigation  company  ? 

Q.  No ;  I  mean  this  navigation  company  that  you  bought  out. — A. 
It  may  be  in  print,  but  if  it  is  in  print  it  is  in  Spanish. 

Q.  I  do  not  care  about  that.  I  wish  you  would  send  us  a  copy. — A. 
Yes,  I  will. 

Q,  Now,  you  had  to  take  this  company  in  order  to  execute  the  mis 
siou  you  had  in  hand  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  are  you  willing  to  tell  us,  in  the  confidence  of  this  committee 
and  running  the  risk  of  its  getting  out,  how  much  you  had  to  give  for 
that  ? — A.  Three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Q.  Was  that  the  maritime  canal  company  chartered  by  Congress  or 
your  construction  conipany? — A.  Our  construction  company.  We 
had  to  buy  it  before  we  could  do  anything. 

Q.  So  that  has  become  a  part  of  your  plant? — A.  A  part  of  our 
plant. 

Q.  And  when  your  contract  with  the  Congressional  canal  company 
is  executed  you  get  back  your  $300,000? — A.  The  company  will  un- 
doubtedly have  to  go  out  of  existence  then,  as  the  railroad  will  be  com- 
pleted and  the  canal  will  be  completed  and  there  will  be  no  use  for  it. 

Q.  Yes,  but  if  it  is  an  exclusive  privilege,  and  your  construction  com- 
pany now  owns  it,  suppose  the  canal  were  finished  to-day,  then  the 
question  is,  you,  a  differeut  company  from  the  Congressional  company, 
are  the  proprietors  of  the  exclusive  privilege  of  navigating  Lake 
Nicaragua  by  steam? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now  what  is  going  to  happen*? 

Mr.  Menocal.  This  exclusive  privilege  is  only  for  the  internal  com- 
merce of  Nicaragua. 

Q.  Purely  internal  commerce? — A.  Yes,  the  rights  of  the  interoceanic 
canal  are  reserved  by  Nicaragua. 

Q.  So  that,  notwithstanding  this  exclusive  grant  for  local  traffic,  the 
right  of  the  Congressional  company  to  transfer  vessels  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific,  and  vice  versa,  would  not  infringe  upon  that  grant  ? 
— A.  Not  at  all. 

Q.  Very  well,  now  I  understand. 

Mr.  MiLLEK.  As  to  our  present  work,  we  are  sending  forward  to 
Nicaragua  a  large  amount  of  railroad  material,  and  also  a  complete  ma- 
chine shop  capable  of  building  machinery  or  of  repairing  it ;  also  a 
furnace  for  making  cast-iron,  as  there  is  no  foundry  in  the  republic  at 
all.  There  is  no  way  of  getting  a  piece  of  iron  without  sending  up  to 
New  York  for  it,  and  we  need  a  large  amount  for  the  completion  of  the 
pier  and  material  for  the  completion  of  the  railroad.  In  fact  we  havb 
three  vessels  now  on  the  way  loaded  with  material  and  two  more  under 
chater  loaded  with  coal  and  railroad  iron,  everything  that  is  necessary  to 
carry  on  this  work  to  complete  what  I  have  said,  the  dredging  of  the 
harbor  and  buildiag  the  railroad,  the  dredging  of  the  harbor  being  of 
the  first  importance,  as  we  want  to  get  in,  and  the  building  of  the  rail- 
road in  order  to  get  into  the  interior. 

Q.  And  cut  off  the  forest,  as  I  understand  you? — A.  The  two  impor- 
tant things  which  the  company  found  were  first,  to  open  the  harbor,  and 
second,  to  build  a  line  of  railroad  17  miles  in  until  we  struck  hard 
ground  or  rock.  That  work  is  being  pushed  with  great  vigor.  That  is 
to  be  finished  by  early  fall.  That  is  substantially  the  condition  of  the 
work. 

Q.  How  much  money  has  been  spent  altogether  there  now  in  round 


346  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

numbers  t — A.  In  round  numbers  from  the  beginning  I  8npi)ose  about 
$3,000,(M)0. 

Q.  That  includes  the  $300,000  paid  to  this  hwal  transportation  com- 
pany!— A.  No,  not  including  that;  outside  of  that. 

Q.  Well,  is  there  mone^'  in  hand  in  one  company  or  the  other  to  com- 
plete the  things  that  you  have  already  described  as  in  progress? — A. 
There  is  money  enough  in  hand  or  in  sight  that  is  subscribed  that  will 
come  in  in  the  regular  order. 

Q.  That  is,  available  assets? — A.  Yes,  sir,  available  assets  that  will 
complete  all  the  work  we  have  contracted  for.  I  started  out  with  the 
proposition  that  we  would  make  no  contracts  for  work  beyond  what  we 
could  see  our  way  clear  to  pay  for.  The  construction  company,  I  will 
say,  has  already  taken  means  to  bring  into  its  treasury  a  million  and  a 
half  more  of  money,  which  will  come  in  unquestionably  within  the  next 
few  months,  so  that  when  these  two  works  are  completed  that  we  are  now 
at  we  will  go  on  to  the  western  end  of  the  canal  and  lay  out  the  work 
the  same  way  there.  All  the  work  that  has  been  done  so  far  in  the 
way  of  establishing  headquarters,  houses,  shops,  and  hospitals  has  been 
laid  out  on  a  scale  calculated  to  be  sufficient  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
whole  work  whenever  we  shall  have  the  money  in  hand  to  do  it.  We 
think  we  have  not  wasted  any  money  at  all,  and  have  not  done  any- 
thing in  a  little  or  petty  way.  We  have  started  to  lay  out  the  work  so 
that  when  we  are  in  a  condition  to  push  it  along  the  whole  line  our  organ- 
ization will  be  as  complete  as  that  of  any  army  and  we  can  carry  it  on 
systematically  and  thoroughly,  protecting  all  the  rights  of  the  company 
and  protecting  ourselves  against  frauds  of  all  kinds.  We  have  a  com- 
plete police  system  which  I  have  not  mentioned,  which  we  have  a  right 
to  under  the  concession.  We  have  to  maintain  a  police  force  with  these 
various  nationalities  in  order  to  preserve  the  peace  and  take  care  of  our 
property.  In  short,  the  work,  I  think,  has  been  laid  out  in  the  begin- 
ning in  such  a  way  as  to  make  every  dollar  count  and  to  put  the  work 
in  such  a  condition  to  push  it  to  a  completion  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment  whenever  the  financial  arrangement  has  been  made  or  money 
sufficient  to  do  the  work. 

Q.  So  that,  so  far  as  you  have  gone,  every  step  that  has  been  taken 
and  all  the  money  that  has  been  expended  has  been  a  direct  and  economi- 
cal means  to  the  end  of  actually  constructing  that  canal! — A.  That  is 
my  judgment  about  it.  It  has  been  done  economically,  and,  so  far  as 
we  have  gone,  it  has  been  done  below  our  own  estimates  for  the  same 
work. 

Q.  Are  you  willing  to  furnish  the  committee  with  a  copy  of  the  con- 
tract between  your  construction  company  and  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany, so  that  the  committee  may  know  what  are  the  relations  and  re- 
ciprocal duties  and  obligations  of  the  two  companies? — A.  I  should 
prefer  to  consult  the  board  of  directors  in  regard  to  that.  I  can  say, 
generally,  this  in  regard  to  it.  We  have  undertaken  to  construct  a 
canal  for  the  securities  of  the  company  which  may  be  issued  against  it. 
Some  points  of  that  contract  are  still  left  open  because  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  determine  exactly  liow  much  money  would  be  required  until 
we  knew  more  of  our  own  financial  schemes,  so  that  we  could  determine 
more  fully  what  the  securities  would  bring  in  the  public  market;  in 
short,  that  the  Maritime  Company  should  undertake  to  issue  securities 
enough,  which,  when  sold  in  the  market,  would  bring  money  enough  to 
complete  the  canal.  And,  whilst  the  question  of  financing  the  whole 
thing  has  been  going  on,  the  amount  that  should  be  issued  or  the  inter- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  347 

est  that  the  bonds  should  bear  has  been  Iftft  open  for  further  negotia- 
tion. 

Q.  Are  you  a  director  in  the  Maritime  Canal  Company? — A.  I  am 
not. 

Q.  You  have  no  connection  with  that? — A.  JSo  connection  with  it  at 
all. 

Q.  How  much  is  the  capital  stock  of  your  construction  company,  the 
Colorado  corporation  ? — A.  Twelve  million  dollars. 

Q.  How  much  has  been  actually  paid  in ;  what  percentage  of  that 
$12,000,000  stock  has  been  subscribed  ? — A.  Well,  some  of  that  stock  was 
issued  to  the  original  association  for  the  work  they  did  in  procuring  the 
concession  and  the  moneys  which  they  paid  out  for  the  preliminary 
surveys,  which  extended  over  two  years  of  time.  Just  how  much  there 
was  of  that  I  am  not  able  to  say  without  going  back  to  the  books.  The 
stock  of  late,  $4,000,000  of  it,  was  issued  at  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  money 
actually  paid  in  on  it,  and  more  of  it,  one  and  a  half  millions,  we  expect 
to  issue  substantially  at  par. 

Q.  How  much  is  now  actually  outstanding;  how  many  shares  of  the 
$12,000,000?— A.  I  think  about  ten  and  a  half  millions  is  out. 

Q.  Eepresenting  paid-up  stock? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  you  know,  by  the  act  of  Congress, 
is  required  to  report  once  a  year  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  a  full 
account  of  all  its  transactions,  so  that  if  it  made  a  full  report  this  con- 
tract between  itself  and  your  railroad  com})any  would  appear,  and  there- 
fore I  should  suppose  it  would  be  proper  for  us  to  ask  you,  and  for  you 
to  respond,  although  you  do  not  happen  to  be  a  member  of  that  very 
company,  to  let  us  have  a  copy  of  the  contracts  which  shows  the  rela- 
tions between  the  Congressional  corporation  and  the  Colorado  one. — 
A.  Well,  1  do  not  think  ther©  will  be  any  objection  to  that,  although, 
as  I  say,  that  contract  has  not  been  fully  completed.  It  was  not  at  the 
time  of  that  report. 

Q.  The  sixth  section  of  the  act  incorporating  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  the  28th  of  February,  1890,  provides : 

Skc.  6.  Said  company  shall  make  a  report  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  in  each 
year  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  shall  be  duly  verified  on  oath  by  the 
president  and  secretary  thereof,  giving  such  detailed  statement  of  its  afi^airs,  and  of 
its  assets  and  liabilities,  as  may  be  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  any 
willfully  false  statement  so  made  shall  bo  deemed  perjury  and  punishable  as  such. 
And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secre.ary  of  the  Interior  to  require  such  annual  state- 
ment and  to  prescribe  the  form  thereof  and  the  particulars  to  be  given  thereby. 

A.  That  report  was  made,  but  the  contract  was  not  fully  completed 
at  that  time,  and  in  fact  it  is  not  fully  completed  yet,  because,  as  I  say, 
it  was  left  open  substantially  because  on  certain  conditions  we  should 
have  to  have  more  securities  to  build  the  canal  than  we  should  on  other 
conditions. 

Q.  Now,  Mr.  Miller,  I  wish  you  would  tell  us  about  the  prospects  and 
plans  for  raising  money  and  the  methods  that  you  yourself  can  con- 
sider as  being  feasible  and  how  much  and  all  about  the  future  of  the 
finances,  how  you  are  to  get  the  money  and  on  how  much  discount  and 
how  much  the  real  cost  of  the  thing  is  to  be  and  how  much  in  any  way 
you  can  negotiate  securities  for,  and  what  will  be  the  outstanding  obli- 
gations as  distinguished  from  actual  money  to  be  paid  out  for  all  ex- 
penses.— A.  The  estimate  of  our  chief  engineer,  Mr.  Menocal,  is  that  the 
actual  cost  of  building  the  canal,  outside  of  any  interest  or  commissions 
or  anything  of  that  kind,  will  be  in  round  numbers  $65,000,000.  His 
report  and  estimates  are  here  presented.    When  Mr.  Menocal's  surveys 


348  HICARAGOA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

were  completed  they  were  submitted  to  aboard  of  consulting  engineers 
consisting  of  five  engineers  of  distiiiguislied  ability  and  character. 
They  wentcarefully  over  the  estimates  of  Mr.  Menocal,  and  their  report, 
which  is  herewith  presented,  makes  an  estimate  of  the  total  cost  in 
round  numbers  of  $73,000,000,  and  then  they  say  that,  to  cover  all  i)Os- 
sible  contingencies  of  construction,  they  add  -0  per  cent.,  which  amounts 
in  round  numbers  to  $14,000,000.  That  makes  their  grand  total  esti- 
mate in  round  numbers  $87,000,000.  As  to  the  correctness  of  Mr. 
MenocaFs  estimate  I  can  say  this:  Several  very  skillful  contractors, 
men  who  have  had  large  experience  in  building  public  works,  especially 
railroads  in  the  Wt*st.  have  been  over  tlu?>  line  of  the  canal  and  given  a 
great  deal  of  time  to  the  consideration  of  the  plan  and  details  upon  the 
ground  itself,  seeing  what  obstacles  they  had  to  overcome  and  what 
difficulties  there  were  in  the  way.  One  of  those  contractors,  after  hav- 
ing made  three  several  visits  to  JJicaragna,  said  to  me  that  he  would 
put  in  a  bid  for  the  entire  western  division  of  the  canal,  that  is  from 
Lake  Nicaragua  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  including  the  harbor  at  Brito 
and  the  three  locks  on  the  western  side,  which  bid  would  be  less  than 
our  own  estimates.  I  only  mention  that  to  give  vou  an  idea  as  to 
whether  the  estimates  are  correct  or  not.  Of  course  unforeseen  diffi- 
culties may  arise  and  the  cost  may  be  increased,  but  the  company,  after 
these  two  years  of  examination  and  consideration,  believe  that  the  cost 
of  the  canal  can  never  under  any  circumstances  exceed  $100,000,000. 

By  Mr.  Payne  : 

Q.  That  embraces  his  estimate  for  the  extras  T — A.  Yes.  Now  as  to 
the  method  of  raising  this  amount  of  money,  of  course  it  can  only  be 
done  by  selling  the  securities  of  the  company.  They  consist,  or  will 
consist,  of  stock  and  bonds.  Since  I  have  been  president  of  the  Con- 
struction Company  I  have  consulted  with  many  leading  financial  men 
in  the  country,  and  of  course  it  is  impossible  to  say  at  this  time  at 
what  price  bonds  of  the  company  couhl  be  negotiated,  but  I  am  frank 
to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  that  they  can  be  negotiated  at  par  or  very 
near  it.  This  is  a  peculiar  enterprise,  which  presents  many  obstacles, 
and  of  course  it  will  be  looked  upon  by  the  investing  world  as  some- 
what problematical.  The  first  bonds  of  the  Suez  Canal,  I  believe, 
netted  the  company  only  about  00  cents  on  the  dollar.  How  much 
more  than  that  we  shall  be  able  to  obtain  for  our  bonds  I  am  unable  to 
say,  but  I  have  no  doubt  but  what  the  bonds  can  be  ne{:otiated  in  the 
markets  of  the  world  at  a  price  much  above  that  of  the  first  Suez 
bonds. 

The  present  intention  of  the  company  is  to  make  arrangements  with 
what  would  be  called  a  syndicate  of  bankers,  getting  one  large  and 
reputable  banking  house  to  take  the  lead  in  the  matter,  and  thai  house 
to  associate  with  itself  a  large  number  of  banking  houses  in  this  coun- 
try and  in  London  and  in  Amsterdam  and  in  Frankfort  and  in  Berlin — 
houses  which  are  now  in  the  habit  of  associating  themselves  together 
for  the  placing  of  large  loans  or  the  placing  of  a  large  amount  of  securi- 
ties— and  expect  to  make  a  contract  with  the  leading  house,  the  head 
of  the  syndicate,  to  take  these  securities  and  market  them  as  best  they 
can,  so  as  to  give  us  somewheres  in  the  neighborhood,  we  will  say,  of 
ten  to  fifteeo  millions  of  money  per  annum  as  the  work  shall  go  on. 

Banking  houses  are  ready  to  undertake  this  work,  and  the  only  ques- 
tion about  it  is  a  question  of  commissions  and  the  question  as  to  what 
price  the  bonds  shall  go  to  the  public  at  in  order  to  induce  them  to  take 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  349 

them.  We  can  not  expect  the  public  will  come  in  and  take  these  bonds 
unless  they  are  offered  to  tb(>m  at  such  a  price  as  to  give  them  a  large 
profitin  case  the  work  succeeds.  This  project  is  entirely  different  from 
the  project  of  buildiug  a  railroad  and  issuing  bonds  upon  it  as  it  is  con- 
structed. 

The  interest  on  money  used  upon  the  construction  is  a  proper  charge 
of  the  cost  of  construction  as  much  as  the  money  that  goes  into  iron  or 
into  labor  or  anything  else.  People  who  put  their  money  into  an  enter- 
prise expect  the  interest  will  be  charged  against  construction  until  the 
work  is  completed,  so  that  we  have  to  provide  not  only  for  the  cost  of 
the  work  as  it  goes  on,  but  we  must  provide  for  the  interest  on  the  bonds 
until  such  time  as  the  canal  is  finished  and  begins  to  earn. 

We  assume  that  it  will  take  six  years  to  build  this  canal  from  the 
time  we  have  money  enough  to  push  it  with  vigor:  that  is  to  say,  if  we 
were  to  have  our  negotiations  completed  for  the  placing  of  our  bonds 
at  the  end  of  this  year  and  could  begin  to  get  our  money  at  the  next 
year  we  should  count  it  would  take  six  years  from  next  January  to  com- 
plete it.  If  a  bond  is  issued  I  presume  it  can  not  be  floated  at  less  than 
5  per  cent,  interest.  If,  we  were  six  years  in  building  the  canal  there 
would  be  three  years'  interest  to  pay  upon  the  entire  issue  of  bonds, 
whatever  that  might  be,  and  how  large  that  issue  will  have  to  be  is,  of 
course,  dependent  upon  the  price  we  may  obtain  for  the  bonds.  The 
company  has  hoped  that  it  would  get  such  a  price  for  the  bonds  as 
would  enable  us  to  pay  this  interest  and  pay  the  cost  of  construction 
and  give  a  fair  profit  to  those  connected  with  the  enterprise  by  the 
issuing  of  not  more  than  $150,000,000.  Whether  that  can  be  done  or 
not  1  can  not  say  at  this  time,  but  I  feel  very  confident  that  bonds  of 
the  company  can  be  marketed,  and  at  such  a  price  as  will  enable  us  to 
complete  the  canal. 

Q.  What  allowance  do  you  make  for  the  stock? — A.  We  have  not  as 
yet  made  any  calculation  upon  the  stock,  holding  it  in  reserve  and  not 
issuing  it  at  all  unless  it  should  be  found  necessary.  Of  course  the 
bonds  will  go  on  the  markets  of  the  world  and  they  will  go  wherever  the 
money  comes  from.  This,  in  short  and  substantially,  is  the  plan  of  the 
company  if  it  is  left  to  itself. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  Is  that  the  plan  of  the  Construction  Company  or  of  the  canal  com- 
pany ? — A.  That  is  the  plan  of  the  Construction  Company.  The  Con- 
struction Company  takes  these  bonds  and  agrees  to  negotiate  them. 

Q.  They  are  to  be  the  bonds  of  the  canal  company? — A.  They  are  to 
be  the  bonds  of  the  canal  company  entirely. 

Q.  And  you  are  to  float  them  the  best  way  you  can  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  I  understand  you  to  say  that  Mr.  Menocal's  estimate  is  $65,000,000? — 
A.  In  round  numbers,  yes ;  and  the  board  of  consulting  engineers  went 
over  his  figures,  taking  the  same  points,  and  made  it  $73,000,000,  and 
then  they  said,  "to  cover  all  possible  contingencies  we  think  it  wise  to 
add  20  per  cent,  to  that." 

Q.  That  would  make  $87,000,000  in  round  numbers.— A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  I  understand  you  to  say  that  on  the  credit  system  of  putting 
oflf  bonds  or  stock,  or  whatever  way  of  doing  it,  the  thing  would  stand 
in  as  a  capital  or  loan  on  which  interest  or  dividends  have  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  income  of  the  concern  when  done,  would  be  up  toward 
$160,000,000  ? — A.  My  judgment  is  that  to  get  that  amount  of  money 


350 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


we  should  have  to  issue  at  least  $150,000,000  of  bonds  at  5  per  sent 
interest. 

Q.  But  a  positive  obligation  then,  when  the  thing  is  done  on  the  credit 
system  by  raisiug  a  loan,  would  be  in  round  numbers  $150,000,000? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  On  which  interest  and  finally  j)rincipal  would  have  to  be  paid,  for 
an  actual  expenditure  with  the  20  per  cent,  for  nnforeseen  contingencies, 
of  $87,000.000? — A.  Yes,  but  in  addition  to  that  you  must  add  interest 
on  the  bonds  during  the  process  of  construction.  The  interest  accruing 
during  the  process  of  construction  is  as  legitimate  a  charge  upon  the 
construction  as  the  building  of  a  lock. 

Q.  Yes,  but  it  is  only  interest  upon  the  money  that  is  used  that  year. 
So  it  is  not  an  interest  on  the  $87,000,000.  It  takes  six  years  to  build 
it.  It  is  an  interest  on  $14,000,000  or  $15,000,000  annually?— A.  No,  it 
would  be  the  interest  upon  the  entire  sum.  We  will  suppose  it  takes 
six  years  to  build  the  canal,  and  during  the  six  years  we  issue  $150,- 
000,000  bonds,  in  equal  proportions  each  year,  distributed  over  the  six 
years.  Then  it  would  be  three  years'  interest  upon  the  whole  amount. 
It  would  be  an  average  of  three  years. 

Q.  At  5  per  cent.— that  is  15  per  cent,  on  $150,000,000  ?— A.  That 
would  be  $7,500,000  interest  for  a  year  on  $150,000,000  at  5  i)er  cent., 
and  three  years  is  $22,500,000  interest.  That  is  a  proper  chnrge,  as 
much  as  engineering  work  is  a  charge.  That  is  the  way  all  financial 
operations  are  carried  on. 

Q.  But  then,  after  all,  if  your  stock  in  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
for  this  practical  purpose — it  does  not  make  any  difference  which  we 
call  it — is  taken  up  to  the  extent  of  $87,000,000,  the  utmost  estimate, 
and  allowing  20  i>er  cent,  for  anything  the  experts  can  think  of  on  this 
$87,000,000,  you  are  going  to  pay  interest  for  the  three  years  on 
$150,000,000,  and  in  the  end  you  have  got  the  $150,000,000  to  pay. 
That  is  the  dift'erence  between  the  cash  system  of  positive  money  and 
borrowing,  is  it  not  ? — A.  That  is  it  exactly. 

Q.  Very  well ;  that  is  just  what  1  want  to  find  out.  Now  tell  us,  in  a 
general  and  condensed  way,  what  the  outlook  is  for  business,  and  what 
you  know  in  respect  of  the  business  of  the  JSuez  Canal,  which  is  the 
only  thing  which  can  be  compared  with  it? — A.  If  $150,000,000  of 
bonds  are  issued  for  the  building  of  this  canal  the  fixed  charge  upon 
the  revenues  of  the  canal  for  interest  will  be  $7,500,000  per  annum.  It 
is  assumed  that  the  canal  can  be  maintained  and  operated  for  $1,000,000 
a  year.  The  cost  would  be  $8,500,000  per  annum  for  the  fixed  charges 
of  the  canal  when  completed. 

Q.  Then  you  would  have  to  add  to  that,  of  course,  the  salaries  and 
other  things,  unless  they  are  included  ? — A.  No,  they  are  included  in 
the  $1,000,000 ;  that  includes  the  maintenance ;  that  would  be  oflQcers 
and  every  repair  that  might  be  made. 

Q.  And  all  the  incidental  and  all  expenses  are  included  in  $1,000,- 
000  ? — A.  Are  included  in  $  1 ,000,000.  As  to  the  earning  capacity  of  the 
canal  the  only  precedent  we  have  is  that  of  the  Suez  Canal,  which  began 
operations  in  1879,  and  the  receipts  of  the  Suez  Canal  for  1888  were 
$12,975,000. 

Q.  What  year  did  that  canal  begin  its  operations. — A.  It  began  in 
1879. 

Q.  Have  you  got  a  table  that  will  show  it  wholly  fi'om  year  to  year  1^ 
A.  I  have  got  it  each  year. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  351 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  state  it.  It  will  be  very  interesting  to  come  in 
there. — A.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  first  year  is  a  full  year  or  not. 
In  1879  the  receipts  were  $5,595,000;  in  1880,  $7,501,000,  which  of 
course  was  a  full  year ;  in  1881,  $9,019,000 ;  in  1882,  $11,346,000 ;  in 
1883,  $12,350,000;  in  1884,  $12,029,000  ;  in  1885,  $12,422,000;  in  1886, 
$11,297,000  ;  in  1887,  $11,565,000  ;  in  1888,  $12,975,000.  For  the  year 
1889  we  have  not  the  report  as  yet. 

By  Senator  Payne  : 
Q.  Now  what  was  the  cost  of  that?    Have  you  got  it  there? — A.  Be- 
tween $98,000,000  and  $100,000,000  in  round  numbers. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  Have  you  got  anything  to  show  the  charges,  the  rates  of  toll,  and 
the  actual  tonnage  of  the  canal — for  instance  in  1838? 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  The  tonnage,  the  expense  account,  and  all  that,  so  as  to  show  the 
net  there  ? — A.  1  do  not  know  whether  it  is  all  printed  here  or  not.  I 
have  got  it  at  home.  It  will  be  noticed  here  that  the  income  fell  off  a 
little  between  and  to  1886,  and  at  that  time  there  was  a  reduction  made 
in  the  rate  of  tolls.  The  rate  of  tolls  was  reduced.  Then  in  1888  they 
recovered  to  its  highest  point.    The  toll  now  is  $1.80  per  ton. 

Q.  Is  that  per  ton  of  measurement  or  per  ton  of  cargo  ;  probably  the 
registered  ton  ? — A.  Yes.  The  tolls  at  Suez  at  the  beginning  were  $2.50 
per  ton,  and  then  reduced  to  $1.80. 

-  Q.  Have  you  got  a  table  there  which  shows  an  increase  of  tonnage, 
if  there  was  any,  following  the  reduction  of  tolls? — A.  I  have  the  num- 
ber of  ships  and  the  net  tonnage.  The  first  year,  1879,  it  was  2,263,000 
tons;  the  next  year  it  was  3,057,000 ;  the  next  year  it  was  4,136,000; 
the  next  year,  1882,  it  was  5,074,000;  in  1883  it  was  5,775,000;  in  1884 
it  was  5,871,000 ;  in  1885  it  was  6,335,0U0  ;  in  1886  it  was  5,707,000. 

Q.  That  was  the  year  of  the  Egyptian  war? — A.  Yes.  In  1887  it  was 
5,903,000 ;  in  1888  it  was  6,640,000. 

Q.  Have  you  the  expenses  of  operation  t 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  Have  you  the  number  of  vessels  ? — A.  I  have  the  number  of  ves- 
sels. In  1879  the  number  of  vessels  was  1,477  ;  in  1880,  2,226  ;  in  1881, 
2,727;  in  1882,  3,198;  in  1883,  3,307;  in  1884,  3,284;  in  1885,  3,634;  in 
1886,  3,100 ;  in  1887,  3,137 ;  in  1838,  3,440.  The  vessels  have  increased 
in  size  and  are  fewer  there,  you  see. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Now  how  does  the  expense  account  run  ? — A.  The  expense  account 
I  have  here  only  for  one  year;  that  is  for  1888.  For  administration — 
that  means  for  the  officers,  $207,914;  for  operation,  $521,137 ;  for  main- 
tenance and  renewals,  $378,007;  making  a  total  of  $1,207,058  as  against 
a  gross  income  of  $12,975,315. 

Q.  Leaving  a  balance  of  ai)parent  net  of  how  much  ? — A.  The  net  re- 
ceipts, $11,678,257,  for  the  year  1888. 

By  Senator  Payne  : 
Q.  Now  according  to  your  judgment,  Mr.  Miller,  how  would  the  busi- 
ness of  this  canal  compare  with  that  of  your  canal  t 


352  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Senator  Dolph.  If  yon  will  excuse  me  for  a  moment,  does  that  item 
for  operation  include  the  expense  of  towage;  are  they  sail  vessels  that 
navigate  the  canal  t 

Senator  Edmunds.  There  are  very  few,  but  there  are  some.  I  sup- 
pose there  is  an  additional  charge  for  towing  t 

Mr.  MiLLEE.  Certainly.  A  sail  vessel  going  through  there  would 
have  to  pay  for  its  towage  just  as  it  does  in  a  harbor  elsewhere. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Now  give  us  your  calculation  as  to  what  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
would  have  to  do  and  th?>  business  it  would  accomplish  ? — A.  The  first 
estiuiate  made  of  what  the  probable  business  of  the  canal  would  be  was 
made  at  the  Paris  conference  in  1879,  which  De  Ledseps  called  for  the 
consideration  of  this  question.  At  that  conference  I  believe  the  ton- 
nage then  estimated  that  would  pass  through  that  canal  was  5,000,000 
tons. 

Q.  That  is  the  Panama  Canal  ? — A.  I  think  their  estimate,  taking 
the  commerce  of  the  world,  that  would  be  tributary  to  the  canal — that 
was  estimated  at  the  beginning  would  be  about  5,000,000  tons  per  annum. 
The  exact  figures  I  have  not  here,  but  I  can  get  them  and  send  them  to 
you. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would.  Do  you  know  what  the  comparative  distance 
is  between  London  and  Paris  and  Havre,  all  that  region  of  Great 
Britain,  Liverpool,  London,  Bristol,  Havre,  Gibraltar,  and  all  the  Brit- 
ish Channel  ports  to  Japan  and  China  going  by  Suez  compared  to  the 
distance  going  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal  when  it  is  done  and  perfectly 
complete  to  carry  ships  that  wish  to  got — A.  Well,  I  have  got  all  of 
that.  I  referred  to  it  generally.  I  have  right  here  the  estimate  of  what 
the  business  of  the  Panama  Canal  would  be  in  1879.  It  amounted  to 
4,570,000  tons,  and  it  is  made  up  of  the  trade  that  was  then  known  to 
exist,  the  trade  that  was  then  going  around  the  Horn  and  would  natu- 
rally go  by  this  route  if  open,  and  in  this  document,  which  I  will  leave, 
is  given  the  nationality  of  the  trade — where  it  would  go.  In  1879  it  was 
estimated  at  4,570,000  tons,  and  taking  this  percentage  of  increase  pre- 
vious to  that  time  and  giving  the  percentage  now,  it  is  estimated  at  the 
present  time  the  trade  that  would  seek  this  line  is,  in  round  numbers, 
7,000,000  tons  per  annum. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  A  large  proportion  of  that  must  be  sailing  vessels. — A.  That  is 
very  largely  sailing  vessels  now,  undoubtedly,  but  undoubtedly  it  would 
very  rapidly  change  into  steam  vessels  when  the  canal  was  completed. 

Q.  Have  you  a  statement  of  our  commerce  upon  the  Pacific  coast 
estimated  from  the  number  of  ships  or  tonnage  t — A.  Not  since  1879, 
but  I  can  get  it  and  send  it  to  you. 

Q.  Oh,  it  is  not  material.  I  do  not  care  about  it. — A.  It  is  believed 
that  the  business  will  largely  increase  between  the  west  coast  of  the 
United  States  and  the  Atlantic  coast;  that  a  very  large  growth  of  busi- 
ness will  take  place  from  Puget  Sound,  which  is  to-day  the  greatest 
lumber  region  of  the  world,  and  that  the  lumber  from  Puget  Sound 
which  does  not  go  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  at  all  will  find  an  immense 
trade  the  moment  it  is  open.  Now  it  goes  to  the  west  instea<l,  to  China 
and  Japan,  and  it  is  said  they  have  the  largest  forests  in  the  world 
from  which  the  world  must  draw  its  supplies.  What  th^t  growth  of 
oommerce  will  be  it  is  impossible  to  accurately  estimate.    The  people 


NICARAGIFA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


353 


npon  the  Pacific  coast  and  in  California  and  in  Paget  Sound  believe 
that  in  five  years  the  trade  will  more  than  doable. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  What  rate  of  tonnage  do  you  think  that  kind  of  commerce,  of  the 
cheai)est  and  most  bulky  materials  like  lumber,  etc.,  could  bear  for  the 
advantage  of  going  through  the  Nicaragua  Canal  ?  By  tonnage  I  mean 
tolls,  of  course. — A.  Well,  the  concession  from  Nicaragua  allows  the 
canal  company  a  maximum  of  charge  of  $2.50  per  ton,  the  same  as  the 
Suez  Canal  in  the  start  had.  Between  New  York  and  the  Pacific  coast 
the  saving  by  this  route  between  New  York  and  San  Francisco  is,  in 
round  numbers,  10,000  miles. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  ton  on  a  thousand-ton  ship  would 
be  $2,500  toll  ?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  probable  cost  of  towage  of  a  sailing  vessel  ? — 
A.  Well,  it  is  estimated  a  vessel  will  pass  through  the  canal  in  twenty- 
four  to  thirty  hours.  A  sailing  vessel  will  be  towed  by  a  good  vessel — 
one  tug  would  take  two  in  probably  about  thirty  hoars. 

Q.  Could  they  navigate  at  night  ? — A.  Oh,  yes ;  of  course.  The  larger 
part  of  the  distance  is  in  the  open  water,  in  the  lake  and  in  the  river, 
and  of  course  that  will  all  be  lighted  perfectly  so  that  it  can  be  navi- 
gated in  the  night  as  well  as  in  the  day.  The  ordinary  cost  of  charter- 
ing a  tugboat  of  that  kind  in  New  York  Harbor,  one  large  enough  to 
do  that,  would  be  not  to  exceed  $40  a  day. 

By  Senator  Payne  : 

Q.  What  is  the  length  of  the  Suez  Canal  f — A.  Ninety-eight  miles. 

Q.  And  yours  is  how  much? — A.  The  entire  distance  across  Nicaragua 
is  170  miles,  but  there  are  only  27  miles  of  it  canal ;  the  rest  of  it  is 
river  and  lake  navigation — that  is,  open  navigation  through  which  you 
can  go  at  fair  speed,  and  vessels  can  pass  each  other. 

By  Senator  P^dmunds: 

Q.  Well,  $2,500  for  1,000  tons,  carrying  lumber  for  instance  from  Pu- 
get  Sound  to  New  York,  how  many  thousand  feet,  board  measure,  of 
lumber  would  a  thousand-ton  vessel  carry  ? — A.  I  could  not  give  you  the 
figures  without  going  to  the  books  to  see  what  the  weightis,  but  we  are 
chartering  vessels  all  the  while  to  carry  lumber,  building  our  shops  and 
our  pier,  and  they  carry  from  350,000  to  500,000  feet,  board  measure, 
and  we  are  paying  about  $5,000  freight  from  New  York  to  Greytowu,  a 
distance  of  2,000  miles,  for  sailing  vessels. 

Q.  You  pay  $5,000  for  carrying  350,000  feet  of  lumber  ?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  is  the  tonnage  of  vessels  carrying  350,000? — A.  About  600 
tons.  And  that  is  not  an  excessive  freight  at  aJl.  That  freight  is  very 
close.  That  is  the  cost  of  the  freight.  Now,  if  you  were  to  send  that 
vessel  around  the  Horn — the  distance  from  New  York  to  Greytown  is 
only  2,000  miles 

Q.  Yes,  but  the  thing  I  want  to  get  at  is  this :  Take  Puget  Sound  lum- 
ber, which  I  will  assume  laid  on  board  a  vessel  of  1,000  tons  at  Seattle 
and  contains  500,000  feet  is  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  Now,  then,  the  question 
is,  how  much  that  500,000  feet  of  lumber  has  got  to  pay  to  get  through 
that  canal  per  thousand  feet ;  how  much  the  cost  to  whoever  owns  it 
would  be  enhanced  to  the  people  who  could  buy  and  sell  it,  so  as  to  see 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 23 


354  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

whether  the  lumber  trade  of  Pagjet  Sound  could  stand  a  tax  of  that 
amount  of  money — $"2,000  on  500,000  feet  of  lumber — logo  through  that 
canal  T  That  is  what  I  want  to  get  at,  because  you  say  you  expect  this 
to  be  a  part  of  your  expected  traflBc. — A.  Well,  you  misunderstood  me 
there.  That  is  no  part  of  our  estimated  traflBc.  The  traflHc  we  have 
estimated  on  is  a  traflBc  we  know  to  exist.  That  is  simply  prospective. 
It  is  no  part  of  the  estimate  that  wa«  made  in  1879  of  the  traffic  that 
would  go  through  the  Panama  Canal,  and  it  is  no  part  of  the  7,000,000 
tons  we  have  estimated  to  now  exist,  because  that  traffic  does  not  exist. 
We  simply  speak  of  that  as  a  prospective  growth  of  trade. 

Q.  And  the  traffic  you  have  already  calculated  on  is  the  traffic  with 
China,  Siam,  etc.,  composed  of  silks  and  spices  and  cofltee  and  tea  and 
so  on  ? — A.  No ;  that  does  not  go  around  Cape  Horn,  and  therefore  we 
have  not  estimated  it. 

Q.  Exactly  what  I  want  to  get  at  is  whether  the  lumber  trade  of 
Puget  Sound  could  stand  a  tonnage  of  $2.50  a  ton  for  500,000  feet  of 
lumber ;  whether  it  could  go  through  and  still  find  a  market  t — A.  I 
understand  your  question,  and  I  think  I  had  better  not  endeavor  to 
make  any  arithmetic  answer  to  it  here,  but  I  will  take  that  problem 
home  and  have  it  worked  out. 

Q.  Well,  just  take  hold  of  it  and  have  it  worked  ont. — A.  Yes,  I  un- 
derstand just  exactly  what  it  is.  As  a  partial  answer  I  simply  referred 
you  to  what  it  cost  to  send  a  vessel  of  600  tons  from  New  York  to  Grey- 
town  carrying  350,000,  board  measure,  at  a  freight  of  $5,000.  I  simply 
threw  that  out  as  a  statement.  I  will  have  the  computation  made 
showing  exactly  the  difference  between  sailing  around  the  Horn  or 
coming  across  as  to  the  amount  that  would  be  spent  in  freight,  and  I 
will  also  take  up  the  question  of  moving  wheat  from  California  to  Liv- 
erpool that  now  goes  around  the  Horn.  I  will  have  those  figured  out 
accurately  and  send  them  over  to  you,  so  that  it  can  go  with  this  state- 
ment. 

Q.  Isthereanythingelseyon  think  of  to  state! — A.  I  do  not  know  as 
there  is.    I  am  willing  to  answer  any  questions. 

Q.  One  other  question  Mr.  Evarts  has  suggested.  In  your  looking 
forward  to  raising  the  means  to  carry  on  this  enterprise,  where  do  you 
and  your  friends  expect  that  this  money  is  to  come  from ;  from  citizens  of 
the  United  States  or  from  citizens  of  other  countries  ? — A.  We  expect 
it  will  come  from  the  whole  world  if  we  put  out  our  bonds,  and  my  judg- 
ment is  that  the  bulk  of  the  money  will  come  from  abroad,  where  all  of 
our  great  enterprises  go.  Our  people  are  very  much  interested  in  this 
whole  question.  I  can  say  that,  being  at  the  head,  the  president  of  the 
company,  we  are  getting  a  great  many  inquiries  from  all  over  the 
United  States  in  regard  to  the  undertaking,  and  the  whole  newspaper 
press  of  the  country  has  taken  it  np  and  shown  great  interest  in  it;  but 
we  are  getting  to  hear  a  great  many  inquiries  from  financial  people  in 
Europe.  The>  are  coming  direct  and  sometimes  coming  through  their 
agents  in  New  York,  who  are  constantly  coming  to  us  for  information 
as  to  this  enterprise,  as  to  what  it  proposes  to  do  and  what  its  financial 
plan  is. 

By  Senator  Payne: 
Q.  Practically  you  will  have  to  negotiate  with  a  large  house  in  New 
York  or  Loudon  and  they  will  cooperate  in  forming  a  grand  syndicate. 


NICARj^GUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  355 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Yes,  but  suppose  that  at  the  end  of  ten  years  from  to-day  the 
canal  is  done  and  $150,000,000  are  out  to  have  accomplished  it,  where 
do  you  think,  from  your  knowledge  of  all  these  transactions  and  the 
ways  of  human  affairs,  these  bonds  when  the  thing  is  done  at  the  end 
of  this  ten  years  will  be?  Will  they  be  held  chiefly  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States  or  chiefly  by  the  people  of  some  other  countries  ?— 
A.  I  think  at  least  two-thirds  of  them  will  be  in  Europe. 

Q.  Have  you  described  on  what  length  of  time  you  expect  these 
bonds  to  be  put  out  ? — A.  1  have  said  nothing  about  that,  and  that  is 
one  of  the  questions  between  the  two  companies  that  is  still  open — that 
has  not  been  decided — what  the  length  of  the  bonds  should  be. 

Q.  Well,  what  do  you  think  yourself? — A.  I  think  it  will  not  be  less 
than  fifty  years  and  it  may  be  even  longer  than  that.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  proposition  has  been  much  discussed  of  making  thera 
ninety  nine  years  ornot. 


356  mCAKAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


STATEMENT  OF  CHIEF  ESQINEEH  A.  G.  MENOGAL. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  What  is  your  present  relation  to  the  maritime  canal  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama? — A.  I  am  chief  engineer  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company. 

Q.  Have  you  been  connected  with  the  previous  surveys  of  the  Isth- 
mus?— A.  I  have  been  connected  with  all  the  surveys  that  have  been 
made  in  Nicaragua  since  1872. 

Q.  Will  you  explain  to  us,  in  a  brief  and  condensed  way  in  view  of 
what  Mr.  Miller  has  already  said,  what  the  i)resent  state  of  your  opera- 
tions there  is,  what  you  have  actually  done  in  respect  of  final  location 
and  work  upon  that  final  location,  and  the  prospective  work  that  is  to  be 
done,  so  that  we  can  see  at  a  glance,  in  view  of  these  maps  that  have 
been  presented,  just  how  far  you  have  got  on! — A.  The  proposed  Nica- 
ragua Canal  is  the  result  of  many  years  of  explorations  and  surveys  con- 
ducted under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States  Government  and  of  pri- 
vate parties,  and  of  exhaustive  surveys  made  by  a  numerous  and  well 
organized  corps  of  competent  engineers  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
struction Company,  from  December,  1887,  to  the  present  date,  for  the 
final  location  of  the  route  and  careful  examinations  and  studies  of  all 
the  work  required  for  the  completion  of  the  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  No  problem  has  been  left  unsolved,  and  all  doubtful  de- 
ments may  be  regarded  as  eliminated. 

The  canal  as  finally  located  lies  in  the  lowest  depression  of  land  in 
the  Cordilleras,  between  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  Cape  Horn,  and  trav- 
erses a  salubrious  and  fertile  country,  rich  in  natural  resources  and 
capable  of  great  development.  Lake  Nicaragua,  a  large  inland  sea  of 
fresh  water,  and  its  outlet,  the  river  San  Juan,  occupy  a  large  area  of 
this  depression.  The  surface  of  the  lake  is  110  feet  above  the  sea-level 
and  its  western  border  is  less  than  12  miles  from  the  Pacific  coast,  from 
which  it  is  separated  by  a  low  divide  of  42  feet  above  the  lake-level. 
The  lake  is  100  miles  in  length,  has  an  average  width  of  about  45  miles, 
and  a  variable  depth,  reaching  in  some  places  105  feet. 

The  proposed  canal  extends  from  the  harbor  of  San  Juan  del  Norte 
(Greytown)  on  the  Caribbean  Sea  to  Brito  on  the  Pacific.  The  total 
distance  from  ocean  to  ocean  by  sailing  line  through  canal  and  lake  is 
1GD.45  miles,  of  which  but  26.78  miles  will  be  wholly  in  excavation,  the 
other  142.67  miles  being  through  Lake  Nicaragua,  the  San  Juan  Riv^er, 
and  artificial  basins.  Of  the  latter  distance,  102  miles  will  have  a  depth 
of  30  feet  or  more,  requiring  neither  dredging  nor  excavation. 

The  lake  is  the  main  feeder  and  the  summit  level  of  the  canal.  It  is 
connected  with  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  11.40  miles  of  canal  in  excavation 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  357 

and  5.27  miles  of  artificial  basin  created  in  the  valley  of  Tola  by  i  Im 
construction  of  a  dam  across  a  narrow  gorge  of  the  valley,  3  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  Pacific  coast. 

From  the  lake  eastwards  the  canal  follows  the  river  San  Juan  for  a 
distance  of  G4A  miles  to  Ochoa,  where  by  the  construction  of  a  dam 
across  the  river  the  surface  of  the  water  is  raised  55  feet  and  slack- 
water  navigation  secured  along  that  distance,  converting  that  portion 
of  the  river  into  an  extension  of  the  lake.  Just  above  the  dam  the 
canal  leaves  the  bed  of  the  river  and  enters  into  a  chain  of  artificial 
basins  formed  by  the  construction  of  a  series  of  dams  and  embank- 
ments and  short  cuts,  confining  and  connecting  adjacent  valleys  for  a 
distance  of  about  12  miles  to  the  western  end  of  the  great  divide  cut. 
The  heaviest  work  in  the  whole  line  is  now  encountered  in  crossing  the 
divide  separating  the  valleys  of  the  San  Francisco  and  Deseado  Creeks, 
where  nearly  11,000,000  of  cubic  yards  of  rock  and  earth  excavation 
are  concentrated  in  a  (Hstarice  of  2^  miles.  However,  the  rock  is 
hard  and  homogeneous,  there  are  ample  natural  facilities  for  doing  the 
work;  the  rock  is  needed  for  the  construction  of  breakwaters,  locks, 
dams,  embankments,  etc.,  aud  if  not  found  in  that  favorable  center 
of  distribution  it  would  have  to  be  quarried  at  other  places. 

Easterly  of  the  divide  cut  there  is  another  artificial  basin  about  5 
miles  long  formed  by  the  construction  of  a  dam  across  the  valley  of  the 
Deseado,  and  thence  12  miles  of  canal  in  excavation  extending  to  the 
harbor  of  Greytown,  of  which  nearly  10  miles  will  be  at  the  level  of 
the  sea. 

The  summit  level  of  the  canal  extends  from  the  western  end  of  the 
basin  of  Tola  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  Deseado  basin,  a  distance  of 
154  miles.  It  has  been  stated  that  this  upper  level  is  110  feet  above 
the  sea-level.  This  elevation  is  proposed  to  be  overcome  by  six  locks, 
three  on  the  Atlantic  and  three  on  the  Pacific  slopes — the  lifts  of  these 
locks  varying  from  a  maximum  of  45  feet  to  a  minimum  of  25  feet, 
their  uniform  length  being  650  feet  and  the  width  80  feet. 

The  harbors  of  Greytown  and  Brito  need  to  be  enlarged  and  improved 
by  the  construction  of  breakwaters  and  by  dredging,  but  the  works 
required  present  no  serious  engineering  difliculties. 

With  the  exception  of  the  rock  cuts  in  the  eastern  and  western  divides, 
the  canal  prism  will  be  at  all  points  wide  enough  for  two  ships  to  travel 
in  opposite  directions,  and  its  leasit  depth  will  be  30  feet.  In  the  lake, 
the  river  San  Juan,  and  the  artificial  basins  vessels  can  travel  with 
entire  freedom. 

The  computed  quantities  of  excavations,  embankments,  and  fills,  as 
determined  by  a  careful  location  of  the  entire  route,  study  of  all  acces- 
sory works,  and  borings  to  the  depth  of  necessary  cuttings,  are  as 
follows : 

Cubic  yards. 

Dredging  below  sea-level 29,823, 161 

Earth  excavation  above  sea-level 21,773,810 

Eock  excavation 13,452,938 

Rock  excavation  under  water 575,445 

Total  excavation,  earth  and  rock 65,625,354 

Rock  fills  for  dams  and  breakwaters 4,033,810 

Earth  fills 6,105.380 

Stone  pitching 202,641 

Concrete  in  locks  and  retaining-walls 615,651 

It  is  estimated  that  the  canal  can  be  completed  in  seven  years,  of 
which  one  year  will  be  consumed  in  preliminary  work. 
The  estimated  cost  of  construction  of  the  whole  canal  and  the  two 


358  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

h.irbors  is  $65,000,000.  This  eslimate  Las  been  revised  by  a  board  of 
cousultiug  engineiTs,  who,  after  allowing  a  large  percentage  for  possi- 
ble and  remote  contingencies,  have  fixed  the  total  cost  of  the  work  at 
$87,000,000,  exclusive  of  commissions,  banking,  and  interest  during  the 
time  of  construction. 

The  capacity  of  the  canal  for  traffic  is  estimated  at  32  vessels  per  day, 
or  11,680  in  one  year;  which,  based  on  the  average  tonnage  of  ^  ssels 
passing  through  the  Suez  Canal,  will  give  an  annual  capacity  for  traffic 
of  over  20,000,000  tons.  By  passing  more  than  one  vessel  in  each  lock- 
age, the  above  estimated  capacity  may  be  largely  increased.  The  pres- 
ent traffic  of  the  Suez  Canal  is  about  3,500  vessels,  with  a  tonnage  of 
about  7,000,000  tons  annually. 

The  water  required  for  thirty  two  lockages  in  one  day  is  127,400,000 
cubic  feet,  while  the  lowest  flow  of  the  lake  in  the  <lry  season  is  11,930 
cubic  feet  per  second,  or  in  one  day  1,272,530,000  cubic  feet;  conse- 
quently the  lake  supply  alone  is  ten  times  the  maximam  needed  for  the 
oi)erations  of  the  canal. 

The  time  consumed  in  passing  from  ocean  to  ocean  by  steamer  is 
estimated  at  twenty-eight  hours,  which  includes  one  hour  and  twenty 
minutes  for  possible  detention  in  narrow,  rocky  cuts. 

The  business  of  the  canal  at  the  time  of  its  proposed  completion  in 
1897,  based  on  reliable  statistic  information,  is  estimated  at  7,000,000,  of 
which  more  than  half  will  be  between  ports  of  the  United  States,  or  the 
United  States  and  other  countries ;  but  the  natural  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  Pacific  States  and  Territories,  greatly  promoted  and  ma- 
terially increased  by  the  opening  of  the  canal,  will  add  millions  of  tons 
of  traffic  to  the  canal  which  present  intormation  fails  to  show. 

WOBK  ACCOMPLISHED. 

From  December  1887  to  June  1890,  the  Nicarauga  Canal  Construc- 
tion Company  had  a  numerous  corps  of  engineers  constantly  employed 
exploring  all  possible  routes,  and  making  a  careful  survey  of  the  one 
finally  selected  as  possessing  the  greatest  facilities,  with  the  least 
doubtful  problems,  for  the  construction  of  the  canal.  More  than 
$300,000  were  expended  in  these  surveys. 

The  first  expedition  for  construction  left  New  York  on  the  25th  of 
May,  1889,  and  on  the  3d  of  June  landed  at  the  proposed  entrance  to 
the  canal  from  the  Caribbean  Sea,  near  Greytown,  on  a  sandy  unin- 
habited coast,  without  harbor  or  shelter  from  the  elements,  with  no 
means  of  communication  along  the  line  of  the  canal  except  through 
tortuous  and  much  obstructed  streams,  some  of  which  could  not  float  a 
loaded  canoe,  and  depending  altogether  on  a  base  of  supplies  for  mate- 
rials for  construction  and  subsistence  2,000  miles  distant,  with  only  one 
line  of  steamers  touching  on  that  coast,  and  two  weeks  distant  from  the 
nearest  telegraph  station. 

The  first  work  of  the  pioneers  of  the  great  enterprise  was  necessarily 
one  of  self  preservation.  Rude  temporary  shelters  had  to  be  im provised 
for  the  protection  of  men  and  stores  while  more  permanent  buildings 
could  be  erected ;  means  of  transportation  along  the  route  of  the  canal 
through  deep  and  extensive  swamps  and  virgin  forests  had  to  be  pro- 
vided for,  and  telegraph  communication  to  the  nearest  station,  more 
than  one  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  and  connecting  the  various 
camps  about  to  be  established  with  the  base  of  operations,  was  felt  from 
the  start  to  be  an  indispensable  adjunct  in  prosecuting  the  work. 
Under  these  conditions,  aggravated  by  an  insufficient  supply  of  an  in- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  359 

ferior  class  of  labor,  the  first  operations  were  difBciilt,  tedious,  and 
expensive,  and  it  was  not  until  the  month  of  October  following  that 
the  most  indispensable  elements  for  the  organization  of  the  various 
departments  and  distribution  of  the  working  forces  had  been  created 
and  the  preliminary  work  of  construction  could  be  said  to  have  com- 
menced. 

The  opening  of  an  entrance  into  what  used  to  be  the  Bay  of  Grey- 
town,  now  converted  into  a  fresh-water  lagoon,  was  recognized  from 
the  start  to  bean  indispensable  requisite  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work 
of  excavating  the  canal.  Ships  now  anchor  about  2  miles  off  shore,  and 
machinery  and  other  supplies  are  brought  ashore  in  lighters,  through  a 
shifting  entrance  and  dangerous  bar  with  a  variable  depth,  never  ex- 
ceeding 6  feet.  This  method  of  landing  supplies  involves  considerable 
risk  and  expense,  and  is  altogether  inadequate  for  the  discharge  of  the 
heavy  machinery  required. 

The  company,  therefore,  has  spared  no  effort  in  obtaining  an  entrance 
from  the  sea  into  the  bay,  and  the  construction  of  the  breakwater  re- 
quired to  arrest  the  shilting  sand  and  protect  the  dredged  channel  was 
one  of  the  first  works  undertaken  by  the  company,  and  pushed  ahead 
with  all  possible  dispatch.  This  pier  is  now  about  700  feet  long,  its 
outer  end  being  in  12  feet  of  water,  and  so  far  has  fulfilled,  even  be- 
yond expectations,  all  that  was  expected  to  be  accomplished  by  its 
construction.  It  affords  now  suflBcient  protection  to  the  dredges  ex- 
cavating the  channel,  and  the  company  has  already  made  a  contract 
for  the  excavation  of  the  entrance  and  inner  bay  to  a  depth  of  20  feet. 
Some  of  the  dredges  are  on  the  way  to  Nicaragua  and  others  are  in 
process  of  constructioo  and  will  soon  leave  for  Grey  town.  It  is  expected, 
therefore,  that  within  the  next  five  months  vessels  drawing  15  or  20  feet 
may  be  able  to  enter  the  bay  and  discharge  their  freight  directly  on 
the  wharves  of  the  company. 

Heavy  machinery  suitable  for  the  work  can  then  be  safely  landed, 
the  work  of  preparation  may  be  said  to  have  been  completed,  and  ac- 
tive operations  can  be  undertaken  along  the  whole  route. 

While  prosecuting  the  harbor  work  the  company  has  also  established 
permanent  quarters,  erected  large  store  houses,  hospitals,  dwellings, 
shops,  and  other  buildings.  It  has  accumulated  the  necessary  ma- 
terial for  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  13  miles  in  length  (work 
on  which  is  now  actively  pushed),  which  is  to  supply  Greytowu,  the 
works  on  the  eastern  section  of  the  canal,  the  harbor,  and  the  company's 
headquarters  with  fresh  water  from  the  mountains.  It  has  erected 
wharves  and  warehouses  for  the  receipt  and  storage  of  supplies.  Parts 
of  the  San  Juanillo,  Deseado,  San  Francisco,  and  other  streams  have 
been  cleared  of  obstructions  and  made  navigable  for  small  crafts,  and 
several  miles  of  the  route  of  the  canal  between  the  harbor  and  lock  No. 
1  have  been  grubbed  and  cleared  and  made  ready  for  dredging. 

The  company  has  built  about  2  miles  of  broad-gauge  railroad  and 
about  70  miles  of  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  has  landed  at  Grey- 
town  large  quantities  of  machinery,  tools,  lumber,  piles,  creosoted  tim- 
ber, boats,  steam-tugs,  and  launches,  lighters,  pile-drivers,  and  other 
materials  and  equipmentnecessary  fortheharborandcanal  work.  Large 
quantities  of  railroad  supplies,  locomotives,  and  steam  excavators  are 
now  at  Greytown,  and  a  contract  has  been  let  for  the  construction  of  17 
miles  of  railroad  from  Greytown  to  the  eastern  divide  cut,  work  on 
which  has  already  been  commenced  The  company  has  also  spent  large 
sums  of  money  for  engineering  work  in  locating  railroads  and  in  making 
final  plans  and  detailed  surveys  of  the  canal,  the  harbors,  locks,  and 


360  NICAKAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

other  accessory  works,  and,  in  short,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the 
whole  work  is  beiug  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  the  circumstances  and 
condition  of  the  country  permit. 

There  are  now  six  engineering  parties  in  the  field,  in  addition  to 
those  engaged  in  the  harbor  and  railroad  construction,  making  detailed 
surveys  and  geological  examinations  of  the  sites  of  the  dams  and  em- 
bankments and  of  the  locks  ;  so  that  the  company  may  be  able  at  any 
time  to  let  the  contract  for  those  works  simultaneously  with  that  of  ex- 
cavating the  canal. 

The  administration  and  medical  departments  as  now  organized  and 
equipped  are  capable  of  rapid  enlargement  and  efficient  work,  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  if  the  work  on  construction  is  prosecuted 
without  interruption  the  canal  will  be  opened  to  traffic  within  the  six 
years  intimated  for  its  construction. 

Q.  How  many  years  ago  were  you  first  there  t — A.  My  first  trip  to 
Nicaragua  was  in  March,  1872. 

Q.  How  many  times  have  you  been  there  since ;  in  how  many  differ- 
ent years!— A.  187  >,  '73,  '74,  '76,  '77,  '80,  '85,  '87,  '89,  and  '90.  That  is 
the  number  of  trips  I  have  made. 

Q.  In  all  that  time  how  many  months  altogether,  in  round  numbers, 
have  you  spent  there  ? — A.  It  may  be  estimated  that  I  have  been  there 
no  less  than  four  and  a  half  years'  time  continuously. 

Q.  Have  you  been  there,  taking  it  all  things  together,  in  all  seasons 
of  the  year  f — A.  In  all  seasons  of  the  year. 

Q.  How  was  your  health  affected  by  it  ? — A.  It  was  always  better. 
I  have  never  been  injuriously  affected  by  the  climate. 

Q.  What  has  been  your  observation,  then,  as  to  the  Northern  people 
and  others  you  have  employed,  as  to  the  salubrity  of  that  climate f — 
A.  In  these  expeditions  in  which  I  have  been  engaged,  in  the  surveys 
both  of  the  east  and  the  west  side,  I  have  always  had  a  large  number 
of  employes,  most  all  Americans,  with  perhaps  a  dozen  natives  in  each 
party,  engaged  in  cutting  brush  and  clearing  the  way  for  the  engineers, 
and  we  have  never  lost  a  man,  or  I  never  had  a  man  more  than  two 
days  in  camp  on  account  of  diseases  contracted  in  the  country. 

Q.  What  do  you  think,  then,  in  respect  of  any  extraordinary  danger 
to  Northern  white  men  in  carrying  on  the  operations  of  that  canal? — 
A.  I  anticipate  no  danger  whatever.  So  strong  is  this  feeling  that  I 
have  two  of  my  sons  there  now  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  work. 

Q.  How  much  is  the  rise  and  fall  of  Lake  Nicaragua  in  its  present 
natural  condition  from  extreme  high  water  to  extreme  low  water  ? — 
A.  From  2^  to  5  feet.  We  propose  to  retain  the  level  of  the  lake  at 
110  feet 

Q.  How  much  will  that  swell  it  above  its  lowest  natural  condition  f — 
A.  Six  and  a  half  feet. 

Q.  So  that  that  will  carry  it  up  to  a  height  of  2  or  3  feet  above  its 
ordinary  tide- water! — A.  Yes,  but  110  feet  is  not  above  the  highest 
water-mark  by  any  means. 

Q.  Will  it  carry  it  up  where  it  will  kill  trees,  make  the  shores  as  an 
overflowed  land  that  is  never  now  covered  ? — A.  No,  sir.  I  would  not 
say  never,  for  sometimes  the  water  reaches  an  elevation  above  112  feet. 

Q.  So  that  your  highest  point  of  elevation  artificially  made  will  not 
exceed  what  sometimes  the  highest  natural  water  is! — A.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  MiLLEB.  I  have  an  idea  that  it  has  been  over  112  feet. 

Mr.  Menooal.  Yes. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 
Q.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  country  there  as  to  dry  land  or  swamp  1 


NICAEiiGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  361 

— A.  Od  the  south  side  it  is  swcimpy.  The  west  coast  is  solid  land. 
The  extreme  northern  end  is  swampy  for  a  very  short  distance  and  on 
the  east  side  is  solid  elevated  laud. 

Q.  So  that  really  the  only  swampy  shores  are  near  the  outlet  at  the 
very  head? — A.  Yes,  that  is  just  it,  and  where  Lake  Managua  enters 
and  eippties  into  Lake  Nicaragua.    There  is  a  kind  of  a  low-land  there. 

Q.  How  many  square  miles  of  that  low-land  is  there  where  the  outlet 
of  Lake  Managua  is? — A.  I  would  not  like  to  state. 

Q.  Oh,  state  in  round  numbers  what  you  think. — A.  Well,  I  think  15 
or  20  miles. 

Q.  Fifteen  or  20  square  miles? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  much  of  the  low  end  or  south  end  of  the  lake — ^how  far  on 
either  side  is  it  swamp? — A.  Well,  the  south  end  I  never  visited.  On 
the  north  side  there  would  be  no  inundation ;  on  the  east  side  near  the 
outlet  it  may  be  a  half  a  mile  to  2  miles.  It  is  flooded,  however,  in  the 
rainy  season. 

Q.  So  that  your  permanent  elevation,  110  feet,  raising  the  water  3  or 
4  feet  above  its  present  point,  would  not  materially  affect  the  surround- 
ing country  ? — A.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  would  be  healthy,  for  the 
reason  that  these  low  lands  would  be  permanently  covered,  instead  of 
being  alternately  covered  wet  and  dry  as  now. 

Q.  What,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  most  difficult  engineering,  practical 
problem  as  to  an  effective  canal  there  ? — A.  I  do  not  know  that  there 
is  anything  very  difficult.  I  do  not  see  any  serious  difficulty  on  the 
whole  route. 

Q.  Yes,  but  you  have  spoken  of  the  engineering  difficulties  being 
now  practically  solved,  but  referring  to  them  as  some  being  greater 
than  others. — A.  Weil,  there  are  some  difficulties  that  have  to  be  over- 
come. 

Q.  Where  is  the  greatest  difficulty! — A.  The  greatest  difficulties  I 
should  say  are  in  the  constrction  of  the  dam  across  the  river  San  Juan 
and  the  construction  of  certain  dams  and  embankments  upon  the  San 
Francisco  Valley. 

Q.  Is  that  San  Francisco,  containing  a  part  of  the  water  that  comes 
out  of  the  lake,  a  separate  and  independent  river  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  it  is  a 
valley  intended  to  be  closed  by  dams  and  embankments  and  converted 
into  a  lake,  and  there  is  another  valley  here  emptying  through  a  narrow 
gorge  into  the  broad  valley  of  the  San  Juan,  and  that  is  also  closed. 
Now  these  two  valleys  are  separated  by  a  ridge  through  which  is  cut  a 
canal.  Consequently  you  have  so  many  miles  of  canal  navigation 
through  this  deep  basin  without  any  excavation,  except  what  is  re- 
quired to  combine  or  connect  these  two  valleys.  Now,  in  raising  the 
waters  by  the  construction  of  the  dam  across  the  San  Juan  55  feet 
the  upper  part  of  the  river  is  converted  into  an  extension  of  the  lake, 
.  and  that  same  level  is  continued  through  these  different  valleys  and 
through  the  deep  cut  and  beyond  through  a  basin  5  miles  long  towards 
the  Atlantic  and  east  of  the  deep  cut,  made  in  the  same  way  by  the 
construction  of  another  dam.  Consequently  the  summit  level  extends 
from  the  easterly  end  of  this  latter  basin  to  the  westerly  end  of  the  Tola 
basin,  west  of  the  lake. 

Q.  That  is,  it  extends  how  many  miles  from  the  Atlantic! — ^A.  From 
within  12  miles  of  the  Atlantic  to  3  miles  of  the  Pacific. 

Q.  You  get  the  lake-level  that  whole  distance! — A.  Yes.  It  is  not 
quite  the  lake-level.  We  call  it  level  for  all  practical  purposes  of  navi- 
gation, but  of  course  the  river  San  Juan  must  have  a  fall,  and  that  fall 


362  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

is  estimated  at  tliree  foarths  of  an  iucb  to  the  mile,  or  about  4  feet  for 
the  64^  miles  of  slack- water  navigation. 

Q.  But  between  those  two  points  there  are  no  locks  at  allt — A.  No 
locks;  no,  sir. 

Q.  Now  you  have  spoken  of  the  San  Francisco  River  and  of  these 
basins  that  you  make  towards  the  Atlantic  from  this  big  dam  T — A. 
Yes. 

Q.  Now,  where  does  the  water  come  from,  from  which  you  make  these 
lakes  f — ^A.  It  comes  from  tributaries  of  the  San  Juan. 

Q.  How  are  those  dams  here  towards  the  Atlantic  to  affect,  by  mak- 
ing permanent  water  in  those  valleys,  the  health  of  that  region,  and 
how  much  of  the  flow  that  is  not  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  canal 
navigation! — A.  It  will  make  the  region  healthy  because  it  will  flood 
all  the  lowlands  and  the  water  will  come  to  the  slope  of  these  steep  hills 
on  the  sides  of  the  valley. 

Q.  Take  the  valley  of  the  San  Francisco,  which  you  have  spoken  of 
as  a  tributary  of  the  San  Juan — ^you  are  building  your  dams  there — 
how  far  up  the  valley  of  the  San  Francisco  will  that  water  level  go? — 
A.  It  will  go  for  about  6  or  7  miles  beyond  the  axis  of  the  canal,  and 
in  a  valley,  almost  a  level  plain., 

Q.  How  wide  is  that  plain  !— A.  About  6  miles  in  width  and  about  5 
miles  in  breadth. 

Q.  What  is  this  plain  now  that  is  to  be  flooded ;  are  farms  and  peo- 
ple there  t — A.  No,  sir ;  not  at  all.    It  is  most  all  swampy. 

Q.  Heavy  swamp  forests? — A.  Yes,  enormous  forests. 

Q.  What  kind  of  timber? — A.  Well,  the  timber  resembles  very  much 
the  white  oak  of  this  country. 

Q.  Very  large  trees  ? — A.  Very  large  trees,  and  generally  heavy  tim- 
ber, but  not  very  good  for  construction  purposes. 

Q.  Well,  that  flow  going  there  permanently  will  destroy  all  that  ? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  in  the  end  it  will  be  a  sheet  of  open  water? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Which  will  be  in  the  San  Francisco  5  or  6  miles  long  and  6  or  8 
wide  ? — A.  Yes,  I  have  estimated  about  3,000  feet  of  grubbing  and 
clearing  as  suflicient  for  the  free  navigation  and  anchorage  of  ships. 

Q.  Now,  as  to  these  artificial  lakes  that  we  are  speaking  of  of  the  San 
Francisco  Valley,  are  they  supplied  solely  by  the  waters  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Eiver  ? — A.  They  are  supplied  solely  by  it ;  yes. 

Q.  Suppose  the  San  Francisco  Eiver  does  not  furnish  saflScient 
water? — A.  The  basins  will  be  supplied  from  the  San  Juan  River. 

Q.  Then  they  would  be  supplied  besides  what  the  San  Francisco 
furnished  from  the  lake  above  and  the  river  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  with  that  area  of  surface  in  this  San  Francisco  Valley  is  your 
canal,  after  evaporation,  etc.,  going  to  be  large  enough  to  keep  the  level 
up  there  without  having  a  tremendous  current  through  it? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  Have  you  calculated  all  that? — A.  Yes;  the  current  in  the  canal 
will  never  exceed  half  a  mile  an  hour.  The  size  of  the  canal  will  be  so 
proportioned  that  the  current  will  be  small. 

Q.  What  is  the  dry  season  of  the  year  there  ? — A.  On  the  west  side 
it  is  from  November  to  May. 

Q.  On  the  east  side,  of  which  we  are  now  speaking  ? — A.  Well,  there 
is  no  dry  season  except,  perhaps,  January  to  May,  but  it  is  not  a  dry 
season  as  it  is  on  the  west  side,  because  it  rains  more  or  less  on  the  east 
fiide  at  all  times  of  the  year. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  363 

Q.  What  is  the  average  rainfall  during  the  year  on  the  east  side  f — 
A..  I  should  say  that  it  is  not  less  than  150  iuches. 

Q.  And  falling  more  or  less  every  month  of  the  year  ? — A.  Yes,  dis- 
tributed through  the  whole  year. 

Q.  Now  take  the  San  Francisco  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  does 
it  not  happen  that  sometimes  there  is  a  tremendous  flood  there  ? — A. 
Not  a  tremendous  flood,  because  the  water-shed  of  the  San  Francisco 
Valley  is  only  85  square  miles,  and  sufficient  waste-weirs  have  been 
provided  for  the  discbarge  of  the  surplus  waters. 

Q.  So  you  think  that  in  the  most  tremendous  storms  that  this  arti- 
ficial lake  that  you  are  to  construct,  taking  in  the  San  Francisco  valley 
would  not  get  so  high  as  to  disturb  the  canal  operations?  A.  No,  sir 
not  at  all.  The  water  is  always  kept  about  the  same  level.  As  soon  as 
the  water  rises  it  flows  over  these  spillways  [indicating]  and  is  discharged 
over  here. 

Q.  Since  you  have  been  there,  in  all  these  years  have  you  had  or 
known  of  any  accurate  observations  made  of  the  state  of  the  water  in 
the  San  Juan  as  regards  its  rise  and  fall  from  day  to  day? — A.  No,  sir; 
not  continuous  observations.  We  had  observations  from  1887  to  1888, 
showing  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  river,  but  it  has  not  been  kept  since. 

Q.  How  much  did  it  show  that  time? — A.  We  have  had  rises  there 
of  12  feet. 

Q.  How  would  a  rise  of  12  feet  affect  your  canal  operations? — A. 
Well,  it  may  raise  the  water  in  this  portion  of  the  canal  extending 
from  above  the  dam  to  lock  number  three,  on  the  east  side,  probably 
1^  feet  to  3  feet,  no  more,  because  we  have  waste-weirs  to  provide  for 
these  sudden  rises  of  the  San  Juan  Eiver. 

Q.  But  where  the  river  at  the  utmost  has  risen  according  to  the  ob- 
servations taken  you  say  the  lake  itself  has  only  risen  5  or  6  feet? — A. 
Yes ;  because  there  is  at  present  a  fall  of  about  45  or  50  feet  in  that 
portion  of  the  river. 

Q.  How  far  inland  from  your  harbor  at  Grey  town  is  this  first  dam  to 
be  built?— A.  It  is  32  miles. 

Q.  Now  that  is  your  lowest  dam  on  the  San  Juan  ? — A.  Yes,  sir ; 
that  is  the  only  dam  in  that  river. 

Q.  What  is  the  nature  of  each  shore  at  that  place  where  you  propose 
to  build  that  dam,  I  mean  its  geological  and  topographical  forma- 
tion ? — A.  The  top  is  red  clay,  below  is  rock,  and  the  bottom  of  the 
river  is  either  rock  or  very  compact  gravel. 

Q.  What  is  the  width  of  the  river  therefrom  shore  to  shore? — A.  At 
the  present  time,  900  feet. 

Q.  What  is  its  depth  where  you  propose  to  have  the  dam? — A.  The 
maximum  depth  is  14  feet  near  the  right  bank,  gradually  deereasing  to 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  at  the  other  bank. 

Q.  No  rock  there  ? — A.  There  is  rock  projecting  out  on  both  banks 
from  the  abutments  of  the  dam. 

Q.  That  appear  above  the  surface  now? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  So  that  you  have  a  secure  termination  at  either  end  of  the  damt — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  kind  of  a  dam  do  you  propose  to  build  there  ? — A.  I  have 
proposed  to  build  a  rock-fill  dam ;  that  is,  a  dam  made  of  rock  dumped 
in  the  river  and  allow  it  to  take  its  natural  slope.  The  work  of  distrib- 
uting the  material  will  be  done  by  the  force  of  the  water  and  Its  scour- 
ing action  on  the  bottom  until  the  proper  equilibrium  is  established. 
In  this  way  I  expect  that  the  company  would  have  a  very  cheap  and 
safe  dam. 


364  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Q.  Well,  having  got  your  rocks  in  in  that  way,  how  can  yon  malcft  a 
dam  tight t — A.  Wt;  have  so  much  surplus  water  that  I  do  not  think 
we  will  make  any  efforts  to  make  the  dam  tight,  but  if  it  was  required 
to  make  it  tight,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  make  a  deposit  of  sand,  clay, 
and  other  material  on  the  upper  slope  of  the  dam. 

Q.  Do  I  understand  you  to  mean  by  a  rock-fill  dam  that  way  that  you 
merely  dump  rocks  right  across ;  tumble  them  right  in  t — A.  Yes,  rocks 
weighing  a  ton  or  more. 

Q.  Precisely ;  but  in  respect  to  a  structure,  ashler  or  joints,  or  any- 
thing of  that  kind,  you  do  not  do  it? — A.  No,  sir;  that  I  would  not 
regard  safe.    I  regard  this  as  entirely  safe. 

Q.  And  you  expect  to  put  the  rocks  in  close  enough  together  to  pro- 
duce the  elevation  you  require  T — A.  We  can  do  that  by  means  of  the 
wire-rope  system. 

Q.  You  then  there  really  make  a  little  cataract  of  bowlders  that  you 
put  in  t — A.*  That  is  so. 

Q.  Is  that  so  of  all  your  other  dams  ? — A.  All  are  expected  to  be 
made  the  same  way. 

Q.  So  that,  as  regards  the  construction  of  what  in  New  England  we 
would  call  a  dam  of  the  component  and  jointed  work  thereof  timber  or 
stone  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind  required. — A.  Nothing  at  all.  I  had 
originally  proposed  to  have  these  dams  built  of  concrete  and  ashler, 
but  afterwards  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  safest  dam, 
one  that  can  not  be  carried  away  by  floods  nor  affected  by  earthquakes, 
which,  if  anything,  would  make  it  more  compact.  Suppose  we  had  a 
tremendous  storm  and  extraordinary  flood,  it  might  carry  a  few  rocks 
from  the  top  away,  but  the  rocks  won't  float;  they  must  lay  somewhere 
on  the  lower  slope.  The  top  of  the  dam  might  be  lowered  a  few  feet, 
but  the  main  body  of  the  dam  will  remain  intact  and  we  could  repair 
the  damage  done  by  dumping  more  rock  on  the  crest. 

Mr.  Miller.  It  is  simply  an  immense  weight. 

Mr.  Menooal.  It  is  an  artificial  mountain  across  the  river. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  . 

Q.  The  dam  he  proposes  is  what  nature  has  done  in  a  good  many 
other  places.  You  have  spoken  of  earthquakes,  which  is  an  interesting 
subject  to  a  good  many  people  as  regards  the  stability  of  such  work. 
You  have  been  down  there  a  good  many  years,  how  many  earthquakes 
have  you  experienced? — A.  I  never  experienced  but  one  or  two,  and 
they  were  so  slight  as  to  be  of  no  consequence. 

Q.  How  recent  in  history  has  there  been  any  earthquake  In  that  re- 
gion of  country  that  has  overthrown  houses,  etc.  ? — A.  Not  any  that 
I  know  of,  except  that  the  tower  of  a  church  and  some  houses  have 
been  slightly  cracked. 

Q.  How  long  ago  were  these  t— A.  In  1845,  in  the  town  of  Eivas,  the 
church  steeple  fell. 

Q.  Where  is  that  ? — A.  Eivas  is  about  3  or  4  miles  from  the  line  of 
the  canal  west  of  the  lake. 

Q.  How  long  do  you  estimate  the  time  that  will  be  necessarily  occu- 
pied in  completing,  with  adequate  funds,  the  canal  ? — A.  I  think  one 
year  for  preliminary  operations  and  six  years,  hard  work  will  be  suf&- 
cient  to  complete  the  work. 

Q.  So  that,  adequate  funds  and  management  being  provided,  you 
think  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that  the  canal  would  be  completely  done 
and  ready  for  occupation  in  eight  years,  making  due  allowance  fui  con- 
tingencies?— A.  Yes. 


NICARAGUA  .  CANAL    COMPANY.  .  365 

Q.  So  that  y^u  feel  confident  that  within  this  century,  which  ia  ten 
years,  with  adequate  funds  and  management,  it  would  be  a  moral  cer- 
tainty thaft  the  canal  would  be  in  operation.  Now,  tell  me  about  the 
nature  of  the  country  between  the  northwest  side  of  the  lake  down  to 
Brito ;  it  is  within  only  about  12  miles  from  the  Pacific,  and  a  descent 
in  round  numbers  of  110  feet? — A.  The  country  is  comparatively  a  level 
country,  what  you  might  call  a  slightly  rolling  country,  and  it  is  most 
all  open  to  cultivation.    It  is  very  fertile. 

Q.  Inhabited  ? — A.  Inhabited,  with  fair  roads  for  carts. 

Q.  And  ranches,  haciendas,  and  what  we  call  farms,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing? — A.  Very  beautiful,  yes. 

Q.  Well,  does  the  canal  open  on  some  valleys,  or  is  it  a  direct  cut  t — 
A.  It  goes  from  valley  to  valley.  It  goes  from  the  valley  of  the  river 
Lajas,  which  empties  into  the  lake,  into  another  valley  of  smaller  size, 
and  then  after  crossing  the  divide  into  the  valley  of  the  Eio  Grande 
where  an  artificial  basin  is  to  be  made,  and  from  there  to  the  Pacific  it 
might  be  said  it  follows  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

Q.  Now  beginning  at  the  lake,  how  far,  following  the  canal  line,  is  it 
to  the  absolutely  highest  point  of  the  crest  of  the  divide  as  nature  now 
is  ?— A.  It  is  7  miles. 

Q.  There,  then,  on  that  side  would  be  your  deepest  cutt — ^A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  depth  of  that  cut  ? — A.  Seventy-two  feet  to 
the  bottom  of  the  canal. 

Q.  And  how  long! — A.  That  depth  would  be  only  at  one  point. 

Q.  Well  say  take  it  for  2  miles  ? — ^A.  That  deep  cut  is  altogether  9 
miles  long. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  average  depth  of  that  f — A.  I  should  say  the 
average  depth  is  about  18  feet  above  water  level. 

Q.  What  sort  of  material  I — A.  The  material  is  mostly  of  rock,  cov- 
ered by  10  or  15  feet  of  clay  or  gravel. 

Q.  Then  you  would  have  on  an  average  of  about  how  much  depth  of 
rock  cutting  for  that  9  miles  ? — ^A.  The  rock  cutting  would  be  about  35 
to  40,  average. 

Q.  What  is  the  nature  of  that  rock  ? — A.  It  is  trap-rock.  It  is  a 
volcanic  rock,  easily  blasted,  and  at  the  same  time  very  good  for  con- 
struction purposes. 

Q.  Capable  of  resisting  water  so  it  can  be  used  for  construction  f — 
A.  Yes.    It  is  very  well  adapted  for  concrete  work. 

Q.  Does  it  come  out  in  forms  capable  of  using  for  masonry? — A.  It 
is  strong  enough,  but  very  diflficult  to  cut.  It  is  very  hard  to  be  cut  and 
dressed.    We  use  it  in  concrete. 

Q.  Then  you  expect  to  feed  your  western  canal  from  the  lake  itself? 
—A.  Yes. 

Q.  But  you  have  three  locks  ? — A.  Three  locks  j  yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  they  are  to  cover  altogether  110  feet  rise  ? — A.  Yes.  There 
will  be  two  locks  with  85  feet,  42^  feet  to  the  lock. 

Q.  That  is  a  tremendous  pressure.  Those  locks  you  would  have  to 
build  of  good  masonry  ? — A.  No ;  I  propose  to  build  them  of  concrete. 

Q.  By  concrete  you  mean  to  take  this  stone  that  comes  out  of  your 
roclj  cutting  for  your  stone,  and  then  you  break  that  up  into  pieces  of 
what  average  size? — ^A.  Not  more  than  3  inches. 

Q.  And  then  you  put  that  in  with  cement? — A.  Cement  and  sand 
mixed  into  mortar,  and  then  ram  it  in  layers. 

Q.  Have  you  got  any  drawings  or  anything  now  that  would  show 
your  proposed  method  of  the  construction  of  those  locks  ? — A.  My  re- 
port is  complete  so  far  as  a  report  of  that  kind  can  be.    It  does  not 


366  .  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

contain  the  specifications  of  every  piece  of  work,  a£  that  would  make 
it  too  voluminous,  but  contains  a  general  description  of  the  works. 

Q.  Tell  me  in  a  cjeneral  way,  now,  as  to  the  strength  of  these  locks. 
You  have  one  that  has  a  head  of  42|  feet,  and  you  are  ^oing  to  make 
that  dam,  as  I  will  call  it,  at  the  foot  of  the  lakeT — A.  Gates. 

Q.  Not  only  gates,  but  you  have  got  to  have  ^ide  walls  and  one  thing 
or  another.  Now,  then,  to  make  this  part  of  the  work  that  has  got  to 
stand  the  pressure  of  42^  feet  head  of  water,  what  would  be  the  size  of 
a  cross-section  of  your  concreteT — A.  That  depends  a  good  deal  on 
what  is  back  of  the  concrete.  We  always  try  to  get  a  hill  for  the  ex- 
cavation of  a  lock.  If  the  excavation  is  rock  you  will  understand  it 
does  not  require  very  much  masonry  wall,  because  the  rock  itself  back 
of  the  concrete  will  hold  it.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  have  softer  mate- 
rial then  you  will  have  to  proportion  the  concrete  to  the  material  back- 
ing the  wall. 

Q.  That  is  to  say,  you  undertake  to  fortify  all  the  lower  side  with 
concreteT — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  you  are  going  to  make  your  lock,  like  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
for  instance,  all  concrete? — A.  All  concrete  lined  with  timber. 

Q.  So  that  the  whole  stone  structute  will  be  concrete  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Just  a  simple  mass  of  homogeneous  concrete  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Without  any  joints  or  anything  else  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  bottom  there  where  you  have  the  foun 
dation? — A.  Rock.    Most  all  excavation  for  locks  will  be  in  rock^ 
so  much  so  that  we  expect  to  save  a  good  deal  by  cutting  the  lock  into 
the  solid  rock  and  then  line  the  excavation  with  large  timber, 

Q.  So  that  you  think  the  mechanical  problem  of  resisting  the  press- 
ure of  the  weight  of  water  by  this  concrete  work  instead  of  the  enor- 
mous masonry  we  have  in  locks  north  can  be  entirely  overcome  T  A. 
Yes. 

Q.  Well,  when  you  have  got  down  then  to  the  sea-level  at  Brito, 
what  sort  of  a  harbor,  or  what  is  the  contour  of  land  there;  what  have 
you  to  do  on  the  Brito  side  to  make  shelter  for  vessels? — A.  On  the 
Brito  side  we  have  practically  to  build  a  harbor.  I  would  not  say  we 
have  to  improve  what  we  have,  but  practically  we  have  to  build  one, 
but  the  physical  conditions  are  favorable  for  the  construction  of  this 
harbor. 

Q.  Have  you  a  plan  of  the  harbor  ? — A.  I  have  not  with  me,  but  will 
send  it  to  you  with  pleasure. 

Q.  I  wish  you  would  do  so. — A.  Now,  I  will  explain  this  [indicating 
on  map].  This  is  the  Brito  side.  The  coast  comes  just  on  the  edge 
of  that  dark  spot.  What  we  propose  to  excavate  is  either  side  of  tlie 
high-water  mark.  This  is  the  high  water  mark.  We  propose  to  dredge 
all  this  out  in  order  to  make  a  harbor.  Now  the  coast  goes  this  way, 
and  then  there  is  a  promontory  or  projection  that  extends  to  deep 
water.  We  propose  to  build  a  breakwater  where  you  see  it  indicated 
here,  and  another  one  here,  and  then  dredge  from  a  point  outside  of  the 
harbor,  which  will  be  here. 

Q.  Now,  taking  the  coast  line  of  Brito  as  it  is  now  where  you  intend 
to  make  your  harbor,  what  is  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  there  t 

Q.  Now,  at  low  water,  how  far  out  from  the  present  contour  of  the 
shore  where  you  are  to  go  into  the  land  with  your  canal  must  you  go 
in  order  to  get  30  feet  of  water? — A.  How  much  out  at  seat 

Q.  Out  at  sea? — A.  I  should  say  about  1,500  feet. 

Q.  Isthatacoastof  rather  a  straight  line!— A.  Yes  ^  rather  a  straight 
line. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  367 

Q.  How  are  you  to  protect  it  then  from  storms? — A.  By  the  construc- 
tion of  these  two  breakwaters,  which  will  be  built  from  the  rocks  com- 
ing out  from  the  divide  cut. 

Q.  What  kind  of  a  breakwater  do  you  propose  to  build  there?— A. 
Riprap,  out  of  large  stones,  just  the  same  as  the  Holyhead  breakwater. 

Q.  Not  like  the  breakwater  out  from  Amsterdam  to  the  North  Sea, 
which,  I  believe,  is  built  of  great  rocks  in  tubes  and  laid  up  ? — A.  No. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  that  North  Sea  breakwater  has  stood  the  ele- 
ments ?  I  saw  it,  when  it  was  just  about  being  completed,  in  1879. — 
A.  It  has  stood  very  well,  but  it  is  a  very  expensive  work.  The  Holy- 
head breakwater  is  built  of  riprap  and  is  doing  its  work  just  as  well. 
In  this  case  we  have  a  certain  amount  of  rock  we  have  to  dispose  of, 
and  we  have  no  other  use  for  it  except  the  construction  of  such  break- 
water and  of  locks  and  dams,  and  the  balance  must  be  disposed  of  by 
dumping  on  the  poil  banks. 

Q.  Whatisthelengthofthesecontemplated breakwaters? — A.  Oneis 
900  feet  long,  extending  to  40  feet  depth  of  water,  and  the  other  is  be- 
tween 500  and  600  feet.  The  object  of  the  latter  is  merely  to  narrow 
the  entrance  so  that  the  swell  will  produce  no  disturbance  in  the  harbor. 

Q.  How  far  apart  will  the  head  of  the  two  breakwaters  be? — A.  Six 
hundred  feet. 

Q.  And  in  a  right  line  from  the  end  of  each  one  of  those  breakwater* 
to  the  land  part  of  the  canal  as  it  comes  in  would  be  how  far? — A. 
That  would  be  some  3,000  feet. 

Q.  Would  that  make  a  harbor  long  enough  in  heavy  weather  for  a 
vessel  to  run  in  and  round  to  and  come  to  anchor? — A.  Well,  some  ves- 
sels have  to  be  careful  in  doing  so,  and  it  will  always  be  safer  in  bad 
weather  to  tow  in  sailing  vessels. 

Q.  In  what  direction  do  these  storms  come  on  that  coast  of  Brito? — 
A.  They  generally  come  from  the  southwest.  I  have  submitted  this 
plan  of  the  harbor  to  the  Navy  Department,  and  they  approve  it  and 
think  it  very  good.  The  storms  come  from  the  southwest  and  the  har- 
bor will  be  protected,  and  the  breakwaters  are  so  placed  that  a  heavy 
sea,  after  passing  the  outer  end  of  one  breakwater,  will  not  go  into  the 
harbor,  but  pass  beyond  the  end  of  the  other  breakwater. 

Q.  What  are  the  natural  resources  of  that  country  within  100  miles 
on  either  side  of  this  canal  and  lake  ? — A.  Principally  cattle  raising, 
coffee,  indigo,  sugar-cane,  beans,  rice,  plantains,  bananas,  and  all  trop- 
ical fruits. 

Q.  How  much  do  you  suppose,  as  a  mere  round  estimate,  population 
there  is  within  two  parallel  lines,  each  drawn  100  miles  away  on  either 
side  of  the  line  of  your  canal  from  sea  to  sea,  making  a  cross-section  of 
200  miles  in  a  straight  course  of  125  miles,  or  whatever  it  maybe  across 
there?— A.  I  should  say  250,000. 

Q.  A  sparse  population,  then  ? — A.  Very  much  so. 

Q.  Well,  the  parts  of  that  section  that  I  have  now  assumed  to  give  a 
description  of  that  are  not  occupied  by  cultivation  and  clearage.  What 
sort  of  forests  are  there ;  any  valuable  timber  of  any  kind  ? — A.  Very 
valuable.  It  depends  upon  what  side  of  the  lake  you  are  on.  On  the 
west  side  there  is  very  valuable  timber.  Mahogany,  rose- wood,  ebony, 
and  all  kinds  of  timber  for  construction,  very  valuable ;  while  on  the 
east  side  the  timber  is  generally  soft,  heavy,  and  not  suitable  for 
permanent  construction. 

Q.  Of  no  particular  value,  then,  for  purposes  of  utility  or  commerce 
for  exportation  ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  The  only  resources  of  the  country,  then,  would  be  those  that  come 


368  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

from  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  T — A.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil  and 
mines. 

Q.  Are  there  mines  there  !— A.  Yes,  silver  and  gold  mines. 

Q.  Any  coal  T — A.  Coal  has  been  found  recently  and  excavations  are 
now  beiug  made  to  see  to  what  amount  it  can  be  obtained. 

Q.  Is  what  they  think  they  Lave  found  anthracite  or  bituminous  t — ^A. 
Bitumiuous. 

Q.  Any  iron  t — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Auy  copper! — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  So  that,  as  far  as  known,  the  only  value  in  ore  is  gold  and  silver  f — 
A.  Gold  and  silver. 

Q.  No  cinnabar  t — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Are  there  any  fine  qualities  of  stone  there — marbles  or  granite  f— 
A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  All  the  rock  is  volcanic  of  one  form  or  another  f — A.  All  vol- 
canic. 

The  committee  acyourned. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  369 


Senate  of  the  United  States, 
Committee  on  Foreign  Kelations, 

Thursday,  June  5,  1890. 
The  subcommittee  met  at  10.30  a.  m.    Present,  Senators  Edmunds 
(chairman),  Dolph,  and  Payne. 

STATEMENT  OF  HIRAM  HITGHGOGE. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Please  state  your  full  name  and  residence  ? — A.  Hiram  Hitchcock, 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York. 

Q.  You  are  president  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
chartered  by  Congress? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  president  % — A.  Since  its  organization, 
May  4,  1889. 

Q.  Who  were  the  people  who  participated  in  the  organization  of  the 
company,  if  you  have  any  papers  to  show  ? — A.  The  incorporators  named 
in  the  charter  took  part  in  the  organization. 

Q.  All  of  them? — A.  Not  all  ofthem,  but  about  two-thirds  of  them,  and 
the  following  committee  was  appointed  at  the  meeting  of  the  incorpo- 
rators to  act  as  a  committee  of  five  under  said  charter  to  open  books 
of  subscription  to  the  capital  stock:  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horace  L. 
Hotchkiss,  Francis  A.  Stout,  E.  A.  Lancaster,  and  A.  0.  Cheney. 

Q.  What  is  that  paper  you  have  in  your  hand  ? — A.  This  is  the  first 
annual  report  which  the  company  has  to  make  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  under  the  terms  of  the  charter,  and  which  was 
made  last  December. 

Q.  That  is  a  copy  of  it  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  one  to  spare? — A.  I  brought  it  for  the  committee. 

The  report  is  as  follows  : 

REPORT  OP  THE  MARITIME  CANAL  COMPANY  OF  KICARAOUA. 

To  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior : 

Pursuant  to  section  six  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An  act  to  incorporate  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  February  20th,  1889,  which  pro- 
vides that  said  company  shall  make  a  report  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  in 
each  year  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  in  accordance  with  the  instructions 
received  from  you  prescribing  the  form  of  such  report  and  the  particulars  to  be  given 
thereby,  and  by  the  express  authority  of  the  said  company,  we,  the  undersigned, 
Hiram  Hitchcock,  president,  and  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  th«  said  The  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  do  hereby  make  the  following  report  on  behalf 
of  the  said  company,  and  do  certify  and  declare  as  follows: 

First.  That  a  meeting  of  the  incorporation  named  in  the  said  act  of  Congress  was 
held  on  the  seventh  day  of  March,  1889,  pursuant  to  call,  at  No.  36  WaU  street,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  when  the  charter  granted  by  Congress  was  unanimously  accepted, 
and  a  communication  to  that  effect  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  That  at  the 
same  meeting  Messrs.  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horace  L,  Hotchkiss,  Francis  A.  Stout,  R. 
A.  Lancaster,  and  A.  C.  Cheney  were  chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  number  from  those 
named  in  the  aforesaid  act  as  the  five  incorporators  empowered  by  said  charter  to 
open  books  of  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  company  and  to  receive  sub- 
scriptions for  the  same. 

Second.  That  the  said  committee  of  incorporators  gave  thirty  days'  notice  of  the 
time  and  place  of  the  opening  of  the  books  of  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
said  company  by  publication  in  one  daily  newspaper  in  New  York  City  and  one  news- 
paper in  Managua,  Nicaragua,  and  one  in  San  Jos6,  Costa  Rica,  and  that,  pursuant 
to  such  notice,  the  said  books  of  subscription  were  duly  opened,  on  the  22nd  day  of 
April,  1889,  at  No.  44  Broadway,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Tulrd.  That  a  meeting  of  the  subscribers  to  the  said  capital  stock  was  held  on  the 
•econd  day  of  May,  1889,  pursuant  to  notice,  at  number  44  Wall  street,  |n  the  city  of 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 24 


370  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

New  York,  and  at  snch  meeting  the  following  board  of  fifteen  directors  was  duly 
elected  by  the  stockholders  of  said  company  in  the  manner  provided  for  in  the  said 
act  of  incorporation,  to  serve  for  the  periods  set  opposite  their  respective  names,  to 
wit: 

Charles  P.  Daly,  Frederick  Billings,  Daniel  Ammen,  Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  Joseph 
E.  MacDonald,  to  serve  for  three  years. 

Francis  A.  Stout,  Alfred  B.  Darlinc,  Franklin  Fairbanks,  0.  Eidgeley  Gk>odwin, 
Alexander  T.  Mason,  to  serve  for  two  years. 

Joseph  Bryan,  James  Roosevelt,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horatio  Guzman,  Pedro  Perez 
Zeledon,  to  serve  for  one  year. 

That  a  majority  of  the  above-named  directors  are  citizens  and  residents  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  all  of  them  are  stockholders  in  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua. 

Fourth.  That  on  the  foorth  day  of  May,  1889,  a  meeting  of  the  airectors,  elected  as 
aforesaid,  was  held  parsaant  to  notice,  at  number  44  Wall  street,  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  at  such  meeting  by-laws  were  adopted,  and  the  following  ofiScers  were 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year,  to  wit : 

President,  Hiram  Hitchcock. 

Vice-President,  Charles  P.  Daly. 

Secretary  and  treasnrer,  Thomas  B.  Atkins. 

That  all  of  the  officers  so  elected  are  citizens  and  residents  of  tfie  United  States. 

Filth.  That  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  said  act  of  incorporation,  the 
principal  office  of  Tho  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  has  been  established 
m  the  city  of  Now  York,  at  No.  44  Wall  street. 

Sixth.  That  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  has  completed  the  axial 
surveys  and  final  plans  of  the  proposed  interoceanic  canal,  and  the  same  have  been 
officially  approved  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua.  That  on  the  third  day  of  June, 
1889,  the  company  began  the  preliminary  work  of  construction  at  Greytown,  and  on 
the  8th  day  of  October  following  commenced  the  work  of  excavation.  That  the 
Grovemment  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  has  officially  recognized  and  declared  by 
decree  that  the  conHtruction  of  the  canal  was  formally  commenced,  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  the  concession,  on  the  said  6th  day  of  October,  1889. 

That  since  the  said  3d  day  of  June,  1889,  the  company  has  established  perma- 
nent headquarters  at  Greytown,  erected  store-houses,  hospitals,  dwellings,  and 
other  buildings,  constructed  several  miles  of  aqueduct,  cleared  parts  of  the  Sau 
Juan  and  Deneado  Rivers,  laid  several  miles  of  broad-gauge  railroad,  constructed 
about  thirty-five  miles  of  telegraph  line,  and  cleared  the  first  part  of  the  route  of 
the  canal.  That  it  has  shipped  to  Greytown  and  landed  at  that  port  large  quantities 
of  machinery,  tools,  lumber,  piles,  boats,  and  other  materials  necessary  for  the 
establishment  of  the  plant  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  the  said  canal.  That, 
in  addition  to  the  above,  the  company  has  organized  in  Nicaragua  a  complete  hos- 
pital service  and  ambulance  corps,  and  has  perfected  the  sanitary  arrangements  in 
and  about  its  camps  and  headquarters. 

Seventh.  That  during  the  coming  winter  the  work  of  railroad  and  telegraphic 
construction  will  be  continued  and  prosecuted  with  energy,  the  building  of  a 
breakwater  for  the  Atlantic  port  of  the  canal  will  be  commenced,  and  the  dredging 
work  will  be  pushed  forward  with  all  possible  dispatch.  That  several  large  dredges 
have  recently  been  contracted  for,  and  other  contracts  relating  to  the  construction  of 
the  canal  are  now  in  course  of  negotiation  with  responsible  contractors,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected they  will  be  closed  at  an  early  date. 

Eighth.  That  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-five  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of 
The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  have  already  been  subscribed  at  par, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  the  sum  of  one  million  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  ($1,014,500),  of  which  amount  six  hundred  and  one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  fifty  ($601,4.'>0)  dollars  have  been  paid  into  the  treasury  of  tho  company  in  cash. 
That  the  other  assets  of  the  company  consist  at  present  of  the  property,  rights,  privi- 
leges, and  franchises  now  owned  by  it  in  Nicaragua  and  New  York. 

Ninth.  That  since  the  third  day  of  June,  1889.  the  company  has  expended  upon 
the  work  carried  on  in  Nicaragua  more  than  five  hundred  thousand  ($500,000)  dol- 
lars, and  that  its  liabilities,  which  consist  chiefly  of  expenditures  incurred  during 
the  month  of  November,  do  not  exceed  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  ($50,000)  dollars. 

Tenth.  That  the  details  of  the  work  to  be  done  on  the  canal  are  briefly  as  follows : 
The  construction  of  a  breakwater  at  or  near  Greytown  on  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and 
dredging  thence  to  the  westward  ten  miles  through  alluvial  ground  to  the  place 
where  a  lock  of  thirty -one  feet  lift  will  be  built.  At  two  miles  beyond  will  be  con- 
structed a  second  lock  or  double  lock  of  the  combined  lift  of  seventy- five  feet,  and  a 
dam  across  the  small  stream  Deseado,  above  which  will  be  a  basin  affording  four  and 
one-quarter  miles  of  free  naTigation  ;  then  a  rock  cut  about  two  and  three-quarter 
miles  in  length,  followed  by  twelve  miles  of  free  navigation  in  the  valleys  of  two 
■mall  rivers,  the  San  Francisco  and  the  Macbado.  Here  the  waters  will  be  raised  by 
dams  and  embankments  so  as  to  form  basins,  which  will  connect  directly  with  the 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  371 

Sau  Jnan  River  above  a  large  clam  to  be  built  across  that  river.  Said  dam  will  raise 
the  waters  in  the  river  and  lake  and  secure  additional  free  navigation  of  sixty-four 
miles  in  the  river  and  fifty-six  and  one-half  miles  across  the  lake.  On  the  western 
Bide  of  the  lake  the  canal  will  enter  a  cut  of  slight  depth  in  the  earth  and  rock  of  nine 
miles  in  length,  issuing  thence  into  the  Tola  basin,  with  five  and  one-half  miles  of 
free  navigation,  which  will  be  obtained  by  damming  the  Rio  Grande.  At  this  dam 
a  series  of  locks  will  lower  the  level  eighty-five  feet,  and  the  canal  will  proceed  in 
excavation  down  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  a  distance  of  two  miles  to  the  last  lock, 
a  tidal  lock  of  twenty  to  thirty  feet  lift,  below  which  the  canal  will  enter  the  upper 
portion  of  the  harbor  of  Brito,  one  and  one-half  miles  from  the  Pacific. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  this  second  day  of  December, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  and  affixed 
hereto  the  corporate  seal  of  said  company. 

Hiram  Hitchcock, 

Pre8ident. 
[Seal  of  Maritime  Canal  Com-  Thos.  B.  Atkins, 

pany  of  Nicaragua.]  Secretary. 


State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  TorJc,  $s : 
Hiram  Hitchcock,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  That  he  is  the  president  of  said  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua ;  that  he  has  read  the  foregoing  annual  report 
and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  all  respects  correct  and  true. 

Hiram  Hitchcock, 

President. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  2nd  day  of  December,  1889. 

[Notarial  seal.]  Nbstor  Ponce  De  Leon, 

Notary  Public,  N.  Y.  C,  25. 

Statk  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  «• : 
Thomas  B.  Atkins,  being  duly  sworn,  says :  That  he  is  the  secretary  of  said  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua ;  that  he  has  read  the  foregoing  annual  re- 
port and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  all  respects  correct  and 
true. 

Thos.  B.  Atkins. 
Sworn  to  before  me  this  2nd  day  of  December,  1889. 
[.Notarial  seal.]  Nestor  Ponce  Dr  Leon, 

Notary  PuUio,  N.  T.  C,  22. 


State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Torh,  as  : 

On  the  second  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1889,  before  me  personally  came 
Thomas  B.  Atkins,  known  to  me  to  be  the  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua,  and  with  whom  I  am  personally  acquainted,  who,  being  by  me  duly 
sworn,  did  depose  and  say :  That  he  resided  in  the  city  of  New  York;  that  he  was 
the  secretary  of  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua ;  that  he  knew  the  cor- 
porate seal  of  said  company  ;  that  the  seal  affixed  to  the  foregoing  report  was  such 
,  corporate  seal ;  that  it  was  so  affixed  by  order  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  said 
company,  and  that  he  signed  his  name  thereto  by  the  like  order  as  secretary  of  the 
said  company. 

And  the  said  Thomas  B.  Atkins  further  said  that  he  was  acquainted  with  Hiram 
Hitchcock  and  knew  him  to  be  the  president  of  said  company ;  that  the  signature 
of  the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock  subscribed  to  the  said  instrument  was  in  the  genuine 
handwriting  of  the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock,  and  was  thereto  subscribed  by  the  like 
order  of  the  said  board  of  directors,  and  in  the  presence  of  him  the  said  Thomas  B. 
Atkins. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  official  seal  this  second  day  of 
December,  A.  D.  1889. 

[Notarial  seal.]  Nestor  Poncjc  De  Leon, 

Notary  Public,  N.  Y.  C,  25. 

Q.  This  report  ehows  the  proceedings  down  to.  the  time  it  was 
made  ? — A.  Yes.  If  you  will  allow  me  to  say  further,  that  committee 
opened  the  books  and  proceeded  in  accordance  with  the  charter  and  a 
board  of  directors  was  elected,  which  organized  and  elected  its  officers 
May  4, 1889. 


372 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 


By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  How  much  stock  was  sub.^cribedt — A.  There  was  subscribed  at 
that  time  145  shares,  mainly  by  the  difierent  incorporators,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organization  ;  no  other  subscriptions  were  ofiered. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  What  was  the  par  value  of  the  shares  t — A.  One  hundred  dollars. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  Does  this  report  show  the  stockholders  and  the  amount  sub- 
scribed by  each  ? — A.  Not  the  individual  names.  I  could  have  brought 
the  detailed  statement  of  the  list  of  names,  but  the  difierent  incorpo- 
rators subscribed  for  a  few  shares  each  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the 
organization  of  the  company. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  How  much  was  subscribed  down  to  the  2d  of  December  t — A.  In  all 
10,145  shares,  and  I  have  brought  the  certificate  of  the  secretary  of 
the  company,  showing  the  subscription  down  to  the  present  time. 

Q.  Just  read  the  certificate. — A.  It  is  as  follows : 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  oi  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragna, 
hereby  certify  that  the  entire  issoe  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany of  Nicaragua  is  10,14<^  shares,  all  of  which  is  now  outstanding;  and  that  of  said 
issne  10,000  shares  have  been  paid  for  in  full  in  cash,  and  145  shares  have  been  paid 
for,  10  per  centum  thereof  in  cash,  and  90  per  centum  thereof  is  payable  at  the  option 
and  upon  the  call  of  the  company. 
In  certification  of  which,  witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thohas  B.  Ateiks, 

Secretary. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  You  say  you  have  nothing  to  show  who  are  the  present  stock- 
holders?— A.  No,  sir,  I  have  not.  I  could  have  brought  you  that  list 
It  includes  the  incorporators  under  the  charter.  I  think  they  are  all 
down  for  one  or  more  shares.  I  can  give  you  that  list  of  names  from  a 
copy  of  the  charter  here  if  it  is  important. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  No ;  we  know  who  those  are.    We  would  like  to  have  you  send 
us  a  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  present  stockholders,  and  the  number 
of  shares  standing  to  the  credit  of  each. — A.  I  will  do  that.    It  is  as 
follows : 


Shares. 


IA»t  of  ahareholdert  •/  The  Maritime  Canal   Company  of  Nicaragua,  chartered  by  the 

United  States  of  America :  • 

SbaiM. 

J.  E.  McDonald 5 

C.  R.  Gooflvsin 5 

Frederick  Billings. 5 

A.  G.  Menocal 5 

R.  A.  Lancaster .  6 

Henry  A.  Parr 5 

J.  F.'O'Shangbnessy 5 

H.  Guzman 1 

Thomas  B.  Atkins 1 

C.  H.  Stebblns 5 

J.  Aldig6 5 

C.  Devries 5 

E.  F.  Beale 5 

Joseph  Bryan 5 

The  Nicaragua   Canal   and  Con- 
struction Company 10,000 

Total 10.145 


Charles  P.  Daly 

Henry  R  Hoyt 

Robert  Sturges 

Alexander  J.  Masou  ■ 

F.  A.  Stout 

H.  L.  Hotchkiss 

Henry  C.  Taylor 

A.  C.  Cheney 

H.  Hitchcock 

F.  Fairbanks 

A.  B.  Darling  ....... 

James  Roosevelt. .... 

Daniel  Amraen 

A.  S.  Crowninshield . 
J.  W.  Miller 

F.  F.  Thompson 

G.  H.  Robinson , 

Q.  E.  Kissel 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  373 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  correct  list  of  the  shareholders  of  the  comx^any 
and  of  their  respective  holdings  as  set  opposite  their  respective  names. 

Witness  my  hand  this  7th  of  June,  18'J0. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 


Q.  Who  is  the  secretary  of  your  company  f — A.  Thomas  B.  Atkins. 

Q.  What  is  hia  address  ? — A.  44  Wall  street. 

Q.  Who  is  the  treasurer? — He  is  also  the  treasurer  of  the  company. 
Here  is  a  complete  list  of  the  directors  and  officers  of  the  company. 
We  had  au  annual  meeting  in  May,  1890. 

Directors  for  three  years. — Joseph  Bryan,  James  Roosevelt,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horacio 
Guzman,  Thomas  B.  Atkins. 

Directors  for  two  years. — Charles  P.  Daly,  Frederick  Billings,  Daniel  Ammen,  Horace 
L.  Hotchkiss,  Joseph  E.  McDonald. 

Directors  for  one  year. — Fi  aucis  A.  Stout,  Alfred  B.  Darling,  Franklin  Fairbanks,  C. 
Ridgely  Goodwin,  Alexander  T.  Mason. 

President,  Hiram  Hitchcock;  vice-president,  Charles  P.  Daly;  secretary  and 
treasurer,  Thomas  B.  Atkins. 

Executive  committee:  Frederick  Billings  (chairman),  Charles  P.  Daly,  Horace  L. 
Hotchkiss,  Alexander  T.  Mason,  Hiram  Hitchcock. 

That  is  the  list  as  it  now  stands.  The  only  change  from  last  year 
was  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Zeledon,  of  Costa  Eica,  and  the  election  of 
Mr.  Atkins  in  his  place. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Does  your  report  to  the  Government  show  the  financial  condition 
of  the  treasury ;  does  it  contain  a  statement  of  the  assets  of  the  com- 
pany at  the  time  it  was  made  ? — A.  The  rejjort  to  the  Government,  of 
which  this  is  a  copy,  was  made  in  December.  It  states  the  facts  with 
reference  to  the  organization  'and  the  subscription  of  stock  and  ex- 
penses and  disbursements  to  that  time.  In  February,  before  the  year 
from  the  passage  of  the  charter  had  expired,  I  also  made  a  report  to 
the  Government,  as  required  by  the  charter,  that  we  had  received  more 
than  $1,000,000  as  payments  on  account  of  the  stock  of  the  company. 
I  have  here  a  sta-temeut  for  you  of  the  financial  status  of  the  company 
at  the  present  time,  the  treasurer's  statement. 

Q.  Yes ;  that  is  what  I  was  inquiring  about. — A.  I  will  read  it. 

I,  Thomas  B.Atkins,  treasurer  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  here- 
by certify  that  I  have  received  as  treasurer  of  said  company,  during  the  year  end- 
ing May  1,  1890,  $1,001,450,  all  of  which  has  been  paid  in  on  subscriptions  to  capi- 
tal stock ;  of  which  amount  I  have  disbursed  for  construction  and  other  purposes 
duriug  the  year,  $830,161.87,  and  have  remaining.  May  1,  1890,  a  balance  in  the 
treasury  of  $171,283. 13. 
In  certification  of  which,  witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Treasurer. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  Now  state  in  that  connection  what  are  the  outstanding  obligations 
of  your  company  ? — A.  We  have  no  outstanding  obligations  that  are 
due.  Our  bills  due  are  all  paid.  There  may  be,  however,  some  small 
bills  not  yet  audited.  At  the  time  this  report  was  made,  in  December  I 
think,  t^he^e  were  about  $50,000  of  expenses  that  might  be  presented  for 
payment. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  And  the  $800,000  paid  over  to  the  construction  company  1 — A. 
Yes. 
Q.  So  that  it  was  not  disbursed  by  your  company  t — A.  No,  sir ;  but 


374  NICAEAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

it  has  been  disbursed,  on  voucbers  by  the  construction  company,  foi 
work  done  under  their  contract  with  us. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  Well,  when  you  paid  over  that  $800,000,  in  round  numbers,  was 
that  in  advance  or  for  work  actually  performed  ! — A.  For  work  actually 
performed. 

Q.  Well,  what  funds  are  they  working  on  nowt  I  understand  from 
Mr.  Miller  that  the  work  is  progressing  in  a  diligent  and  satisfactory 
way. — A.  They  are  going  on  with  their  own  money,  and  as  fast  as  they 
present  us  with  proper  vouchers  for  work,  we  must,  in  order  to  pay 
them,  obtain  money  on  stock  subscription  or  on  bonds. 

Q.  Now,  what  is  the  arrangement  between  your  company  and  the 
construction  company  1— A.  The  arrangement  is  as  follows,  and  I  have 
brought  a  copy  of  the  papers  to  leave  with  you.  This  is  the  provisional 
contract  under  which  we  were  acting. 

Q.  The  temporary  contract. — A.  Yes. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  read  the  contract  as  follows: 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragna* 
hereby  certify,  that  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  1889,  there  was  held  at  the  office  of  the 
company,  44  Wall  street,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  meetiugof  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  board  of  directors  of  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicara^^ua,  duly 
convened ;  that  at  said  meeting  there  was  presented  a  letter  from  The  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company,  of  which  a  certified  copy,  marked  Exhibit  A,  is  hereto  attached. 
That  a  reply  thereto,  of  which  a  certified  copy,  marked  Exhibit  B,  is  hereto  attached, 
was  duly  authorized,  and  that  a  second  letter  from  The  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction 
Company,  of  which  a  certified  copy,  marked  Exhibit  C,  is  hereto  attached,  was  re- 
received  by  said  execntive  committee,  was  considered,  and  was  ordered  on  file.  In 
certification  of  all  of  which, 

Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  Jane,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 

Exhibit  A. 

Offick  of  thb  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 

44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  May  24,  1889. 
Thk  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  : 

Gentlemen  :  The  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  hereby  offers  to  do  the 
entire  work  of  every  kind  and  nature  of  constructing  the  iuteroceanic  canal  to  be 
built  by  your  compauy,  and  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  A.  G.  Menocal,  as 
approved  on  the  9th  day  of  March,  1869,  by  the  board  of  civil  engineers  to  wliom  the 
same  was  submitted  for  examination,  and  also  according  to  any  modifications  or 
changes  that  may  hereafter  be  made  in  said  plans  which  do  not  substantially  vary 
from  the  general  route  as  now  laid  down  in  Mr.  Menocal's  plans  or  increase  the  ex- 
penses of  constructing  the  same,  and  to  begin  the  work  at  once  and  to  complete  the 
same  in  all  respects  as  required  by  the  stipulations  and  conditions  in  the  conceshions 
held  by  your  company,  for  the  sum  of  $200,000,000  in  the  first  mortgage  bonds  of  your 
company  and  $75,000,000  of  the  capital  stock,  payments  to  be  made  in  equal  propor- 
tions of  stock  and  bonds  every  thirty  dayp  for  such  portions  of  the  work  as  the  en- 
gineers of  your  company  shall  certify  have  been  completed,  the  work  to  be  begun  at 
once. 

As  a  guaranty  of  good  faith  this  company  hereby  agrees  to  subscribe  for  $100,000,- 
000  of  the  stock  of  your  company,  and  to  pay  for  the  same  in  cash. 
Tours  very  truly, 

A.  C.  Chenbt, 
President  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Conttruction  Company. 

1,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  received  Alay 
24,  1889,  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  from  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 


NICAKAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  375 

To  that  I  made  the  following  reply : 

Exhibit  B. 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 

44   Wall  Street,  Nm  York,  May  24,  1889. 

To  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company: 

Gkntlemen  :  Your  oifer  to  begin  at  once  the  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Is  at  Land. 

You  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  begin  such  construction  work  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  with  this  understanding  and  agreement:  That,  if  within 
three  months  this  company  does  not  accept  your  proposition  or  execute  a  contract, 
with  your  company  that  shall  be  mutually  satisfactory,  then,  in  such  an  event,  this 
company  will  re-imbnrse  your  company  for  all  the  expenditures  incurred  in  connec- 
tion with  the  construction  work  and  10  per  cent,  in  addition  thereto. 
Yours,  very  respectfully, 

Hiram  Hitchcock, 
Fretident  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  delivered  by 
me  May  '24,  18i'J,  to  the  president  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  Juno,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 
Secretary. 

That,  of  course,  was  because  we  could  not  make  a  large  contract  with 
any  company  at  that  point  of  time,  and  therefore  we  reserved  the  right 
to  simply  pay  them  for  what  they  did  and  10  per  cent,  additional. 

Q.  Well,  that  is  within  three  mouths  ? — A.  If  we  did  not  make  a  con- 
tract within  three  mouths.  Well,  we  did  not  make  a  contract  within 
three  mouths. 

Q.  So  that  as  the  thing  stood  they  were  going  on  under  this  au- 
thority and  you  were  either  bound  to  make  a  contract  that  was  mu- 
tually satisfactory  or  else  you  were  bound  to  reimburse  them  with  10 
per  cent.,  profit?— A.  That  is  it  exactly.  To  that  they  responded  as 
follows : 

Exhibit  C. 

OvviCE  OF  THE  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 

44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  May  24,  1889. 
Hiram  Hitchcock,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua: 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  24th  instant,  author- 
izing and  directing  this  company  to  begin  the  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  upon  terms  and  conditions  therein  stated. 

In  reply,  I  beg  to  advise  you  that  thia  company  will,  in  compliance  with  your  di- 
rections, commence  the  work  of  constructing  the  Nicaragua  Canal  at  once ;  and  to 
that  end  will  dispatch  an  expedition  to  Nicaragua  on  the  25th  instant. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  C.  Cheney, 
President  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. 

I,  Tkomas  B.  Atkine,  secretary  of   the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  received  May 
24,  1889,  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  from  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  Jane,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 

That  was  the  25th  of  May  a  year  ago.  We  regarded  this  as  entirely 
sufficient  for  us  because  it  left  us  perfectly  free  (without  any  obligation 


376  NICARAGUA   CAI^AL    COMPANY. 

as  to  stock  or  bonds  to  any  one)  to  pay  them  for  what  they  had  done 
and  10  per  cent,  and  stop  at  any  time. 

Q.  And  take  it  oflF  their  hands  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  then,  what  further  steps  were  taken  t — A.  They  immediately 
sent  out  an  expedition  and  work  commenced  there  on  the  3d  of  June. 
The  progress  of  that  work  is  fully  stated  in  this  report  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  1st  of  December  and  in  this  further  report  which  includes 
everything  down  to  the  present  time,  and  which  is  as  follows : 

Since  the  commencement  of  operations  in  Nicaragua  the  company,  with  fnn^  al- 
ready obtained,  has  establiabed  a  complete  and  perfect  organization  at  Greytown, 
from'wbich  point  active  operations  are  being  conducted,  and  nas  accomplished  liesides 
many  other  important  works  of  installation  and  construction.  The  final  plans  and 
detailed  surveys  of  the  canal,  its  harbors,  locks,  and  other  accessory  works,  nave  been 
completed  and  verified,  and  largo  sums  of  money  have  been  expended  for  engineering 
works  in  locating  railroads,  making  rock  borings  at  the  divide  and  other  places  along 
the  line  of  the  canal,  and  in  perfecting  the  location  of  trhe  route  from  ocean  to  ocean. 
Permanent  headquarters  have  been  established  at  Greytown,  large  barracks,  store- 
houses, hospitals,  dwellings,  and  other  buildings  have  been  erected,  and  wharves  and 
warehouses  built  for  the  receipt  and  storage  of  supplies.  Parts  of  the  San  Juanillo. 
Deseado,  San  Francisco,  and  other  navigable  streams  through  which  the  canal  will 
pass,  have  been  cleared  of  obstructions  to  navigation,  and  several  miles  of  the  route 
of  the  canal  between  the  harbor  and  lock  number  one  have  been  grubbed  and  cleared 
and  made  ready  for  dredging.  The  company  has  built  over  a  mile  of  broad-gauge 
railroad,  constructed  over  70  miles  of  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  has  also 
landed  at  Greytown  large  quantities  of  machinery,  tools,  lumber,  piles,  creosoted 
timber,  boats,  steam  launches,  lighters,  pile-drivers,  and  other  materials  and  equip- 
ment necessary  for  work  in  restoring  the  harbor,  and  for  use  in  the  construction  of  the 
canal.  It  has  built  over  700  feet  of  the  breakwater  intended  to  protect  the  harbor 
entrance  from  the  effects  of  shifting  sand  on  the  coast,  and  has  also  under  construc- 
tion an  aqueduct  13  miles  long,  which  is  to  supply  Greytown  and  the  company's  head- 
quarters with  pure  and  fresh  water  from  the  mountains.  Contracts  have  been  let 
for  dredging  the  bar  and  harbor,  and  for  the  building  of  17  miles  of  railroad  from 
Greytown  to  the  divide,  and  work  under  the  same  will  be  commenced  on  May  15, 1890. 
Some  of  the  dredges  contracted  for  are  now  on  their  way  to  Nicaragua,  while  others 
are  in  course  of  construction.  Large  quantities  of  railroad  supplies,  locomotives, 
steam  excavators,  water  piping,  and  other  materials  of  construction  necessary  for 
the  railroad,  breakwater^  aqueduct,  and  other  works,  are  to  be  forwarded  to  Grey- 
town every  month,  and,  in  short,  the  whole  work  it  being  pushed  forward  as  rapidly 
as  possible. 

That  is  the  report  of  the  work.  The  work,  of  course,  has  been  done 
by  the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  How  much  has  been  expended  in  all,  so  far,  in  round  numberst— 
A.  In  all,  I  should  say  (I  am  not  entirely  familiar  with  the  later  details 
of  expenditure,  but  1  am  tolerably  well  up  in  it),  from  first  to  last,  about 
a  million  and  a  half  has  been  expended.  That  of  course  includes  the 
expenses  from  the  beginning. 

Q.  Who  is  the  secretary  of  that  company  t — A.  Mr.  Jacob  W.  Miller, 
who  is  the  president  of  the  Boston  and  New  York  (New  London)  Bail 
way  Company. 

Q.  Who  is  the  treasurer? — A.  Henry  E.  Hoyt. 

By  Senator  DOLPH: 
Q.  How  is  it  that  the  difference  between  the  $800,000  paid  out  by 
your  company  and  the  million  and  a  half  has  not  been  presented! — A. 
I  stated  this  was  from  the  beginning.  Now  in  the  first  place  the  Nic- 
aragua Canal  Association  was  formed,  and  the  Construction  Company 
was  its  successor  as  to  work  of  construction.  The  association  expended 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  before  the  Construction  Company  took 
hold,  so  that  including  that,  and  what  the  Construction  Company  has 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  377 

done,  and  done  in  advance  of  payment,  I  understand  it  is  about  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  dollars. 

Q.  Do  you  pay  interest  on  advances  as  the  money  is  expended  by  the 
Construction  Company  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  the  contract  does  not  call  for  it. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Are  any  of  the  officers  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  members 
of  the  Construction  Company? — A.  Not  as  officers;  they  are  stockhold- 
ers.   The  officers  are  entirely  different. 

Q.  The  management  is  entirely  separate? — A.  Entirely  separate. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  Can  yon  state  how  nearly  identical  the  stockholders  of  each  com- 
pany are? — A.  Well,  1  should  say  all  the  stockholders  of  the  Maritime 
Company  are  also  stockholders  of  the  Construction  Company 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Are  any  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Construction  Company,  aside 
from  the  ones  you  have  named,  stockholders  in  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany ? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  But  the  Construction  Company  itself  is  a  stockholder  to  the  ex- 
tent of  $1,000,000? — A.  Yes;  and  the  Construction  Company  has  a 
large  list  of  stockholders  all  over  the  country. 

Q.  Have  you  had  any  further  transactions  with  the  Construction 
Company  looking  to  the  future  as  to  what  sort  of  a  permanent  contract 
shall  be  made  ? — A.  We  have  arranged  and  agreed  upon  the  leading 
l)oints  of  a  permanent  contract.  The  original  draft  of  that  contract  I 
did  not  bring  with  me.  The  contract  has  never  been  signed  because  it 
is  not  quite  complete.  It  can  not  be  completed  until  we  know  a  little 
more  as  to  what  our  securities  will  bring  in  order  to  know  how  many 
securities  to  issue,  and  in  order  to  fix  a  compensation  in  securities.  All 
those  questions  will  have  to  be  settled  before  the  contract  can  be  fully 
completed.    I  have  the  synopsis  of  the  contract  here. 

Q.  Is  there  any  point  of  difference  between  your  company  and  the 
Nicaraguan  Government  now  outstanding? — A.  No,  sir,  there  is  no 
point  of  difference  whatever.  I  may  as  well  perhaps  say,  as  you  ask 
me  the  question,  with  reference  to  that,  that  there  is  no  point  of  differ- 
ence remaining  unsettled  between  the  company  and  Nicaragua  at  the 
present  time.  That  leads  me  to  say  (without  assuming  to  be  able  to 
give  you  gentlemen  the  least  information  on  that  point)  that  it  is  proper 
that  3'ou  should  know  from  us  officially  the  relations  which  exist  be- 
tween us  and  Nicaragua,  and  in  fact  Central  America  generally.  It  is, 
as  I  said  before,  perhaps  unnecessary  to  state  these  facts,  but  there  are 
complicated  questions.  The  rights  to  the  San  Juan  Eiver,  the  bound- 
ary questions  between  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  always  come  up 
when  any  question  of  transit  across  that  isthmus  arises.  You  will  find 
that  under  Tyler's  administration,  in  1842,  this  matter  was  somewhat 
considered  by  Mr.  Webster,  and  it  has  been  before  every  Secretary  of 
Btate  in  some  aspect  from  that  time  to  this.  It  involves  the  canal 
question.  Now  the  question  of  the  respective  rights  in  this  particular 
route  was  supposed  to  have  been  settled  under  the  treaty  of  limits  be- 
tween those  two  powers  of  1858.  Under  that  treaty,  while  Nicaragua 
owns  the  entire  route,  yet  Costa  Rica  has  the  right  to  navigation  and 
has  the  right  to  be  consulted. 

Now  I  come  down  to  the  point  where  it  concerns  this  particular  con- 


J 78  NICAKAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

cessiou.  The  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  which  was  tbrmetl  iu  1886, 
sent  out  early  in  1887  to  obtain  a  concession  to  buih!  this  canal.  Nica 
ragua  had  the  right  to  give  this  concebsion,  and  in  it  gave  us  tlie  full- 
est freedom  to  locate  the  route,  but  for  the  reason  that  the  treaty  of  1858 
gives  to  Costa  Rica  the  right  of  navigation  and  that  in  the  construction 
of  the  canal  waters  would  be  made  to  overflow  Costa  Rican  territory, 
Costa  Rica  took  the  ground  that  Nicaragua  should  have  recognized 
tliat  treaty  to  the  extent  at  least  of  obtaining  the  consent  of  Costa 
Rica  to  this  concession.  Nicaragua  did  not  do  that.  We  accepted  the 
concession  in  good  faith,  believing  Nicaragua  had  the  absolute  right  to 
grant  it.  The  first  thing  we  encountered  was  a  protest,  thirty  or  forty 
days  thereafter,  from  Costa  Rica,  announcing  that  the  concession  was 
ot  no  value  because  she  had  not  been  consulted.  The  Government  of 
Nicarauga  could  have  consulted  her  before,  and  have  gone  on  and  sat- 
isfied her  for  any  damages  which  the  overflow  might  do  to  her  terri- 
tory, but  we  were  left  to  make  terms  with  Costa  Rica.  We  then  for  six 
mouths  negotiated  to  obtain  a  concession  from  Costa  Rica,  when  this 
was  accomplished.  Nicaragua  immediately  protested  against  our  con- 
cession from  Costa  Rica.  We  assured  Nicaragua  that  we  had  accepted 
the  concession  from  Costa  Rica  simply  in  the  nature  of  a  quitclaim  of 
any  rights  she  might  have;  and  when  we  formed  our  company  and 
accepted  the  Costa  Rica  concession  we  accepted  it  only  in  so  tar  as  it 
did  not  conflict  with  the  territorial  rights  and  proprietary  interests  of 
the  Republic  of  Nicaragua.  Thus  we  were  entirely  open  and  frank  in 
the  whole  transaction. 

Now  you  will  readily  see  that  up  to  that  point  it  was  useless  to  talk 
about  the  sale  of  bonds  with  the  protest  of  either  government  pending 
Then  when  the  first  expedition,  sent  out  after  the  Maritime  Company 
was  organized,  commenced  work  on  the  3d  of  June,  1889,  Nicaragua 
oflBcially  notified  us  that,  while  she  would  protest  against  our  coixes- 
sion  from  Costa  Rica,  yet  she  would  not  go  bgyond  protesting  and 
would  not  interfere  with  the  construction  of  the  canal.  But  in  July 
Nicaragua  ordered  the  stopping  of  our  work  at  Greytown.  We  did  not 
pay  attention  to  that  order,  because  she  immediately  modified  it  by  say- 
ing that  she  would  not  regard  the  work  as  an  otflcial  commencemt- nt  of 
permanent  work.  The  troubles  continued  and  were  fostered  by  parties 
from  England,  whose  names  I  know,  who  wanted  to  have  the  24th  day 
ot  October  arrive  and  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  not  recoguize  that 
we  had  begun  our  work,  so  that  our  concession  would  lapse.  On  the 
16th  of  September,  188'),  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  notified  us 
officially  that  if  we  did  not  confine  ourselves  within  her  limits,  thereby 
ignoring  any  rights  or  claims  of  Costa  Rica,  she  would  not  approve  our 
surveys  nor  recognize  the  commencement  of  the  work  of  construction, 
and  that  on  the  24th  of  October  she  should  consider  our  conceSvsion  as 
having  lapsetl. 

This  course  of  Nicaragua  was  so  nnjust,  that  I  went  immediately  to 
tne  Government  here,  through  the  State  Department.  1  stated  the 
cjase  fully.  Mr.  Blaine  met  the  question  with  great  fairness  and  prompt 
uess,  and  immediately  wired  to  the  American  minister  at  Central  Amer 
ica  to  go  to  Nicaragua  and  say  to  the  Nicaraguan  Government  that  he 
was  surprised  at  the  report  of  the  attitude  of  the  Nicaraguan  Govern 
ment  towards  this  company,  and  wished  him  to  examine  into  the  facts 
and  report  to  the  State  Department  here,  and  at  the  same  time  to  assuie 
the  Government  of  Nicaragua  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
would  not  remain  passive  and  see  the  rights  of  its  citizens  threatened. 
That  ait^patch  of  Mr.  Blaine  had  the  desired  effect.     Mr.  Mizner  and 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY  379 

Mr.  Hall,  our  permanent  agent  there,  arranged  a  plan  by  which  Nica- 
ragua could  recede  from  her  position  with  dignity,  which  was  in  the 
form  of  a  joint  declaration.  On  our  part  we  agreed  to  go  on  and  build 
the  canal  in  good  faith  under  the  concession,  and  the  Nicaraguan  Gov- 
ernment agreed  to  approve  the  surveys  and  work,  so  that  the  work  of 
construction  was  recognized  officially  as  commenced  on  the  8th  of  last 
October.  I  will  submit  copies. of  the  telegrams  between  the  President 
of  Nicaragua  and  myself. 

[Copy  of  telegram  sent  October  9, 1889.] 

His  excellency  President  of  Nicaragua, 

Managua : 
Please  accept  my  sincere  congratulations  upon  the  happy  termination  of  all  differ- 
ences, and  the  company's  assurance  that  it  will  vigorously  prosecjte  the  work  of  the 
canal  in  the  interest  of  Nicaragua  and  the  whole  commercial  world. 

Hiram  Hitchcock, 
Fresident  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Mcaragua. 


[  Translation  of  telegram  reoelyed  from  the  President  of  Nicaragna  in  reply  to  onrs  of  October  9.] 

Managua,  October  11,  1889. 
President  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua : 

I  congratulate  myself  jointly  with  you  upon  the  happy  settlement  of  the  canal  ques- 
tion, and  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  I  offer  the  cordial  assistance  of  my  Govern- 
ment to  the  efforts  of  the  company  for  the  realization  of  this  grand  enterprise. 

EOBERTO  SaCASA, 

President  of  the-  Bepublio. 

Q.  So  that  all  this  work  was  begun  before? — A.  Surveys  were  begun 
in  November,  1887,  and  $250,000  had  been  spent  on  the  work  prior  to 
June,  1889,  and  everything  had  been  entirely  harmonious  except  in  the 
matter  of  protests,  as  stated,  down  to  the  point  when  this  attempt  was 
made  through  various  influences  to  cause  the  Government  to  dispossess 
us  of  our  concessionary  rights. 

Now  you  can  readily  see  that  with  protests  from  Costa  Kica  at  the 
very  start,  with  protests  from  Nicaragua,  with  all  these  troubles,  this 
company  was  not  in  a  position  to  say  one  word  about  the  sale  of  stock 
or  bonds  until  the  8th  of  last  October.  Very  soon  after  that  we  were 
confronted  with  one  of  the  tightest  money  markets  New  York  and  the 
financial  world  has  seen  of  late,  which  has  only  in  the  last  sixty  days 
been  relaxed,  so  there  are  strong  reasons  why  we  have  never  attempted 
to  place  the  securities  of  the  company. 

We  have  had  a  great  many  questions  asked  about  our  securities,  and 
we  have  always  been  willing  to  listen  to  them. 

Q.  You  mean  questions  asked  you  by  people  who  represent  capital? — 
A.  Yes ;  people  come — we  do  not  always  know  how  much  capital  they 
represent — and  say  "  We  can  place  your  bonds,  so  and  so."  Our  reply 
has  been,  "We  can  not  offer  our  bonds  under  present  circumstances." 
Of  course  the  time  is  soon  coming  when  we  can  take  up  the  subject. 
The  Government  of  Nicaragua  is  very  friendly  now,  and  most  thoroughly 
in  earnest  and  ready  to  help  us  in  reference  to  this  canal  all  in  its  power. 
But  by  October  next  we  are  pledged  to  put  into  that  work  $2,000,000. 
Now  we  shall  get  that  $2,000,000  into  the  work.  Senator  Miller,  presi- 
dent of  the  Construction  Company,  assures  me  that  there  is  no  question 
about  it ;  so  that  there  will  be  no  reason  for  the  Nicaraguan  Govern- 
ment raising  any  objection  that  we  have  not  complied  with  all  the  terms 


380  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

of  the  concession ;  but  of  course  it  will  depend  somewhat  upon  plots 
and  schemes,  and  upon  the  eyes  of  her  engineers.  They  may  see  tive 
or  six  miilious  and  may  not  see  one.  Between  Nicarai;ua  and  Costa 
Rica  there  is  always  danger  of  difficulty  coming  up  in  reference  to  this 
canal  and  the  question  of  their  respective  rights  there.  I  had  a  tele- 
gram the  other  day  that  the  Costa  Kican  Government  had  appointed 
another  commission  to  confer  with  Nicaragua  again  as  to  that.  Nicara- 
gua at  this  stage  of  the  i)roceedings  might  simply  propose  to  pay  for 
the  400,000  or  500,000  or  600,000  acres  of  land  (which  may  be  overflowed 
by  our  dams)  of  Costa  Rican  territory,  and  arrange  as  to  navigation, 
etc.,  then  there  could  be  no  further  claim  upon  Nicaragua  or  upon  us. 
But  until  the  respective  rights  of  those  two  powers  are  settled  there 
will  always  be  more  or  less  difficulty. 

There  is  another  point  I  would  like  to  mention.  I  have  always  felt 
entirely  secure  as  to  the  position  of  this  company  as  chartered  bj-  Con- 
gress, not  only  because  it  was  chartered  by  Congress,  but  on  account  of 
the  treaty  of  18G7  between  the  United  States  and  Nicaragua.  The 
terms  of  the  treaty  are  particularly  strong  and  conclusive.  The  United 
States  has  the  same  right  over  the  Nicaragua  route  under  the  treaty  of 
1867  as  it  has  over  the  Panama  route.  If  there  is  any  difficulty  that 
obstructs  our  transit  through  that  territory  the  United  States  has  the 
right  to  go  in  and  preserve  order  just  as  she  has  done  on  the  Panama 
route  under  the  treaty  with  Colombia.  So  that  1  have  felt  entirely 
confident  that  in  the  end  the  company,  if  it  went  on  in  good  faith, 
which  it  surely  will,  will  receive  the  protection  of  the  United  States. 
not  only  because  it  was  incorporated  by  the  United  States,  but  because 
of  these  treaty  relations,  and  because  of  the  importance  of  that  route 
to  the  United  States. 

Q.  Now  give  us  the  synopsis  of  your  permanent  contract. — A.  As  1 
said  before,  these  amounts  can  not  be  correctly  defined  until  these 
various  questions  are  settled.  (Mr.  Hitchcock  here  read  the  synopsis, 
and  the  committee  directed  that  it  be  not  printed  but  placed  on  the 
files  of  the  committee.) 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 
Q.  What  is  the  actual  top- working  estimate  of  the  engineers  on  their 
final  revision;  what  amount  of  actual  cash,  it  being  ready  in  hand, 
will  that  canal  cost? — A.  I  will  state  that  as  definitely  as  I  am  able. 
Our  own  engineer,  Mr.  Menocal,  makes  a  full  and  final  estimate,  as  in 
his  judgment  absolutely  sufficient  to  build  the  canal,  $65,000,000.  The 
advisory  board  of  engineers,  which  we  called  in  to  review  those  plans, 
and  whom  we  told  "  we  have  not  call*  d  you  to  approve  these  plans,  but 
we  call  upon  you  to  find  all  the  fault  you  possibly  can;  that  is  your  busi- 
ness, and  we  want  you  particularly  to  review  these  figures" — they  car- 
ried that  estimate  up  from  $65,000,000  to  $80,000,000.  They  also  added 
$7,000,000  for  the  following  reason:  They  said,  ''You  have  a  peculiar 
country  there.  It  is  a  volcanic  country.  It  is  not  actively  so  now,  but 
it  has  been  in  years  past,  and  when  you  build  these  dams  you  do  not 
know  how  many*cre vices,  as  the  water  rises,  it  may  find  to  go  through; 
and  therefore  you  do  not  know  how  many  leaks  you  will  have  to  stop ; 
and,  while  we  do  not  really  believe  it  will  cost  you  that,  it  may  possibly 
files  of  the  committee  directed  that  it  be  not  printed  but  placed  on  the 
cost  you  a  few  million  dollars;  so  we  will  add  $7,000,000  for  that  item." 
That  carried  it  up  to  $87,000,000. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  381 

Q.  They  allowed  a  certain  amount  for  contingencies  in  the  ordinary 
way,  and  then,  as  a  special  contingent  fund  in  view  of  unforeseen  pos- 
sibilities, they  added  $7,000,000  ?— A.  Yes.  So  that  the  actual  con- 
struction of  the  canal,  according  to  the  advisory  board,  would  cost 
$87,000,000.  Then  of  course  there  would  be  some  expenses  of  admin- 
istration. I  have  always  said  that  the  lowest  amount  that  should  be 
fixed  as  the  probable  actual  economic  cost  of  that  canal  would  be 
$100,000,000.     I  have  never  had  any  other  opinion. 

Q.  Who  were  the  gentlemen  who  composed  the  advisory  board  of 
engineers? — A.  The  advisory  board  was,  first,  Mr.  John  Bogart,  as 
chairman,  who  was  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Erie  Canal  system.  The 
others  were  Mr.  Wellington,  who  is  an  expert  engineer  and  has  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  in  advising  about  the  construction  of  large  aqueduct 
and  other  works  in  this  country;  Mr.  Myers,  who  is  a  very  prominent 
railway  engineer,  and  who  lives,  I  believe,  at  Richmond,  and  has  con- 
structed a  great  many  railway  lines;  Mr.  Charles  T.  Harvey,  who  was 
the  constructing  engineer  of  the  Saulte  Ste.  Marie  Canal,  and  Prof. 
H.  A.  Hitchcock,  the  professor  of  civil  engineering  in  the  Thayer 
school  of  engineering  at  Dartmouth  College.  That  was  the  advisory 
board. 

Q.  Would  it  be  possible  for  your  company,  in  making  this  permanent 
contract,  to  insert  in  it  a  clause  that  if  the  United  States  should  at  any 
time  before  the  completion  of  the  work,  wish  to  take  the  things  off  the 
hands  of  the  Construction  Company,  advance  money  itself,  and  thus 
save  the  enormous  difference  between  actual  cost  and  outstanding  obli- 
gations and  stock,  that  then  the  contract  should  terminate  right  where 
it  was  and  be  settled  up,  and  its  further  execution,  so  far  as  getting 
such  a  great  amount  of  bonds  in  excess  of  the  actual  cash  to  be  used, 
should  stop?  By  that  I  do  not  mean  that  the  Construction  Company 
should  stop  doing  the  work  and  being  paid  for  it  in  cash,  or  any  adjust- 
ment that  should  be  made,  but  whether  you  could  manage  with  them  to 
have  the  door  left  open  for  the  United  States  to  step  in  and  help  you  all 
out  in  some  suitable  way,  so  as  to  save  this  enormous  amount  of  out- 
standing obligations  at  the  end. — A.  I  have  no  doubt  but  what  such  an 
arrangement  could  be  made,  and  I  will  say  very  frankly  that  1  think  I 
represent  a  dominant  interest — a  dominant  body  of  men  in  this  canal, 
who,  while  they  expect  to  realize  something  from  it,  yet  their  desire  is 
so  strong  for  the  canal  that  there  will  be  no  personal  consideration  in 
the  way  of  the  arrangement  that  you  suggest,  and  I  should  very  decid- 
edly favor  it.  They  are  not  a  selfish  body  of  men.  You  take  men  like 
Frederick  Billings,  Judge  Daly,  Mr.  Fairbanks,  Mr.  Darling,  and  all 
those  gentlemen,  and  first  of  all  they  want  the  canal  built. 

Q.  I  hope,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  both  my  col- 
leagues and  doubtless  the  whole  committee  will  agree  with  me  in  that 
hope  earnestly,  that  your  company  which  Congress  has  chartered,  if 
you  are  compelled  to  make  definite  and  final  arrangements  before  any 
judgment  of  Congress,  in  view  of  the  present  situation,  can  be  taken 
definitely  one  way  or  the  other,  that  you  will  have  a  clause  inserted  which 
shall  enable  you,  justly  and  legally  to  the  Construction  Company,  to  stop 
this  enormous  waste  of  obligations  in  such  a  way  that  the  United  States 
may  come  to  your  assistance. — A.  I  should  favor  that  very  decidedly. 

By  Senator  Payne: 

Q.  Is  it  a  part  of  your  obligation  under  your  charter  to  report  annu- 
ally?— A.  Yes;  and  I  have  submitted  already  a  copy  of  our  annual 
report. 


382  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

By  Senator  Edumunds: 

Q.  Have  you  any  copies  of  the  concession  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa 
Ricat — A.  I  have  brought  over  for  you  everything  I  thought  you 
might  possibly  want.  The  concessions  are  out  of  priui,  but  I  have 
brought  over  a  copy  of  each  of  them  ;  also  a  report  of  the  consulting 
engineers  and  a  report  of  the  final  location  by  Chief  Engineer  Menoca). 

[The  copies  of  the  concessions,  etc,  were  placed  on  file.] 

Conuuittee  adjourued. 


IIICAKAGUA    CANAL   COMPANT.  383 


Senate  op  the  Fnited  States, 

Committee  on  Foreign  Kelations, 

Saturday^  June  28,  1890. 
The  committee  met  at  10.30  a.  m.    Present,  Senators  Sherman  (chair- 
man), Edmunds,  Frye,  Evarts,  Dolph,  and  Payne. 

There  were  also  present,  at  the  request  of  the  committee,  Hiram 
Hitchcock,  president  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaraugua, 
and  Warner  Miller,  president,  and  Alexander  T.  Mason,  attorney  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. 


STATEMENT  OF  HIRAM  HITCHCOCK— Continued. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  it  is  presumed  you  know  the  situation  of  the 
matter  before  us.  We  want  to  get  from  you  the  precise  financial  status 
of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  and  also  of  the  Construction  Company, 
and  we  would  like  to  have  you  make  your  statement  in  your  own  way. 
We  want  to  know  the  precise  amount  of  the  obligations  you  are  under 
either  for  improvements  made  or  for  expenses  already  incurred,  includ- 
ing obligations  now  existing  or  that  are  accruing,  so  as  to  get  at  the 
exact  present  condition  of  the  two  companies.  We  have  your  former 
statement  here  before  us,  and  you  need  not  go  over  that  unless  it  is 
necessary  to  repeat  some  portion  of  it. — A.  Allow  me  to  say  that  in  my 
previous  statement  I  answered  such  questions  as  were  asked,  and  made 
some  further  remarks  with  reference  to  this  matter.  I  did  not  go  into 
all  of  the  details  of  the  transactions  relating  to  the  concessions,  as  1 
took  it  for  granted  that  you  gentlemen  were  fully  conversant  with 
nearly  all  those  particulars.  lu  order  to  answer  your  question  clearly, 
I  will  go  back  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  which  obtained  the 
two  concessions  from  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica, 
respectively.  Under  those  concessions  the  Canal  Association  was 
obliged  to  form  a  construction  company  and  also  to  take  measures  for 
the  formation  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua.  It  im- 
mediately formed  the  Construction  Company,  which  was  incorporated 
three  years  ago  this  month. 

Q.  That  is  the  Construction  Company  ? — A.  The  present  Construc- 
tion Company,  to  which  company  the  concessions  were  transferred  by 
ttie  association.  Under  the  terras  of  the  Nicaragua  concession  the 
Nicaraguan  Government  is  to  receive  6  per  cent,  of  the  stock,  as  we 
believe,  of  the  company,  but  as  they  believe  6  per  cent,  of  all  the  secu- 


384  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANTr. 

rities  issued  by  the  company.  That  question  remains  unsettled,  a  con- 
struction of  the  clause  referring  to  that  matter  not  having  been  agreed 
upon.  The  Costa  Rican  concession  calls  for  a  million  and  a  half,  or 
1^  per  cent,  of  the  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company.  The  Maritime 
Company  has  not  as  yet  issued  any  of  its  stock  to  those  Governments. 
The  association  itself,  under  the  terms  of  the  concession  from  Nicara- 
gua, is  entitled  to  the  same  compensation  which  the  Government  of 
Nicaragua  receives;  that  is,  6  per  cent,  of  the  securities  of  the  Mari- 
time Company. 

Q.  Kepeat  that  sentence. — A.  I  say  that  under  the  concession  the 
association  itself,  that  is,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association 

Q.  The  old  association  t — A.  The  old  association  uuder  the  fifty-first 
article  was  to  receive  from  the  Maritime  Company  6  per  cent,  of  the 
stock  and  bonds  of  the  company  to  be  formed. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  The  fifty- first  article,  do  you  sayt — A.  The  fifty-first  article. 
Now,  those  two  concessions,  as  I  stated,  were  disposed  of  to  the  Con- 
struction Company  in  order  that  the  work  might  go  on,  and  we  were 
obliged  under  the  concessions  to  form  a  construction  company,  and  we 
had  to  wait  a  long  time  before  we  could  form,  as  we  believed  iiroperly, 
the  Maritime  Company.  We  waited  for  this  Congressional  charter  and 
organized  under  it.    Now  the  Maritime  Company  was  formed 

Q.  The  old  association  was  merged  in  the  Maritime  Company  t — A. 
The  old  association  was  dissolved ;  the  Maritime  Company  was  formed 
and  purchased  of  the  Construction  Company  all  its  right,  title,  and  in- 
terest in  and  to  the  two  concessions — for  which  it  agreed  to  pay 
$12,000,000  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company.  The  stock  has  not  been 
issued ;  and  the  stock  has  not  been  issued  to  those  two  Governments 
We  have  not  issued  the  $12,000,000  to  the  Construction  Company, 
although  we  have  agreed  so  to  do.  We  left  it  to  be  delivered  at  their 
demand,  and  the  obligation  still  remains  to  deliver  on  call  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Construction  Company  this  $12,000,000  Maritime  Company 
stock  that  is  agreed  to  be  paid  for  these  concessions. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  One-half  of  which  goes  to  the  Nicaraguan  Government  and  the 
other  half  to  the  Construction  Company  ? — A.  No,  that  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent. Six  per  cent,  is  to  go  to  Nicaragua,  and  1^  per  cent,  to  Costa 
Eica,  but  the  Maritime  Company  pays  to  the  Construction  Company  for 
those  two  concessions,  with  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  franchises 
thereunder,  $12,000,000  stock. 

Q.  Does  that  $12,000,000  cover  the  amount  that  goes  to  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Eica  T — A.  No,  sir ;  that  is  entirely  independent. 

Q.  Then  you  are  under  obligations  to  issue  $12,000,000  to  the  Con- 
struction Company,  $6,000,000  to  Nicaragua,  and  $1,500,000  to  Costa 
Kicat — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Nineteen  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  what  are  you  to  receive  for  that  t — A.  That  was  regarded  as 
the  just  value  of  the  concessions  which  the  Construction  Company  had 
purchased  of  the  association.  That  of  course  includes  the  $6,000,000 
stock  which  the  association  is  entitled  to  under  the  terms  of  the  con- 
cession, and  any  right  they  might  have  to  0  per  cent,  of  bonds  and  6 
per  cent,  of  any  future  increase  of  capital  stock.  So  the  Construction 
Company,  for  taking  hold  of  this  enterprise  and  practically  carrying  it 
on,  receive  an  additional  $6,000,000  of  stock  ',  but  you  gentlemen  will 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  385 

remember  that  the  Costa  Eican  concession  was  subsequent  to  that  from 
Nicaragua,  and  has  of  course  very  great  value.  Without  it  the  canal 
could  not  be  built  as  at  present  located. 

Q.  Then,  if  I  understand  you,  the  answer  to  my  question  is,  that  you 
are  under  obligations  to  issue  in  the  aggregate  $12,000,000  stock  to  the 
Coustruction  Company,  $6,000,000  to  Nicaragua,  and  $1,500,000  to  Costa 
Rica?— A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  There  would  be  no  additional  claim  by  the  construction  com- 
pany?— A.  No,  sir.  Whatever  the  association  was  entitled  to  receive 
under  the  Slst  article  of  the  concession,  which  was  6  per  cent,  of  the  stocks 
and  bonds,  was  conveyed  by  it  to  the  construction  company,  and  sub- 
sequently by  the  construction  company  to  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany of  Nicaragua. 

Q.  But  you  have  not  issued  that  stock  yetf — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Who  compose  the  association  that  got  this  concession  of  Mr. 
Menocal? — A.  The  association  was  originally  formed  of  Frederick 
Billings,  Chief  Justice  Daly,  Admiral  Ammen,  Commander  Taylor, 
Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  Francis  A.  Stout,  Commander  Crowninshield, 
Engineer  Menocal,  and  myself.  That  was  the  original  meeting,  but 
the  number  was  afterwards  increased  and  included  perhaps  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five,  possibly  one  hundred  and  fifty  gentlemen. 

Q.  Did  that  association  have  a  corporate  existence? — A.  No,  sir;  it 
was  simply  a  business  association  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  con- 
cessions. 

Q.  Did  it  keep  books,  minutes  of  its  meetings,  etc.  ? — A.  It  kept  min- 
utes of  its  meetings. 

Q.  Where  are  they,  are  they  in  your  possession? — A.  They  are  not 
in  my  possession.    The  association  some  time  ago  went  out  of  existence. 

Q.  That  association  turned  itself  into  the  Construction  Company  ? — 
A.  No,  sir ;  it  held  its  organization  intact.  Its  members  aided  in  form- 
ing the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  When  was  the  Construction  Company  formed? — A.  It  was  formed 
nearly  three  years  ago  this  month. 

Q.  Before  the  passage  of  the  act  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  ? — A.  Yes.  The  Construction  Company  commenced  work  in 
December,  1887. 

Q.  Who  composed  the  Construction  Company  ? — A.  It  was  composed 
mainly  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  association. 

Q.  Give  the  names  of  everybody  you  can  remember. — A.  There  was 
Mr.  Billings,  Governor  Fairbanks,  of  Vermont,  who  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother.  Col.  Franklin  Fairbanks,  Judge  Daly,  Mr.  Stout,  Mr.  Hotch- 
kiss, Mr.  Thompson,  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  New  York,  Mr.  Dar-  . 
ling,  Mr.  James  Roosevelt,  Mr.  Robert  Garrett  and  T.  Harrison  Garrett, 
of  Baltimore,  Robert  A.  Lancaster,  of  Richmond,  Joseph  Bryan,  of 
Richmond,  Mr.  Cohen,  of  Savannah,  Mr.  Aldige,  of  New  Orleans,  Mr. 
Anderson, of  Cincinnati,  and  I  presume  I  could  think  of  a  good  many 
more  of  them. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  Which  one  of  the  Andersons  ? — A.  I  think,  William  P.  Anderson. 
By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  When  was  this  transfer  from  the  original  association  to  the  Con. 
struction  Company  made  ?     I  understood  you  to  say  that  the  conces- 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 25 


386  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

sions  were  first  transferred  to  the  Construction  Company  by  the  associa- 
tion.— A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  when  was  that  t — A.  It  was  in  September,  1887. 

Q.  Was  that  in  writing  ? — A.  That  is  my  impression,  yes. 

Q.  Have  yon  got  the  books  here  which  show  the  entries  and  engage- 
ments, etc.,  on  which  the  transfer  from  Menocal  and  his  associates  to 
the  Construction  Company  was  made  t — A.  Not  to  my  knowledge. 

Q.  Are  you  a  member  of  the  Construction  Company  ? — A.  I  am  a 
member  of  the  Construction  Company,  yes. 

Q.  You  are  not  an  officer  t — A.  No,  sir.  I  left  New  Hampshire  yes- 
terday morning  and  do  not  know  what  papers  have  been  brought  here. 
As  I  said,  all  the  books  and  papers  of  the  association  are  in  the  custody 
of  the  late  secretary. 

Q.  Yes,  the  books  and  papers  of  the  Maritime  Company  and  the 
Construction  Company  are  in  the  possession  of  the  officers  of  the  com- 
pany ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  being  president  of  one  company  and  Mr.  Miller  of  the  other  t — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  Mr.  Miller,  have  you  the  books  and  papers  showing  the  transfer 
of  Mr.  Menocal's  rights  t 

Hon.  Warnee  Millee.  We  have  the  papers  all  here. 

Q.  Are  you  willing  to  produce  them  so  that  we  can  see  exactly  what 
the  transaction  was? — A.  Mr.  Mason  will  produce  all  the  papers. 

Q.  I  suppose  the  papers  will  show  exactly  what  this  transfer  was  t — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  That,  you  say,  Mr.  Hitckcock,  was  in  1887  f 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  September,  1887. 

Q.  Now,  when  was  the  first  engagement  made  between  the  Maritime 
Company  and  the  Construction  Company  t — A.  The  first  engagement 
between  the  Maritime  and  Construction  Company  was  made  very  near, 
in  fact,  immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  Maritime  Company, 
which  was  in  May  of  last  year,  1889. 

Q.  Were  those  engagementis  in  writing,  by  contract,  or  by  corre- 
spondence ? — A.  They  were  in  writing  by  correspondence. 

Q.  Are  all  the  undertakings  between  the  two  companies  in  writing  t — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  There  are  no  private  contracts  or  correspondence,  then,  that  do  not 
appear  in  your  books  and  papers  ? — A.  Not  at  all. 

Q.  I  suppose  the  Construction  Company  has  its  separate  books ;  these 
entries  will  appear  in  two  sets  of  books  ! — A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  engagement  you  made  with  the  Con- 
struction Company  T — A.  The  same  that  I  mentioned  the  other  day. 

Q.  Was  there  any  other  engagement  between  the  two  companies  ex- 
cept what  you  stated  the  other  day? — A.  As  I  stated  to  the  commit- 
tee then,  the  two  companies  had  practically  made  an  agreement,  but  it 
was  not  signed  and  it  could  not  be  signed  for  the  reason  I  gave;  and 
that  is,  we  could  not  tell  how  many  bonds  to  put  into  that  contract, 
and  the  matter  had  been  held  under  advisement  for  that  reason. 

Q.  Where  is  the  engagement  to  which  you  referred,  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Sherman,  as  an  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  Maritime  Company  to 
issue  nineteen  millions  of  stock.  We  can  see  as  far  as  the  concessions 
go  how  much  goes  to  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica, 
but  in  respect  of  what  you  say  you  give  the  Construction  Company  of 
your  stock! — A.  That  was  a  purchase  by  the  Maritime  Company  from 
the  Constraotion  Company  of  the  two  concessions  which  the  Oon- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  387 

structioD  Company  then  owned  under  its  purchase  trom  the  associa- 
tion. 

Q.  Yes,  it  was  a  purchase  of  a  paper  transaction? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Did  it  precede  or  follow  this  temporary  working  contract  that  you 
showed  us  the  other  day  ? — A.  It  was  the  same  day,  if  I  remember 
right. 

Q.  Did  you  say  anything  about  that  to  us  the  other  day  when  you 
were  here? — A.  No,  sir;  not  at  all, 

Q.  Did  you  say  it  was  in  writing! — A.  Yes,  sir;  it  was  in  writing. 

Q.  And  was  put  in  writing  at  that  time,  I  suppose? — A.  Y'es.  That 
was  a  purchase  by  the  Maritime  Company  from  the  Construction  Com- 
pany. 

Q.  Does  that  appear  by  the  books  of  your  corporation  ?  —A.  It  does. 

Q.  And  I  suppose  in  the  books  of  the  Construction  Company  ? — A. 
Yes. 

Q.  Well,  it  is  rather  unfortunate  that  so  important  an  item  was  left 
out  the  other  day. — A.  It  is  unfortunate.  It  did  not  occur  to  me,  and 
I  was  not  asked  a  question  about  it,  It  was  a  purchase  of  those  con- 
cessions by  the  Maritime  Company  of  the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  Yes,  but  it  was  purchased,  as  you  say,  in  round  numbers,  for 
$12,000,000?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  you  had  engaged  to  pay  it  in  stock? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  I  asked  you  how  much  stock  you  had  out  and  you  said  10,145 
shares? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  here  was  an  obligation  of  the  company  you  did  not  disclose, 
amounting  to  an  engagement  to  deliver  $12,000,000  stock  paid  up  to 
the  construction  company  ? — A.  That  is  true,  but  the  stock  had  not 
been  issued,  and  I  was  asked  how  much  was  issued,  and  confined  my- 
pelf  to  that  question.    I  had  no  desire  to  conceal  anything. 

Q.  You  were  coming  on  here  so  rapidly  today  I  suppose  you  were 
not  able  to  bring  the  books  of  your  company? 

Mr.  Alex  T.  Mason.  I  brought  them  with  me,  and  have  them  here 
(producing  them). 

Q.  Then  let  us  see  the  entries  as  to  the  purchase  of  these  concessions. 
This  book  you  now  produce  is  the  record  of  the  meetings  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  That  is  the  company  chartered  by  Congress  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  this  begins  on  the  24th  of  May.  That  is  the  same  date  you 
refer  to.  Now  come  to  that  part  of  it.  I  will  just  read  this.  It  shows 
a  meeting  on  the  24th  of  May.  Present,  Messrs.  Hitchcock,  Mason, 
Hotchkiss,  and  Daly,  of  the  executive  committee.  In  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Billings,  Mr.  Hitchcock  was  appointed  chairman. 

The  Secretary  then  read  a  commnnication  received  from  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
strnction  Company  offering  to  assign  to  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  for 
valuable  considerations  the  concessions  of  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa 
Rica,  which  were  assigned  to  said  Construction  Company  by  the  NicaraguaCanal  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  A.  C.  Cheney  and  Mr.  H.  C.  Taylor  attended  the  meeting  of  the  commit- 
tee to  present  the  views  of  the  Construction  Company  as  to  the  consideration  which 
should  be  paid  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  for  the  proposed  assignment  of  the 
concessions.  After  some  discussion  the  representatives  of  the  Construction  Company 
withdrew  for  consultation,  and  subsequently  presented  the  proposition  of  their  com- 
pany as  finally  agreed  upon  and  embodied  in  the  following  resolution: 

Besolved,  That  the  President  be  and  he  hereby  is  authorized  and  directed  to  notify 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  that  this  company  will  transfer  and 
assign  to  the  said  Maritime  Canal  Company  the  two  contracts  or  concessions  granted 
by  the  Republics  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  respectively,  together  with  all  the 
rights,  powers,  privileges,  property,  benefits,  advantages,  and  franchises  of  every 
nature  and  kind  whatsoever  which  this  company  as  assignee  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Association  has  in,  to,  by  or  under  said  concessions,  and  also  all  the  data  in  its  pos- 


388  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

session  relating  to  snrveys,  explorations,  reconnaissances,  and  estimates,  wblch  are 
now  in  its  possession,  for  the  sum  of  12,000,000  dollars  in  full  paid  up  shares  of  the 
capital  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Daly,  seconded  by  Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  following  resolutions  were 
nnanimonsly  adopted : 

Retolved,  That  the  proposition  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  for 
the  transfer  and  assignment  of  the  Nicaragua  aud  Costa  Kicaconcensiuns  to  this  com- 
pany be  and  the  same  is  hereby  accepted  upon  the  terms  aud  conditions  therein  set 
forth:  Prori(ferf, /loirerer,  That  it  is  understood  and  agreed  that  the  concession  granted 
by  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica  is  accepted  by  this  company  upon  the  condition  that 
nothing  therein  contained  shall  be  coustrued  to  affect  the  sovereignty  or  projjrietary 
interests  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  so  far  as  the  same  may  have  been  established 
by  the  treaty  of  April  15,  1858,  between  the  Governments  of  Nicaragua  aud  Costa 
Rica;  And  be  it  further 

Retolved,  That  the  president  and  secretary  are  hereby  authorized  to  execute,  nnder 
the  corporate  seal  of  this  company,  such  agreements  as  may  be  necessary  to  complete 
the  traubfor  and  assignment  of  said  concetssion  upon  the  terms  aud  conditions  afore- 
said, and  also  to  deliver  over  to  said  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 
upon  receiving  the  proper  deeds  of  transfer,  ($12,000,000)  twelve  millions  dollars  in 
fnll  paid  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  this  company. 

That  goes  to  the  temporary  contract  or  offer  to  do  the  work  of  which 
we  had  copies  before.  Now,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  did  you  execute  the  deeds 
that  were  mentioned  to  be  executed — papers  of  transfer  t 

Mr.  Hitchcock.    Yes. 

Q.  As  separate  documents  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  This  being  merely  a  minute  of  the  meeting,  of  what  was  proposed 
and  what  was  accepted  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now  then,  where  are  those  documents  ? — A.  They  are  here. 

Q.  Just  let  as  see  the  one  by  which  you  have  engaged  to  pay.  1  want 
to  see  when  you  are  to  issue  the  stock  absolutely.  Were  you  to  issue 
this  stock  when  they  delivered  the  deed  containing  the  concessions! — 
A.  Yes,  the  agreement  so  states,  but  in  view  of  the  questions  with  ref- 
erence to  issuing  stock,  as  I  said  before,  the  understanding  was  that 
the  stock  should  not  be  issued  to  the  company  except  on  the  demand 
of  the  president  of  the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  Was  that  understanding  in  writing  t — A.  No,  sir ;  it  was  a  verbal 
understanding. 

Q.  But  they  actually  delivered  to  you  the  deed  transferring  the  con- 
cessions?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  left  you  under  an  obligation  not  performed  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  On  the  face  of  it,  you  have  delivered  the  stock  then  and  there,  I 
suppose ;  that  is  what  the  resolution  says  t — A.  That  might  be  the  con- 
struction, I  suppose ;  they  have  never  asked  for  it. 

Q.  You  were  one  of  the  association,  you  say ;  how  much  did  the 
association  pay  for  these  same  concessions  Y — A.  I  can  not  give  you  the 
exact  figures. 

Q.  Well,  in  round  numbers  t — A.  Several  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Q.  Well,  one,  two,  or  three  1 — A.  I  should  think,  for  both  concessions, 
something  like  half  a  million  dollars,  including  all  the  expenses  con- 
nected with  them 

Q.  What  is  the  character  of  those  expenses,  name  them? — A.  They 
were  cash  advances.  For  instance  there  was  $100,000  advanced  to  the 
Government  of  Nicaragua. 

Q.  That  was  the  deposit  required  T — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Well  that  is  $100,000  ? — A.  Various  expenses  of  organization, 
some  expenses  of  preliminary  surveys  and  things  of  that  sort. 

Q.  Then  you  transferred  them,  as  you  said  before,  to  the  Canal  Con- 
struction Company  T — A.  To  the  Construction  Company,  yes. 

Q.  How  much  did  they  pay  yon  for  those  concessions  1 


OTCAKAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  389 

By  the  Chairman. 

Q.  Let  me  ask  before  you  answer  that — this  Construction  Company 
was  formed  before  the  Maritime  Company,  was  it  ? — A.  Yes,  two  years 
before. 

Q.  Is  that  the  same  Construction  Company  that  is  now  in  existence! — 
A.  The  same  now  in  existence. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Under  a  Colorado  charter  ? — A.  Yes.  I  can  not  tell  you  all  the 
Construction  Company  paid,  but  it  paid  more  than  the  association  paid. 

Q.  In  what  form  did  it  pay  it  ? — A.  They  paid  it  in  stock,  I  think. 

Q.  Stock  in  the  Construction  Company! — A.  In  the  Constructioa 
Company ;  yes  sir. 

Q.  Did  they  pay  any  cash  t 

Mr.  Mason.  There  was  no  cash  payment 

Q.  When  did  that  transaction  take  place ! — A.  I  think  in  August) 
1887. 

Q.  Immediately  after  the  Colorado  charter  f 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  The  Colorado  charter  was  in  June,  and  this  was 
August  following. 

Q.  Well,  the  Construction  Company  books,  I  suppose,  show  just 
how  much  was  paid  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  what  in  ? — A.  And  what  in. 

Q.  You  understand  it  to  be  something  more;  were  you  one  of  the 
sellers? — A.  Yes,  and  the  payment  was  in  stock.  Certain  advances 
were  made,  but  the  payment  was  in  stock. 

Q.  How  much  stock? — A.  Eleven  million  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  thousand  dollars.  It  was  paid  by  the  issue  of  the  Construction 
Company  stock. 

Q.  Issued  to  the  owners  of  the  concession  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Being  the  gentlemen  who  you  have  named  and  others  of  the 
same  sort  that  you  have  not  named  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.  What  I  meant 
by  money  advances  is  that  the  Construction  Company  had  made  ad- 
vances from  time  to  time.    When  it  was  finally  settled 

Q.  I  think  you  stated  before  that  the  Construction  Company  was 
composed  of  substantially  the  same  gentlemen? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  The  Maritime  Company,  as  far  as  the  people  composing  it  are  con- 
cerned, is  substantially  the  same  company  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  the  concessions  having  been  obtained  for  half  a  million  dol- 
lars the  holders  turned  them  over  to  the  company  formed  under  the 
Colorado  charter  for  an  issue  to  them  of  $1 1,998,000  in  stock ;  how 
was  that  precise  sum  computed?  It  is  an  odd  sum,  being  so  near  to 
$12,000,000? 

Mr.  Mason.  It  was  computed  in  this  way :  The  capitalization  of  the 
Construction  Company  was  $12,000,000,  of  which  enough  was  subscribed 
for  to  effect  the  organization  of  the  corporation,  and  the  balance  was 
issued  in  payment  of  this  charge. 

Q.  So  that  what  was  issued  in  the  form  of  a  corporation  and  what 
was  turned  over  for  these  concessions  made  the  charter  amount  of  the 
capital? — A.  Yes. 

Mr.  Miller.  I  would  like  to  have  Mr.  Mason,  who  has  been  the  at- 
torney all  the  way  through,  make  a  concise  and  plain  statement  from 
beginning  to  end  so  that  it  will  appear  just  what  the  transactions  were. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Yes.  I  wanted  to  be  sure  that  at  this  time  I  had 
not  forgotten  anything  Mr.  Hitchcock  had  said,  so  as  not  to  send  for 
hiui  again.    I  understand  this  transaction  makes  the  association  tK£ 


390  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

owner  of  the  whole  stock  of  the  Coustriiction  Company,  being  the  same 
persons. 
Mr.  UiTOHCOOK.  I  join  with  Senator  Miller  in  the  request  he  makes. 

By  the  Chaieman  : 

Q.  And  the  $12,000,000  issued  by  the  Maritime  Company  to  the  Con- 
struction Company  is  practically  the  same  amount,  is  it  nott 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  Yes. 

Q.  The  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  was  issued  to  the  holders  of 
the  concessions  ? — A.  The  holders  of  the  concessions  are  entitled  to  six 
millions  or  6  per  cent. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  They  sold  out  all  that  for  $12,000,000  in  round  numbers.  The 
Construction  Company,  therefore,  have  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company,  chartered  by  Congress,  for  $12,000,000,  you  all,  in  substance, 
being  the  same  body  of  gentlemen  t — A.  Practically  the  parties  own- 
ing the  concessions  form  these  two  companies. 

Senator  Evarts.  It  never  became,  as  I  understand,  a  matter  of 
transaction  and  substance  until  it  came  to  'the  issue  of  a  certain  num- 
ber of  shares  in  the  Maritime  Company ;  is  not  that  so  f 

Senator  Edmunds.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  The  Maritime  Company  paid  $12,000,000  of  their 
stock  for  concessions  and  expenses  incurred  before  that  time. 

Senator  Edmunds.  Agreed  to  pay  it,  and  the  Construction  Company 
paid  $12,000,000  stock  in  round  numbers  to  the  gentlemen  who  formed 
the  association,  and  all  the  same  parties  all  the  way  through.  Is  there 
anything  else,  Mr.  Hitchcock  of  any  kind  as  to  the  obligations  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  in  respect  to  these  concessions  and  the  work 
that  you  have  not  stated  on  the  other  occasion  and  now  t 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  No,  sir ;  I  do  not  recall  any  now. 

Q.  Then  this,  in  round  numbers,  now  represents  the  whole  and  every 
kind  of  engagement  and  liability  that  the  Maritime  Canal  Oompau;  is 
under? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  you  have  described  all^sort  of  liabilities t — A.  Yes,  and  I 
want  simply  to  assure  you  that  there  was  no  intent  of  reserving  any- 
thing on  my  part  the  other  day,  but  the  question  did  not  happen  to 
come  up  in  that  form  and  this  was  a  purchase  and  sale  between  the 
two  companies. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  391 


STATEMEin:  OF  ALEXANDER  T.  MASOI. 

The  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  was  formally  organized  on  the  3d 
of  December,  1886,  by  Messrs.  Daly,  Stout,  Hotchkiss,  Taylor,  Billings^ 
Crowniiishield,  Hitchcock,  Miller,  and  Menocal,  for  the  purpose  of  se- 
curing from  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  a  concession  or  grant  with 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  required  for  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  a  ship  canal  within  the  limits  of  that  country  connecting  the 
Caribbean  Sea  with  the  Pacific  Ocean,  together  with  all  wwks  accessory 
to  or  beneficial  in  the  construction  or  operation  of  said  canal.  Articles 
of  agreement  were  signed  by  the  various  members,  and  Mr.  Francis  A. 
Stout  was  elected  president,  and  Mr.  J.  W.  Miller,  secretary.  Negotia 
tions  were  conducted  in  Nicaragua  on  behalf  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Association  by  Mr.  A.  G.  Menocal,  and  resulted  in  his  obtaining  the 
canal  concession  now  in  force.  This  concession  was  duly  ratified  by 
the  Nicaraguan  Congress,  and  was  subsequently,  on  the  24th  of  April, 
1887,  approved  by  the  president  of  the  Republic,  and  on  the  same  day 
accepted  by  Mr.  Menocal  on  behalf  of  the  association.  The  objects  for 
which  the  association  was  formed  having  been  virtually  accomplished 
when  the  concession  was  obtained,  it  became  necessary  for  the  purpose 
of  complying  with  the  terms  and  conditions  therein  contained,  and  in 
order  to  carry  on  the  work  of  completing  the  final  axial  surveys  for  the 
location  of  the  canal,  to  organize  a  new  corporation.  Accordingly,  on 
the  10th  day  of  June,  1887,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Com- 
pany was  duly  incorporated  under  the  general  laws  of  the  State  of 
Colorado  with  a  capital  fixed  at  $12,000,000. 

By  the  Chaikman  : 

Q.  Can  you  leave  with  us  a  copy  of  that  document  (referring  to  a 
printed  copy  of  the  certificate  of  incorporation  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company) t — A.  Yes;  but  I  think  you  have  one  already 
in  your  possession. 

On  the  12th  day  of  August,  1887,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association 
sold,  assigned,  transferred,  and  delivered  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
struction Company,  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  $11,998,000,  in  the 
capital  stock  of  the  said  construction  company,  all  the  rights,  powers, 
privileges,  property,  benefits,  advantages,  and  franchises  of  every  na- 
ture and  kind  whatsoever  which  the  said  association  had  in,  to,  by  or 
under  the  said  concession  granted  by  the  Eepublic  of  Nicaragua,  ex- 
cepting, however,  the  right  to  organize  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua  and  the  right  of  representation  in  the  first  board  of  direct- 
ors thereof.  This  assignment  and  transfer  included  and  covered  the 
6  per  cent,  of  shares,  bonds,  certificates,  and  other  securities  of  the  said 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  to  which  the  association  was 
entitled  under  the  fifty-first  article  of  the  concession. 

By  Senator  Feyb  : 
Q.  One  moment,  please.    Did  that  transfer  include  the  Costa  Bican 
concession  as  well  as  that  from  Nicaragua f — ^A.  No,  sir;  for  at  that 
time  the  concession  from  Costa  Eica  had  not  been  obtained. 


392  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Aft^rthe  above  transfi^r  had  been  completed,  and  the  consideration 
tberjfor  duly  paid,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association  tuiued  back  into 
the  treasury  of  the  Construction  Company  six  millions  of  the  stock 
which  it  had  received  as  a  gift  for  the  puri)ose  of  enabling  the  Construc- 
tion Company  to  raise,  by  the  s-ale  thereof,  the  funds  that  were  needed 
to  carry  on  the  i)relirainary  work  under  the  concession,  and  to  complete 
the  final  surveys  and  the  location  of  the  canaL 

By  Senator  Payne  : 

Q.  This  was  a  donation  T — A.  It  was  a  voluntary  donation  on  the  part 
of  the  association,  and  the  proceeds  of  this  stock,  which  has  been  sold 
by  the  Construction  Company  from  time  to  time,  have  been  devoted  to 
carrying  on  the  work  connected  with  the  enterprise. 

At  the  time  the  sale  and  transfer  above  referred  to  was  made,  none 
of  the  members  of  the  association  were  members  of  the  Construction 
Company,  but  of  course  they  became  stockholders  in  the  new  corpora- 
tion as  soon  as  the  stock  delivered  in  payment  for  the  concession  was 
distributed.  The  Construction  Company  having  become  the  owner  of 
the  Nicaraguan  concession  at  once  commenced  operations  on  the  line 
of  the  canal  and  undertook  the  work  required  to  be  done  under  arti- 
cle 47  of  the  concession  within  the  period  therein  named.  Up  to 
this  time  the  association  had  supposed  that  the  concession  granted  by 
the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  conveyed  an  absolute  title  to  the  entire  route 
of  the  canal,  but  no  sooner  had  the  engineering  expedition,  sent  out  by 
the  Construction  Company,  landed  at  Greytown  than  the  Republic  of 
Costa  Rica  filed  its  protest  against  the  construction  of  a  canal  over  the 
proposed  route  without  its  consent.  This  protest  alleged  that,  under 
the  treaty  of  limits  of  April,  1858,  entered  into  between  the  respective 
Governments  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  the  latter  Republic  was  the 
owner  of  certain  rights  in  and  to  the  port  of  Grey  town  and  the  river 
San  Juan  of  which  it  could  not  be  divested  by  the  Republic  of  N  icaragua 
without  its  consent.  The  questions  arising  as  to  the  proper  construction 
to  be  given  to  the  said  treaty  were  referred  by  both  Governments  to 
President  Cleveland  as  arbitrator,  and  his  award,  which  was  rendered 
on  the  22d  day  of  March,  1888,  virtually  decided  in  favor  of  Costa 
Eica.  It  then  became  necessary  for  the  association,  in  order  to  remove 
all  difficulties  which  had  arisen  or  might  thereafter  arise  in  regard  to 
damage  or  injury  which  might  be  caused  to  the  natural  rights  of  Costa 
Rica  in  the  construction  of  the  canal,  to  obtain  from  that  Republic  a 
contract  of  some  kind.  Negotiations  were  accordingly  started,  and  re- 
sulted in  what  is  known  as  the  Zeledon-Menocal  Concession,  which  was 
duly  ratified  and  approved  by  the  President  of  Costa  Rica  on  the  9th 
day  of  August,  1888. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  That  being  the  concession  we  have  a  print  of  and  which  is  dated 
July  31,  1888 1 — A.  Yes,  sir ;  it  was  approved  August  9,  1888. 

Q.  Yes  J  that  was  the  final  approval  by  the  President.—  A.  Yes ;  this 
concession,  as  I  have  already  stated,  was  obtained  by  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Association  in  order  to  x>erfect  its  original  title  to  the  route  of  the 
canal.  As  the  Nicaraguan  concession  had  already  been  transferred  to 
the  Construction  Company,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  on  the 
24th  day  of  May,  1889,  also  transferred  the  Costa  Rican  concession  to 
the  said  Construction  Company  for  the  good  and  valuable  consideration 
already  received  by  it  under  the  contract  of  August  12,  1887,  and  for 
an  additional  cash  consideration  to  cover  the  expenses  actually  incurred 
by  the  association  in  obtaining  the  new  concession.    The  Cousixuction 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  393 

Company  thu«  became  tlie  absolute  owner  of  both  concessions,  subject 
to  the  terms  and  conditions  therein  contained.  This  was  the  condition 
of  afl'airs  at  the  time  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  was 
duly  organized  under  the  charter  granted  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. 

On  the  24th  day  of  May,  1889,  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction 
Company  assigned,  transferred,  and  delivered  to  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  Nicaragua  the  said  two  concessions  granted  by  the  Re- 
publics of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  respectively,  together  with  all  and 
singular  the  rights,  powers,  privileges,  property,  benefits,  advantages, 
and  franchises  of  every  nature  and  kind  whatsoever  which  the  said 
Construction  Company  as  assignee  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Association 
had  in,  to,  by,  or  under  the  said  concessions.  This  transfer  was  made 
in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  $12,000,000  in  full  paid-up  shares  of  the 
capital  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  of  the  par 
value  of  $100  each.  The  Construction  Company,  prior  to  this  time, 
had  completed  the  final  surveys,  and  was  ready  to  commence  in  Nica- 
ragua the  preliminary  work  of  installation.  Owing  to  the  existence  of 
certain  difficulties  between  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  and  the  company, 
which  had  been  caused  by  the  granting  of  the  Costa  Rican  concession, 
it  was  deemed  of  vital  importance  that  work  on  the  canal  should  be 
commenced  at  the  earliest  possible  date,  so  as  to  satisfy  the  Nicaraguan 
Government  of  absolute  good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  company.  It 
was  decided,  therefore,  that  work  should  be  commenced  at  Greytown, 
if  possible,  during  the  first  week  of  June,  1889,  and,  as  the  time  was 
too  short  within  which  to  prepare  and  execute  a  permanent  contract 
between  the  two  companies,  the  preliminary  contract  which  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock has  already  submitted  to  you  on  a  former  occasion,  was  entered 
into  on  May  24,  1889.  On  the  strength  of  this  contract  the  Construc- 
tion Company  organized  an  expedition  which  was  immediately  dis- 
patched to  San  Juan  del  Norte. 

By  Senator  Payne  : 

Q.  That  was  in  June? — A.  Yes,  sir;  the  expedition  commenced  work 
on  June  3. 

By  Senator  MouaAN : 
Q.  Sailed  from  here  on  that  date?— ^A.  No,  sir;  arrived  down  there 
on  June  3.  Immediately  after  the  expedition  had  sailed  the  board  of 
directors  of  both  companies  met  and  appointed  a  joint  committee,  con- 
sisting of  three  members  from  each  board,  to  consider  the  question  of  a 
permanent  contract  between  the  two  companies  and  to  report  to  the 
respective  boards  such  a  proposed  document  as  they  might  be  able  to 
agree  upon.  This  joint  committee  met  two  or  three  times  a  week  for 
three  or  four  months  until  a  contract  was  unanimously  agreed  upon. 
It  was  reported  by  the  committee  to  both  boards  and  was  adopted  and 
approved  by  both  companies,  and  their  respective  officers  were  duly 
authorized  to  execute  the  same. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  Can  you  turn  to  the  entries  of  that  ratification  and  the  votes  of 
the  boards  of  directors  on  that  point? — A.  Yes,  sir  [examining  book]. 
Shall  I  read  it? 

Q.  If  you  please;  antl  give  the  date. — A.  The  date  is  January  2, 1890. 

Q.  Which  company's  books  are  you  reading  from  ? — A.  The  minutes 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

Q.  Now  read  it. — A.  (Reading:)  "At  the  request  of  the  Chairman  of 


394  NICARAGUA    CA.NAL    COMPANY. 

the  joint  committee  upon  the  contract  Mr.  Mason  presented  the  draft 
of  a  contract  which  had  been  agreed  upon  in  committee  and  directed  to 
be  presented  to  the  respective  companies  as  the  committee's  report. 
The  contract  submitted  was  read  to  the  board  and  ordered  on  file.  Mr. 
Fairbanks  moved  that  the  report  of  the  committee  be  accepted  and  the 
contract,  as  read,  be  approved,  and  that  the  president  and  secretary  of 
the  company  be  and  hereby  are  authorized  and  directed  to  properly 
execute  the  same  when  the  Construction  Company  shall  be  prepared  to 
do  the  same  on  its  own  behalf.  The  motion  was  seconded  by  Admiral 
Ammen  and  on  vote  unanimously  adopted." 
Q.  Now  turn  to  the  Construction  Company  and  give  us  their  vote  t 

By  Senator  Payne  : 
Q.  Was  that  in  January? — A.  January  2, 1890.  [Reading  from  book 
containing  the  minutes  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction  Company.]  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  contract  between  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  and  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
struction Company  as  presented  and  read  to  the  board,  be  and  the  same 
is  hereby  approved  and  that  the  officers  of  this  company  are  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  execute  the  same  and  affix  the  seal  of  the 
company  thereto."    The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  That  is  the  3d  of  January,  1890. — A.  The  day  after  the  action 
taken  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  Is  not  that  contract  embodied  in  the  minutes T — A.  No,  sir;  it  was 
filed  with  the  secretary  of  each  company. 

Q.  Have  the  contracts  ever  been  recorded  anywhere  or  simply  placed 
on  your  files  f — A.  Each  company  has  a  copy  on  file. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  At  the  meeting  on  the  2nd  of  January  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany I  read  here  [reading  from  record  book] :  "  Present,  Messrs.  Hitch- 
cock, Daly,  Hotchkiss,  Mason,  Ammen,  Stout,  Darling,  and  Fair- 
banks."   That  was  the  meeting,  was  it  not  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  at  the  meeting  on  the  same  day  of  the  Construction  Com- 
pany were  present  Messrs.  A.  C.  Cheney  (in  the  chair),  J.  L.  Macauley, 
B.  Sturgis,  H.  R.  Hoyt,  J.  W.  MUler,  and  A.  F.  Hedges.  They  were 
the  directors  of  the  Construction  Company,  and  these  other  gentlemen 
were  the  directors  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.  The 
board  of  directors  of  the  Construction  Company  met  on  the  2d  to  re- 
ceive the  report  of  the  committee,  but  did  not  take  definite  action  on 
the  same  until  the  meeting  on  January  3, 1890. 

By  Senator  Dolph  . 

Q.  Have  both  of  these  companies  by-laws  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  they  there  before  you  t — A.  They  are  in  the  minutes. 

Q.  Will  you  refer  to  the  provision  in  the  by-laws  of  each  company 
with  regard  to  meetings,  showing  when  the  regular  meetings  are  and 
how  special  meetings  are  called  f 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Which  contract  is  referred  to  in  those  two  votes  ? — A.  The  per- 
manent contract.  As  I  stated,  the  joint  committee  which  drew  it  was 
appointed  shortly  after  the  preliminary  contract  was  signed. 

Q.  And  that  permanent  contract  is  the  same  one,  then,  of  which  Mr. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  395 

Hitchcock  the  other  day  gave  us  a  synopsis  ? — A.  I  presume  that  it  is 
the  same  one. 

By  Senator  Frye  : 
Q.  Are  they  at  work  under  the  preliminary  contract  now  t 
Mr.  Mason.  The  final  contract  is  practically  in  effect.    It  has  vir- 
tually been  agreed  upon  by  both  boards. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  Has  it  been  written  out  and  signed  ? — A.  It  has  never  been  signed 
by  the  officers,  but  the  minutes  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  show 
that  the  officers  of  that  company  were  authorized  and  directed  to  exe- 
cute it  as  soon  as  the  construction  company  was  prepared  to  do  the 
same.  The  Construction  Company  has  not  executed  it  up  to  the  present 
time. 

By  Senator  DOLPH: 
Q.  Now,  Mr.  Mason,  will  you  read  the  conditions  of  your  by-laws 
about  meetings? — A.  Yes,  sir.    Article  5  of  the  by-laws  of  the  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  provides : 

Regular  meetings  of  the  board  of  directors  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Thursday  ol 
each  uiouth.  Special  meetings  of  the  directors  may  be  called  at  any  time  by  the 
president,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  vice-president,  by  causing  a  notice  of  the  same 
to  be  sent  by  mail  or  telegraph  to  each  director  at  least  one  day  in  advance  of  such 
meeting,  and  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  shall  be  called  by  the  president  at  any 
time,  npon  the  written  request  of  three  directors. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  providing  that  a  quorum  shall  be  necessary  or 
what  shall  constitute  a  quorum  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.  The  same  article  pro- 
vides that  at  any  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  the  presence  of  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  board  shall  constitute  a  quorum 

Q.  At  all  meetings  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  read  the  provisions  of  the  other  company.  Which  company 
is  that? — A.  I  have  just  read  from  the  by-laws  of  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany. 

Q.  Now  state  the  same  as  to  the  Construction  Company. — A.  Article 
6  of  the  by-laws  reads  as  follows: 

Article  VI.  Regular  meetings  of  the  board  of  directors  shall  be  held  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  each  month. 

Special  meetings  of  the  directors  may  be  called  at  any  time  by  the  president,  or  in 
his  absence  by  the  vice-president,  by  causing  a  notice  of  the  same  to  be  sent  by  mail 
or  telegraph  to  each  director  at  least  one  day  in  advance  of  said  meeting,  and  a  spe- 
cial meeting  of  the  board  shall  be  called  by  the  president  at  any  time  upon  the  writ- 
ten request  of  three  directors. 

The  meetings  of  the  board  of  directors  shall  be  held  at  the  principal  office  of  the 
company  in  the  City  of  New  York,  or  at  such  other  place  as  the  board  of  directors 
may  from  time  to  time  direct. 

Any  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  at  which  a  quorum  is  not  present  may  be  ad- 
journed from  time  to  time  by  those  present  as  they  may  direct,  and  such  adjournment 
shall  be  deemed  to  continue  in  session  the  meeting  so  adjourned. 

The  presence  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  board  of  directors  shall  constitute 
a  quorum. 

Q.  Was  either  of  the  meetings  at  which  this  contract  was  agreed  to 
a  regular  meeting  f — A.  I  think  so.  I  know  the  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany's was. 

Q.  That  was  a  regular  meeting  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  the  other  must  have  been  a  special  meeting  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  there  a  majority  of  the  directors  present  at  both  meetings!-^ 
A.  Yes,  si£» 


396  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Q.  Wa«  notice  given  as  the  by-laws  require  of  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Construction  Company  1 — A.  Yes,  sir. 
Q.  Is  there  any  record  there  or  statement  of  that. 
The  Chairman.  I  suppose  it  gives  the  names  of  the  persons  present  t 
Mr.  Mason.  It  gives  the  names  of  the  persons  present. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  The  entry  does  not  show  that  due  service  was  given  T — A.  No,  sir, 
it  simply  says  at  a  regular  meeting.  We  are  not  called  upon  really, 
under  the  by-laws,  to  give  notice  of  a  regular  meeting. 

Q.  Do  you  know  why  the  Construction  Company  has  not  executed 
this  contract! — A.  I  do  not  know  whether  they  have  finally  fixed 
upon 

Q.  Are  there  any  blanks  left  in  the  contract  as  to  the  amount  of 
compensation  or  stock? — A.  Not  as  reported  by  the  committee,  no  sir. 

Q.  Nor  as  agreed  to  by  the  company. — A.  Nor  as  agreed  to  by  the 
company. 

By  Senator  Edmunds: 

Q.  Well,  as  I  understand  from  these  minutes  the  draught  was  pre- 
sented to  these  boards  of  directors  t — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  did  that  draught,  which  the  directors  at  the  meeting  directed 
their  president  to  execute,  contain  any  imperfection  or  blank  or  other 
thing  to  be  filled  or  determined  upon! — A.  There  may  have  been  some- 
thing in  regard  to  the  denomination  of  the  bonds  or  the  rate  of  interest. 
There  were  seven  draughts  made  of  the  contract  before  the  final  report 
was  submitted,  and  I  should  have  to  refer  to  the  final  draught. 

Q.  Have  you  got  the  final  draught  here? — A.  Yes,  sir.  My  recollec- 
tion is  that  the  amounts  were  all  filled  in.    I  have  my  draught  of  it. 

Q.  Is  that  the  final  draught? — A.  Yes,  sir,  the  final  draught. 

Q.  It  was  drawn  up  in  duplicate  I  suppose  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  you  have  one  of  the  duplicates  ! — A.  Yes;  that  is  to  say,  this 
draught  I  have  here  is  the  original  draught  from  which  the  two  copies 
which  are  on  file  with  the  two  companies  were  made  and  is  identical. 

Q.  Is  this  the  paper  which  was  submitted  to  the  board  of  directors? — 
A.  This  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  paper. 

Q.  Yes,  but  is  that  made  from  the  paper  submitted  to  the  board  or  is 

the  paper  you  have  here A.  The  two  papers  which  the  boards 

approved  were  really  made  from  this,  this  being  the  draught  copy. 

Q.  I  merely  wanted  to  get  at  the  precedence  of  the  order.  This,  then, 
is  the  draught  from  which  the  duplicate  contracts,  ready  to  be  signed,  as 
you  understand  at  any  rate,  then  presented  were  made? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  So  that  this  paper  now  in  your  hands  is  identical  with  those 
duplicates? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  see  if  there  is  any  blank  there? — A.  (Examining  paper.) 
Here  is  a  blank  in  the  date 

By  Senator  Payne  : 
Q.  Those  papers  were  prepared  by  you,  I  suppose  f — A.  Yes,  sir.    It 
is  the  work  of  the  committee,  but  I  acted  as  the  attorney.    (Continuing 
examination  of  paper.)    I  do  not  see  any  blanks  in  this  copy. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  Ifl  that  sij^ued  bj  any  one  at  all  1 — A.  This  is  not  signed ;  no,  sir. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  397 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  Had  you  finished   making  your  consecutive  statement? — A.  I 
think  I  have  given  you  all  the  facts  up  to  the  time  of  the  contract. 

By  the  Chairman: 
Q.  If  there  is  anything  else,  now,  that  bears  upon  your  liabilities  or 
your  iwesent  condition  we  would  like  to  have  it  up  to  this  time.  Since 
that  time,  under  the  provisional  contract,  as  I  understand,  the  Construc- 
tion Company  has  gone  on  and  done  a  good  deal  of  work? — A.  The 
Construction  Company  has  been  engaged  at  work  since  June  last.  It  is 
practically  operating  under  the  permanent  contract. 

By  Senator  Evarts: 
Q.  That  is  a  very  important  point.  You  had  agreed  by  resolutions 
to  a  definite  contract  to  bo  executed  by  your  officers.  Now  if  that  rests 
in  abeyance  unexecuted,  either  in  form  or  in  substance,  it  is  one  thing  j 
but  as  you  now  stand,  upon  that  condition  of  obligations  between  the 
companies,  your  company  has  allowed  the  transaction  to  go  on  as  under 
the  permanent  contract,  which  is  difiTerent  from  what  it  would  be  if  it 
had  been  going  on  merely  under  the  provisional  contracts;  which  is 
it? — A.  Well,  I  shall  have  to  refer  that  question  to  the  presidents  of 
the  two  companies. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  Is  there  any  difference  in  the  mode  or  manner  of  work  or  mode  of 
payment  between  the  provisional  contract  and  the  permanent  con- 
tract ? — A.  Yes ;  the  permanent  contract  provides  for  payment  in  stock 
and  bonds. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  I  see  here,  Mr.  Mason,  in  the  fourth  head  of  this  contract,  which 
is  exactly  like  the  papers  laid  before  the  two  boards,  "that  it" — that  is 
the  Construction  Company — "  that  it  will  begin  work  on  this  contract 
on  the  Nicaragua  Canal  within  thirty  days  next  after  the  execution  of 
this  agreement,  and  will  complete  the  construction  of  said  canal  with 
its  appurtenances  and  other  works  and  deliver  the  same  to  the  party 
of  the  second  part  ready  for  operation  on  or  before  October,  1897;" 
and  then  goes  for  other  things  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  then,  if,  as  you  say,  this  work  is  now  going  on  under  this 
unsigned  duplicate  contract  that  you  have  described,  when  does  the 
period  of  the  obligation  of  the  company  to  begin  within  thirty  days 
and  to  end  it  by  1897  begin  to  operate  ? — A.  I  can  only  answer  that  by 
saying  that  I  understood  at  the  time,  and  have  understood  ever  since, 
that  when  the  contract  is  executed  it  will  be  executed  nunc  pro  tunc, 
us  of  the  date  it  was  approved. 

Q.  But  the  language  is  "  after  the  execution  of  this  agreement," 
which,  I  take  it,  means  the  sign  manual  of  the  persons  authorized  to 
sign.  A.  Well,  I  suppose,  strictly  speaking,  that  is  so;  but  the  board 
of  directors  were  unanimous  in  regard  to  this  contract,  and  although  the 
act  of  signing  it  was  delayed  for  one  reason  or  another,  it  was  virtually 
understood  that  when  it  was  executed  it  would  be  executed  nunc  pro 
tunc  as  of  the  date  it  was  authorized. 

Q.  You  say  it  was  delayed  for  one  reason  or  another.  Can  you  give 
any  reason  ? — A.  Personally  I  know  of  none. 

Q.  You  are  a  member  of  the  board  ?— A.  I  am  a  member  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  . 


398  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Q.  Huveyonany  relations  with  the  Construction  Company? — A.  The 
firm  of  which  I  am  a  member  are  the  attorneys. 

Q.  Yes,  but  you  are  not  an  oflBcer  of  it  ? — A.  No,  sir  j  I  am  not  an 
oflScer. 

Q.  Yon  are  not  a  director? — A.  I  am  not  in  the  board  of  directors. 
By  Senator  Payne  : 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  one  question  about  that  $6,000,000  stocks  of 
the  association  that  is  retained  by  them  as  their  personal  property ; 
they  donated  $6,000,000  to  the  Construction  Company,  and  it  remains 
with  them  T — A.  Yes ;  it  was  distributed  to  the  shareholders  of  the  as- 
sociation.   The  association  has  since  been  dissolved. 

Q.  How  much  of  the  $6,000,000  stock  donated  have  they  disposed  of  t— 
A.  1  shall  have  to  refer  you  to  Senator  Miller. 

By  Senator  Evarts  : 
Q.  Have  any  transfers  taken  place  of  the  $6,000,000  retained  by  the 
original  association  t — A.  Whether  there  have  been  any  transfers  of 
that  stock  I  do  not  know,  but  I  presume  there  have.  It  was  originally 
transferred  to  the  shareholders  of  the  association,  but  whether  they 
have  parted  with  any  portion  of  it  I  can  not  say.  The  transfer  books 
will  show  that. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Are  you  willing  we  should  have  a  copy  of  this  paper  [the  contract] 
for  our  use  and  examination? 

Mr.  Miller.  We  would  not  like  to  have  it  published,  but  have  no 
objection  to  leaving  it  with  the  committee. 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  say  in  this  connec- 
tion what  I  said  before,  that  while  the  oflBcers  of  the  company  are  au- 
thorized to  sign  this  contract,  yet  they  and  the  committees  of  the  two 
companies  decided  that  it  was  a  contract  which  it  might  be  desirable  to 
submit  to  the  counsel  of  bankers  who  propose  to  take  hold  of  these 
bonds  to  see  if  any  change  is  necessary.  In  the  next  place,  the  ques- 
tions of  duration  of  the  bonds  and  the  fixing  of  a  rate  of  interest  has 
to  be  considered,  and  until  those  matters  are  settled  it  is  impossible  to 
fix  definitely  the  sum  of  bonds  and  stock  to  be  put  into  this  contract 
to  pay  for  that  work,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  the  officers  have  held 
back  from  signing  this  contract,  and  while,  as  I  stated,  it  was  a  con* 
tract  practically  agreed  upon,  it  is  an  unsigned  contract. 
By  Senator  i'RYE : 

Q.  Then  the  present  operations  are  going  on  under  this  contract? — 
A.  I  understand  that  they  are. 

Mr.  Miller.  I  understand  they  are.  Since  I  became  president — of 
course  this  all  took  place  before  I  came  in — the  outgoing  president  told 
me  this,  and  the  conditions  we  were  in,  and  that  we  were  proceeding 
under  the  imperfect  contract;  but  by  a  mutual  understanding,  which 
had  no  record  or  anything,  the  actual  signing  of  the  contract  had  been 
left  in  abeyance,  thinking  something  might  come  up  in  the  negotiation 
of  bonds,  thinking  something  might  have  to  be  changed  and  it  could  be 
changed  better  before  it  was  actually  signed  than  it  could  otherwise ; 
but  we  were  proceeding  under  the  contract  as  there  drawn  up. 

Senator  Evarts.  That  would  come  to  this,  that  if  the  contract  was 
executed  what  had  been  done  between  the  two  companies  would  be 
treated  as  if  it  were  executed. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  399 

Senator  Fete.  That  is,  if  $1  was  expended  $2  would  be  expected. 

Senator  DOLPH.  As  1  understand  you,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  considera- 
tion to  be  paid  by  the  Canal  Company,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  conditions 
on  your  part,  is  still  left  open  and  undertermined ;  that  is,  the  amount 
of  stock  and  bonds  to  be  paid  under  this  contract  is  still  undetermined  ? 

Mr.  Miller.  Not  left  open  so  far  as  our  company  is  concerned  at  all, 
unless  we  see  fit  to  re-open  it. 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  What  I  mean  is  this,  that  the  Maritime  Company 
must  realize  sufficient  from  its  stock  and  bonds  to  build  this  canal,  and 
until  it  can  see  a  little  clearer  what  it  is  going  to  get  for  its  stock  and 
bonds,  we  can  not  tell  how  much  to  put  into  this  contract. 

Q.  IJnder  that  contract  what  would  the  Maritime  Company  have  to 
do  with  the  stock  and  bonds?  If  the  construction  work  is  to  be  so  much 
stock  and  so  much  bonds,  the  contract  being  executed,  that  would  be 
their  lookout  ? — A.  Yes,  perfectly  true.  They  have  consulted  our  com- 
mittee, and  we  have  to  be  consulted  as  to  the  duration  of  the  bonds, 
and  they  have  asked  us  to  consider  the  market  with  them. 

Q.  So  that,  to  come  back  to  my  question,  the  amount,  as  you  under- 
stand it,  of  stock  and  bonds,  that  is  the  consideration  to  be  paid  by 
your  company,  is  still  an  open  matter  t — A.  It  is  a  matter  which  we 
may  see  fit  to  reopen. 

Q.  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  the  amount,  as  well  as  the  in- 
terest and  duration,  is  open  ? — A.  In  the  way  that  I  have  stated.  Un- 
til we  can  see  more  clearly  than  we  can  now  about  what  is  to  be  real- 
ized for  stock  and  bonds  we  can  not  tell  how  much  to  pay. 

Q.  In  other  words,  the  Construction  Company  is  not  willing  to  take 
a  specified  amount  of  the  stock  and  bonds  of  your  company  for  the 
work,  but  that  is  to  be  left  open  until  they  ascertain  what  the  stock 
and  bonds  are  to  be  sold  for,  so  that  they  can  get  sufficient  considera- 
tion t — A.  That  question  can  be  better  answered  by  the  Construction 
Company. 

Q.  I  merely  asked  what  you  thought. 

The  Chairman.  This  is  absolutely  certain,  that  Congress  will  prob- 
ably not  intervene  and  subscribe  for  this  stock  until  the  amount  of  the 
stock  and  the  cost  of  the  improvements  are  fixed,  and  probably  until 
modifications  are  made  by  the  consent  of  these  two  contracting  parties. 

Mr.  DOLPH.  T  can  not  see  how. 

Mr.  Miller.  The  considerations  are  all  set  out  in  that  contract. 
We  have  gone  on  directly  under  that  contract  since  I  have  been  presi- 
dent. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  When  did  you  begin  to  be  president? — A.  I  came  in  in  Febru- 
ary. 

Q.  That  was  a  month  after  the  meeting  of  the  two  boards  of  direct- 
ors?— A.  About  that.  There  is  nothing  now  that  prevents  my  signing 
that  document  to-morrow  and  calling  upon  the  Maritime  Company  to 
sign  it. 

Q.  But  I  understand  you  to  say  now  that  that  contract,  to  which  we 
refer,  is  a  positive  obligation  and  you  are  executing  it  on  the  part  of 
your  company? — A.  I  am ;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Well,  if  it  is  a  positive  obligation  why  is  not  that  obligat'on  just 


400  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

as  diflBcnlt  to  deal  with  as  if  it  was  signed  ? — A.  It  is.  As  I  said,  it 
ouglit  to  tiavti  been  signed.  I  foand  it  in  that  condition  and  so  I  went 
on  with  it. 

Q.  Then,  if  we  correctly  understand  you  now,  speaking  as  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Construction  Company,  the  contract  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking  is  in  force  and  is  in  process  of  execution  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Just  as  it  reads  T — A.  Just  as  it  reads ;  that  is  my  understanding. 

Q.  Then  I  think  it  right  to  say  right  here  to  Mr.  Hitchcock  and  you, 
only  speaking  for  myself  alone,  that  the  situation  is  totally  different 
from  what  I  understood  it  to  be  when  we  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
your  statements  two  or  three  weeks  ago,  and  if  your  contract  is  bind- 
ing there  is  nothing,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  wish  to  do  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  is  totally  out  of  any  disposition  of  mine  to  undertake  to  go  into 
a  scheme  that  is  already  committed  for  $150,000,000  bonds  and  $70,00(K- 
000  stock,  but,  as  I  say,  1  only  speak  for  myself. 

The  Chairman.  To  that  I  will  subscribe.  So  far  as  any  aid  is  to 
be  rendered  by  Congress  is  concerned,  the  diflBcnlty  with  me  is  the 
$19,500,000  outstanding.  As  a  matter  of  course,  what  Costa  Rica  and 
Nicaragua  are  to  get  is  right  under  the  concessions,  but  it  seems  to  me, 
as  to  your  $12,000,000,  there  will  have  to  be  a  re-adjustment  of  that 
matter. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  (to  Mr.  Miller) :  Let  me  see  if  I  understand 
in  point  of  fact  as  to  actual  outgoes,  leaving  out  of  view  for  the  moment 
the  labor,  time,  and  trouble,  and  the  value  of  influence  and  all  that, 
but  in  actual  money.  I  understand,  from  Mr.  Hitchcock's  statement, 
and  perhaps  from  yours  also  the  other  day,  and  now  again  from  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  that  somewhat  towards  half  a  million  dollars  were  spent  by 
the  gentlemen  composing  the  original  association  in  one  way  and  another 
to  get  the  concessions.  Now,  then,  since  the  concessions  have  been 
turned  over  to  the  Colorado  association  no  cash  was  paid,  but  $12,000,- 
000  in  stock.  Now,  then,  the  Construction  Company,  being  organized, 
has  proceeded  to  issue  stock  of  its  own  and  raised  money  upon  it. 
How  much  money  has  it  raised  ? 

Mr.  Miller.  Well,  it  has  issued  no  stock  except  the  original . 

Q.  Yes,  how  much  money  has  the  Construction  Company  raised  t — 
A.  It  issued  $4,000,000  stock  at  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  is  now 
issuing  the  balance  of  it.  It  is  not  all  issued  yet  and  not  all  paid  in, 
but  it  will  have  received  for  its  stock  about  $3,500,000  turned  back  into 
the  treasury,  and  that  money  is  put  into  the  construction  of  the  canal 
expecting  to  be  recompensed  by  the  Maritime  Company  by  the  issue  of 
its  stock. 

Q.  Well  that  constitutes,  then,  the  whole  receipts  for  this  stock  of 
the  company  which  it  has  issued  at  50  cents  t 

Mr.  DOLPH.  And  about  $800,000  paid  over  from  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany besides  ? 

Mr.  Miller.  Yes,  that  has  been  paid  for  work  that  has  been  done. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  That  was  paid  for  work,  but  under  the  permanent  contract  or 
how  t  You  say  the  permanent  contract  is  in  force.  That  did  not  call 
for  the  payment  of  any  cash  ? — A.  That  was  paid  before  I  had  anything 
to  do  with  it. 

Q.  Then  the  total  amount  of  money  your  company  has  had  up  to 
now  has  been  about  $2,000,000  ! — A.  Just  at  the  present  time.  Of 
course  there  are  obligations. 

Q.  Well,  you  subscribed  for  a  million  dollars  stock  of  the  Maritime 
Company ;  did  you  pay  that  in  cash  f — A.  Yes. 


NICARA^GUA    CANAL    COMPANY,  401 

Q.  Where  did  you  get  the  cash,  on  the  issue  of  your  own  stock  1 — A, 
Yes. 

Q.  So  that  that  is  a  part  of  the  $2,000,000.  So  that  the  actual  outgo 
all  around  down  to  this  time,  saying  nothing  about  outstanding  obliga- 
tions, for  execution  of  work  is  in  round  numbers  $500,000  for  obtaining 
concessions,  etc.,  by  the  association  and  $2,000,000  besides  ? — A.  That 
is  about  it.    This  other  money  is  coming  which 

Q.  Yes,  and  other  expenses  of  construction,  I  suppose,  from  day  to 
day.    Is  that  the  substance  of  the  statement  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  much  stock  of  the  Construction  Company  is  now  actually 
outstanding  in  round  numbers  5  you  do  not  know  exactly  ? — A.  Well, 
about  $10,500,000,  I  should  think,  in  round  numbers. 

Q.  And  on  that  there  has  been  paid  up  20  per  cent.,  making  $2,000,- 

000 

Senator  Fryb.  No,  but  that  includes  the  $6,000,000  in  the  Mari- 
time Company. 

By  Senator  Edmunds  : 
Q.  About  the  whole  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Construction  Company 
is  outstanding ;  how  much  is  the  balance  unpaid  ? — A.  About  $1,000,000, 
perhaps  a  little  more. 

By  Senator  Bolph  : 

Q.  That  is  a  part  of  the  $6,000,000  returned  t— A.  Yes. 
By  Senator  Edmunds  : 

Q.  Yes,  but  it  comes  out  of  the  whole  $12,000,000  of  your  capital 
stock,  if  I  am  right.  Now,  then,  how  much  of  this  outstanding  stock  of 
your  company  which  is  in  the  hands  of  stockholders  or  anybody  else  is 
subject  to  assessment  ? — A.  It  is  not  subject  to  assessment  at  all  except 
as  it  is  sold.  When  it  was  sold,  the  stock  sold  at  fifty  cents  on  the 
dollar,  was  paid  in  installments. 

Q.  Yes,  but  a  man  having  paid  $50  would  get  a  full  paid  share  T — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  So  that  none  of  the  stock  is  subject  to  further  assessment  f — A. 
JSo. 

Mr.  MiiiLER.  In  reference  to  Judge  Edmunds's  statement  that  he 
thought  my  statement  varied  from  that  of  the  other  day,  I  have  not 
gone  over  it  carefully,  but  I  do  not  think  so.  I  stated  in  regard  to  the 
contract  that  the  permanent  contract  had  been  completed  as  substantially 
made,  that  there  were  only  some  minor  points  left  open.  By  left  open  I 
meantthere  was  a  general  understanding  between  the  two  companies  that 
if  it  became  necessary  to  change  it  we  could  change  it ;  that  is,  it  was  not 
one  of  those  contracts  that  if  Congress  stepped  in  and  wanted  to  do 
something  we  could  not  change  the  contract  and  make  it  satisfactory, 
or  if  a  set  of  bankers  came  in  and  said  we  want  this  or  that  rate  of 
interest,  the  change  could  not  be  made.  That  was  my  meaning  at  the 
time,  but  I  stated  distinctly  that  the  main  contract  was  substantially 
made  as  I  understood  it.  So  far  as  the  Construction  Company  was  con- 
cerned, if  the  Government  wanted  to  come  in  and  take  stock  or  guar- 
anty the  bonds,  I  had  not  any  doubt  that  satisfactory  arrangements 
could  be  made  that  this  contract  could  be  changed  by  the  consent  of 
the  two  boards. 

Senator  Edmunds.  The  only  remark  I  intended  to  make  was  that  the 
situation  as  it  now  appears  to  me  is  entirely  diflerent  from  what  I 
understood  it. 

Adjourned. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 26 


402  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 

riFTY-FIItST  CONGSESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105,  107,  135,  139,  141,  187,  410,  415,  457.] 
February  12,  1891. 
[Senate  Report  No.  2234.] 

Mr.  Edmnnds,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

Your  committee  beg  leave  to  report  back  the  accompanying  resolu- 
tion of  the  Senate  with  the  information  therein  required,  as  furnished 
by  the  oflB.cers  of  said  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  and 
Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company,  except  so  far  as  appears  in 
the  evidence  already  reported,  the  most  material  part  of  which  is 
appended  hereto. 

In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

Fehrnary  6,  1891. 
Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  directed  to  request  of 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  a  list  of  the  stockholders  of  the  com- 
pany from  its  organization  until  now;  and  that  said  committee  be  also  directed 
to  ascertain,  if  practicable,  whether  the  work  already  done  in  and  about  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  has  been  done  by  a  construction  company,  and  if  it  has  so  been 
done,  the  name  of  such  company;  and  if  said  work  has  been  done  by  a  construc- 
tion company,  that  said  committee  be  directed  to  procure,  if  practicable,  copies  of 
all  contracts  between  such  canal  company  and  such  construction  company,  together 
with  a  list  of  the  officers  and  stockholders  of  said  construction  company  from  its 
organization  until  now. 
Attest: 

Anson  G.  McCook,  Secretary. 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 

New  York,  February  lly  1891. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  favor  inclosing  copy  of  the  resolution  adopted  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  as  follows: 

"  RpHolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  directed  to  request  of 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  a  list  of  the  stockholders  of  the  com- 
pany from  its  organization  until  now;  and  that  said  committee  be  also  directed 
to  ascertain,  if  practicable,  whether  the  work  already  done  in  and  about  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  has  been  done  by  a  construction  company,  and  if  it  has  so  been 
done,  the  name  of  such  company;  and  if  said  work  has  been  done  by  a  construc- 
tion company,  that  said  committee  be  directed  to  procure,  if  practicable,  copies  of 
all  contracts  between  such  canal  company  and  such  construction  company,  together 
with  a  list  of  the  officers  and  stockholders  of  said  construction  company  from  its 
organization  until  now." 

In  response  permit  me  to  say  that  herewith  is  a  list  of  the  stockholders  of  this 
company  from  its  organization  until  now;  that  the  work  already  done  in  and  about 
the  Maritime  Canal  huas  been  done  by  the  Nicaragfua  Canal  Construction  Company; 
that  the  terms  of  all  contracts  between  the  Alaritime  Canal  Company  of  Nica- 
ragua and  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  were  fully  stated  by  the 
presidents  of  those  companies  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  it  was 
understood  from  the  committee  that  the  statements  were  entirely  satisfactory, 
and  I  understand  they  are  incorporated  in  the  report  made  by  the  committee  to 
the  Senate. 

I  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  copies  of  these  statements  if  yon  deem  it  necessary, 
and  if  there  is  any  other  information  I  can  furnish  I  will  be  glad  to  do  so. 

That  part  of  the  resolution  requesting  the  list  of  officers  and  stockholders  of  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  I  have  referred  to  the  Hon.  Warner  Mil- 
ler, the  president  of  that  company,  who  will  send  the  list  to  you. 
Very  respectfully, 

Hiram  Hitchcock,  President, 

Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Foreign  Rdationa,  United  States  Senate. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 


403 


Idst  of  shareholders  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  February  11, 

1891. 


Shares. 

Caiarles  P.  Daly 5 

Henry  R.  Hoyt 5 

Robert  Sturgis 2 

Alexander  T.  Mason 1 

Francis  A.  Stout 6 

Horace  L.  Hotchkiss 5 

Henry  C.  Taylor 5 

Albert  C.  Cheney 5 

Hiram  Hitchcock 5 

Franklin  Fairbanks 5 

Alfred  B.  Darling 6 

James  Roosevelt —  5 

Daniel  Amnien 5 

A.  S.  Crowninshield 5 

Jacob  W.  Miller 5 

Frederick  F.  Thompson.  5 

George  H.  Robinson 5 

Gustav  E.  Kissel 5 

Joseph  E.  McDonald 5 

C.  Ridgely  Goodwin 5 

Edward  F.  Beale 5 

Frederick  Billings 5 

Aniceto  G.  Menocal 5 

Robert  A.  Lancaster 5 

Henry  A.Parr 5 

J.  F.  O'Shaughnessy 5 


Shares. 

Joseph  Bryan 5 

Horacio  Guzman 1 

Charles  H.  Stebbins 5 

Julius  Aldige 5 

Christian  Devries ..  5 

Thomas  B.  Atkins 1 

George  O.  Glavis 10 

George  E.  Knowlton  ..,  10 

Frederick  B.  MacGuire.  10 

Joseph  L.  Sweet      10 

William  C".  Seddon 1 

A.  R.  Tichenor 5 

Virginia  N.  Taylor 3 

Thomas  C.  Williams,  jr.  10 
Thomas  C.  Williams,  jr., 

executor 30 

Isabella  K.  Brownson  ..  50 

Walter  W.  Queen 10 

Francis  C.  Harder 1 

A.  Q.  Keasby.. 10 

American  Contracting 
and  Dredging  Com- 
pany   1,500 

T.  W.  Bennett 3 

H.  O.  Moss 3 

William  O'B.  McDonald  100 


Shares. 
Henry  R.  Hoyt,  treas- 
urer Nicaragua  Canal 
Construction    C  o  m  - 

pany 100 

James  G.  Dagron 2 

Smith  M.  Weed 8 

H.G.Burleigh 15 

Charles  P.  Treat 250 

Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
struction Company..      7,859 

Stock  issued,  but  not  yet 
delivered. 

Nicaragua  Can»l  Con- 
struction Company: 

For  concessions 120, 000 

For    construction, 

under    contract 

January  3, 1890. . .    20, 000 

Republic  of  Nicaragua 

under   article    50   of 

concession...... 60,000 

210,145 


Office  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 

New  York,  February  11,  1891. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  your  favor,  and  at  the  direction  of  Hon.  Warner  Mil- 
ler, I  inclose  herewith  a  list  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construc- 
tion Company.  The  list  is,  I  believe,  accurate,  and  a  list  of  the  stockholders  up 
to  the  present  date. 

The  officers  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  from  the  date  of  its 
organization  down  to  the  present  time  are  as  follows: 

In  June,  1887:  Allen  F.  Hedges,  president;  Philip  Tabb,  vice-president;  Daniel 
Or.  Jeff  era.  secretary  and  treasurer. 

In  October,  1887,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  Francis  A.  Stout,  presi- 
dent; lienry  C.  Taylor,  second  vice-president;  Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  treasurer; 
Jacob  W.  Miller,  secretary. 

In  June,  1888,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  A.  C.  Cheney,  president;  F.  A. 
Stout,  first  vice-president;  H.  C.  Taylor,  second  vice-president;  H.  L.  Hotchkiss, 
treasurer;  J.  W.  Miller,  secretary. 

In  June,  1889,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  A.  C.  Cheney,  president;  H.  C. 
Taylor,  first  vice-president;  J.  W.  Miller,  secretary:  Edward  Holbrook,  treasurer. 

In  March,  18D0,  the  following  officers  were  elected  at  a  special  meeting:  Warner 
Miller,  president;  H.  R.  Hoyt,  treasurer;  A.  C.  Cheney,  first  vice-president. 

In  July,  18'J(),  the  following  officers  were  elected,  and  they  are  still  officers  of 
the  company:  President,  Warner  Miller;  vice-president,  A.  C.  Cheney;  secretary, 
J.  W.  Miller;  treasurer,  H.  R.  Hoyt. 

I  think  that  this,  with  the  accompanying  list  of  stockholders,  complies  with  your 
request. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

Henry  R.  Hoyt. 

Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  of  tiie  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Semite, 


D.  G.  Jeffers, 
Carrington  Williams, 
James  Pleasants, 
S.  G.  Wallace, 
Philip  Tabb, 
Bela  M.  Hughes, 


lAst  of  stockholders. 

Marshall  M.  Gilliam, 

Preston  Cocke, 

Miss  Nannie  C.  Gordon, 

J.  H.  Archer, 

Basil  B.  Gordon, 

Benjamin  P.  Alsop, 


Francis  A.  Stont, 

P.  F.  Thompson, 

W.  R.  Trigg, 

J.  T.  &  B.  Haxall, 

John  L.  Williams  &  Son, 

H.  C.  Taylor, 


404 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 


List  of  stockholders — Continned. 


E.  B.  Meade, 
Chas.  K.  Harrison, 
Thos.  Atkinson. 
Minnie  I.  Qnilbert, 
Daniel  Amman , 
Emily  Hanewinckel, 
Allison  &  Addison, 
Robt.  F.  Williams  &  Co., 
J.  Aldige, 
J.  Aldige,  jr., 
Wui.  P.  Anderson, 
Frederick  Billings. 
E.  F.  Beale, 

Wyndham  R.  Meredith, 
Jos.  Bryan, 
Wm.  S.  Dashiele, 
Richard  L.  Brown, 
J.  Willcox  Brown, 
W,  H.  Brownson, 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Brownson, 
Thos.  M.  Gale, 
John  F.  Bransforti, 
Mrs.  Ellen  R.  Palmer, 
A.  C.  Cheney, 
Octavius  Cohen  &  Co., 
Philip  E.  Sacken, 
A.  B.  Cornell, 
A.  S.  Crowninshield, 
J.  B.  Duckworth, 
Lncien  B.  Tatem, 
A.  B.  Darling, 
Christian  Devins, 
Lincoln  Kinnicntt, 
J.  H.  Ellerson, 
Marcellns  Smith, 
Chas.  D.  Fisher, 
John  W.  Gordon, 
Chas.  D.  Fisher  and  H.  A. 

Parr. 
Chas.  C.  Glover, 
Jarlinah  R.  Carson, 
James  H.  McMullan, 
Edmund  H.  Smith, 
R.  L.  Edwards, 
James  Greig, 
Philip  E.  Arcularius, 
C.  H.  Capen, 
Samuel  M.  Hopkins, 
William  Rowland, 
H.  C.  &  J.  H.  Calkin, 
Mary  L.  Hotchkiss, 
John  C.  Soley. 
Edward  Q.  Keasbey, 
Gamaliel  Bradford. 
Wellington  Downing, 
Sarah  R.  Dexter, 
Hoffman  Miller, 
R.  C.  Blackwell, 
Thos.  Read, 
Frederick  D.  Grant, 
Edmund  Guilbert. 
Myra  R.  Hotchkiss. 
Cornelia  B.  Hotchkiss, 
William  Greason, 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Smith, 
Gardner  Weatherbee, 


Robert  Garrett, 
T.  Harrison  Garrett. 
C.  Ridgeley  Goodwin, 
R.  Powell  Dunn, 
George  O.  Glavis. 
John  L.  Hammond, 
Woolsey  R.  Hopkins, 
J.  G.  Harvey. 
Mary  H.  tialdane, 
H.  C.  Highet, 
R.  A.  Lancaster, 

E.  R.  Lancaster, 
William  H.  Lucke, 

B.  Alsop, 

Grosvenor  P.  Lowrey  and 

Charles  F.  Stone, 
Henry  Flinch, 
Godirey  Kissel, 
McDonald  &  Bright, 
J.  J.  Montague, 
Charlotte  A.  Kissel, 
J.  W.  Miller, 
Alfrefl  E.  Mills, 
Norman  Henderson, 
A.  G.  Menocal, 
M.  J.  O  Shaugimessy, 
A.  Obrig, 

Thomas  H.  Nuckles, 
R.  E.  Peary. 
J.  Hanier  Blair, 
T.  William  Pemberton, 
Hallie  W.  Daniel, 
Henry  A.  Parr, 
William  L.  Scott, 
James  Roosevelt, 
Alfred  xVl.  Hoyt, 
John  W.  Riely, 

F.  M.  Boykin, 

G.  H.  Robinson, 
Aquila  Rich, 

C.  H.  Stebbins, 
Warner  Miller, 
R.  L.  Harrison, 
Percy  L.  Klock, 
T.  R.  Chaney, 
Marqnand  &  Parmly, 
William  D.  Goodw.n, 
Elizabeth  T.  Goodwin, 
M.  Frank, 

J.  Clark  McGuire, 
Margaret  M.  Hotclikiss, 
J.  F.  O'Shaugnessy, 
James  S.  Thurston, 
Simon  Fatman, 
J.  F.  Minis, 
Gterald  B.  Owen, 
C.  B.  Tedcastle, 
E.  Urquhart, 
Mailler  &  Querean, 
James  W.  Allison, 
L.  Laflin  Kellogg. 
Hiram  Hitchcock, 
William  H.  Seward. 
E.  R.  Lancaster,  agent, 
Henry  Hentz, 
Latham.  Alexander  &  Co. , 


Charles  P.  Daly, 

J.  W.  Miller,  trustee, 

Alexander  T.  Mason, 

J.  M.  Macias. 

Frederick  B.  McGnire, 

Henry  R.  Hoyt. 

Thos.  S.  Sandford, 

R.  D.  Evans, 

Mrs.  Clara  T.  Hotchkiss, 

Robert  E.  Taylor, 

Mary  V.  Taylor, 

Minnie  V.  Stebbins, 

Emily  M.  R.  Stout, 

Franklin  Fairbanks, 

F.  A.  Pellas, 

Jose  Pasos, 

J.  C.  Hueston. 

J.  F.  Medina, 

Wickham  Hoffman, 

Thos.  F,  Jeffries, 

John  Pope. 

Henry  F.  Picking, 

Frank  A.  Davenport, 

Robt.  E.  Tavlor,  attorney, 

R.  E.  Taylor, 

Douglas  Tavlor, 

Oliver  H.  Broth, 

John  P.  Ambler, 

O.  D.  M.  Baker, 

Henry  Titlamer, 

D.  M.  Taylor. 

R.  A.  Roberts, 

Homer  E.  Briggs, 

John  R.  McLean, 

H.  P.  Churchill, 

W.  F.  Herbert. 

Loyall  Farragtit, 

Alex.  Pollock, 

Joshua  Wilbour. 

A.  R.  Tichenor, 

Thos.  Russell, 

Farmers"  Loan  and  Trust 

Co.,  custodian. 
Am.     Contracting    and 

Dredg  ng  Co. 
W.  A.  Miles. 

Mrs.  M.  Grace  Richardson, 
Miss  C.  Augusta  Stevens, 

C.  H.  Haskins. 

Molly  R.  Haskins, 

F.  W.  Bennett, 

Wm.  OB.  McDonough, 
Thos.  S.  Wheelwright, 

H.  O.  Moss, 

Joseph  D.  McGuire, 

Estate  T.  C.  Williams, 

John  R.  West, 

Henry  R.  Hoyt,  treas  , 

George  Williams, 

Henry  G.  Burleigh, 

Clarke  Dunham. 

James  G.  Dagron, 

J.  B.  M.  Grosvenor, 

W.  A.  Price, 

Michael  Howe. 

Thos.  J.  Treadway, 


MAKITIMF.    CANAL    COMPANY. 


405 


List  of  stockholders— CanXmne^.. 


Edward  L.  Molineux, 
W.  H.  Starbuck, 
Chas.  W.  Cox, 
W.  H.  Rockwood, 
Lucius  Pitkin, 
E.  W.  Lancaster, 

D.  J.  Garth. 
James  H.  Young, 
Herbert  Valentine, 
Horace  Moody. 
Ellen  F.  Pitkin. 
William  C.  Sedd  m, 
James  N.  Dunlop, 
Lancaster  &  Lucke, 
N.  D,  Lancaster, 
Gustave  E.  Kissel, 
Eva  Ammen, 
Mathilde  Ammen, 
Frederick  Van  Zant, 
Joseph  L.  Sweet. 
Fred  G.  Sacken,  jr. 
P.  H.  Gibson, 

A.  B.  Andrews, 
Daniel  K.  Stewart, 
H.  L.  Hotchkiss  &  Co. , 
Hiram  Hitchcock  et  al.. 

trustees, 
Eben  Wight, 
J.  L.  Macaulay, 
Sherrard  R.  Tabb, 

E.  K.  Victor, 

L.  W.  McVeigh, 
James  W.  Gordon, 
Viola  M.  Devins, 
Chas.  Watkms, 
James  Lyons, 
James  M.  Ball, 
R.  Young, 
Julian  F.  Skelton, 
Mrs.  C.  R.  McVeigh, 
Marianne  E.  Skelton, 
Annie  A.  Skelton, 
George  W.  Anderson, 
J.  E.  Cox, 
R.  F.  Knoedler, 
Wm.  H.  Allison, 
Thos.  B.  Atkins, 
Chas.  C.  Allen, 
R.  S.  Archer, 
Geo.  W.  Bunce, 
Jennie  B.  Baker, 
N.  W.  Bowe, 
C.  W.  Branch  &  Co., 
Walter  Blair, 
Chas.  E.  Boiling, 
Edwd.  R.  Bell, 
H.  K.  Bush.  Brown, 
Samuel  N.  Brown, 
R.  S.  Bosher, 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  Beatz, 
Helen  P.  Barstow, 
John  E.  Bugbee, 
P.  H.  Bevier. 
Emily  Blackwell, 
E.  J.  Bureviud, 


H.  L.  Hotchkiss,  jr., 
Henry  E.  Howland, 
Alfred  T.  Harris,  sr., 
R.  L.  Cutting, 

C.  P.  Kirkland, 
Robt.  Sturges, 
Smith  M.  Weed, 
Edward  Holbrook, 
Alfred  H.  Smith  &  Co., 
Chas.  H.  Davis  &  Co., 
H.  L.  Hotchkiss, 

N.  K.  Fairbanks, 
J.  R.  Beal, 
Wallace  Mason, 
J.  A.  Bostwick. 
Otto  J.  Boessneck, 
James  H.  Rodgers, 
Samuel  W.  Very, 
Thomas  Potts, 
J.  Triplett  Haxall, 
Barton  Haxall, 
A.  J.  Macaulay, 
Jeannie  T.  Kingsley, 
William  G.  Inglis, 
Alfred  Heywood, 
as  Frank  Heywood, 
William  6.  Allison, 
Maria  W.  Hopkins. 
Edward  S.  Wheeler, 
John  C.  F.  Gardner, 
Irving  W.  Pope, 
Virginia  N.  Taylor, 
Pearce  Barnes, 
T.  C.  Williams,  jr.. 
T.C.Williams,  jr..  extr., 
Geo.  E.  Knowlton. 
Isabella  K.  Brown  son, 
Walter  W.  Queen. 
J.  Herbert  Carpenter, 
Joseph  Sears. 
Henry  H.  Bates, 

D.  B.  Dearborn, 
Geo.  S.  Dearboi'n, 
Francis  C.  Harder, 

A.  Q.  Keasbey, 
Mary  E.  Greene. 
Wendell  Goodwin, 
Geo.  W.  Gallie, 
Henry  C.  Hall, 
John  W.  Handner, 
Jacob  J.  Hunker, 
Chas.  B.  Hoffman, 
W.  M.  Habliston, 
Marietta  S.  Hough, 
Geo.  E.  Hamilton, 
M.  H.  Hartwell, 
Allen  F.  Hedges, 
C.  W.  Hackett, 
Harriot  &  Groesbeck, 
Elvira  L.  Johnson, 

B.  A.  Jackson, 
Benj.  Kimball, 
John  A.  Kasson, 
James  S.  Kenyon, 
Thos.  T.  Knox, 


James  S.  Hall, 

Has  kins  &  Co., 

J.  S.  Pierson, 

C.  M.  Bergsturcer, 

N.  S.  Finney, 

C.  P.  Treat, 

Jay  O.  Moss, 

Mary  C.  Leary, 

Henry  D.  NicoU, 

Titus  Sheard, 

Corson  &  Macartney, 

Benj.  F.  Gulan, 

R.  J.  Bright, 

Louis  Chable, 

Theo.  M.  Storm, 

Thos.  O.  Hills. 

Hugh  R.  Gardner, 

Jose  de  la  Pueute, 

Clavius  Phillii  s, 

Robt.  F.  Williams, 

Louisa  A.  Crosby, 

Peirce  Crosby, 

Thos.  C.  Williams, 

W.  B.  Williams. 

M.  L.  Carrington, 

A.  B.  Ci'ane, 

W.  C.  Lancaster, 

Geo.  Uppington, 

J.  G.  Eick, 

Arthur  Servall, 

Geo.  Blandy 

J.  H.  Breslin  &  Co., 

Edgar  Archer, 

J.  E.  Grannis, 

J.  Loncheim, 

S.  C.  Blodget.  jr., 

Mrs.  Sophie  G.  Casey, 

H.  F.  Merritt. 

John  L.  Williams, 

John  C.  Calhoun, 

Wm.  H.  Christian, 

E.  C.  Minor, 

John  A.  Lancaster, 

Isaac  Read. 

James  Christie, 

W.  C.  Preston, 

John  M.  Patton, 

James  J.  Phelan, 

Thos.  A.  Rich,  trustee, 

J.  N.  Robbins, 

M.  V.  Randolph, 

Helen  C.  Stevens, 

Ella  T.  Smith, 

Joseph  H.  Sterling, 

A.  H.  Speake, 

W.  C.  Spencer. 

C.  S.  Sutherland, 

C.  H.  Sheldon,  jr., 

J.  U.  Starkweather, 

Mrs.  L.  E.  Stuart, 

Gilbert  M.  Spier,  ,ir.. 

Augustus  D.  Shepard, 

John  B.  Simpson, 

Robt.  W.  Thrupp, 

Sam.  Thonuetal., trustees, 


406 


MAKITIME    CANAL    COMPANY. 


List  of  stockholders— Continned. 


F.  Billings,  estate  of, 
Frances  S.  Bridge, 
Edwin  G.  Booth. 
Louis  P.  di  Cesnola, 
Helen  Culver, 
Dan.  Crawford  &  Sons, 
John  N.  Crawford,  trustee. 

E.  O.  Christian, 
B.  T.  Cable, 

L.  C.  Castleman, 
Parker  U.  Chandler, 
H.  L.  Cabell, 
John  J.  Cain, 
Michael  J.  Coffey, 
A.  H.  Christian,  jr., 
Albert  O.  Cheney, 
John  A.  Coke, 
Joseph  Dorr, 

F.  N.  DuBois, 
Louisa  Q.  Davis, 
E.  S.  Davis, 

E.  A.  Darling, 
Joseph  Davol, 
James  Edmiston, 
James  R.  Ellerson, 
Max  Finley, 
Chas.  E.  Furlong, 
H.  W.  Fenner, 
W.  H.  Gilshenen, 


G^eo.  Lamb, 
L.  Z.  Leiter, 
H.  W.  Ladd. 
Lancaster  &  Lurke,  agts., 
R.  A.  Lancaster  &  Co., 
R.  A.  Laacaster.  jr., 
Jose  M.  -Munoz, 
C.  H.  Morse, 
F.  A.  McGuire, 
Julia  E.  S.  Motif  y. 
JohnB.  McPhai',  jr., 
Max  Moser, 
Emily  N.  McGuire, 
Elvira  G.  Menocal, 
T.  N.  Motley, 
Wilhelmus  Mynduse, 
Richard  H.  Meade, 
Eugene  C.  Massie. 
Richard  S.  Newcombe, 
Alice  E.  Nutt-Wise, 
Chas.  D.  Owen. 
Frederic  D.  Philips, 
J.  F.  Perez, 
A.  D.  Provand, 
W.  H.  Pope, 
W.  A.  Peck, 
Richard  Paillon, 
Josephine  D.  Peary, 
Edwd.  H.  Peaslee, 


E,  D.  Taussig, 
T.  H.  Tingley, 
T.  M.  R.  Tallcott, 
Chas.  N.  Vilas, 
Chas,  N.  Vilas,  trustee, 
Anna  C.  White, 
Hunter  Wykes, 
T.  Woolverton, 
H.  A.  Willard, 
J.  I.  C.  Walker, 
G.  A.  Walker, 
John  G.  Walker, 
Annie  R.  Walker. 
Florence  M.  Wa.  wick, 
James  Woodrow. 
Nathaniel  Wilson, 
T.  S.  Young,  jr., 
Leander  Deal, 
Martha  E.  French, 
Rufus  S.  Frost. 
S.  R.  Franklin, 
Geo.  Hutchinson, 
John  J.  Hopewell, 
L.  C.  Ledj'ard, 
W.  H.  Mailler, 
Wm.  S.  Nelson, 
Geo.  P.  Scriven, . 
Jeremiah  Williams. 


PaOVISIONAL  CONTRACT. 


Ofpicb  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 

44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  May  :I4,  1889, 
The  Maritime  Canal  Compant  of  Nicaragua. 

Gentlemen:  The  Nicaragua  Canal  and  Construction  Company  hereby  offers  to 
do  the  entire  work  of  every  kind  and  nature  of  constructing  the  interoceanic  canal 
to  be  built  by  your  company,  and  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  A.  G.  Menocal. 
as  approved  on  the  9th  day  of  March,  1889,  by  the  board  of  civil  engineers  to  whom 
the  same  was  submitted  for  examination,  and  also  according  to  any  modifications 
or  changes  that  may  hereafter  be  made  in  said  plans  which  do  not  substantially 
vary  from  the  general  route  as  now  laid  down  in  Mr.  Menocal's  plans  or  increase 
the  expenses  of  constructing  the  same,  and  to  begin  the  work  at  once  and  to  com- 
plete the  same  in  all  respects  as  required  by  the  stipulations  and  conditions  in  the 
concessions  held  by  your  company,  for  the  sum  of  $200,000,000  in  the  first-mortgage 
bonds  of  your  company  and  §75,000,000  of  the  capital  stoc-k,  payments  to  be  made 
in  equal  proportions  of  stock  and  bonds  every  thirty  days  for  such  portions  of  the 
work  as  the  engineers  of  your  company  shall  certify  have  been  completed,  the 
work  to  be  begun  at  once. 

As  a  guaranty  of  good  faith  this  company  hereby  agrees  to  subscribe  for 
1100,000,000  of  the  stock  of  yotir  company,  and  to  pay  for  the  same  in  cash. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

/  A.  C.  Cheney, 

President  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  Constrtuition  Company. 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  received 
May  24,  1889,  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  from  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 


INTERNATIONAL    EXPOSITION    AT    CHICAGO.  407 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 

U  Wall  Street,  New  York,  May  2^,  1889. 

To  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company: 

Genti.kmen:  Your  offer  to  begin  at  once  the  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
is  at  hand. 

You  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  begin  such  construction  work  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  with  this  understanding  and  agreement:  That  if  within 
three  months  this  company  does  not  accept  your  proposition  or  execute  a  contract 
with  your  company  that  shall  be  mutually  satisfactory,  then,  in  such  an  event, 
this  company  will  reimburse  your  company  for  all  the  expenditures  incurred  in 
connection  with  the  construction  work  and  10  per  cent  in  addition  thereto. 
Yours,  very  respectfully, 

Hiram  Hitchcock, 
President  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  delivered  by 
me  May  34,  1889,  to  the  president  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 


Office  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company, 

U  Wall  street,  New  York,  May  U,  1889, 
Hiram  Hitchcock,  Esq., 

President  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 
Dear  Sir:  1  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  24th  instant,  author- 
izing and  directing  this  company  to  begin  the  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment  upon  terms  and  conditions  therein  stated. 

In  reply,  I  beg  to  advise  you  that  this  company  will,  in  compliance  with  your 
directions,  commence  the  work  of  constructing  the  Nicaragua  Canal  at  once;  and 
to  that  end  will  dispatch  an  expedition  to  Nicaragua  on  the  35th  instant. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  C.  Cheney, 
President  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. 

I,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  a  letter  received 
May  34, 1889,  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  from  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Construction  Company. 
Witness  my  hand  this  3d  day  of  June,  1890. 

Thomas  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 


FIFTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
February  24,  1892. 
[Senate  Beport  Na  STL] 

Mr.  Sh firman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  report  the  accompanying  origi- 
nal bill  with  a  recommendation  that  it  pass. 

At  the  International  Exposition  at  Chicago,  in  view  of  the  legal 
provisions  in  force  in  the  United  States,  there  will  in  general  be  no 
ground  for  apprehension  on  the  part  of  foreign  manufacturers  as 
regards  the  protection  of  their  inventions  against  dishonest  appropria- 
tion during  the  continuance  of  the  exposition. 


408  INTERNATIONAL    EXPOSITION    AT    CHICAGO. 

Another  side  of  the  question  is,  however,  now  to  be  considered, 
.  upon  which  considerable  stress  has  recently  been  laid  by  prominent 
foreign  manufacturers,  and  which  does  not  appear  to  be  fully  provided 
for  by  the  laws  bearing  on  this  subject.  No  guaranty  is  furnished 
that  no  claims  will  be  raised  at  the  exposition  by  third  parties,  on  the 
ground  of  patents  issued  to  them  in  the  United  States,  as  regards 
articles  exhibited  there  for  which  patents  have  not  been  issued  in  the 
United  States  to  the  exhibitors.  In  justification  of  the  apprehension 
felt  in  connection  with  this,  reference  is  made  to  the  fact  that,  outside 
of  America,  no  adequate  knowledge  exists  concerning  each  particular 
patent  issued  in  the  United  States,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  Europe, 
to  the  fact  that  American  patents  are  not  sufficient  to  determine  who 
is  the  real  owner  of  an  invention.  It  is  thought  to  be  not  impossible 
for  the  same  invention  to  be  protected,  for  the  benefit  of  different 
owners,  both  in  Germany  and  the  United  States,  without  either  of  the 
two  patentees  having  necessarily  been  guilty  of  illegally  appropria- 
ting the  invention.  In  like  manner  it  may  happen  that  an  article 
which  is  patented  in  the  United  States  is  freely  sold  in  Germany,  not 
being  patented  there.  This  may  happen  in  other  manufacturing  coun- 
tries as  well  as  in  Germany,  and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  all 
foreign  exhibitors  to  be  guaranteed  against  being  held  responsible  for 
violating  the  American  patent  laws  by  exhibiting  productions  that  are 
protected  by  a  patent  in  the  United  States,  without  regard  to  whether 
such  productions  are  thus  protected  in  the  country  of  their  origin  or 
not. 

The  apprehensions  felt  with  regard  to  the  protection  afforded  by 
American  patents  may  also  be  felt  with  regard  to  that  afforded  by 
trade-marks. 

There  is  much  cause  for  questioning  the  scope  and  success  of  an 
international  exposition  by  reason  of  the  reservation  that  foreign  pro- 
ductions sent  there  for  exhibition  only,  and  not  for  sale  in  the  country 
where  such  exposition  is  held,  may,  on  the  ground  of  the  national 
laws  relative  to  patents  and  trade-marks,  subject  their  exhibitors  to 
suits  and  claims  for  damages.  As  far  as  these  laws  are  concerned, 
the  soil  on  which  an  international  exposition  is  held  must  be  con- 
sidered as  extraterritorial,  just  as  it  is  in  respect  to  exemption  from 
the  application  of  the  national  tariff  laws. 

These  considerations  have  had  due  weight  in  former  international 
expositions.  In  some  of  them  care  has  been  taken,  by  the  enactment 
of  special  legal  provisions,  to  prevent  the  presentation  of  any  claims 
against  foreign  exhibitors  during  the  continuance  of  the  exposition 
and  within  its  limits  on  the  ground  of  patents  existing  in  the  country 
that  has  organized  the  exposition. 

It  consequently  seems  very  desirable  that  a  law  should  be  enacted 
providing  that  no  criminal  or  civil  suit  shall  be  brought  in  connection 
with  the  exhibition  of  articles  in  Chicago,  and  that  no  such  articles 
shall  be  seized  on  account  of  violation  of  the  laws  relative  to  patents 
and  trade-marks,  unless  the  party  who  claims  to  be  aggrieved  is  pro- 
tected by  a  patent  or  trade-mark  in  the  country  from  which  the  arti- 
cles exhibited  are  sent,  and  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  failure  to 
enact  such  a  law  will  seriously  interfere  with  the  exhibition  by  foreign 
manufacturers  of  their  goods  at  the  Chicago  Exposition,  or  that  it  wiU 
almost  wholly  prevent  the  exhibition  of  the  productions  of  prominent 
industries,  such  as  electrical  goods. 


PAN-AMEEICAN    MEDICAL    CONGEESS.  409 

FIFTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
May  10,  1892. 

[Senate  Report  No.  610.] 

Mr,  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  joint 
resolution  (S.  R.  76)  to  authorize  the  President  to  invite  certain  gov- 
ernments to  send  delegates  to  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress, 
have  had  the  same  under  consideration  and  report : 

It  appears  that  during  the  recent  International  American  Confer- 
ence a  proposition  was  made  to  secure  by  diplomatic  negotiations  the 
recognition  of  the  diplomas  of  American  colleges  by  the  boards  of 
health  and  other  sanitary  authorities  in  the  Latin- American  republics 
and  colonies.  In  many  of  these  American  republics  and  colonies  no 
physician  or  dentist  from  the  United  States  can  pursue  his  profession 
without  securing  a  diploma  from  some  medical  institution  in  that 
country,  or  at  least  passing  an  examination  as  to  his  qualifications, 
and,  although  there  is  an  exchange  of  courtesies  betw^een  the  med- 
ical organizations  in  the  United  States  and  those  of  Europe,  no  rela- 
tions have  ever  existed  between  such  associations  in  the  American 
republics.  As  the  International  American  Conference  was  without 
sufficient  data  to  discuss  this  subject  intelligently,  no  action  was 
taken,  but  it  is  now  proposed  by  leading  physicians  in  the  different 
countries  of  America  to  assemble  a  congress  of  American  physicians 
at  Washington  in  September,  1893,  and  a  permanent  organization  has 
been  effected  for  that  purpose,  the  general  objects  being  to  promote 
the  advancement  of  medical  science  in  the  different  countries  of 
America,  and  especially  to  deal  with  maladies  and  diseases  which 
may  be  communicated  by  infection  or  contagion  from  one  country  to 
another.  The  resolution  proposes  to  authorize  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  invite  the  several  governments  named  to  send  official 
delegates  to  the  congress,  and  your  committee  recommend  its  adop- 
tion. Whether  any  appropriation  should  be  made  to  aid  toward  pay- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  congress  can  be  best  determined  at  the  next 
session  of  Congress. 


410  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 


FIFTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105, 107, 135, 139. 141, 402, 415, 457.] 

December  22,  1892. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1142.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Belations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

On  further  consideration  of  the  subject  presented  in  their  report  of 
the  Fifty-first  Congress,  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  recommend 
some  changes  in  the  details  of  the  measure  thus  submitted  to  the  Senate 
as  a  bUl  of  the  committee,  but  they  adhere  to  and  recommend  the  pur- 
poses and  the  general  plan  of  legislation  thus  presented,  and  adopt  the 
report  then  made  in  support  and  explanation  of  the  Senate  bill,  No.  1218, 
now  reported  to  the  Senate  with  amendments. 

With  the  progress  of  events  relating  to  a  ship  canal  through  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien  and,  especially,  with  reference  to  the  recent  demon- 
stration that  the  Panama  Canal  can  no  longer  be  looked  to  as  furnish- 
ing the  waterway  that  our  communication  between  the  Pacific  States 
and  the  Atlantic  States  require  as  a  commercial  necessity  and  national 
protection,  it  is  manifest  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  without 
division  on  i)olitical  lines,  or  on  lines  of  latitude  or  longitude,  are 
earnestly  demanding  that  Government  aid  be  extended  to  the  Nicara- 
gua Canal. 

It  is  entirely  clear  that  a  work  of  such  magnitude  can  not  be  con- 
structed on  the  credit  of  any  chartered  company,  at  a  reasonable  cost, 
nor  can  this  canal  be  so  constructed  as  to  guarantee  its  impartial  use 
to  all  maritime  nations  without  the  aasistance  and  support  of  the 
United  States. 

The  concessions  made  by  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica  under  which  thia 
work  is  progressing  distinctly  provided  that  the  canal  should  be  con- 
structed by  a  company  of  execution,  to  be  called  "  The  Maritime  Canal 
Company  of  Nicaragua,"  with  its  principal  ofl&ce  in  New  York.  The 
concessionaires  were  all  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  conformity 
with  their  concession,  they  asked  the  United  States  for  a  charter,  by  act 
of  Congress,  to  enable  them  to  execute  the  work  described  in  the 
concessions  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica,  which  was  granted  by  act  of 
Congress,  approved  February  20,  1889. 

This  act  of  Congress,  construed  in  connection  with  our  treaties  with 
Nicaragua  and  Great  Britain,  made  this  canal,  in  a  practical  and 
important  sense,  a  facility  of  government  in  connection  with  our  coast- 
wise trade  and  our  foreign  commerce,  and  as  to  our  postal  establish- 
ment and  the  transmission  of  our  troops  and  munitions  of  war  and 
warships  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

So  that  it  was  a  clear  and  specific  purpose  of  the  act  of  Congress 
that  the  political  control  over  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicar* 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  411 

agua  should  be  retained  by  the  United  States  wh:.le  that  company 
should  continue  to  act  under  that  charter. 
In  this  view,  the  act  of  Congress  provides,  in  section  6,  that — 

Said  company  shall  make  a  report  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  in  each  year, 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  shall  be  duly  verified  on  oath  by  the  president 
and  secretary  thereof,  giving  such  detailed  statement  of  its  affairs,  and  of  its  assets 
anci  liabilities,  as  maybe  required  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  any  willfully 
fals(3  statement  so  made  shall  be  deemed  perjury  and  punishable  as  such.  And  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  require  such  annual  statement 
and  to  prescribe  the  form  thereof  and  the  particulars  to  be  given  thereby. 

No  corpoiation,  other  than  one  created  to  promote  public  purposes, 
could  be  reasonably  subjected  to  such  requirements,  and  it  is  not  pos- 
sible, under  a  sound  construction  of  the  concessions  granted  by  Costa 
Eica  and  Nicaragua,  either  as  to  their  language  or  proposals,  that  those 
Republics  could  retain  to  themselves,  respectively,  in  the  body  of  their 
concessions,  as  Governments,  the  right  to  appoint  directors  in  a  mere 
private  corporation. 

Three  Governments  concurring  in  creating  a  corporation,  in  which 
each  may  have  a  special  governmental  interest  or  concern;  in  which 
each  is  or  may  be  a  stockholder,  and  entitled  to  appoint  directors,  and 
over  whose  conduct  and  destiny  each  Government  exercises,  to  certain 
extent,  a  sovereign  control,  must  by  their  joint  or  concurrent  act  create 
a  public  corporation. 

The  United  States  can,  in  the  exercise  of  its  sovereign  power,  ex- 
pressly reserved  in  the  charter,  alter,  amend,  or  repeal  the  act  of  Con- 
gress creating  a  corporation,  in  which  Nicaragua  has  $6,000,000  of 
stock  and  a  director,  and  Costa  Eica  has  $1,500,000  of  stock  and  a 
director,  and  can  limit  the  entire  stock  of  the  company  to  $100,000,000, 
Neither  of  these  Governments  can,  with  due  regard  to  its  sovereignty, 
aftbrd  to  consider  this  as  a  mere  private  corporation. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  these  Governments  admit  the  right  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  powers  conferred  in  their  concessions,  to  ex- 
ercise this  governmental  control  over  the  conduct  and  destiny  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  by  participating  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  company  and  in  its  control  through  directors  appointed 
by  them,  and  also  by  their  respective  decrees  that  the  work  done  upon 
the  canal,  under  the  charter  granted  by  the  United  States,  is  a  full 
compliance  with  the  conditions  precedent  upon  which  those  concessions 
were  to  become  permanent  grants. 

The  committee  have,  therefore,  considered  the  bill  (S.  1218)  as  a  meas- 
ure relating  to  a  public  corporation,  and  that  its  provisions  are  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  concessions  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica,  owned 
by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  and  also  with  our  treaties  with  all 
countries  having  an  interest  in  the  subject  of  this  iuteroceanic  canal. 

The  controlling  facts  relating  to  this  work,  in  its  engineering  aspects, 
are  stated  in  the  former  report  of  this  committee,  which  is  adopted  as 
part  of  this  report.  They  are  not  materially  altered  except  in  the  di- 
rection of  giving  greater  certainty  that  all  the  apparent  doubts  and 
difficulties  then  existing  as  to  engineering  problems  are  being  removed, 
or  minimized  by  the  actual  results  of  work  done  on  the  ground. 

The  work  done  on  the  canal  in  the  clearing  of  timber  from  the  line, 
in  the  building  and  ballasting  the  railroad  through  the  marsh  lands 
adjacent  to  the  eastern  coast,  now  llj  miles  long,  and  in  deepening 
the  entrance  to  the  harbor  at  Greytown,  has  all  fallen  within  the  esti- 
mates submitted  by  Mr.  Menocal  as  to  its  cost,  and  it  does  not,  as  yet, 
appear  that  his  estimate  of  the  total  cost  of  the  canal,  viz :  $65,000,000, 
is  likely  to  be  exceeded,  when  it  is  completed  for  traffic,  if  tlie  money 


412  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY 

to  build  it  is  provided  \dth  certainty,  so  as  not  to  increase  the  cost  by 
unnecessary  delays  and  expenditures. 

The  most  recent  report  of  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  Mari- 
time Canal  Company,  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the 
other  documents  and  statements  submitted  on  the  hearings  before  this 
committee,  authorized  by  the  Senate,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee 
justify  the  conclusions  herein  stated. 

Under  this  bill,  as  amended  by  the  committee,  the  liability  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  indorsement  of  the  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany is  the  same  in  amount  as  that  contained  in  the  former  bill,  viz, 
not  to  exceed  $100,000,000,  at  the  rate  of  3  percent  interest  per  annum. 
The  time  of  the  maturity  of  the  bonds  is  changed  in  the  present  bill. 
They  are  to  bear  date  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1893,  and  to  bear  in- 
terest from  the  date  of  actual  issue  and  mature  in  1953,  and  are  re- 
deemable at  the  pleasure  of  the  Government  after  1913. 

The  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  is  limited  to  $100,000,000.  Of 
this  stock  $(5,000,000  is  reserved  to  Nicaragua,  as  paid-up  stock  in  its 
concession,  $1,500,000  is  reserved  to  Costa  Kica  in  its  concession,  and 
$12,000,000  remains  in  the  ownership  of  the  purchasers  thereof  from 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  it  having  been  issued  by 
that  company  in  payment  for  the  concessions  and  for  all  work  done  and 
expenditures  made  and  engagements  entered  into  prior  to  the  date  ot 
the  sale  and  transfer  of  the  concessions  to  said  company.  All  the  re- 
mainder of  the  stock  thus  limited,  viz,  $80,500,000,  is  vested  in  the 
United  States  in  absolute  ownership  and  without  liability  to  further 
payment  or  assessment,  in  consideration  of  its  indorsement  of  such  an 
amount  of  the  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company,  not  to  exceed  $100,- 
000,000,  as  shall  be  necessary  to  complete  the  canal. 

Under  this  arrangement,  and  according  to  the  estimates  of  skilled 
and  impartial  engineers,  the  United  States  will  own  at  least  one  dollar 
of  stock  in  the  Canal  Company  for  each  dollar  of  bonds  that  shall  been 
expended  in  its  construction,  with  a  sinking  fund,  for  which  the  bill  pro- 
vides, of  $1,000,000  per  annum,  invested  in  the  bonds  of  the  company 
or  in  other  good  securities  at  3  per  cent  interest.  The  entire  author- 
ized sum  of  the  bonds,  if  they  were  all  issued,  would  be  paid  off  by  the 
sinking  fund  in  a  period  a  little  less  than  fifty  years. 

It  is  confidently  assumed  by  the  committee  that  during  a  period  of 
twenty  years  after  the  canal  is  completed  the  tonnage  of  vessels  pass- 
ing through  it  annually  will  average  9,000,000  tons,  in  addition  to  a 
very  heavy  passenger  traffic. 

The  history  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  St.  Marys  Canal,  on  the  lakes, 
give  an  almost  certain  basis  for  this  as8umi)tion  as  to  the  tonnage  that 
will  pass  through  the  canal,  which  falls  far  below  the  estimates  of  a 
great  number  of  well-informed  commercial  men. 

This  calculation  of  the  committee  would  yield,  in  revenues  annually, 
not  less  than  $9,000,000,  at  the  rate  of  $1  per  ton,  which  is  less  than 
one-half  the  toll  that  is  paid  on  vessels  passing  through  the  Suez 
Canal. 

This  revenue  of  $9,000,000  would  pay  the  interest  on  $100,000,000 
bonds  ($3,000,000),  the  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  the  canal,  say 
$3,000,000,  and  would  leave  $3,000,000  for  the  stockholders.  But  it  is 
not  probable  that  the  cost  of  maintenance  would  exceed  $1,800,000 
per  annum. 

The  revenue  of  the  United  States  from  the  canal,  on  this  basis,  would 
more  than  pay  the  entire  cost  of  the  canal  in  twenty  years  if  it  is  all 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  413 

placed  in  a  sinking  fund  and  invested  annually  in  the  bonds  of  the 
company. 

Before  any  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company  can  be  issued  under  this 
act,  all  debts  of  that  company  must  be  canceled,  and  all  contracts  for 
work  to  be  done  and  all  agreements  inconsistent  with  the  aot  are  to  be 
rescinded. 

To  provide  an  active  fund  for  continuing  work  now  in  progress,  and 
increasing  it,  and  for  necessary  purchases  of  supplies  and  material, 
$1,000,000  of  the  indorsed  bonds  are  to  be  issued  to  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany, to  be  applied  only  to  such  purposes  and  to  be  credited  on  the 
first  audit  and  settlement  of  the  monthly  installments  for  work  done  on 
the  canal.  The  Maritime  Company,  having  surrendered  its  interest  in 
its  entire  stock,  and  being  prohibited  from  issuing  bonds  or  the  creation 
of  a  debt  to  raise  money,  and  having  put  all  its  property  under  mort- 
gage to  the  United  States,  could  not  obtain  the  money  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  work  on  the  canal  otherwise  than  by  a  provision  of  this 
sort. 

Some  additional  guards  have  been  provided  in  this  bill  to  regulate 
the  expenditures  of  the  company  in  constructing  the  canal  and  to  sub- 
ject them  to  the  constant  scrutiny  and  approval  of  a  board  of  engineers 
appointed  by  the  United  States.  But  the  United  States  is  to  have  ten 
directors,  in  a  board  of  fifteen,  in  this  company,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  of  the  other  five  directors 
the  President,  voting  the  stock  of  the  United  States,  by  his  proxy, 
may  choose  two. 

As  the  persons  selected  for  this  important  trust  must  be  men  of 
experience,  ability,  and  high  character,  the  security  for  the  proper  use 
of  the  subvention  of  the  Government,  the  honest  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Canal  Company,  and  the  proper  adjustment  of  tolls  for  the 
mutual  interests  of  the  people  and  the  company,  is  quite  as  great  as 
the  country  would  have  if  the  ownership  of  the  canal  and  the  sovereign 
right  to  control  it  and  to  provide  for  its  direction  was  in  the  United 
States. 

It  is  believed  that  the  peculiar  constitution  of  the  board  of  directors 
gives  safeguards  and  checks  against  unfaithful  or  unwise  administra- 
tion of  the  canal  company  and  its  property  that  are  better  than  we 
would  have  if  the  United  States  should  own,  construct,  and  operate 
the  canal  without  the  intervention  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica  and 
the  other  holders  of  the  stock  of  the  company. 

The  legislation  proposed  in  this  bill  does  not,  in  the  least  degree, 
trench  upon  the  sovereignty,  or  the  property  rights,  or  the  political  au- 
tonomy of  Nicaragua  or  Costa  Rica.  Neither  does  it  violate  any  pro- 
vision of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  with  Great  Britain  or  any  rights 
we  may  have  acquired  in  Costa  Rica,  or  any  treaty  of  the  United  States 
with  Nicaragua. 

The  concessions  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  made  to  Mr.  Menocal 
and  his  associates,  and  all  now  owned  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
of  Nicaragua,  admit  the  United  States,  or  any  other  government,  to 
the  full  opportunity  of  acquiring  and  exercising  every  right  and  power 
of  control  fover  this  canal  that  is  proposed  to  be  exercised  in  this 
amended  bill.  When  we  have  acquired  this  power  of  control  over  the 
canal  the  United  States  will  have  no  more  sovereign  power  in  Nicara- 
gua than  now  exists  under  the  treaty  of  1867  with  that  Government. 

It  seems  to  be  justly  conceded  by  the  judgment  of  enlightened  men  and 
n^ttions  throughout  the  world  that  the  United  States  have  the  natural 
right  to  a  dominant  influence  in  the  control  and  protection  of  the  canal 


414  NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

tbrongh  IS'icaragua,  and  that  the  duty  rests  upon  our  Government  to 
see  that  unjust  discriminations  shall  not  be  made  against  any  nation 
in  the  i)eateful  use  of  this  great  waterway.  We  are  the  only  power  on 
this  hemisphere  that  can  secure  such  guaranties  to  the  lawful  commerce 
of  all  nations,  and  the  concessions  to  which  this  bill  relates,  and  our 
treaty  with  Nicaragua  of  1867  provides  for  our  active  endeavors  to  make 
good  that  pledge  to  the  world. 

This  bill  neither  enlarges  nor  diminishes  our  rights  or  powers,  as  they 
exist,  nor  those  of  Nicaragua  or  Costa  Rica  beyond  the  express  stipu- 
lations of  their  respective  concessions,  but  is  in  harmony  with  them  and 
with  our  treaty  relations  with  all  governments. 

The  mortgage  and  statutory  lien  provided  in  the  bill  for  the  security 
of  the  United  States,  while  of  little  importance  because  of  the  control 
over  the  operations  of  the  maritime  company  secured  by  the  owner- 
ship of  more  than  80  per  cent  of  the  stock  by  the  United  States,  is 
carefully  adjusted  in  the  bill  in  order  to  make  our  security,  if  that  is 
possible,  more  complete  and  to  remove  all  grounds  for  misunderstand- 
ings in  the  future. 

The  possible  diflflculties  that  might  attend  a  strict  foreclosure  of  the 
mortgage,  upon  property  in  a  sister  Eepublic,  are  of  little  weight 
when  we  consider  that  the  concessions  on  which  this  bill  is  based  pro- 
vide for  such  a  mortgage  and  carry  with  this  provision  the  equitable 
right  to  such  a  foreclosure. 

It  would  be  in  the  nature  of  an  impeachment  of  the  honor  and  in- 
tegrity of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  to  anticipate,  in  our  legislation, 
that  either  of  those  States  would  interpose  a  national  obstacle  to  the  ftill 
realization  of  all  that  can  be  justly  implied  when  they  permit  the  con- 
cessionaires and  their  successors  to  give  a  mortgage  on  all  the  property 
and  all  the  privileges  granted  to  them,  to  raise  the  money  to  construct 
a  canal  of  such  vast  benefit  to  those  States  and  their  people. 

The  committee  refers  to  this  topic  only  because  it  has  been  mooted 
by  some  inquiring  persons,  as  a  possible  objection  to  the  bOl,  and  not 
because  any  such  question  has  been  intimated  by  either  of  those  gov- 
ernments. In  all  dealings  between  independent  nations  in  matters  of 
this  kind  something  is  necessarily  left  to  find  its  proper  adjustment  at 
the  time  when  its  solution  becomes  a  practical  question  for  discussion 
and  settlement. 

In  this  instance,  the  most  painstaking  care  seems  to  have  been  taken 
by  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  in  their  respective  concessions,  and  sub- 
sequent legislation,  to  remove  every  difficulty  that  could  be  anticipated 
that  could  stand  in  the  way  of  this  great  work,  and,  in  this,  as  in  all 
their  dealings  with  this  subject,  they  have  approved  thomselves  to  the 
judgment  of  mankind  as  being  just,  sincere,  and  libeial. 

[See  Senate  Report  No.  ll>44,  Fifty-firut  CongreHii,  second  session,  p.  187.J 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPAKY    OF    NIOARAGTTA.  415 


PIFTY-SECOND  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

[See  pp.  105, 107, 135, 139, 141, 187, 402, 410, 457.] 
Februairy  4,  1893. 

[Senate  Report  No.  1262.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations,  submitted 
the  following  report; 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations,  in  obedience  to  the  resolution  of 
the  Senate,  as  follows: 

In  thk  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

JantMry  16, 189S. 
Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  directed  to  inquire  what 
sums,  if  any,  have  been  expended  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Construction  Company,  or  any  company  allied  to  either  of  said  companies,  in 
and  about  the  construction  of  said  canal  or  otherwise,  with  the  items  of  expenditure^ 
since  the  accounts  of  expenditure  heretofore  rendered  to  the  said  committee. 

respectfully  report: 

That  under  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  7th  of  January,  1892, 
it  has  continued  from  time  to  time  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  money 
expended  for  the  purpose  of  the  construction  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
from  the  date  of  said  resolution  to  and  including  the  1st  of  February, 
1893,  all  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  herewith,  and  is  believed  to 
be  as  full  and  accurate  a  statement  of  the  present  condition  of  the  Nica- 
ragua Canal  Company,  and  other  companies  allied  to  it,  as,  from  the 
nature  of  the  work,  can  be  rendered* 


416  MARTTTME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 


HEARINGS  BEFORE  A  SUBCOMMITTEE  OP  THE  COMMITTEE  ON 
FOREIGN  RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE,  IN  RE- 
LATION TO  THE  NICARAGUA  CANAL  COMPANY,  UNDER  THE 
FOLLOWING  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  SENATE: 

In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 

January  7,  1892. 
Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be,  and  is  herebj^,  directed  to 
inquire  into  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  work  upon  the  Maritime  Canal  of 
Nicaragua,  and  what  are  the  present  conditions  and  prospects  of  that  enterprise,  in- 
cluding in  their  inquiry  any  additional  explorations  or  surveys  of  the  canal  that  have 
been  made  since  the  last  report  of  that  committee;  and  what  stocks,  if  any,  have 
been  disposed  of,  or  bonds  issued  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
chartered  and  organized  under  the  act  of  Congress  approved  February  20,  1889,  and 
what  amount  of  money  has  been  actually  expended  for  any  purpose,  and  what  con- 
tracts for  constmction  or  other  objects  have  been  made  by  said  company ;  and  for 
these  purposes  said  committee  shall  have  authority  to  send  for  persons  and  papers, 
and  to  administer  oaths  to  persons  examined.  Said  committee  is  directed  to  con- 
sider and  report  what,  in  their  opinion,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  may 
require  in  respect  of  that  interoceanio  communication. 
Attest: 

Anson  Q.  McCook, 

Secretary. 


United  States  Senate, 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 

April  5,  1892. 
The  snbcoTnmittee  met  at  11  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senator  Dolph,  Senator  Morgan,  and  Senator  Gray,  of  the 
conunittee,  and  also  Senator  Higgins. 

STATEMENT  OF  CHIEF  ENGINEER  A.  G.  MENOGAL. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Mr.  Menocal,  we  want  to  ask  yon  some  qnestions  about  the  Nica- 
ragua Canal,  and  first  I  will  ask  you,  at  the  suggestion  of  Senator  Dolph, 
if  you  can  say  anything  about  the  financial  condition  of  the  company? — 
A.  I  do  not  know  anything  about  the  financial  matters  of  the  company. 
You  know  I  have  been  away  a  good  deal,  in  the  first  place,  and  in  the 
second  place  they  are  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  MiUer,  so  that  I  do  not  know 
much  about  them. 

Q.  You  have  recently  returned  from  Europe? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Was  your  mission  to  Europe  in  connection  with  this  Nicaragua 
Canal  t — A.  Yesj  to  some  extent.  After  being  in  Nicaragua  for  about 
ten  months  I  desired  to  go  to  Europe  to  have  a  rest,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  visit  the  most  prominent  engineering  works  of  Europe.  1  did  so,  and 
visited  the  Holland  Canal,  the  German  Canal,  the  Manchester  Canal  in 
England,  and  other  smaller  canals  of  very  little  consequence,  in  connec- 
tion with  our  project.    On  my  return  to  England  I  expected  to  go  di- 


MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  417 

rectly  to  America,  bnt  -vras  taken  ill — ^was  ill  with  influenza  for  two 
months — and  when  I  got  well  enough  I  had  to  be  engaged  with  a  com- 
mission of  engineers  who  had  been  appointed  to  examine  the  plans  for 
the  Nicaragua  Canal,  with  a  view  of  reporting  as  to  the  practicability 
and  the  cost  of  the  project. 

Q.  Will  you  name  the  members  of  that  Board? — ^A.  Sir  John  Ooode 
was  the  principal  member.  He  is  the  head  of  the  firm  of  Goode,  Son 
&  Mathews.  They  have  already  made  a  report  as  to  the  feasibility  ot 
the  scheme,  and  have  approved  the  plans  presented  without  any  modi« 
flcation  whatever. 

Q.  Is  that  report  in  print? — A.  No,  sir;  the  report  is  not  yet  in  print, 

Q.  To  whom  was  it  made? — ^A.  The  report  was  made  to  Mr.  Miller. 

Q.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Construction  Company  ? — ^A.  Yes ;  but 
the  report  is  not  complete  liecause  the  investigation  was  to  be  divided 
into  three  parts.  One  was  the  feasibility  of  the  scheme  as  proposed, 
another  was  as  to  its  probable  cost,  and  the  other  was  the  probable 
maximum  cost.  They  have  made  a  favorable  report  on  the  feasibility 
without  recommending  any  material  changes,  although  they  were  author- 
ized to  propose  any  changes  they  thought  best^  and  they  have  also  re- 
ported that  the  canal  would  cost  about  the  estimate  made  by  the  engi- 
neers  of  the  company. 

Q.  What  is  that?— A.  That  is  $65,000,000.  They  believe  that  It  can 
be  built  inside  of  that  sum;  yet  that  it  is  but  an  opinion  based  on  a 
careful  examination  of  the  plans,  the  quantities  and  prices  in  the  esti- 
mates and  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  has  to  be  done.  Now 
they  are  going  through  a  more  careftd  investigation,  checking  all  the 
quantities  in  the  estimate  in  order  to  prepare  a  fall  report  on  the  feasi- 
bility and  cost  of  the  whole  canal. 

Q.  This  seems  to  be  a  firm  of  engineers,  as  I  understand  it? — A.  Yes; 
there  are  no  better  engineers  in  England;  no  men  of  higher  reputation. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  How  came  they  to  make  the  examination;  who  employed  them? — 
A.  They  have  been  employed  by  Mr.  MiUer  in  connection  with  other 
gentlemen.  I  could  not  teU  you  about  that.  Mr.  Miller  will  be  here  on 
Tuesday  or  Wednesday.  I  only  received  instructions  from  Mr.  Miller 
to  meet  with  these  gentlemen  and  give  them  aU  the  information  I  had 
to  assist  them  in  arriving  at  conclusions. 

By  Senator  Higgins  : 
Q.  Off  of  what  data  or  information,  as  to  qualities  of  earth  to  be  re- 
moved as  to  excavation,  and  your  troubles  with  the  rocks  did  thisEnghsh 
firm  make  up  their  opinion  ? — A.  The  first  report  as  to  cost  was  only  an 
approximate  one.  They  said :  "  If  these  quantities  contained  in  the  esti- 
mates of  the  company  are  correct " — that  is  to  say,  excavation,  out  of 
water  and  under  water,  dredging  in  the  harbors  and  in  the  canal,  rock 
excavation  and  different  kinds  of  work  in  locks,  dams,  etc. — "  if  these 
quantities  are  correct,  we  believe  that  the  canal  can  be  built  for  this 
sum."  They  have  now  commenced  a  thorough  iuvestigation  of  aU  the 
works  proposed,  checking  all  the  quantities,  applying  in  each  case  the 
prices  which  they  believe  ample  for  the  completion  of  the  works  so  as 
to  arrive  at  the  whole  cost  of  the  canal. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 
Q.  And  they  are  doing  that  according  to  your  measurements? — A, 
According  to  our  plans  and  measurements.    They  have  examined  our 
plans  and  satisfied  themselves  that  the  surveys  are  correct. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 27 


418  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

Q.  Has  any  engineer  been  sent  by  this  Arm  to  Nicaragua t — A.  No 
engineer  has  been  sent  by  them  to  Nicaragua,  but  they  found  an  En- 
glish engineer  who  had  been  over  the  ground  and  they  have  employed 
him  to  give  them  all  the  information  in  his  possession. 

Q.  Is  he  going  to  make  a  resurvey  over  the  whole  ground  of  this  sub- 
ject-matter T — A.  No.  That  could  not  be,  because  it  would  take  several 
years  to  do.  They  are  going  to  take  our  plans  and  calculate  from  them 
the  amount  of  work  required  to  complete  the  canal.  They  are  satisfied  of 
the  correctness  of  the  plans  and  that  they  have  been  made  suflBciently  in 
detail  for  the  purpose  of  the  investigation. 

Q.  Were  either  of  these  gentlemen  of  the  firm  that  you  mention  with 
you  and  Mr.  Miller  when  you  made  a  personal  examination  of  this  canal 
line? — A.  One  of  the  English  engineers  who  went  over  the  line  of  the 
canal  with  Mr.  Miller  has  been  engaged  by  them  to  assist  in  their  in- 
vestigation. 

Q.  Now,  in  order  to  get  that  before  the  committee,  I  will  ask  you  to 
go  back  and  detail  in  your  own  way  fully  who  composed  the  party  that 
went  over  the  line  of  the  canal  last  year,  and  what  months  you  went 
over  it,  and  what  time  you  spent  upon  it? — A.  Mr.  Miller  arrived  with 
his  party  in  Nicaragua,  I  think,  on  the  1st  of  April.  His  party  was 
composed  of  two  Army  engineers,  or,  rather,  two  Army  ofiicers,  gradu- 
ates of  West  Point. 

Q.  Who  were  theyt — ^A.  One  was  Maj.  Button,  and  the  other  was 
Lieut.  Howard;  also  the  editor  of  the  Engineering  News 

Q.  Who  was  he? — A.  Mr.  Stauflfer,  of  New  York;  also  two  English 
engineers,  Mr.  Donaldson  and  Mr.  Gooch.  I  suppose  you  want  only 
those  who  went  over  the  line? 

Q.  Yes;  I  want  all  the  engineers  who  made  any  examination. — A. 
Those  I  have  mentioned  were  the  engineers.  It  was  nearly  a  year  ago 
and  some  may  have  escaped  my  memory,  but  those  were  the  most  im- 
portant men  who  went  over  the  line.  In  addition  to  that  there  were 
seven  newspaper  men ;  we  called  them  newspaper  men,  but  some  of 
them  were  men  who  had  had  a  good  deal  of  experience  in  engineering 
works.  Besides  Mr.  MUler,  two  of  our  own  engineers  and  myself  were 
in  the  party. 

Q.  Who  of  your  engineers,  in  Nicaragua,  went  over  the  line? — A. 
Mr.  F.  P.  Davis,  Mr.  H.  C.  Miller,  and  Mr.  Perez  went  part  of  the  way. 
I  think  that  is  about  all  that  went  over  the  whole  line,  because  the 
others  only  went  along  the  sections  in  which  they  were  employed ;  so 
that  they  were  not  reaUy  of  the  inspection  party. 

Q.  This  was  an  inspection  party? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  I  notice  that  Maj.  Dutton  has  made  a  report  of  his  inspection? — 
A.  I  just  saw  a  copy  of  it. 

Q.  It  has  been  printed  by  order  of  the  Senate  without  the  maps.  He 
seems  to  have  maps  in  the  Department  which  have  not  yet  been  sent  to 
us.  I  have  not  examined  that  report,  have  you? — ^A.  No,  sir;  I  have 
not.    I  only  just  saw  it. 

Q.  NoWj  what  inspection  did  this  party  make? — A.  This  party  spent 
four  days  in  making  a  very  careful  inspection  of  all  the  buildings  and 
shops,  and  aU  the  works  in  the  vicinity  from  Greytown  to  the  end  of  the 
railroad  as  far  as  it  had  then  been  built,  about  9  miles.  Also,  they  ex- 
amined the  dredging  plant  and  saw  three  of  the  dredges  in  operation. 
They  also  examined  the  pier,  or  breakwater,  and,  after  making  these 
careful  examinations  in  the  vicinity  of  Greytown,  took  the  railroad  on  the 
morning  of  the  sixth  day  and  went  to  the  end  of  the  railroad.  From 
there  they  took  the  line  of  the  canal  and  walked  over  it  untO  they 
struck  the  river  San  Juan. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA.  419 

Q.  They  struck  the  river  San  Juan  at  what  place? — ^A.  Some  dis- 
tance below  Ochoa.  They  wanted  to  see  that  portion  of  the  river  es- 
pecially, a  little  below  Ochoa  as  well  as  from  Ochoa  to  the  lake.  There 
was  a  steamer  waiting  for  them  at  that  point  which  they  took  and 
steamed  up  the  river  to  the  lake;  examined  carefully  the  river  at  differ- 
ent places. 

Q.  Did  they  go  on  the  San  Carlos  River! — ^A.  i^To,  sir;  they  did  not 
go  up  the  San  Carlos  River.  They  went  across  the  lake  and  spent 
three  or  four  days  examining  the  line  on  the  west  side.  The  weather 
was  very  pleasant,  and  as  the  line  was  opened  almost  the  whole  distance 
there  was  no  part  that  could  not  be  inspected  on  horseback. 

Q.  You  mean  the  line  had  been  cleared? — A.  It  had  been  cleared  by 
the  company  most  half  the  distance,  and  the  other  half  is  an  open 
country.  A  line  of  the  surveyors'  pickets  were  cut  through  by  the  sur- 
veying parties,  and  were  just  as  good  as  any  roads  you  could  find  in 
that  country. 

Q.  Now,  I  will  begin  at  this  pier.  What  is  the  length  of  the  pier  at 
Greytown? — ^A.  One  thousand  and  fifteen  feet. 

Q.  Is  that  pier  intended  to  gain  deep  water  on  the  south  side  of  it  or 
on  the  north  side  of  it? — A.  On  the  west  side. 

Q.  It  runs,  then,  north  and  south? — ^A.  It  runs  north  and  south 
nearly. 

Q.  NoWj  you  know  the  depth  of  water  there  before  that  pier  was  put 
in? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  it  then  ;  the  depth  of  the  water  where  the  channel  is 
now? — A.  There  was  no  water  there  before  the  pier  was  buUt. 

Q.  No  water  at  aU? — ^A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  How  deep  is  the  water  across  that  inlet  now? — A.  Dredges  are 
working  there.  I  could  not  tell  you  exactly  at  this  moment,  but  I  think 
14  or  15  feet  is  the  present  depth. 

By  Senator  HiGGiNS: 
Q.  At  low  water? — A.  Yes;  there  is  hardly  any  tide  there,  not  more 
than  1  foot;  some  days  no  tide  at  all  can  be  observed. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  WeU,  that  pier  and  the  dredge,  as  I  understand,  has  secured  a 
channel  of  14  or  15  feet? — A.  Yes.  Before  we  commenced  to  dredge, 
this  sand  bank  to  the  west  of  the  pier  had  been  washed  away  by  the 
waves,  so  that  we  had  nearly  7  feet  of  water  before  we  commenced  to 
use  any  dredge. 

Q.  Now,  did  the  pier  effect  that  removal  ? — A.  Yes;  a  channel  7  fi^t 
deep  was  washed  out  without  any  assistance  at  all. 

By  Senator  Higgins: 
Q.  Why  was  that? — A.  WeU,  this  bank  was  formed  by  the  drift  of 
the  sand  due  to  wave  action  from  east  to  west.  The  waves  invariably 
run  from  the  northeast  and  the  constant  drift  of  the  sand  formed  a 
hook  on  the  east  side  of  the  harbor  entrance,  which  hook  gradually  ex- 
tended to  the  westward  and  finally  inclosed  the  inner  bay,  converting 
it  into  a  lagoon  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  sand  bank  about  300  feet 
wide.  The  pier  has  been  built  nearly  normal  to  this  sand  spit,  its 
main  object  being  to  arrest  the  drifting  sand  and  thus  protect  a  chan- 
nel excavated  to  the  west  of  it.  As  soon  as  the  pier  was  stai'ted  the 
drifting  sands  commenced  to  gather  to  the  east  of  it,  but  as  the  waves 
passing  in  front  of  the  pier  under  construction  continued  to  act  on  the 
beach  to  the  west,  that  portion  of  the  sand  bank  was  gradually  carried 


420  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY   OF   NICARAGUA. 

away  by  the  wave  action  to  a  depth  of  about  7  feet,  the  pier  in  the 
meantime  preventing  the  traveling  of  the  sand  into  the  new  channel. 
By  this  process  a  channel  about  7  feet  deep  and  several  hundied  feet 
wide  was  secured  from  the  sea  to  the  inner  bay  of  the  old  harbor,  and 
lately  a  lagoon  before  the  pier  had  reached  a  length  of  500  feet. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  So  that  the  breakwater  arrested  the  sands  coming  from  the  east- 
ward and  the  waves  washed  away  the  beach  to  the  west? — A.  To  the 
extent  that  wave  action  could  have  any  effect  on  the  bottom.  The  sea 
could  not  scour  any  more  than  7  feet  because  the  waves  are  not  more  than 
4  feet  high. 

Q.  What  was  the  depth  of  water  in  the  harbor  or  basins  formerly 
Grey  town  t — A.  It  varies  very  much,  from  5  to  20  or  even  22  feet  at 
places. 

Q.  Is  there  a  large  area  of  water  there  T — A.  Yes,  very  large.  Most 
of  the  area  we  propose  to  dredge  for  the  harbor  is  inside  this  basin  and 
has  an  average  depth  of  about  10  feet. 

By  Senator  HiG<JiNS: 
Q.  What  depth  do  you  propose  to  dredge  the  harbor  tot — A.  Thirty 
feet 

By  Senator  Dolph: 

Q.  Thirty  feet  on  the  bar? — A.  We  propose  to  have  30  feet  on  the 
bar,  but  34  on  the  entrance  outside. 

Q.  How  far  will  you  have  to  extend  the  jetty  to  get  that? — A.  About 
2,700  altogether,  or  1,700  feet  beyond  the  present  end  of  the  pier.  That 
will  carry  down  to  a  depth  where  there  is  no  wave  action  on  the  bot- 
tom. 

By  Senator  Moegan: 

Q.  I  will  not  detain  you  now  to  give  a  description  of  that  jetty,  be- 
cause you  have  heretofore  done  so  in  a  very  fiill  manner  in  your  reports, 
but  I  will  ask  you  whether  you  can  commence  the  jetties  before  you 
commence  riving  the  rock  at  the  foothills  of  the  divide  ? — ^A.  No,  sir ; 
we  might  mold  concrete  blocks,  but  it  would  be  more  expensive,  and  it 
has  always  been  estimated  to  build  the  breakwater  from  rock  from  the 
excavation. 

Q.  That  is,  you  will  put  in  the  rock  filling  from  that  supply  ? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  That  is  a  line  of  rock  that  crosses  the  canal  at  the  foothills  of  the 
mountains? — A.  Yes;  that  is,  the  foothills  we  have  to  cut  across  in 
going  to  the  valley  of  the  San  Juan. 

Q.  Now,  do  you  express  a  confident  opinion  that  30  feet  of  water  in 
that  harbor  and  in  the  bays,  and  34  feet  outside  of  it,  or  the  entrance 
of  it,  can  be  obtained? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  it  going  to  be  a  very  expensive  work? — ^A.  No,  sirj  I  am  sure 
the  pier  itself  will  not  cost  a  million  dollars. 

Q.  Now,  before  we  leave  that,  without  going  into  the  details  about 
the  houses,  which  you  have  already  reported  upon  I  suppose  fully,  how 
many  dredges  have  you  taken  there  fitfor  service? — A.  We  have  six  large 
dredges  fit  for  work.  Some  of  them  have  been  laid  up  for  some  time 
and  may  need  slight  repairs  before  starting  again.  Otherwise  they  are 
in  excellent  condition.    The  machinery  is  in  excellent  order. 

Q.  Now,  what  machinery  or  shops  have  you  there  for  the  purpose  of 
repairing  these  dredges? — A.  We  have  get  a  large  machine-shop  just 
erected  and  fitted  with  the  best  tools  to  be  obtained,  and  also  some 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA.  421 

tools  purchased  at  Panama  with  the  dredgea  and  we  have  a  small 
blacksmith  shop.  We  had  intended  to  put  up  a  foundry,  but  it  has  not 
been  done  yet. 

Q.  Do  you  have  duplicate  machinery! — A.  We  have  a  great  many 
extra  pieces. 

Q.  That  is  to  repair  any  break  that  might  occur  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  these  dredges  of  large  capacity  ? — A.  Very  large.  We  have 
excavated  as  much  as  10,000  cubic  yards  in  twenty-four  hours  with  one 
of  them.  They  are  generally  not  kept  at  work  day  and  night,  but  we 
have  sometimes,  and  work  twenty-four  hours  is  done  more  economically, 
and  we  have  been  able  to  extract  10,000  cubic  yards  and  deposit  it  on 
the  bank. 

Q.  How  do  you  deliver  it  on  the  bank? — A.  With  iron  pipes  and 
powerful  water-jets  from  the  dredge. 

Q.  So  that  there  is  no  extra  haul  in  getting  material  and  depositing 
it  on  the  banks? — A.  Ko,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  how  far  has  the  canal  been  dredged  in  by  these  dredges? — 
A.  Not  more  than  half  a  mile. 

Q.  What  width  and  what  depth? — ^A.  A  depth  of  17  feet  and  width 
about  220  feet. 

Q.  What  will  be  the  width  of  that  section  of  the  canal  when  com- 
pleted?—A.  It  will  be  about  300  feet. 

Q.  What  will  be  the  depth?— A.  Thirty  feet. 

Q.  So  that  you  have  got  about,  or  had  then,  half  a  mile? — ^A.  Exca- 
vated to  a  depth  of  17  feet,  what  we  call  the  first  cut.  The  dredges  can 
not  make  the  whole  prism  of  the  canal  in  one  cut.  The  canal  wSl  have 
to  go  by  steps,  and  we  are  now  on  the  first  step. 

Q.  Now,  to  what  distance  has  the  canal  been  cleared,  commencing  at 
the  seacoast? — A.  On  the  east  side  about  10  miles,  to  Lock  No.  1. 

Q.  Entirely  cleared  out? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  there  any  clearing  on  the  whole  line  of  the  canal  that  is  as 
heavy  as  that? — A.  Well,  I  should  say  not  on  that  side,  because  we 
had  ^ot  only  very  high  timber  to  contend  with  and  very  thick,  but  also 
we  had  the  swamp. 

Q.  That  is  the  swamp  of  the  Deseado? — A.  The  swamp  of  the 
Deseado;  aU  that  drain  back  of  Greytown.  The  swamp  commences 
only  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  beach. 

Q.  Well,  when  you  went  into  that  work  at  the  Deseado  you  expected 
to  find  it  very  difficult? — A.  Yes,  we  did. 

Q.  Did  you  find  it  less  difficult  than  you  expected? — A.  Oh,  yes;  the 
work  has  been  done  for  one-half,  or  less,  of  the  estimated  cost. 

Q.  And  that  runs  out,  practically,  to  the  foothills? — ^A.  To  the  foot- 
hills at  Lock  No.  1. 

Q.  When  you  get  to  the  foothills  where  Lock  No.  1  comes  that  hue 
runs  north  and  south,  does  it  not? — A.  East  and  west  nearly. 

Q.  How  far  is  it  then  westward  until  you  strike  the  rock? — ^A.  Six 
miles. 

Q.  Six  miles  farther  on  before  you  strike  this  mass  of  rock  that  lies 
across  the  line  of  the  canal? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  JSow,  passing  over  the  ridge  you  get  to  the  other  side  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Ochoa;  what  is  the  general  character  of  the  country  through 
which  the  line  of  the  canal  passes  after  it  leaves  that  pooler  lake? — ^A. 
There  are  three  valleys  separated  and  surrounded  by  narrow  ridges 
with  narrow  openings  where  those  streams  that  drain  the  valleys  run 
through  and  drain  the  valleys  into  the  San  Juaa. 

Q.  In  these  ridges  do  you  find  any  bodies  of  rock?— A.  Noj  almost 
all  stiff  red  day. 


422  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OP   NICARAGUA- 

Q.  Have  yon  bored  t — A.  We  have  taken  borings  to  the  bottom  of 
the  canal. 

Q.  That  is  entirely  satisfactory  to  you  as  to  geological  formation? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Then  the  only  ridge  of  rock  that  lies  on  the  line  of  your  canal  is 
that  beyond  Lock  No.  3  T — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  do  you  call  thatt — A.  We  call  it  the  eastern  divide. 

Q.  Then,  when  you  have  passed  the  eastern  divide  going  in  the 
direction  of  Ochoa,  as  I  understand  you,  you  cross  several  valleys! — A. 
Three  valleys;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  All  of  which  are  composed  of  clay? — ^A.  Yes,  sirj  red  clay  pre- 
vailing; we  cut  across  from  valley  to  valley. 

Q.  Yes;  the  canal  construction,  then,  in  that  case,  consists  only  in 
removing  these  ridges? — A.  Yes;  the  closing  the  streams  and  the  small 
cuts  from  valley  to  valley,  forming  a  chain,  you  might  say,  of  small 
lakes,  untD  you  come  to  the  San  Juan. 

Q.  But  at  Ochoa  you  fix  the  dam  which  raises  the  water  to  the  level 
of  the  lake? — A.  Practically  so;  but  I  have  estimated  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  fall  from  the  lake  to  the  dam,  so  that  practically  is  the  same 
level  as  the  lake. 

Q.  And  it  is  necessary  to  have  some  current  in  it? — A.  There  must 
be  some  inclination  of  the  river  to  discharge  the  surplus  water  from 
the  lake  and  river. 

Q.  Some  question  has  been  made  as  to  whether  the  silt  that  comes 
up  from  Cos^a  Bica  in  the  San  Carlos  River  is  going  to  be  any  obstruc- 
tion to  the  dam  at  Ochoa? — ^A.  Well,  the  Valley  of  the  San  Carlos  is  to 
be  converted  into  a  large  lake.  By  raising  the  level  in  the  San  Juan 
the  Valley  of  the  San  Carlos  is  also  flooded  a  long  distance,  and  the 
scouring  and  sediment-carrying  capacity  of  that  river  is  thus  greatly 
reduced. 

Q.  How  far,  do  you  suppose? — ^A.  About  30  miles. 

Q.  And  that  forms  a  lake? — A.  It  forms  a  very  large  lake;  conse- 
quently, the  sediment  which  now  comes  down  the  river  into  the  San 
Juan  will  be  deposited  in  this  valley  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  its  tribu- 
taries. 

Q.  Distribute  itself  over  the  bottom  of  that  lake? — A.  Well,  the  most 
of  it  will  form  bars  at  the  point  where  the  different  streams  from  the 
mountain  enter  this  lake,  and  these  bars  may  grow  gradually,  and  from 
time  to  time  extend  into  this  deep  lake,  but  it  will  be  many  years  before 
the  accumulated  sOt  can  affect  navigation  in  the  San  Juan. 

Q.  Now,  I  return  to  the  divide.  The  material  that  you  take  out  of 
the  divide  on  the  eastern  side,  I  understand  from  your  report,  you  in- 
tend to  carry  out  to  the  pier  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  also  build  the  locks.  The  material  that  you  take  out  from 
the  west  side,  if  I  understand  right,  you  will  carry  to  Ochoa  and  de- 
posit in  the  San  Juan  River.  From  the  same  divide  you  will  carry  by 
rail  to  Ochoa,  and  deposit  in  the  dam  and  construct  your  dam  of  that 
material ! — A.  Yes,  sir;  the  dam  at  Ochoa,  as  well  as  the  locks  and  piers, 
will  be  built  with  rock  from  the  eastern  divide. 

Q.  And  you  propose  to  extend  that  railway  across  the  divide  to 
Ochoa? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  that  line  surveyed  and  located  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  convenient  access  to  the  canal  all  along  ? — ^A.  Yes;  it  follows 
the  line  of  the  canal  where  excavations  are  required.  It  will  tollow  the 
line  of  the  ridge  where  embankments  will  be  needed,  so  as  to  carry 
material  to  the  embankments,  and  remove  it  from  the  excavations,  aa 
required. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA.  423 

Q.  So  that  the  dam  at  Ochoa  will  be  built  of  this  stone  material  that 
you  take  out  of  the  Eastern  Divide? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Hauled  by  rail  to  the  dam? — A,  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  satisfied  yourself  and  have  the  engineers  satisfied  them- 
selves that  the  dam  at  Ochoa  on  the  plan  you  propose  to  build  it  is  a  safe 
construction  for  this  canal  ? — A.  I  have  not  yet  found  that  engineer  who, 
after  careful  consideration  of  the  subject,  has  not  approved  the  plan 
entirely  as  the  best  that  can  be  adopted  under  the  circumstances.  I 
have  not  found  one  in  this  country  or  in  Europe.  The  English  engineers 
said,  of  course,  first,  "  Oh,  well,  we  have  not  anything  of  the  kind  in  this 
country."  I  said,  "Very  well;  never  mind  what  you  have  in  this 
country."  But  upon  full  consideration  they  have  approved  the  scheme 
without  any  modification  whatever. 

Q.  Can  you  state  that  the  engineers,  all  who  have  examined  it,  are 
satisfied  that  the  dam  at  Ochoa  is  a  safe  experiment? — A.  Yes;  that 
is  the  way  we  have  been  looking  at  it,  and  we  regard  it  as  more  safe 
an  experiment  than  any  other  system. 

Q.  How  much  slack  water  do  you  get  by  your  dam? — ^A.  Sixty-four 
miles. 

Q.  On  the  river? — A.  On  the  San  Juan. 

Q.  How  much  on  the  lakes  that  you  form  west  of  the  Divide? — ^A. 
Well,  those  lakes  have  a  different  length.  There  is  12  miles  saved  in 
excavation  by  the  formation  of  these  lakes  between  Ochoa  and  the 
Eastern  Divide. 

Q.  That  is  to  say,  you  have  slack- water  navigation  at  the  level  of 
the  lake? — A.  Yes;  extending  to  3 J  miles  east  of  the  rock  excavation. 

Q.  What  will  be  the  effect  of  so  much  silt  that  may  come  out  of  the 
San  Carlos  upon  the  dam  at  Ochoa;  will  it  be  to  tighten  and  make  it 
firmer? — A.  Yes,  of  course.  It  is  not  our  intention  to  have  a  tight 
dam  in  the  beginning.  I  think  a  leakage  through  the  dam  would  be  a 
benefit  more  than  a  harm;  but,  nevertheless,  the  sediment  brought 
down  by  the  waters  in  times  of  flood  will  contribute  to  some  extent  to 
tighten  the  dam,  and  I  have  no  doubt  in  the  course  of  time  it  will  be 
perfectly  tight,  no  water  going  through  it. 

Q.  Now  you  have  a  great  flood  of  water,  if  I  understand  your  reports 
heretofore,  coming  out  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  sufficient  to  waste  more  than, 
perhaps,  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  it? — A.  Yes;  we  have  about  twenty 
times  the  maximum — even  in  the  dry  season — the  amount  of  water  that 
may  be  required  to  work  the  canal. 

Q.  So  that  in  the  dry  season  you  will  waste  nineteen ^A.  We  can 

afford  to  lose  nineteen  parts  of  the  surplus  and  yet  have  enough  for  the 
canal. 

Q.  Is  there  any  time  when  the  waters  of  the  river  become  very  much 
flooded? — A.  Yes;  in  the  rainy  season  sometimes. 

Q.  How  high  does  the  flood  rise  on  the  San  Juan? — A.  The  maximum 
flooding  that  I  have  observed  there  the  waters  rose — I  am  speaking  from 
memory,  but  I  should  say  between  11  and  12  feet.  The  flood  of  the 
river  increased  to  about  42,000  cubic  feet  in  a  second. 

Q.  How  does  that  compare  with  the  ordinary  flood  tide  in  rivers  that 
are  supplied,  not  from  lakes  but  from  mountain  sources  in  that  country  ? — 
A.  The  Chagres  Eiver,  which  is  a  very  small  stream  compared  with  the 
San  Juan  in  Nicaragua,  I  have  seen  at  a  time  when  there  was  not  500 
cubic  feet  of  water  running  through  it,  and  in  the  rainy  season  I  have 
gauged  it  and  found  145,000  cubic  feet  per  second. 

Q.  Is  that  by  a  sudden  flood? — A.  It  varies  from  ten  to  fifteen  hours, 
generally  inside  of  twenty -four  hours- 


424  MAEITIME    CANAl.    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

Q.  Inside  the  sweep? — ^A.  Yes.  The  valley  of  the  river  is  small  and 
the  watershed  is  veiy  precipitous  and  rocky. 

Q.  I  suppose  that  the  reason  the  San  Juan  River  does  not  rise  so 
rapidly  or  so  high  is  that  the  lakes  cover  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
watershed  ? — A.  Yes ;  the  lake  is  the  equalizer.  Lake  Nicaragua  covers 
oiic-half  the  watershed. 

Q.  How  many  years  have  you  been  in  that  country ;  when  did  you 
first  go  into  that  country? — A.  I  commenced  to  go  to  Nicaragua  in 
March,  1872,  a  little  over  twenty  years  now. 

Q.  Have  you  been  there  much  of  the  time  since  that! — A.  I  have 
been  there  a  great  many  times,  most  every  year,  practically. 

Q.  You  commenced  your  investigations  there  on  your  own  personal 
account? — A.  No,  sir;  I  was  sent  by  the  Government.  I  was  the  chief 
engineer  of  the  Government  sui"veying  expedition  sent  in  1872.  Then 
I  occupied  the  same  position  in  1873.  Then  I  was  retained  to  com- 
plete the  plans  and  estimates  of  the  first  two  years'  work,  and  then 
went  over  the  line  again  in  1874.  Then  I  went  to  Panama  and  sur- 
veyed the  Panama  route,  in  the  same  capacity  of  chief  engineer  in 
1875-'76.  At  the  end  of  1876  I  went  to  Nicaragua  again  in  order  to 
make  a  more  detailed  survey  of  the  harbor  of  San  Juan. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  Sent  by  the  Government  then? — A.  No,  sir.  I  was  sent  by  re- 
quest. The  Government  of  Nicaragua  was  then  very  anxious  to  im- 
prove the  harbor  of  Greytown  and  the  navigation  in  the  river  San  Juan, 
and  requested  the  United  States  to  send  me  there j  the  Government  of 
Nicaragua  paid  my  expenses. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  That  was  in  1876,  you  say?— A.  That  was  in  1876. 

Q.  How  long  did  you  remain  there  then? — A.  I  remained  there  eight 
months  and  then  I  went  in  1877  to  complete  that  work. 

Q.  Under  the  same  request  ? — A.  Still  at  the  same  request.  It  took 
me  some  time  to  make  a  detailed  survey  of  the  valley  of  the  San  Juan 
and  the  harbor  of  Greytown  and  to  prepare  the  plans  the  Government 
of  Nicaragua  wanted  to  have  for  the  proposed  works  of  improvement. 

Q.  And  after  that  ? — ^A.  In  1880  I  was  sent  at  my  suggestion  to  make 
some  additional  surveys  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake  with  a  view  of 
improving  the  location  we  had  made  before  on  that  side. 

Q.  When  you  say  "we"  you  mean  the  United  States,  do  you  ? — ^A. 
Yes;  that  is  to  say,  our  party  or  the  expedition,  of  which  I  formed 
part. 

Q.  Well,  it  had  no  connection  with  this  company  ? — ^A.  No,  sir;  the 
company  had  not  yet  been  organized  at  all.  I  made  all  these  surveys 
for  the  United  States  Government,  except  in  1876,  as  I  say,  I  made  it 
for  the  Nicaraguan  Government. 

Q.  Then,  when  did  you  next  go  back  to  that  country  ? — A.  Then  I 
was  sent  again  by  the  Navy  Department  in  1885.  During  the  time 
that  I  was  making  these  surveys  for  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  in 
1876-'77  I  had  in  view  the  possibility  of  a  change  in  the  first  location 
made  by  the  Government  expedition  along  the  bank  of  the  river.  I 
was  not  satisfied  with  that  location.  I  wanted  to  get,  if  possible,  an- 
other line  more  direct  from  Ochoa  to  Greytown.  I  had  made  several 
preliminary  examinations  there,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  possible  to  cut  a  line  through,  an  economical  line,  and  free  from 
the  dangerous  proximity  to  the  river  and  the  complicated  problem  of 
disposing  of  the  drainage  of  the  country  to  the  north. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  425. 

Q.  Now,  if  you  will  allow  me  just  a  moment;  you  surveyed  the  line, 
then,  that  was  reported  to  the  Government  down  the  line  of  the  river 
until  you  got  below  the  foothills,  until  you  got  to  Greytown? — A.  Yes; 
according  to  that  survey  the  line  of  excavation  was  about  61  miles. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 

Q.  What  expedition  was  that? — A.  The  first  location  was  made  by 
the  Government  expedition  of  1872-'73,  of  which  I  was  chief  engineer, 
but  we  had  no  time  to  make  that  examination  which  would  enable  us 
to  find  out  the  best  location,  as  it  was  found  afterwards. 

Q.  Well,  what  was  this  section  that  you  speak  of  that  was  61  miles? — 
A.  The  total  length  of  the  canal  in  excavation  and  exclusive  of  lake 
and  river  from  one  sea  to  the  other  was  61  miles,  or  from  the  point  of 
the  river  where  we  leave  now  to  Greytown  was  to  be  42  miles  in  exca- 
vation. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  That  is  to  say,  the  survey  that  went  down  the  bank  of  the  San 
Juan  Eiver — -just  look  and  see  if  it  is  here.  (Exhibiting  report.) — ^A. 
The  line  followed  the  bank  of  the  river  very  closely  until  we  got  to  the 
junction  of  the  San  Juanillo  with  the  San  Juan.  Then  we  cut  across  to 
Greytown.  All  the  way  we  followed  the  valley  of  the  San  Juan  close  to 
the  river  from  Ochoa.  I  was  not  satisfied  with  this  line  on  account 
ot  its  great  length,  the  great  difficulties  in  cutting  acoss  the  spurs  ex- 
tending to  the  river,  and  the  great  difficulty  of  disposing  of  the  drain- 
age, as  all  the  watershed  to  the  north  of  the  Une  had  to  drain  into  the 
river  San  Juan  and  across  the  canal,  the  level  of  which  was  but  little 
above  that  of  the  river. 

Q.  Then  you  conceived  the  plan  of  leaving  the  river  at  Ochoa  and 
going  out  on  the  seaboard  here  ? — A.  We  had  to  leave  the  river  at  the 
same  place. 

Q.  Then  you  conceived  that  leaving  the  river  at  Ochoa,  the  same 
place,  and  going  straight  across,  you  could  get  a  line  that  woiild  shorten 
this  curved  line  to  Greytown  ? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 

Q.  What  is  the  elevation  of  Ochoa? — ^A.  About  60  feet  above  sea 
level. 

Q.  Then  what  intervenes  ? — ^A.  Well,  there  is  a  very  high  range  of 
hiUs  which  started  here  which  we  thought  at  first  we  could  not  get 
through,  and  looking  from  the  river  we  could  see  that  the  range  had 
an  average  of  about  2,500  feet,  so  that  when  I  was  making  the  surveys 
of  the  lower  valley  in  1876  and  1877  I  made  excursions  through  here 
to  see  if  I  could  get  through  the  mountains  with  a  comparatively  small 
excavation.  I  found  some  places  comparatively  low,  but  they  were 
very  wide,  and  the  excavations  in  other  places  were  very  high,  until  I 
found  this  place  the  line  now  occupies,  which  is  the  narrowest  distance 
between  the  two  valleys  on  the  two  sides  and  is  the  lowest  point  in  the 
ridges  and  on  the  line  extending  between  Ochoa  and  Greytown.  By 
this  location  many  miles  of  canal  in  excavation  have  been  saved  and  a 
more  direct  line  from  Ochoa  to  Greytown  has  been  secured;  but  the 
greatest  advantage  gained  is  in  the  perfect  control  of  the  drainage :  first, 
by  eliminating  a  large  area  of  country  lying  between  the  new  location 
and  the  river  San  Juan  and,  secondly,  by  the  facility  and  absolute 
safety  with  which  the  surplus  waters  can  now  be  discharged  from  the 
elevated  surface  of  the  canal  and  basins  into  the  lower  tributaries 
and  through  the  latter  into  tlie  San  Juan.  The  area  to  be  drained  is 
comparatively  small,  and  with  the  artificial  basins  of  the  San  Francisco 


426  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

and  Deseado  acting  as  equalizers  and  ample  river  crest  for  the  rapid 
discharge  of  surplus  waters,  the  canal  may  be  regarded  as  entirely  free 
from  sudden  chan^^es  of  level  by  reason  of  floods. 

Q.  Is  it  proposed  to  supply  all  the  operations  of  this  canal  with  water 
from  the  lake? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Any  pumping t 

Senator  Morgan.  They  have  got  twenty  times  as  much  water  as 
they  want  to  use.  That  is  all  arranged  for  by  the  dam  across  the  river 
at  Ochoa. 

Q.  How  high  is  that  to  bet — ^A.  Fifty-six  feet. 

Q.  How  longt — ^A.  Twelve  hundred  feet. 

Q.  And  high  banks  on  both  sides  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  that  dam  makes  the  lake  level,  except  a  few  inches,  clear 
into  the  lake  and  from  there  down  to  that  divide! — A.  And  through  the 
divide  to  4  miles  beyond,  when  you  strike  the  first  lock. 

Q.  So  that,  when  you  come  here,  with  your  ship  you  rise  one  level  at 
the  lock  and  you  go  how  many  miles? — A.  About  1^  miles. 

Q.  You  arrive  there  and  2  miles  beyond  you  reach  another;  that 
takes  you  to  the  summit  level,  which  is  150  miles  long,  and  across  to 
the  Pacific  coast? — ^A.  It  is  154  miles  long. 

Q.  Then  the  lake  level  navigation  you  have  in  consequence  of  the 
building  of  that  dam  is  154  miles? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Senator  Grey: 

Q.  That  dam  must  commence  after  a  lock?— A.  We  have  three  locks 
on  each  side. 

Q.  What  would  be  the  faU  at  that? — ^A.  There  is  no  lock  at  the  dam. 
We  cut  a  canal,  independently  of  the  river,  from  this  basin  above  the 
dam. 

Q.  Will  there  be  a  current  through  the  canal? — A.  No,  sir;  not  any 
more  than  is  required  for  such  water  as  may  be  drawn  to  work  the 
locks.  The  surplus  water  will  be  run  oflf  from  the  dam  in  the  valley  of 
San  Carlos  by  waste  weirs  about  1,500  feet  in  length. 

By  Senator  Higgins  : 
Q.  What  is  the  lift  of  those  locks? — A.  One  is  31  feet,  one  30  feet,  and 
one  45  feet.    That  is  on  the  east  side.    On  the  west  side  there  are  two 
of  42^  feet  and  one  of  25  feet. 

By  Senator  Grey: 
Q.  Is  not  46  feet  a  very  great  lift? — A.  Yes.  It  is  not  essential  or 
necessary,  however.  We  can  have  two  of  22i  feet,  or  three  of  15  feet, 
if  you  choose.  The  ground  adapts  itself  to  any  lift  you  choose.  But  the 
idea  of  a  45-feet  lock  has  been  sustained  by  all  the  engineers  that  have 
been  called  upon  to  report  upon  this  scheme.  I  had  a  conversation 
with  Gen.  Casey  on  yesterday,  and  he  thinks  I  should  not  change  it. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Let  me  ask  you  if  it  would  not  be  harder  to  manage  a  lock  45  feet 
than  one  of  20  feet? — A.  O,  no,  sir.  The  gates  of  the  Saulte  Ste.  Marie 
Canal  are  worked  in  a  minute  and  a  half,  and  it  would  not  take  much 
more  time  to  operate  this  one. 

Q.  What  is  the  lift?— A.  From  18  to  24  feet 

Q.  Now,  I  have  been  going  into  these  details,  and  I  wiU  get  you,  if 
you  please,  to  state  to  the  committee — and  that  is  the  particular  point  I 
want  to  get  at — what  this  body  of  engineers  and  newspaper  men,  as  you 
call  them,  some  of  whom,  I  believe  you  say,  are  themselves  competent 
engineers ^A.  Yes,  they  are  very  competent  engineers. 


MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  427 

Q.  What  examination  they  made  and  what  their  opinions  were. 
First  begin  with  the  eastern  divide.  Yon  have  already  stated  it  to  that 
point. — A.  Yes  5  we  had  plans  with  us,  showing  the  location  of  the 
canal  and  railroad,  and  the  position  of  the  borings  taken  to  the  bottom 
of  the  canal.  On  reaching  one  of  these  places  where  borings  had  been 
made  specimens  of  the  material  were  carefully  examined,  some  of  them 
being  rock  2  or  3  feet  long,  taken  out  with  diamond  drills.  The  loca- 
tion of  the  canal  was.  followed  as  far  as  Ochoa,  and  the  topography  of 
the  country  closely  examined  and  compared  with  the  plans. 

Q.  You  went  on  foot  all  the  way? — A.  Yes;  to  San  Juan,  and  then  at 
Ochoa  they  examined  the  site  of  the  dam;  followed  the  San  Juan,  tak- 
ing soundings  at  certain  places;  some  across  the  lake.  On  the  other 
side  the  party  followed  in  the  line  of  the  canal  all  the  way  from  the  lake 
to  Brito. 

Q.  You  have  heretofore  made,  as  I  understand  it,  frequent  soundings 
of  the  river,  so  that  you  understand  the  profile  of  the  entire  river  from 
Ochoa  to  the  lake? — A.  O,  yes. 

Q.  Then  you  crossed  the  lake  in  a  steamer,  I  believe  you  said  ? — A. 
We  crossed  the  lake  in  a  steamer  to  San  Jorge,  and  took  horses  and 
went  to  the  mouth  of  the  canal,  and  from  there  we  started  with  our 
examination. 

Q.  Now,  when  you  leave  the  lake,  going  west  with  this  line  of  canaJ, 
you  first  pass  up  the  river  San,  Francisco  spme  distance? — ^A.  When 
we  leave  the  lake? 

Q.  When  you  leave  the  lake  going  west? — ^A.  We  strike  the  vaUey  of 
the  Lajas. 

Q.  You  follow  that  how  far?— A.  About  7,000  feet. 

Q.  You  take  possession  of  the  bed  of  the  stream? — ^A.  Part  of  it; 
occupy  part  of  it  and  divert  the  stream  into  the  lake. 

Q.  Then  you  encounter  a  ridge  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  it  can  hardly  be  called 
a  ridge.  The  ground  has  a  very  slight  inclination  towards  the  summit, 
which  is  called  the  western  divide;  the  rise  is  about  10  feet  to  the 
mile;  no  more  than  that. 

Q.  Now,  when  you  cross  that  summit  you  pass  into  another  valley? — 
A.  Pass  into  the  valley  of  the  Eio  Grande. 

Q.  Then  you  keep  along  the  valley  of  the  Eio  G-rande? — ^A.  Keep 
along  the  valley  of  the  Eio  Grande  more  or  less  to  Brito. 

Q.  Now,  you  divert  the  Eio  Grande  from  its  basin,  do  you? — ^A.  No, 
sir;  I  have  proposed  that,  but  do  not  think  it  will  be  necessary.  The 
Eio  Grande  is  no  river  at  all,  just  a  little  brook.  It  is  dry  nine  months 
in  the  year.  Sometimes  it  is  impossible  to  get  water  there,  so  much  so 
that  we  could  not  get  water  enough  to  work  our  diamond  drills.  So  I 
propose  to  let  that  stream  discharge  into  the  basin  of  the  Tola.  Before 
the  idea  of  the  Tola  Basin  was  adopted  I  had  proposed  to  divert  the 
Eio  Grande  into  the  Lajas. 

Q.  Now  what  is  the  Tola  Basin? — A.  The  Tola  Basin  is  a  valley  con- 
taining about  5,000  acres  of  ground  which  will  be  converted  into  a  lake. 

Q.  Is  there  any  stream  emptying  into  it? — ^A.  The  Eio  Grande  and 
another  little  stream  that  is  about  3  or  4  mUes  long  called  the  Tola, 
from  which  the  valley  gets  its  name. 

Q.  You  pass  this  into  a  basin,  that  is,  about  5,000  acres  of  ground 
you  wiU  convert  into  a  basin;  what  wQl  be  the  depth  of  that? — A. 
Seventy  feet  is  the  maximum.  It  decreases  as  you  come  up  toward 
the  divide. 

Q.  Now,  you  get  the  water  to  supply  that  basin  from  the  lake? — ^A- 
Yes,  the  lake  extended  across  the  divide  iuto  the  Tola  Basin. 


428  MARITIME    CAKAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

Q  At  what  place  do  you  put  your  dam  between  tlnit  and  Brito  to 
get  your  proper  elevation  to  make  the  lake? — A.  At  a  place  called  La 
Flor.     It  is  tbree  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Pacific  ocean. 

Q.  What  is  the  length  and  height  of  that  damt — A.  The  length  is 
1,800  feet;  the  maximum  height  is  70  feet. 

Q.  Is  that  made  of  stone,  rubble? — A.  It  need  not  be.  It  can  be 
made  a  water-tight  embankment  of  clay.  It  can  be  made  of  stone  be- 
cause we  have  abundance  of  stone  in  that  vicinity. 

By  Senator  Higgins: 

Q.  Have  you  the  wet  season  to  contend  with  there? — A.  Six  months 
of  the  year  without  a  drop  of  rain. 

Q.  What  about  the  season  when  you  do  have  the  raint — A.  Well,  the 
maximum  rainfall  on  that  side,  as  observed,  has  been  81  inches.  I 
have  seen  it  about  55  inches,  but  on  the  average  I  should  say  it  is  about 
50  inches. 

Q.  How  does  that  compare  with  the  Atlantic  coast? — A.  It  is  very 
much  more  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  We  have  observed  about  300  inches 
in  one  year  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  rainfaU  on  the  Pacific  is  very 
small. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Now,  from  the  dam  at  La  Flor  you  back  the  water  up  that  comes 
down  from  the  lake  in  this  Tola  Basin;  then  you  continue  the  canal 
from  tliat  basin,  as  I  understand  you,  by  locks? — ^A.  There  we  have 
two  locks. 

Q.  Forty-two  feet  each  to  the  valley  of  Brito  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Then  you  have  a  third  lock? — A.  Then  3  miles  below  we  have 
the  third  and  last  lock. 

Q.  Now,  from  the  last  lock  at  Brito  what  will  be  the  depth  and  width 
of  your  canal? — ^A.  The  harbor  comes  to  the  lock. 

Q.  The  harbor? — A.  Yesj  the  lock  will  be  placed  at  the  inner  end  of 
the  harbor. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  That  harbor  has  to  be  entirely  constructed? — A.  Yes;  practically 
so.  There  is  a  Uttle  indentation  of  the  coast  that  does  not  amount  to 
much. 

Q.  A  promontory  on  the  north  side? — ^A.  Yesj  there  is  a  promontory 
there. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  What  will  be  the  length  of  what  you  call  the  harbor  there? — A. 
Well,  4,500  feet  in  length  to  the  present  line  of  the  beach. 

Q.  To  the  present  hue  of  the  beach? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  From  the  beach  into  the  dam  how  far  is  it;  or  is  the  last  lock  right 
at  the  beach? — A.  That  is  what  I  say. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  It  is  an  abrupt  coast? — A.  This  valley  of  Brito  comes  right  to  the 
sea.  The  valley  close  to  the  coast  is  below  high  water,  so  that,  at 
high  water,  this  coast  is  flooded  by  the  sea.  There  is  a  break  in  the 
coast  range  at  this  point,  and  it  is  supposed  that  at  some  remote  time 
there  was  a  harbor  there. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  Now,  a  ship  coming  in  from  the  Pacific,  entering  the  canal  at  the 
first  lock — I  do  not  know  what  number  it  is? — A.  Six. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OP   NICARAGUA.  429 

Q.  !N"o.  6  would  tlien  go  on  and  come  to  lock  Ko.  5,  there  to  be  lifted 
up  and  proceed  to  lock  No.  4 ! — ^A.  Four  and  5  are  together. 

Q.  Then  it  would  sail  into  the  Tola  Basin,  which  covers  an  area  of 
5,000  acres,  with  a  depth  at  places  of  70  feet.  What  would  btf  the 
average  depth? — A.  Forty-five  feet. 

Q.  Deep  enough  for  any  ship? — A.  O,  yes. 

Q.  Is  that  under  cultivation? — ^A.  Part  of  it,  and  part  of  it  has  beau- 
tiful timber. 

Q.  Does  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  contribute  that  basin? — A. 
No,  sir;  the  company  will  have  to  buy  it. 

By  Senator  Grey: 

Q.  Will  that  be  expensive? — A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not  think  it  will  cost 
more  than  $25,000,  especially  if  it  is  purchased  now. 

Q.  What  will  those  locks  cost  approximately,  that  let  down  from  the 
basin  to  the  Tola  Valley?— A.  If  I  remember  right,  about  $3,000,000  for 
the  two.  I  know  it  is  less  than  $4,000,000,  because  we  have  there  rock 
foundations  and  rock  sides;  so  that  very  little  waU  will  be  needed  on 
the  sides  of  the  locks. 

Q.  How  large  a  ship  are  they  calculated  to  take? — A.  The  locks  are 
aU  650  feet  long. 

Q.  How  wide? — ^A.  Eighty  feet. 

By  Senator  Higgins: 

Q.  What  is  the  depth  of  water  in  the  Brito  Harbor? — ^A.  Thirty  feet 
will  be  the  least. 

Q.  Is  there  any  bar  to  contend  with? — ^A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  have  to  dredge  to  get  that,  or  is  that  the  present  depth? 
A.  That  is  the  present  depth  at  the  ends  of  the  piers  proposed. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 

Q.  You  simply  build  piers  there  into  the  deep  water;  it  is  an  open 
roadstead  now? — ^A.  Yes;  and  it  is  proposed  to  build  two  piers,  one  to 
fifty  feet  and  the  other  to  forty-five  feet  of  water. 

Q.  It  will  require  a  breakwater  to  protect  the  shipping,  will  it  not? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  As  I  understand  you,  the  real  anchorage  there  is  in  Tola  Bay? — 
A.  That  very  likely  will  be  the  case,  though  we  have  provided  for  a 
harbor  for  a  large  number  of  ships  in  case  of  delays  for  any  reason 
whatever  or  to  meet  local  business  at  Brito. 

Q.  And  the  building  of  the  breakwaters  is  to  protect  those  ships 
while  lying  at  anchor? — A.  Yes;  and  to  protect  the  entrance  to  the 
harbor.    In  bad  weather  there  is  a  very  heavy  sweU  there. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 

Q.  And  you  propose  to  extend  this  harbor  by  excavation? — ^A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  And  that  will  be  thirty  feet? — ^A.  It  will  be  more  than  thirty  feet, 
because  the  valley  is  now  below  high- water.  It  is  flooded  in  high-water, 
part  of  it,  so  that  we  will  have  to  excavate  about  forty  feet  in  the  valley 
in  order  to  obtain  a  depth  of  thirty  feet  in  low  water. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 
Q.  I  understand  your  entire  estimates  of  this  work  from  Greytown 
to  Brito  cover  every  item  of  work  and  all  the  material  and  all  the  cost  of 
labor  and  everything  included  in  acompleted  canal? — ^A.  Yes,  sir;  there 


430  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OP   NICARAGUA. 

are  a  good  many  small  Items  that  have  not  been  mentioned  in  the  esti- 
mates, but  they  are  so  smaD  that  it  would  be  interminable.  But  they 
have  been  included  in  contingencies.  Everything  has  been  estimated 
to  have  the  canal  complete. 

Q.  So  that  the  grand  total  will  cover  every  item  of  expense  in  the 
construction  of  that  canal  and  the  harbors  on  either  sidet — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now  you  had  these  estimates  and  measurements  and  details  with 
you  in  this  examination  across  the  line  of  the  canal? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  were  they  examined  by  these  engineers  who  accompanied 
you? — A.  Yes,  sir;  the  engineer,  Mr.  Donaldson,  is  an  engineer  of  a 
section  of  the  Manchester  Canal. 

Q.  And  in  addition  you  had  along  with  you  the  engineers  of  the  differ- 
ent sections  who  were  stationed  at  their  places  on  the  sections? — A. 
Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  before  this  examination,  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  had 
submitted  these  estimates  to  a  board  of  engineers? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  was  that  board  selected  ? — A.  Well,  I  could  not  tell  you.  I 
was  not  here  at  the  time.  I  merely  suggested  the  appointment  of  the 
board  and  was  asked  to  give  some  names  to  the  company.  I  declined 
to  do  so.  Then  I  was  notified  a  few  days  later  that  these  gentlemen, 
whose  names  you  see  in  the  report,  had  been  appointed. 

Q.  Their  report  is  in  this  report  of  the  committee  to  the  last  session 
of  Congress? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  But  no  report  has  been  made  by  the  other  engineers  except  Maj. 
Button  ? — A.  No,  sir ;  except  these  English  engiueers,  I  understand,  made 
a  report  in  England. 

Q.  You  have  not  seen  that? — ^A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  do  not  know  what  its  contents  are? — ^A.  Noj  but  was  told  it 
was  very  favorable. 

Q.  Now,  after  this  body  of  engineers  went  with  you  across  this  line 
of  canal  and  examined  it,  as  you  have  stated,  were  your  conclusions, 
in  the  report  which  you  had  submitted  to  the  company,  sustained  by 
them? — ^A.  I  think  in  every  case,  so  far  as  I  know.  I  have  not  heard 
any  adverse  criticism  from  any  one. 

Q.  So  that  this  line  had  been  really  under,  first,  your  examination 
with  the  corps  of  engineers  you  had  when  you  made  your  final  survey, 
and  that  report  was  made  to  the  maritime  company,  was  it? — A.  Which 
one?  because  I  have  made  so  many. 

Q.  Well,  the  report  upon  which  was  predicated  the  location. — A. 
That  was  made  to  the  United  States.  Government.  It  is  printed  in  a 
separate  book  called  "  The  Nicaragua  Canal  Surveys,  1885."  It  was 
made  to  the  Navy  Department,  and  it  was  on  the  strength  of  this  pre- 
liminary location — ^there  was  nothing  but  a  preliminary  location — that 
this  company  was  organized. 

Q.  That  was  preliminary,  but  it  contained  estimates  of  cost? — A.  Yes; 
it  contained  estimates  and  has  been  confirmed  in  every  particular. 

Q.  Now,  after  you  made  that  report  to  the  United  States,  you  then 
made  a  subsequent  report  to  the  maritime  company? — A.  That  was 
when  I  made  a  more  detailed  survey.  Then  the  company  was  organ- 
ized, and  we  started  the  surveys  in  1887  and  we  surveyed  from  the  lat- 
ter part  of  1887  to  1890,  when  I  made  this  report  you  see  now,  after 
three  years  of  continuous  work.  Sometimes  we  had  ten  and  twelve 
parties  in  the  field,  never  less  than  six. 

Q.  Then  it  was  that  report  that  these  engineers  had  with  them? — A. 
The  last  one  made  to  the  construction  company. 

Q.  They  had  that  report  when  you  went  in  company  with  them  and 
Mr.  Miller  went  with  them  to  examine  it? — A.  Yes,  sir. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  431 

Q.  And  that  was  the  same  report  submitted  to  these  other  engineers 
when  the  company  asked  you  to  select  the  engineers,  and  you  declined 
to  do  it? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  You  did  not  select  any  one  of  them,  I  understand? — A.  No^sir. 

Q.  And  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  board  of  engineers 
who  were  to  pass  upon  your  work? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Who  were  they? — A.  Mr.  Wellington,  who  is  editor  of  the  Engi- 
neering News ;  Mr.  Myers,  vice-president  or  president  of  the  Eichmond 
Terminal,  I  think,  or  some  important  railroad  in  Virginia;  Mr,  Charles 
T.  Harvey,  who  was  the  engineer  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  locks ;  Mr. 
John  Bogart,  engineer  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  Prof.  H.  A.  Hitch- 
cock, professor  of  civil  engineering  at  Dartmouth  College. 

Q.  These  gentlemen  then  took  your  surveys  and  estimates  in  detail, 
and  went  over  the  whole  of  them  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  After  the  examination  they  added  something  to  your  estimates? — 
A.  They  added  to  the  estimates;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  How  much? — A.  I  think  their  estimate  was  $7,000,000. 

Q.  On  what  account? — A.  Well,  they  did  not  say  on  what  account. 
It  was  a  larger  margin  they  said. 

Q.  How  much  margin  had  you  put  in  for  incidents? — A.  I  had  put 
in  25  per  cent,  and  they  thought  perhaps  it  was  better  to  increase  it  to 
50  per  cent  on  the  cost. 

By  Senator  HiGGiNS : 
Q.  Had  they  gone  over  the  ground,  also? — A.  No,  sir;  they  had  not. 
They  had  our  plans  and  sent  for  the  principal  assistants  I  had  in  Nica- 
ragua and  examined  them — made  a  very  careftil  examination.    It  took 
about  sixty  days  to  complete  it. 

By  Senator  MonaAN : 

Q.  Well,  they  had  your  engineers  before  them? — A.  Yes;  the  engi- 
neer of  every  section  was  sent  for  and  they  had  them  before  them  and 
took  the  testimony. 

Q.  What  was  your  estimate?— A.  $65,000,000. 

Q.  Does  that  include  the  jnargin? — A.  Yes;  the  estimate  was  only 
$52,000,000. 

By  Senator  HiGGiNS : 
Q.  What  was  theirs  ? — ^A.  I  do  not  remember  exactly  what  it  is.    They 
added  about  $22,000^000.    They  did  not  give  any  particular  reason, 
but  thought  it  better  to  be  prepared  for  any  contingency. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Up  to  what  figu  re  did  they  make  the  canal  cost  ? — A.  Eighty-seven 
million  dollars  they  regarded  to  be  the  maximum.  I  ought  to  say  that 
I  said  to  one  of  them  a  few  days  afterwards,  when  I  knew  the  result  of 
the  examination,  "You  are  very  liberal;"  to  which  he  replied,  "Some  of 
us  thought  you  had  better  be  on  the  safe  side,  but  my  impression  is  you 
can  buHd  that  canal  for  $40,000,000." 

Q.  Now  your  original  estimate  of  the  actual  cost  was  $52,000,000? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  then  you  put  on  25  per  cent  for  contingencies  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  then,  when  they  made  the  examination  in  the  way  you  have 
detailed  here,  they  added  about  $22,000,000  ?— A.  I  think  they  added 
36  per  cent  to  my  estimates ;  one-third. 

Q.  Now,  have  this  last  body  of  engineers  that  went  across  this  work, 
in  any  estimate  they  have  made,  increased  the  estimate  of  that  board  ? — 


432  MARITIME   CANAL    COMPANY   OF   NICARAGUA. 

A.  1  do  not  know,  except  this  English  engineer,  who  has  reported  as  to 
the  probable  cost. 

Q.  Did  he  increase  the  costt — ^A.  No,  sir;  he  comes  below  my  esti- 
mates. 

Q.  He  comes  below  your  estimates? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  The  English  engineer? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Has  anyone  increased  the  cost  above  $87,000,000? — A.  I  do  not 
know  of  any ;  no,  sir. 

Q.  Hasanyoneincreased  the  actual  cost  above  $65,000,000? — A.  No, 
sir;  not  that  I  know  of.  I  just  saw  this  report  of  Maj.  Button.  I  had 
not  seen  it  before.  I  see  in  the  last  page  of  it  he  thinks  it  now  can  be 
built  inside  the  estimate. 

Q.  In  your  recent  examination  of  canals  in  Holland  and  in  England, 
have  you  found  any  reason,  in  the  fiicts  that  you  have  ascertained  from 
such  examination,  to  doubt  or  change  the  estimates  that  you  have  made 
as  to  the  cost  of  this  work? — A.  No,  sir;  on  the  contrary,  I  do  believe 
now  that  the  canal  can  be  built  for  less  than  I  have  estimated. 

By  Senator  Higgins  : 

Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  if  the  surveys  and  reports  that  have  been 
made  have  not  been  made  either  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  or  to  the  Government  of  Nicaragua? — A.  To  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  up  to  the  time  this  company  was  organized. 

Q.  Well,  since  this  company  was  organized,  has  it  spent  any  money 
for  surveys  and  reports? — A.  Oh,  yes. 

Q.  Wen,  how  many  surveys  have  they  made  and  how  much  have 
they  spent?— A.  I  am  sure  not  less  than  $600,000  or  $700,000.  This 
company  has  made  surveys  that  had  not  been  made  so  extensively  for 
any  similar  work. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  I  would  like  to  ask  you  a  question.  Would  the  raising  of  Lake 
Nicaragua  5  feet,  as  contemplated,  by  a  dam  on  the  San  Juan  Biver, 
render  it  necessary  to  make  a  dam  anywhere  else  on  the  lake  to  pro- 
vent  the  escape  of  water;  is  there  any  other  outlet? — A.  No,  sir;  no 
other  outlet,  and  that  is  the  ordinary  level  of  the  lake,  and  Nicaragua 
has  approved  the  plan  of  keeping  the  lake  at  that  elevation,  110  feet. 
The  lake  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  high  land,  except  at  its  only  out- 
let, the  river  San  Juan. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Under  the  concession  under  which  this  company  has  been  operat- 
ing, is  there  any  grant  of  land  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua? — ^A. 
Yes;  there  is  about  a  million  acres. 

Q.  Is  that  to  be  selected  anywhere  the  company  choose? — A.  Part  of 
it  is  along  the  line  of  the  canal  and  there  are  40  lots  of  20  square  miles 
each  to  be  selected  by  the  company. 

Q.  Anywhere  in  the  public  domain  of  Nicaragua? — A.  Anywhere  in 
the  public  land;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  That  is  a  part  of  the  concession? — A.  To  the  company;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Now,  to  get  that  concession  the  concessionaires  had  to  deposit 
$100,000,  hadn't  they?— A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  the  treasury  of  Nicaragua? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  that  money  stiU  there? — A.  Yes.  It  was  understood  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Nicaragua  could  use  it,  and  when  the  company  had  spent 
the  $2,000,000  required  to  be  spent  in  the  first  year  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  work,  then  this  money  will  be  taken,  or  rather  supposed  to 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NK^ARAGUA.  433 

have  been  paid  by  the  company  for  the  police  expenses  to  be  incurred 
by  the  Governmeut  of  Nicaragua  on  account  of  the  construction  of  the 
canal. 

Q.  What  have  you  found  to  be  the  temper  of  the  people  of  Nicaragua 
in  respect  to  this  canal? — ^A.  Very  friendly,  as  a  rule. 

Q.  You  speak  their  language  and  know  all  about  them? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  have  you  been  there  a  great  deal? — A.  Yes;  I  know  every 
man  in  the  country. 

By  Senator  GRAY: 
Q.  Is  that  friendly  feeling  universal? — A.  Yes,  I  should  say  so. 
There  are  a  few  old  politicians  who  I  do  not  believe  care  for  the  canal 
because  they  are  afraid  to  lose  the  power  they  have  on  the  people,  but 
there  are  very  few  of  them,  and  they  have  no  influence  whatever  in  the 
country. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Can  you  state  from  your  recent  observations  whether  the  com- 
merce of  the  Suez  Canal  is  increasing? — A.  It  is  increasing;  I  could 
not  say  exactly  how  much,  but  I  know  it  is  increasing  very  rapidly. 

Q.  Do  you  know  anything  about  how  far  the  project  has  been  ad- 
vanced of  duplicating  the  hue  of  canal  through  Egypt? — A.  No,  sir;  I 
could  not  state.  I  brought  with  me  the  drawings  of  the  proposed 
enlargement,  but  I  could  not  say  now  how  far  the  improvement  has  ad- 
vanced. 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  they  are  at  work  on  the  improvement? — A. 
I  think  so,  between  the  turn-outs.  They  are  gradually  enlarging  the 
canal  to  the  last  design.  The  canal  was  only  72  feet  wide  when  it  was 
opened  to  traffic.    A  portion  of  it  is  only  72  feet  now. 

Q.  How  does  that  compare  in  width  with  the  proposed  canal  at 
Nicaragua? — A.  Well,  excepting  the  deep  rock  cuts,  wef)ropose  to  have 
120  feet. 

Q.  Now,  in  the  deep  rock  cuts,  what  will  it  be? — A.  One  hundred 
feet. 

Q.  And  you  find  one  on  the  eastern  side  and  one  on  the  western? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  will  be  the  length  of  these  cuts? — A.  On  the  eastern,  about 
2|,  and  on  the  western  about  4^  miles. 

Q.  In  the  other  parts  of  the  canal,  if  I  comprehend  this  matter  prop- 
erly, not  included  in  these  two  rock  cuts,  any  two  ships  can  pass  each 
other  without  difficulty? — ^A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  That  is  not  possible  in  the  Suez  Canal? — N.  No,  sir;  except  in  the 
turnouts.    They  have  to  wait  now. 

Q.  Yes,  but  when  a  ship  has  gone  into  this  canal  it  can  keep  on  its 
continuous  journey,  except  in  the  locks  and  in  those  rock  cuts? — A. 
Yes,  but  I  might  remark  now,  that  if,  at  any  time,  the  traffic  will  jus- 
tify, you  might  have  a  double  set  of  locks  and  you  might  have  another 
cut,  either  enlarge  the  present  one  or  make  a  new  one. 

Q.  By  which  you  mean  to  say  there  is  no  obstruction  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  canal  at  any  point  ? — A.  Not  in  the  least. 

By  Senator  Higgins  : 

Q.  Now,  what  is  the  time  that  you  calculate  or  allow  for  a  ship  to  go 
from  ocean  to  ocean? — A.  It  would  take  about  twenty-eight  hours. 

Q.  What  length  of  time  would  it  take  for  a  ship  to  use  the  locks? — 
A.  It  would  take  about  forty-five  minutes.  It  has  been  done  in  the 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  in  nineteen  or  twenty  minutes. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 28 


434  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

Q.  How  many  ships,  then,  would  the  canal  accommodate  throngh  in 
one  day,  counting  both  ways? — A.  I  think  it  is  thirty  I  liave  estimated 
for  one  day ;  with  an  average  of  tonnage  the  same  as  the  average  of 
ships  going  through  the  Suez  Canal;  this  canal  is  designed  to  be  capa- 
ble of  accommodating  a  traffic  of  20,000,000  tons  a  year. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  The  Suez  Canal  now  accommodates  about  9,000,000, 1  believe? — 
A.  I  do  not  think  it  has  come  to  that  yet.    I  think  it  is  about  8,000,000. 

By  Senator  HigginS: 

Q.  Do  I  understand  your  calculation  of  $52,000,000  or  less,  as  you 
think  it  would  be,  would  be  what  the  canal  would  cost  if  it  were  com- 
pleted, say,  by  the  officials  of  the  United  States  Government,  according 
to  the  plans  and  modes  of  construction  under  which  the  river  and  har- 
bor work  is  now  conducted  by  this  Government,  say  the  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  for  instance? — A.  Well,  the  organization  in  this  country  will 
answer  very  well  for  river  and  harbor  improvements,  but  will  not  an- 
swer there.  We  have  to  adapt  it  to  the  conditions  of  the  country.  Now, 
for  example,  we  are  hiring  our  labor  there  by  the  month  and  take  care 
of  our  laborers,  feed  them,  and  have  entire  control  of  them.  They  have 
attempted  to  strike  several  times,  but  strikes  never  last  more  than  a 
few  hours.  We  stop  the  rations  and  take  them  out  of  their  sheds  or 
their  houses,  and  they  have  to  come  to  time,  come  back;  but  I  should 
say  yes. 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  Maritime  Company,  or  the  construction 
company  as  its  representative  or  agent,  can  construct  this  canal  cheaper 
than  the  Government  could  do  it  by  its  regular  engineers  ? — ^A.  I  think 
the  company  can  do  it  better.    I  think  so. 

Q.  On  what  do  you  base  that  conclusion? — ^A.  My  experience  with 
the  United  States  Government  is  that  we  have  to  contend  with  a  good 
deal  of  red  tape  and  preparation,  and  sometimes  important  matters 
that  should  be  decided  at  once  by  the  engineer  in  chief  may  be  delayed 
for  weeks,  waiting  for  an  answer  fiom  the  Department,  and  yet  you 
would  not  dare  to  act  without  authority,  whereas  in  a  private  company 
the  employ^  can  assume  the  responsibility.  They  see  things  that  must 
be  done  and  they  do  them,  but  with  the  Government  you  can  not,  al- 
though you  think  it  is  the  proper  thing  to  do  and  you  expect  the  reply 
from  the  Department  will  be  favorable  and  you  feel  sure  of  it,  yet  you 
would  have  no  right  to  do  it.  I  have  been  consulting  engineer  fourteen 
years  in  the  Navy  Department  and  have  had  to  contend  with  it  here  in 
Washington.  In  fact  I  was  in  telephone  communication  with  the  Navy 
Department,  and  many  times  work  has  been  put  back  and  delayed  for 
want  of  authority  to  act.  I  knew  there  was  only  one  solution,  but  yet 
you  have  no  right  to  assume  the  Department  will  take  the  same  view. 
That  is  the  reason  I  say  that. 

Q.  Do  I  understand  you  to  mean  to  say  by  the  previous  answer  you 
have  given  that  the  officers  of  the  Maritime  or  Construction  Company 
could  better  handle  the  labor  than  the  officers  of  the  Government 
could? — A.  No,  sir;  not  on  account  of  discipline,  because  I  suppose  the 
officers  of  the  Government  would  have  a  better  discipline,  being  military 
officers.  The  discipline  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  has  been  established 
there  by  myself  and  I  acquired  this  experience  in  the  Government  em- 
ployment, but  it  is  not  that.  I  was  referring  more  to  the  want  of  au- 
thority than  to  the  faculty  for  handling  men.  Of  course  I  know  the 
officers  of  the  United  States  can  enforce  discipline  better  than  civilians 
in  some  cases. 


MAEITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA.  435 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Well,  I  suppose  there  would  be  some  trouble  also  in  military  offi- 
cers sometimes,  cases  of  proper  jurisdiction  in  Nicaragua  and  over  its 
citizens? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Where  has  the  labor  been  principally  obtained? — A.  In  Jamaica 
mostly.  Here  is  the  capacity  of  the  canal  as  1  have  figured  it.  The 
number  of  vessels  passing  through  the  canal  in  one  day  will  be  thirty- 
two  or  in  a  year  11,680,  which,  at  the  average  tonnage  of  vessels  going 
through  the  Suez  Canal,  will  give  an  annual  traffic  of  20,440,000  tons. 

Q.  Do  you  know  any  reason  why,  if  the  company  should  have  a 
proper  supply  of  money,  the  rest  of  the  work  on  the  canal  could  not 
be  completed  by  the  time  that  you  would  remove  the  rock  obstructions 
on  this  eastern  cut? — A.  ^o,  sir;  none  whatever.    It  can  be  done. 

Q.  The  dam  at  Ochoa  could  not  be  completed  on  the  plan  that  you 
havesuggested  except  with  the  material  taken  from  the  eastern  divide? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  So  that  the  completion  of  that  dam  and  the  removal  of  that  ma- 
terial would  be  simultaneous  ? — A.  Yes ;  simultaneous  with  the  construc- 
tion of  the  locks  and  the  construction  of  the  breakwater  at  Greytown. 

Q.  If  it  were  not  for  this  material  you  find  in  this  cut  at  the  eastern 
divide,  where  would  you  have  to  go  to  get  the  stone  for  the  dam  at 
Ochoa? — ^A.  It  would  be  very. difficult  for  me  to  say,  because  I  have 
made  no  examination  that  would  permit  me  to  answer  that  question 
correctly ;  but  I  believe  they  would  have  to  get  the  rock  from  different 
points.  I  do  not  know  of  any  large  supi^ly  of  rock  at  any  other  point 
except  at  this  divide.  I  know  of  some  beds  of  rock  here  and  there  that 
might  be  utilized,  but  they  are  small  deposits. 

Q.  I  suppose  you  would  have  to  get  it  from  the  lake  shore  and  boat 
it  down  the  river? — A.  Yes,  or  perhaps  the  rapids;  we  have  a  few  hun- 
Hlred  yards  at  some  of  the  spurs  going  down  the  river,  but  after  taking 
borings  there  we  found  these  beds  of  rock  were  not  very  extensive. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Can  you  get  it  in  large  enough  pieces  to  answer  your  purposes  of 
a  dam? — A.  O,  yes;  it  is  a  very  homogeneous  rock.  It  is  a  volcanic 
rock  and  very  homogeneous. 

Q.  Do  you  think  you  can  get  a  water-tight  dam  by  the  plan  you  pro- 
pose, throwing  in  the  rock  loose  ? — A.  O,  yes. 

Q.  How  would  you  fill  up  the  interstices? — ^A.  Throwing  in  small 
material  on  the  upper  side. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  But  at  the  outset  you  do  not  want  a  tight  dam? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Then  where  would  you  get  your  stone  to  complete  your  pier  at 
(ireytown,  if  it  were  not  for  this  cut? — A.  O,  we  con  Id  not  get  the  stone 
anywhere  for  that.  We  would  have  been  comj)elled  to  build  it  of  con- 
crete. 

Q.  You  could  not  get  it  at  any  cost? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  So  that  you  would  have  to  resort  to  making  concrete  if  it  were  not 
for  this  eastern  divide  boulder  or  body  of  stone? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  So  that  I  suppose  that  you  consider  the  presence  of  that  body  of 
stone  there  as  a  blessing  ? — A.  I  suppose  it  is  one  of  the  most  fortunate 
xjircurastances  found  in  connection  with  this  matter. 

Q.  That  and  the  great  length  of  slackwater  navigation? — A.  Yes, 
and  finding  those  small  valleys  that  can  be  connected  with  very  small 
excavation,  some  not  more  than  300  or  400  feet  in  length  and  perhaps 
30  or  30  feet  in  depth. 


43fi  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

Q.  How  would  the  cost  of  the  construction  of  the  Kicaragrna  Canal 
compare  with  that  of  the  Manchester  Canal  in  England? — A.  It  is  go- 
ing to  cost  about  the  same.  When  the  Manchester  Canal  is  completed 
it  is  going  to  cost  about  £13,000,(MX). 

Q.  What  is  the  length  of  the  Manchester  Canal? — A.  Thirty- five 
miles.  It  is  all  excavation,  while  we  have  only  27  miles  canal  excava- 
tion. They  have  a  very  difficult  work  to  do,  and  also  several  railroad 
crossings,  which  annoy  them  very  much.  The  restrictions  placed  upon 
the  company  by  the  act  of  Parliament  resulted  in  great  cost  beyond 
the  original  estimates. 

Q.  What  points  does  it  connect? — A.  Liverpool  and  Manchester. 
The  object  is  to  make  Manchester  a  seapprt. 

Q.  Is  there  any  other  statement  you  wish  to  make  to  the  committee 
about  the  Nicaragua  Canal? — A.  No,  sir.  It  seems  to  me  you  are 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  subject. 

The  committee  adjourned. 


United  States  Senate, 
Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations, 

July  20,  1892. 
The  committee  met  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.    Present,  Senators  Sherman 
(chairman),  Frye,  Hiscock,  Morgan,  Butler,  Kenna,  and  Gray. 

STATEMENT  OF  HON.  WARNER  MILLER. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Mr.  Miller,  I  would  like  to  ask  you  whether  any  stock  has  been 
issued  since  you  were  before  the  committee? — A.  Do  you  refer  to  the 
Construction  Company  or  to  the  Maritime  Company? 

Q.  I  refer  to  the  Maritime  Company.  We  have  not  anything  to  do 
with  the  Construction  Company  except  through  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany.— ^A.  There  has  been  no  fiirther  issue  of  stock  by  the  Maritime 
Company  since  that  time;  at  all  events,  only  a  few  shares,  perhaps,  to 
qualify  somebody  to  become  a  director.  Of  couise  whatever  sale  of  Mari- 
time Company  stock  is  made,  is  made  through  the  Construction  Com- 
pany of  stock  turned  over  to  it  in  payment  for  work  done. 

Q.  Has  the  Maritime  Company  turned  over  to  the  Construction  Com- 
pany any  stock  since  the  last  time  you  were  before  the  committee? — 
A.  No;  I  should  say  not;  my  recollection  is  not.  I  would  not  be  en- 
tirely positive  about  that.  The  Construction  Company  is  entitled  to 
receive  both  stock  and  bonds  from  the  parent  company  now  for  work 
done,  but  it  has  not  received  them.  The  bonds  have  not  been  issued 
nor  the  stock. 

Q.  About  what  amount  are  you  entitled  to  receive? — A.  We  are  en- 
titled to  receive  I  suppose  about  six  or  seven  millions  of  bonds,  and 
perhaps  two  or  three  millions  of  stock.  I  could  not  give  you  the  exact 
figures  without  having  a  computation  made. 

Q.  Is  that  in  addition  to  what  you  have  received  heretofore? — A. 
No;  that  is  what  we  are  entitled  to  receive  from  the  beginning,  for  the 
whole  work  performed. 

Q.  You  have  not  received  any  stock  or  bonds  for  the  work  done? — 
A.  Not  for  the  work  done.  The  Construction  Company  has  received 
$12,000,000  for  the  concessions,  but  no  payment  has  been  made  for 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  437 

work.  The  Construction  Company  has  not  received  either  the  bonds 
or  llic  stock,  simply  because  it  had  not  made  any  market  for  them  and 
(lid  not  care  to  receive  them  until  it  was  in  condition  to  dispose  of 
til  cm  and  get  money. 

Q.  Then,  if  I  understand  you,  the  situation  is  this,  that  the  Construc- 
tion Company,  in  consideration  of  the  concessions  and  property  turned 
over  to  the  Maritime  Company, has  received  $12,000,000  stock? — A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  HiscoCK: 

Q.  That  is,  without  bonds? — A.  That  is  without  bonds,  of  course. 
By  Senator  Gray: 

Q.  Were  these  concessions  made  to  the  Construction  Company? — A. 
They  were  not  made  direct  to  the  Construction  Company.  They  were 
made  to  a  voluntary  association  of  gentlemen  who  had  no  corporate  au- 
thority ;  what  might  be  called  a  syndicate.  They  called  themselves  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  Association.  They  subscribed  money  to  secure  the  con- 
cessions and  .sent  men  down  there,  and  the  concessions  were  granted  in 
the  name  of  Mr.  Menocal,  chief  engineer,  but  the  concessions  provided 
that  they  might  be  turned  over  to  a  company  that  might  be  organized. 
These  gentlemen  organized  the  Construction  Company,  and  these  con- 
cessions became  its  property.  The  Construction  Company  was  organ- 
ized under  the  laws  of  Colorado,  and  the  concessions  these  gentlemen 
had  obtained,  using  Mr.  Menocal's  name,  became  the  property  of  the 
Construction  Company.  Then  Congress  chartered  a  company  called 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua.  The  Construction  Com- 
pany turned  over  everything  it  had  to  the  Maritime  Company  and  re- 
ceived back  in  payment  $12,000,000  stock.  Then  the  Construction 
Company  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  to 
build  this  canal  and  receive  a  certain  amount  of  its  stock  and  bonds. 
The  amount  of  bonds  was  fixed  at  $150,000,000.  These  bonds  and 
stock  were  to  be  issued  to  the  Construction  Company  as  the  work  ad- 
vanced. As  the  work  advanced  so  much  bonds  were  to  be  issued  and 
so  much  stock,  the  Construction  Company  taking  the  bonds  and  mak- 
ing its  own  market  for  them. 

Q.  Has  this  stock  been  placed  upon  any  market? — A.  No,  not  at  allj 
it  has  never  been  listed  on  any  exchange. 

Q.  Have  the  Construction  Company  ever  sold  any  stock? — A.  They 
have  parted  with  some  of  it;  not  in  any  large  amount.  I  could  not 
give  you  the  exact  amount,  but,  to  make  that  plain,  I  will  say  that  the 
Construction  Company  was  organized  under  the  laws  of  Colorado,  with 
a  capital  of  $12,000,000.  That  stock  has  been  sold  and  the  proceeds  ot 
it,  $5,000,000,  pat  into  the  work.  Out  of  the  sale  of  that  stock  we  got 
money  to  carry  on  the  work.  It  is  to  be  reimbursed  by  its  receipts 
from  the  Maritime  Company  eventually.  We  have  expended  in  round 
numbers  $5,000,000.  That  has  been  received  from  the  sale  of  that 
$12,000,000  stock.  That  stock  has  all  been  sold  with  the  exception  of 
about  half  a  million  dollars.  It  has  netted  the  company  about  50  cents  on 
the  dollar.  When  I  became  president  of  the  Construction  Company 
the  stock  of  the  company  had  all  been  issued  except  $1,500,000,  which 
was  in  the  treasury,  and  that  stock  I  have  been  selling,  putting  the 
money  into  the  work  from  that  time  to  this.  In  the  sale  of  this  last 
$1,500,000  of  stock  I  have  given,  as  you  may  say,  as  a  bonus  with  the 
Construction  stock  an  equal  amount  of  the  Maritime  stock,  or,  as  you 
may  say,  I  have  sold  the  two.  I  have  sold  the  stock  at  par,  and  the 
purchaser  has  received  an  equal  amount  of  Maritime  stock.    A  man 


438  MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

taking  $10,000  Construction  Company  stock  has  received  $10,000  stock 
of  the  Maritime  Company  as  well  as  of  the  Construction  Company. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  That  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  is  out  of  the  $12,000,000 
which  you  were  paid  for  the  concessions? — A.  Out  of  the  $12,000,000 
which  we  were  paid  for  the  concessions,  and  not  out  of  tlie  stock  which 
we  have  earned.  When  our  stock  all  goes  out  there  will  be  $1,500,000 
Maritime  stock  that  has  gone  out  with  it.  I  have  sold  about  $1,000,000 
and  there  remains  $500,000  to  be  sold. 

By  Senator  Geay: 
Q.  Is  that  stock  pretty  well  distributed! — A.  Yes;  it  is  largely  dis- 
tributed. There  are  a  great  many  small  stockholders — five,  ten,  fifteen, 
one  hundred  shares.    Of  course  there  are  a  few  large  stockholders,  but 
only  a  very  few. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 
Q.  The  last  time  you  were  here  I  got  a  list  of  the  stockholders,  whieh 
was  put  in  the  report.  They  amounted,  I  think,  to  about  500  persons, 
extended  from  New  York  to  Kichmond. — A.  Yes.  Since  that  we  have 
sold  stock  considerably  in  California  and  Chicago,  some  in  Philadelphia, 
St.  Louis,  and  in  other  cities. 

By  Senator  Butler  : 
Q.  How  much  did  you  say  had  already  been  expended  on  the  work? — 
A.  About  $6,000,000. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Now,  I  will  go  back  to  a  point  that  I  think  Mr.  Gray  wants  to  un- 
derstand; that  is,  about  this  Canal  Association  whose  concessions  stood 
in  the  name  of  Mr.  Menocal;  he  was  the  representative  of  that  associ- 
ation?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  These  gentlemen  formed  a  voluntary  association  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  this  concession  from  the  Government  of  Nicaragua.  Now, 
they  had  to  pay  $100,000  in  gold  to  get  it?— A.  Yes;  they  paid  $100,000 
in  the  beginning. 

Q.  That  was  paid  into  the  treasury  of  Nicaragua? — A.  Yes,  nomi- 
nally. In  order  to  avoid  its  going  directly  to  the  treasury  Nicaragua 
proposed  to  expend  that  money  in  the  jjolice  force  around  the  canal. 

Q.  That,  then,  with  the  engagement  to  build  the  canal  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  concession,  was  the  consideration  upon  which  Nica- 
ragua made  these  grants? — A.  Yes;  those  were  the  considerations. 

Q.  Then  afterwards  it  was  ascertained  that  there  would  be  some 
overflow  of  Costa  Rican  territory,  and  the  boundaries  were  originally 
in  dispute  between  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua.  President  Cleveland, 
as  the  umpire,  settled  the  question  of  boundaries  and  settled  it  against 
Nicaragua  and,  as  I  understand,  Costa  Rica  set  up  her  rights  and  her 
interest  in  your  canal,  which  she  had  always  insisted  upon,  but  she  set 
it  up  then  as  a  practical  question  and  demanded  of  the  concessionaires 
certain  payments  to  be  made  to  her.  As  I  understand  that  is 
$1,500,000  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company.  That  is  all  correct,  is  it? — 
A.  As  to  the  reasons  that  you  give  1  could  not  undertake  to  say.  That 
was  before  I  had  anything  to  do  with  the  canal ;  but  Costa  Rica  is  to 
receive  that  amount  of  stock.  The  canal  touches  her  territory,  which 
comes  down  to  the  San  Juan  River,  and  when  the  canal  is  built  a  very 
large  amount  of  her  territory  will  be  flooded,  and  we  had  to  have  an 
arrangement  with  her. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  439 

Q.  Yes ;  but  she  always  insisted  upon  her  rights,  because  the  San 
Carlos  River  flowed  into  her  territory  and  out  to  the  sea. — A.  Yesj 
she  always  insisted  upon  it. 

Q.  The  membership  of  the  Maritime  Company,  then,  and  the  Con. 
struction  Company  is  composed  of  largely  dift'erent  persons? — A.  Yes- 
Of  course  there  were  but  a  few  stockholders  comparatively  of  the  Mari- 
time Company  until  we  began  to  put  out  this  $1,000,000  of  stock.  Of 
course  putting  that  construction  stock  out  and  giving  an  equal  amount 
of  maritime  stock  with  it  increased  the  number  of  stockholders  in  that 
company. 

Q.  Yes;  but  the  original  distribution  of  the  stock  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  very  few  persons  of  the  Maritime  Association? — A.  There  was 
very  little  stock  issued  outside  of  that  for  concessionary  rights ;  there 
was  simply  enough  to  make  a  board  of  directors.  Every  time  an  in- 
ventory was  made  we  were  entitled  to  receive  a  certain  amount. 

Q.  When  you  were  last  before  this  committee  I  think  you  mentioned 
the  fact  that  the  contract  between  the  Maritime  Company  and  the 
Construction  Company  was  a  provisional  one.  It  was  a  contract  that 
was  to  be  made  in  form  after  you  were  here,  if  I  remember? — ^A.  No;  I 
think  not.  It  was  originally  provisional,  but  if  I  remember  the  last 
time  I  was  here  the  contract  had  been  absolutely  consummated,  I 
found  when  I  became  president  that  the  contract  had  been  agreed  upon 
by  both  boards.  Both  boards  had  ordered  their  ofiicers  to  sign  the 
contract,  but  it  had  not  been  signed;  but  soon  after  that  it  was  exe- 
cuted. Before  that  there  had  been  a  provisional  contract  by  which  the 
Construction  Company  was  to  go  on  with  the  work  on  the  canal  and 
receive  pay  for  it  up  to  the  iime  that  the  final  contract  might  be  con- 
cluded.    That  was  completed,  and  that  is  the  condition  now. 

Q.  That  contract  was  that  you  should  construct  the  canal  for 
$150,000,000  bonds  and  all  the  remaining  stock  of  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany was  it? — ^A.  Yes;  those  are  substantially  the  terms  of  the  con- 
tract. 

Q.  The  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  being  $100,000,000,  and 
$7,500,000  being  taken  out  to  pay  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  and  $12,000, 
000  for  the  concessions,  the  residue  of  this  stock  and  $150,000,000  of 
the  bonds  of  the  company  were  to  be  turned  over  by  the  Maritime 
Company  to  the  Construction  Company  to  pay  for  the  building  of  that 
canal  from  end  to  end? — A.  Yes;  in  amounts  proportionate  to  its  prog- 
ress. 

Q.  Yes;  that  payment  was  to  be  made  in  installments  as  the  work 
progressed  on  engineer's  estimates;  that  is  what  I  understand. — A. 
Yes. 

Q.  What  was  the  rate  of  interest  fixed  for  those  bonds  to  bear? — A. 
The  rate  originally  agreed  to,  I  think,  was  5  per  cent,  but  that  has 
been  left  somewhat  in,  abeyance,  because  the  bonds  have  never  yet 
been  issued,  and  the  rate  would  have  to  be  somewhat  controlled 
by  the  bankers  wh(J  might  take  up  the  loan. 

Q.  Is  it  thought  that  the  rate  will  be  higher  than  originally  agreed 
to,  or  lower? — A,  My  judgment  is  thatthe  rate  of  intereston  the  bonds, 
if  it  proceeds  as  a  private  corporation  without  Government  aid,  will 
have  to  be  6  per  cent  to  float  the  bonds.  That  is  the  judgment  of  all 
financial  men  and  bankers  whom  I  have  consulted  regarding  it. 

Q.  Now,  in  making  your  estimate  for  the  work  done  there,  about 
what  sum  of  money  did  you  ascertain  would  be  required? — A.  The 
estimate  made  by  Mr.  Menocal,  our  engineer,  of  the  bare  cost  of  doing 
the  work  was  $65,000,000.    That  was  raised  to  $87,000,000  by  a  board 


440  MARITBIE    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

of  five  consulting  engineers.  That  estimate  by  the  board  of  consulting 
engineers  was  furnished  by  the  Construction  Company  to  the  Maritime 
Company  before  the  contract  was  entered  into. 

Q.  Was  that  made  the  basis  of  the  contract! — A.  That  was  done  be- 
fore I  came  into  the  company,  but  I  suppose  that  was  the  fact. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  The    contract  was  made  upon  the  basis   that  it  would  co.st 
$87,000,000? — A.  Of  course;  that  was  the  estimate. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 
Q.  Then  when  you  came  to  make  your  contract  to  take  your  payment 
in  bonds  and  stock  of  the  company  you  estimated,  as  I  understand  you, 
that  they  would  probably  yield  you  50  percentof  their  face  value?— A. 
The  company  calculated  to  receive  more  than  that.  Suppose  it  cost 
$87,000,000  cash  to  complete  it,  and  say  it  was  completed  in  five  or  six 
years,  we  would  have  to  pay  interest  on  the  bonds  during  the  process 
of  construction,  whatever  the  rate  of  interest  might  be.  The  average 
time  for  payment  of  interest,  of  course,  if  it  took  six  years  to  build  it, 
would  be  three  years,  so  that  the  actual  cost  of  construction  and  interest 
would  be  over  $100,000,000,  and  the  company  believed,  out  of  the  stock 
aiid  bonds,  it  could  realize  enough  to  do  that.  The  bonds  selling,  say, 
at70  cents,  would  produce  alittleover  $100,000,000,  audit  was  believed 
that  out  of  the  two,  the  bonds  and  the  stock  as  bonus,  the  money  could 
be  obtained  to  build  the  canal.  At  all  events,  that  is  what  they  agreed 
to  do,  and,  of  course,  the  assets  of  the  Construction  Company,  whatever 
they  received  out  of  the  sale  of  the  stock,  was  the  guaranty  that  they 
would  do  it. 

By  Senator  Butler: 

Q.  If  you  could  get  par  for  your  bonds  you  would  be  required  to  pay 
a  commission? — A.  If  the  bonds  could  be  sold  at  par,  $100,000,000 
would  be  ample,  and  probably  more  than  enough. 

Q.  Well,  then,  you  would  not  issue  the  $150,000,000?— A.  No,  of 
course  not. 

Q.  Then  if  you  could  get  this  assistance  asked  for  from  the  Govern- 
ment do  not  you  think  you  could  place  your  bonds  at  par? — A.  I  will 
have  to  make  a  little  correction  there.  The  company  never  asked  any 
aid  of  the  Government.  The  original  movement  was  made  in  this  com- 
mittee, as  Senators  Sherman  and  Morgan  very  well  know. 

Q.  Well,  I  stand  corrected  as  to  that,  but  if  that  aid  should  come, 
from  whatever  source  originated,  do  not  you  think  you  could  sell  the 
bonds  at  par  ? — A.  Of  course,  3  per  cents  would  sell.  If  you  should 
oflfer  $100,000,000  such  bonds  in  New  York  to-morrow  they  would  be 
taken. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  Then  the  Government  would  only  issue  the  bonds  necessary  to 
furnish  the  money? — A.  Of  course. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 
Q.  The  bill  reported  provided  for  the  issue  of  not  more  than 
$100,000,000  3  per  cent  bonds,  running  twenty  years,  and  then  the 
money  realized  by  the  sale  of  these  bonds  was  to  be  paid  out  upon  esti- 
mates of  Government  engineers  as  the  work  progressed,  and  the  whole 
amount  to  be  paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  these  bonds  was  not  to  exceed 
the  general  estimate  made  by  the  engineers  of  the  Government? — ^A.  It 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  441 

was  limited  to  $100,000,000.    The  company  was  to  issue  bonds  guaran- 
tied by  the  Government  to  the  amount  not  exceeding  $100,000,000. 

Q.  And  then  the  payments  every  sixty  days  were  to  be  graduated  so 
as  that  the  ultimate  sum  that  the  Government  would  pay  out  would 
not  exceed  $100,000,000,  and  if  the  engineers'  estimates  fell  below 
$100,000,000  it  would  not  exceed  the  pro  rata  of  that  sum? — A.  Yes; 
that  is,  as  I  understand  it.  I  think  I  can  give  you  my  recollection  of 
that  matter  without  going  into  details.  The  inoposition  of  this  com- 
mittee, and  the  bill  as  reported,  was  that  the  Government  would  guar- 
anty the  bonds  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Company  for  an  amount  suffi- 
,  cient  to  complete  it,  not  exceeding  $100,000,000;  that  it  was  to  take 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  $70,000,000  of  the  $100,000,000 
stock  as  collateral  security  for  that  guaranty,  and  that  at  any  time 
before  the  maturity  of  the  bonds  the  Government  held  the  option  to 
take  that  stock  at  par,  $70,000,000,  not  paying  the  company  anything  at 
all  for  it.  The  $70,000,000  were  to  be  put  into  a  sinking  fund  to  pay 
those  bonds.  Then  the  Government  would  become  the  absolute  owner 
of  $70,000,000  stock,  and  was  to  have  a  majority  of  the  directors,  and 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  authorized  to  vote  the  $70,000,000 
stock. 

By  Senator  Gray: 
Q.  Then  the  form  of  the  bond  was  to  be  this :  That  the  bond  was  the 
bond  of  the   Maratime  Company  with  the  guaranty  of  the  United 
States  upon  it? — A.  Yes. 

By  the  Chairman: 
If  the  United  States  paid  those  bonds  it  became  the  owner  of  the 
bonds  and  owner  of  the  stock;  i)ractically  controls  the  whole  concern. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

It  had  a  right  to  convert  the  money  paid  out  upon  the  bonds  and  in- 
terest upon  the  stock  at  par. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 
Supi)ose  the  company  was  the  principal  debtor,  would  it  not  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things  pay  the  bonds,  if  able,  and  relieve  the  United 
States  from  its  guaranty? 

By  the  Chairman  : 
They  can  not  pay  the  bonds  until  the  expiration  of  twenty  years,  and 
any  time  before  that  the  Government  might  step  in  and  pay  and  take 
the  $70,000,000  stock. 

By  Mr.  Miller  : 
I  made  a  partial  suggestion  at  that  time  to  some  of  the  Senators,  and 
since  I  have  made  it  more  fally  to  Senator  Morgan,  in  which  I  made  a 
criticism  upon  this  bill,  and  suggested  what  I  thought  was  a  better 
form  if  the  Government  wanted  to  do  it  at  all,  and  what  I  thought  was 
also  just  both  to  the  company  and  to  the  Government.  I  said  to  Sena- 
tor Morgan  that  I  saw  no  reason  why  the  Government  should  pay  for 
this  stock  at  all.  I  believe  the  canal  could  be  built  by  the  simple  guar- 
anty of  the  Government,  and  that  it  would  earn  sufficient  to  pay  off 
its  own  obligations,  and  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  if  it 
loaned  its  credit  to  the  concern  would  be  entitled  for  that  guaranty  to 
receive  a  majority  of  the  stock  of  that  company,  just  as  a  man  in  busi- 
ness may  charge  for  indorsing  somebody  else's  note.  Briefly,  my  plan 
was  this :  We  say,  let  the  G  overnment  guaranty  bonds  sufficient  to  build 


442  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

tliis  canal,  the  bond  to  be  made  to  run  sixty  years,  the  Government  to 
receive  as  compensation  for  that  guaranty  at  the  beginning  $70,000,000 
stock  of  the  company  and  become  the  absohite  owner  of  it  the  day  it 
was  turned  over.  The  result  would  be  that  this  canal  would  be  built 
upon  a  basis  of  not  to  exceed  3  per  cent  interest  upon  the  bonds,  and 
if  it  took  the  whole  $100,000,000  of  bonds  the  revenues  of  the  canal 
would  go  as  follows :  First,  to  pay  the  interest,  $3,000,000.  It  is  calcu- 
lated that  it  would  cost  something  less  than  $1,000,000  a  year  to  keep 
it  in  repair — maintain  it. 

The  cost  of  the  Suez  Canal  is  a  little  over  $1,000,000  a  year.  Our 
engineers  estimate  that  this  can  be  maintained  at  less,  but  call  it 
$1,000,000.  That  is  $4,000,000  out  of  the  receipts.  Now,  provide  a 
sinking  fund  that  shall  be  suificient  to  pay  off  the  whole  $100,000,000 
bonds  at  the  end  of  sixty  years.  I  have  had  a  computation  made :  By 
setting  aside  $1,000,000  a  year  with  the  interest  at  3  per  cent,  the  en- 
tire $100,000,000  would  be  paid  off  in  forty-nine  years.  In  fifty  years 
it  amounts  to  $114,000,000.  Now,  the  canal  is  completed.  You  have 
$3,000,000  interest,  $1,000,000  sinking  fund,  and  $1,000,000  mainte- 
nance— $5,000,000.  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  (;anal 
earning  that  amount  the  moment  it  is  opened  upon  the  basis  of  freight 
that  is  in  sight.  The  freight  from  the  west  coast  of  the  United  States 
to  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  taken  as  it  stands  to-day,  that 
would  go  through  the  canal  can  not  under  any  showing  be  made  less 
than  2,000,000  tons  per  annum.  Over  1,000,000  tons  of  wheat  went 
out  from  the  Pacific  coast  last  year,  not  to  say  anything  of  the  in- 
crease. Now,  the  tonnage  back  would  be,  say,  1,000,000  tons;  that 
would  be  3,000,000  tons.  The  rate  charged  by  the  Suez  Canal  is  $2  a 
ton.  At  the  same  rate  that  is  $6,0(K),000.  You  have,  then,  your 
$3,000,000  interest,  $1,000,000  sinking  ftind,  and  $1,000,000  mainte- 
nance, and  $1,000,000  left.  Now,  at  the  end  of  fifty  years  the  bonds 
will  all  have  been  paid  and  the  Government  will  own  seven-tenths  of 
the  stock  of  the  canal,  and  there  will  be  some  twelve  or  fifteen  mil- 
lions of  the  stock  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  still  lying  unused, 
Nicaragua  having  received  $0,000,000,  Costa  Rica  $1,500,000,  and  the 
Construction  Company  $12,000,000.  The  Government  will  never  pay  a 
dollar,  but  the  whole  thing  will  be  paid  by  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
which  should  pay  for  it. 

Q.  Is  there  any  doubt  about  the  Maritime  Company  accepting  this 
proposition  ? — A.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 
Q.  How  would  the  passage  of  this  bill  affect  contracts  already  made 
by  the  Construction  Company! — A.  The  bill  provides  that  aU  contracts 
that  are  not  in  accordance  with  this  amendment  of  the  charter  shall  be 
annulled  or  amended. 

By  Senator  Butler: 
Q.  To  conform  to  it? — A.  To  conform  to  it;  and  the  Construction  Com- 
pany consented  to  that.    Of  course  the  old  contract  would  have  to  go 
by  the  board  and  the  Construction  Company  would  have  to  do  the  work. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 
Q.  Wouldhavetodoitinsideof  $100,000,000instead  of  $150,000,000!— 
A-  Of  course. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  Now,  I  want  to  ask  you  whether  or  not,  since  you  were  here  before, 


MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY   OF   NICARAGUA.  443 

any  arrangement  has  been  made  for  raising  money  on  the  credit  of  the 
Maritime  Company? — A.  Of  course;  we  are  raising  money  continu- 
ously. We  have  to  do  that  or  else  the  company  would  have  had  to  stop 
long  ago. 

Q.  Is  tbat  on  the  credit  of  the  Maritime  Company? — A.  Partially  on 
the  credit  of  the  Maritime  Company.  For  instance,  the  Construction 
Company  is  now  putting  out  collateral  trust  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$5,000,000,  but  those  bonds  are  redeemable  at  any  time  within  five 
years  at  the  option  of  the  company.  If  not  redeemed  within  five  years 
they  are  then  to  be  converted  into  the  long  bonds  of  the  Maritime 
Company. 

By  Senator  Butler: 

Q.  What  rate  of  interest? — A.  Six  per  cent. 

Q.  Now,  if  you  could  make  this  arrangement  and  Congress  should 
pass  this  bill  would  not  there  be  an  immense  saving  in  the  matter  of 
interest  that  the  company  has  to  pay? — A.  Well,  suppose  it  took 
$100,000,000  to  build  the  canal,  the  interest  would  be  $3,000,000  accord- 
ing to  this  bill.  If  it  took  $150,000,000  at  6  per  cent  the  interest 
would  be  $9,000,000  a  year  after  the  work  was  done.  Then  of  course 
the  bonds  would  have  to  be  sold  for  much  less  than  par. 

Q.  Well,  could  not  the  contracts  for  labor  be  much  more  eligibly 
arranged  if  the  Government  should  step  in? — A.  If  the  Government 
would  take  it  up  we  could  divide  the  canal  into  sections  and  sublet  it 
to  responsible  people  at  low  rates  if  they  were  absolutely  certain  of 
their  money.  Now  we  have  to  go  slowly.  I  would  not  let  a  large  con- 
tract for  $1,000,000  if  we  have  not  the  money  in  sight.  It  would  not 
be  the  right  thing  to  do,  and  nobody  would  take  it. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Now,  I  understand  that  no  obligations  have  been  taken  upon  the 
Maritime  Company,  or  the  Construction  Company  for  that  matter,  since 
you  were  last  here,  except  the  collateral  trust  bonds? — ^A.  Noj  no  new 
obligations. 

Q.  How  much  of  those  have  been  issued  ? — A.  We  are  just  beginning 
to  issue  them.  The  first  shipment  was  made  the  other  day  to  San 
Francisco.    We  only  put  them  out  the  1st  of  July. 

Q.  At  what  rate  did  you  sell  them? — A.  The  bonds  are  sold  at  par, 
but  20  per  cent  of  the  amount  of  the  bonds  is  given  of  the  stock  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  as  bonus. 

Q.  And  you  get  par  for  the  bonds? — ^A.  Yes,  less  the  bankers'  com- 
mission, which  is  a  small  matter. 

Q.  It  is  that  money  upon  which  you  are  proceeding  with  the 
work? — A.  Yes;  we  have  of  course  some  stock  of  the  Construction 
Company  in  the  treasury  yet,  which  we  sell  if  anybody  wants  it. 

Q.  But  you  can  take  these  bonds  up  at  any  time  within  five 
years? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Has  any  foreign  syndicate  any  option  upon  the  bonds  of  the  Mar- 
itime or  Construction  Company? — A.  There  is  an  option  pending  with 
some  parties  in  London  for  the  first  $15,000,000  bonds  of  the  Maritime 
Company. 

Q.  Let  me  ask  you  whether  you  discovered  that  a  sentiment  pre- 
vailed among  the  proposed  investors  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  was  to  have  the  control  of  the  canal,  or  was  not  to  have  control  ? — 
A.  Do  you  mean  investors  in  this  country? 

Q.  No  J  the  foreign  investors. — ^A.  They  have  an  idea  over  there  that 


444  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

the  Government  is  determined  to  take  it;  that  it  is  eventually  to  take 
it  uiulei-  any  ciicumstanees,  and  if  they  were  to  come  in  that  the  bonds 
would  be  recalled  inside  of  five  years. 

By  Senator  Butler  : 

Q.  In  other  words,  the  United  States  would  dominate  that  canal t — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  Have  you  discovered  any  disposition  of  foreign  governments  to 
interfere  with  the  Nicaragua  Canal — I  mean  with  the  Nicaraguan  Gov- 
ernment or  Costa  Rican  Government — to  obstruct  or  delay  or  interfere  in 
any  way  with  your  work? — A.  There  have  been  rumors  of  parties  in- 
clined to  step  in  between  our  company  and  those  governments;  but  we 
liave  investigated,  and  1  think  the  parties  are  entirely  irresponsible.  I 
do  not  think  they  have  any  backing  whatever. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Now,  to  change  this  to  another  point.  Since  you  were  here  before 
you  have  taken  a  party  across  the  canal? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  We  have  had  a  detailed  account  of  those  proceedings  since.  Mr. 
Menocal  was  here,  and  it  is  therefore  unnecessary  to  repeat  what  he 
said. 

By  Senator  Butler: 
Q.  From  your  observation  and  what  you  learned  otherwise,  what  is 
your  opinion  of  the  earnings  of  the  canal!  You  made  some  reference 
to  it;  what  is  your  opinion  upon  it,  founded  upon  business  principles,  in 
case  you  build  the  canal  according  to  the  plans  and  specifications? — 
A.  I  believe  the  canal  will  eani  $10,000,000  a  year  within  the  first  three 
yeurs  after  it  is  opened.  I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  earn  less  than 
that. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  That  is,  at  $2  a  ton? — A.  Two  dollars  a  ton. 

By  Senator  Butler  : 
Q.  But  you  are  not  restricted  to  $2  a  ton? — ^A.  No;  but  we  probably 
would  not  charge  any  more  than  the  Suez  Canal  is  charging. 

By  Senator  Morgan; 
Q.  If  the  Government  should  build  that  canal  for  $80,000,000  I  do 
not  see  why  it  should  not  be  $1  a  ton? — A,  There  is  no  reason.    It  is 
not  possible  to  figure  less  than  4,000,000  tons,  and  $1.50  a  ton  would 
pay  $6,000,000. 

By  Senator  Frye  : 
Q.  The  freight  must  necessarily  be  so  low  that  you  can  compete  with 
going  around  the  Horn? — A.  If  the  Government  were  the  principal 
stockholder  it  goes  without  saying  that  the  tolls  would  be  at  the  lowest 
possible  point. 

By  Senator  Kenna  : 
Q.  What  are  the  present  rates,  do  you  know,  around  the  Horn  ? — 
A.  Well,  they  vary  wonderfully.  When  a  great  number  of  ships  come 
in,  they  sometimes  take  freight  as  low  as  $7  a  ton  around  the  Horn, 
and  it  runs  from  that  to  $10  or  $12.  It  all  depends  upon  the  number 
of  ships  that  happen  to  be  in.  The  suggestion  made  by  Senator  Frye 
that  the  rate  should  be  kept  so  low  as  to  prevent  the  freight  going 
around  the  Horn  is  correct;  but  as  the  rate  of  $2  is  low  enough,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  theorize  about  it.    You  have  only  got  to  go  to  the 


maritimp:  canal  company  of  Nicaragua.  445 

Suez  Canal.  The  Suez  Canal  carries  all  the  wheat  from  India,  in  com- 
petition with  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  we  save  more  than  twice 
the  distance,  comparing  Calcutta  and  Liverpool  with  San  Francisco 
and  Liverpool  J  yet  tliey  pay  $2  a  ton  to  go  through  the  Suez  Canal. 


Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations, 

United  States  Senate, 
Saturday,  December  10,  1892. 

The  committee  met  at  11  o'clock,  a.  m.,  pursuant  to  call.  Present: 
Senators  Sherman  (chairman),  Frye,  Dolph,  Morgan,  and  Butler.  Hon. 
Warner  Miller  was  also  present. 

Senator  Morgan.  Mr.  Miller,  you  have  the  statement  made  by  you  be- 
fore the  committee  on  July  20, 1892.  Is  there  any  further  statement  you 
think  proper  to  make  to  qualify  that  in  any  respect? 

Mr.  Miller.  Well,  I  do  not  know  as  there  is  any  necessity  of  qualify- 
ing it  at  all.  Of  course  time  has  elapsed  since  that,  and  the  company  has 
gone  on  expending  money  on  the  enterprise  and  endeavoring  in  every 
way  possible  to  bring  it  to  the  attention  of  the  people  of  this  country 
and  the  whole  world.  I  have  traveled  substantially  all  over  the  United 
States,  have  spoken  in  all  the  principal  cities  to  chambers  of  commerce 
and  other  bodies,  and  in  that  way  have  attempted  to  create  public  in- 
terest in  the  enterprise. 

Q.  I  think  that  in  your  statement  you  spoke  of  some  debentures  that 
were  issued  by  the  Maritime  Company? — ^A.  By  the  Construction  Com- 
pany. 

Q.  TheMaritime  Companyis  not  responsible  in  any  way  for  those  deben- 
tures ? — A.  The  debentures  are  issued  by  the  Construction  Company 
upon,  you  might  say,  the  credit  of  the  Maritime  Company;  that  is  to 
say,  the  debenture  bond  runs  for  five  years  with  the  right  of  the  com- 
pany to  redeem  it  at  any  time  within  five  years.  If  not  redeemed  within 
five  years  it  is  then  to  be  replaced  by  the  bond  of  the  Maritime  Com- 
pany, which  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company  are  now  due  to  the  Con- 
struction Company  for  work  already  performed. 

Q.  If  not  redeemed  within  five  years  they  may  be  substituted  by  the 
bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company? — A.  Eeplaced  by  the  bonds  of  the 
Maritime  Company. 

By  Senator  Butler  : 

Q.  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  the  Construction  Company  retains 
the  right  to  redeem  these  bonds  within  five  years? — A.  At  anytime 
within  five  years. 

Q.  That  is,  the  Construction  Company? — ^A.  The  Construction  Com- 
pany. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  Who  has  the  option  to  take  up  or  redeem  these  bonds?    Is  that 
with  the  Construction  Company  or  the  Maritime  Company? — A.  The 
Construction  Company.    They  are  to  pay  them  or  to  replace  them  with 
the  maritime  bonds. 

By  Senator  Frye  : 
Q.  But  the  Maritime  Company  is  obliged  to  issue  bonds  to  redeem 
the  construction  bonds   provided   the  Construction  Company  so  de- 
termine?— A.  Yes.  The  matter  is  just  this:  The  Construction  Company 


446  MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

has  expended  a  certain  amount  npon  the  work,  for  which  it  is  entitled 
to  receive  the  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company  in  payment.  It  did  not 
think  it  wise  to  issue  the  maritime  bonds  to  the  public  at  this  time,  be- 
cause the  work  was  not  far  enough  along  to  enable  them  to  have  a 
proper  price.  So  the  Construction  Company  issued  its  own  bond  with  a 
guaranty  or  contract  behind  it  from  the  Maritime  Company.  If  this 
bond  is  not  redeemed  within  five  years  then  the  bond  of  the  Maritime 
Company,  which  is  due  to  the  Construction  Company  at  the  present  time 
for  work  done,  comes  in  and  supplants  it — takes  its  place.  The  option 
lies  entirely  with  the  Construction  Company  whether  it  will,  at  the  end 
of  five  years,  call  in  the  bonds  or  replace  them  with  the  bonds  of  the 
Maritime  Company. 

By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  What  amount  of  debentures  have  been  issued  by  the  Construc- 
tion Company  to  datet — A.  Well,  not  a  large  amount,  for  we  are  con- 
stantly selling  them  through  our  agents.  We  only  began,  I  think,  in 
July.    The  first  bonds  were  printed  and  delivered  in  August. 

Q.  1892 1 — ^A.  Yes;  this  last  summer. 

By  Senator  Butler: 

Q.  What  interest  do  they  heart — A.  Six  per  cent. 
By  Senator  Morgan: 

Q.  Have  you  the  means  of  giving  an  accurate  statement  of  the  amount 
that  has  been  issued? — A.  Of  course  we  know.  I  do  not  know  now 
whether  it  would  be  desirable  for  the  company  to  state  just  what  it  is 
or  not;  that  is  to  say,  if  this  hearing  was  to  be  made  public.  The 
company  has  nothing  at  all  to  keep  back  from  this  committee,  but 
there  might  be  many  things  which  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  make 
public  80  long  as  the  question  of  the  Government  coming  in  and  pass- 
ing the  bill  was  undecided.  It  seems  to  me  it  would  not  be  of  benefit 
to  the  company,  or  any  benefit  to  anyone  perhaps,  if  the  statement 
should  be  made,  but  I  have  no  objection  to  stating  to  the  committee  in 
confidence  just  what  we  are  doing,  work  and  everything. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  are  only  two  propositions  that  we  may 
need  at  all  to  consider,  one  being  whether  it  is  worth  while  now  to  un- 
dertake to  secure  any  legislation  at  the  present  session  of  Congress, 
and  the  other  being  whether  the  affairs  of  the  company  are  in  such  con- 
dition as  they  were  at  the  time  we  reported  that  bill;  whether  that  bill 
or  something  similar  could  still  be  complied  with  by  the  comi)any; 
whether  you  have  issued  so  many  securities  and  disposed  of  so  many 
and  placed  the  company  in  such  condition  that  it  is  not  now  practical 
to  comply  with  that  bill? — A.  Well,  I  think  the  bill  might  be  cluinged, 
and  I  mieht  make  some  suggestions  that  would  be  advantageous  to  the 
Government  as  well  as  to  the  company. 

Q.  If  there  is  not  any  prospect  of  passing  a  bill  at  the  present  ses- 
sion of  Congress  it  seems  to  me  the  more  agitation  here  in  regard  to 
legislation  is  the  worse  for  the  company  f — A.  No;  not  if  the  appear- 
ance here  is  that  the  Government  eventually  proposes  to  come  in  and 
take  charge  of  the  canal  and  control  it. 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 


447 


Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 

United  States  Senate, 

Wednesday^  December  21,  1892. 
The  committee  met  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.  pursuant  to  call.    Present, 
Senators  Sherman  (chairman),  Frye,  Dolph,  Davis,  Hiscock,  Morgan, 
and  Gray. 

Mr.  Hiram  Hitchcock,  president  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of 
Nicaragua,  and  Mr.  Alexander  T.  Mason,  attorney  of  said  company, 
were  also  present. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  HIRAM  HITCHCOCK. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  I  believe  you  have  a  copy  of  the  last  draft  of  this 
bill?— A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  If  you  or  Mr.  Mason  have  anything  to  say  about,  it,  pro  or  con, 
the  committee  will  be  glad  to  hear  you. — A.  I  notice  there  are  two 
.omissions,  one  with  reference  to  stock  and  the  other  with  reference  to 
bonds. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  One.  you  mean,  of  the  limit  to  be  expended  for  expenditures  up 
to  a  certain  date? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  That  would  depend  a  great  deal  on  the  expenditures  of  the  last 
two  years,  I  suppose.    It  was  $4,000,000  originally? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  That  is  not  a  very  material  question  if  it  is  large  enough  to  pay? — 
A.  Of  course,  in  one  sense,  it  makes  no  special  difference. 

By  the  Chairman: 
Q.  Still  there  ought  to  be  a  maximum  fixed.  Persons  who  are 
doubtful  about  it  always  want  a  limit  like  an  appropriation,  and  there- 
fore a  rough  statement  of  the  lowest  amount  you  think  will  cover  it 
ought  to  be  put  in. — A.  I  would  suggest  6^  millions  as  the  maximum 
amount. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 
Q.  Well,  the  smaller  the  better,  as  the  figures  scare  people,  whether 
they  expect  the  amount  to  be  paid  or  not. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  It  is  better  not  to  put  it  too  high.  Have  you  expended  2^ 
millions  since  this  bill  was  first  reported? — A.  I  understand  from 
Senator  Miller,  president  of  the  Construction  Company,  who  un- 
fortunately is  confined  to  his  room  and  not  able  to  be  here,  that  the 
expenditures  amount  to  4J  millions  in  cash,  and  that  they  are 
obligated  for  about  2  millions  more;  that  is  to  say,  1  million  of  the 
bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company,  or  scrip  for  these  bonds,  and  a 
million  of  the  Maritime  stock  which  they  have  to  make  good.  I  under- 
stand from  him  that  that  is  about  the  statement  of  the  expenditures 
of  the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  Well,  we  consider  the  12  millions  that  is  provided  for  here  of 
stock  covers  aU  you  paid  for  concessions,  and  therefore  we  struck  out 
this  amount  paid  for  concessions.  You  propose  6J  miUions  as  cover- 
ing it? — A.  Yes,  as  a  maximum. 


448  MAKITIMK    CANAL   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  It  don't  atFect  the  amount  to  bo  paid  at  all? — A.  No,  sir. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  What  is  the  other  point? — A.  The  other,  I  think,  was  left  blank  on 
the  eleventh  page,  sixteenth  line;  the  twelve  iiiillious  was  not  inserted. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  I  will  say  to  Mr.  Hitchcock  I  think  that  was  left  blank  on  my 
suggestion.  In  the  first  place,  I  had  a  letter  from  ex-Senator  Miller,  in 
which  he  said  some  of  the  stockholders  thought  there  ought  to  be  some 
provision  restraining  the  Government  from  reducing  the  tolls  so  as  to 
prevent  their  receiving  a  dividend.  My  own  impression  is  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  limit  on  the  Government  reducing  tolls.  And  in  the  sec- 
ond place,  if  we  are  going  to  have  such  a  provision  guarantying  that 
tolls  shall  not  be  reduced  so  that  you  shall  receive  dividends,  it  would 
be  utterly  idle  to  put  twelve  millions  in,  giving  you  tw«  Ive  millions 
stock  and  the  Government  to  be  obligated  to  maintain  a  r >»te  of  tolls. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  I  understand  about  this  twelve  millions  stock,  that  it  has  already 
been  paid  out  by  the  Maritime  Company  for  the  concessions ! — A.  Yes.* 

Q.  And  for  whatever  was  done  before  the  date  of  that  trade? — A. 
Yes. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 
Q.  Well,  it  was  agreed  to  be 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  Mr.  Miller  said  it  had  been  actually  issued. 

By  Mr.  Dolph  : 
Q.  But  the  Construction  Company  still  controls  a  large  majority. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  This  company  referred  to  is  the  Maritime  Company  and  not  the 
Construction  Company. 

By  Senator  Dolph: 

Q.  I  know ;  but  the  Construction  Company  and  Maritime  Company 
are  substantially  the  same. 

Senator  Morgan.  It  was  this  way:  Mr.  Menocal  and  his  associates 
obtained  the  concession.  They  sold  it  to  the  Colorado  company,  the 
Construction  Company,  for  twelve  millions  of  its  stock.  That  was  before 
we  had  enacted  any  law  about  it.  Then  under  the  act  of  Congress 
chartering  this  Maritime  Company,  authorizing  them  to  build  the  canal 
under  that  concession,  they  bought  the  franchise,  the  concession,  and 
everything  that  had  been  done  and  all  the  property  they  had  from  the 
Construction  Company,  simply  by  substituting  |l2,000,000  of  their 
stock  for  twelve  millions  of  the  other. 

Senator  Dolph.  The  Construction  Company  was  not  organized  until 
after  tlie  Canal  Company,  was  it? 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  The  Construction  Company  was  organized  long 
previous  to  the  Canal  Company.  The  simple  transaction  was  this:  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company  paid  the  Construction  Company,  which  was 
then  in  operation  and  going  on  with  the  work,  $12,000,000  of  its  stock 
for  the  concessions  from  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  Of  the  $100,000,- 
000  Maritime  Company  stock,  $12,000,000  thus  went  to  the  Construe- 


MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  449, 

tion  Company,  six  millions  goes  to  the  Government  of  Nicaragua,  under 
the  terms  of  the  concession,  and  one  and  one-haJf  millions  to  Costa 
Eica. 

By  Senator  Geay: 

Q.  If  I  understand  you,  twelve  millions  was  paid  by  the  Maritime 
Company  to  the  Construction  Company  for  work  done? — ^A.  For  con- 
cessions and  work  up  to  that  time. 

Q.  And  in  addition  to  that  seven  and  one-half  millions  to  the  govern- 
ments of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica? — A.  Six  millions  under  the  con- 
cession must  be  paid  to  Nicaragua,  and  one  and  one-half  millions  paid 
to  Costa  Eica,  which  makes  nineteen  and  one-half  millions,  leaving 
eighty  and  one-half  millions,  which  under  this  bill  goes  to  the  United 
States. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Now,  what  did  the  Construction  Company  do  with  the  twelve 
millions? — A.  It  has  it  in  its  treasury,  except  what  it  has  parted  with. 

Q.  Did  not  it  part  with  its  stock  to  the  original  association  for  the 
concessions? — A.  The  Construction  Company  parted  with  its  stock  to 
the  original  association  for  the  concessions. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  The  stock  of  the  Construction  Company? — ^A.  Yes. 

Senator  MoRaAN.  As  I  understand  they  have  expended  eleven  mill- 
ions, and  have  about  one  million  stock  in  the  treasury ;  that  is  Mr.  Miller's 
statement. 

By  Senator  Gray: 

Q.  Mr.  Hitchcock,  what  was  that  stock  taken  by  the  Construction 
company  for  ?  I  suppose  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  work 
that  they  parted  with  it? — A.  They  have  parted,  as  I  understand,  with 
something  over  $1,000,000  of  it; 

Q.  Do  you  know  at  what  price? — ^A.  I  do  not. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  market  for  it? — ^A.  I  do  not  think  there  has 
at  all. 

Senator  Morgan.  I  will  read  from  Mr.  Miller's  statement. 

Q.  Have  the  Construction  Company  ever  sold  any  stock  t — ^A.  They  have  parted 
with  some  of  it;  not  in  any  large  amount.  I  could  not  give  you  the  exact  amount, 
but  to  make  that  plain,  I  will  say  that  the  Construction  Company  was  organized 
under  the  laws  of  Colorado  with  a  capital  of  $12,000,000.  That  stock  has  been  sold 
and  the  proceeds  of  it,  $5,000,000,  put  into  the  work.  Out  of  the  sale  of  that  stock 
we  got  money  to  carry  on  the  work.  It  is  to  be  reimbursed  by  its  receipts  from  the 
Maritime  Company  eventually.  We  have  expended  in  round  numbers  $5,000,000. 
That  has  been  received  from  the  sale  of  that  $12,000,000  stock.  The  stock  has  all 
been  sold  with  the  exception  of  about  half  a  million  dollars.  It  has  netted  the  com- 
pany about  50  cents  on  the  dollar.  When  I  became  president  of  the  Construction 
Company  the  stock  of  the  company  had  all  been  issued  except  $1,500,000,  which  was 
in  the  treasury,  and  that  stock  I  have  been  selling,  putting  the  money  into  the  work 
from  that  time  to  this.  In  the  sale  of  this  last  $1,500,000  of  stock  I  have  given,  as 
you  may  say,  as  a  bonus  with  the  Construction  stock  an  equal  amount  of  the  Mari- 
time stock,  or,  as  you  may  say,  I  have  sold  the  two.  I  have  sold  the  stock  at  par, 
and  the  purchaser  has  received  an  equal  amount  of  Maritime  stock.  A  man  taking 
$10,001)  Construction  Company  stock  has  received  $10,000  stock  of  the  Maritime 
Company  as  well  as  of  the  Construction  Company. 

By  Senator  Mokgan: 
Q.  ITiat  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  is  out  of  the  $12,000,000  which  you  were 
paid  for  the  concessions? — A.  Out  of  the  $12,000,000  which  we  were  paid  for  the  con- 
cessions, and  not  out  of  the  stock  which  we  have  earned.  When  our  stock  all  goes 
out  there  will  be  $1,500,000  Maritime  stock  that  has  gone  out  with  it.  I  have  sold 
about  $1,000,000  and  there  remains  $500,000  to  be  sold. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 29 


450  MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 
Q.  Is  that  stock  pretty  well  distributed  t — A.  Yes;  it  is  largely  distributed.    There 
are  a  great  niauy  small  stockholders — live,  ten,  fifteen,  one  hundred  shares.    Of  course 
there  are  a  few  large  stockholders,  but  only  a  very  few. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  The  last  time  yon  were  here  I  got  a  list  of  the  stockholders,  which  was  pnt  in 
the  report.     They  amounted,  I  think,  to  abont  500  persons,  extended  from  New  York 
to  Richmond f — A.  Yes.     Since  that  Ave  have  sold  stock  considerably  in  Califumia 
and  Chicago,  some  in  Philadelphia;  St.  Louis,  and  in  other  cities. 

By  Senator  Butler  : 
Q.  How  much  did  you  say  had  already  been  expended  on  the  workf — ^A.  About 

$6,000,000. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Now,  I  will  go  back  to  a  point  that  I  think  Mr.  Gray  wants  to  understand*, 
that  is,  about  this  Canal  Association  whose  concessions  stood  in  the  name  of  Mr. 
Menocal;  he  was  the  representative  of  that  association  f — A.  Yes. 

Q.  These  gentlemen  formed  a  voluntary  association  for  the  purpose  of  getting  this 
concession  from  the  Government  of  Nicaragua.  Now,  they  had  to  pay  $100,W)0  in 
gold  to  get  itt — A.  Yes;  they  paid  $100,000  in  the  beginning. 

Q.  That  was  paid  into  the  treasury  of  Nicaragiiaf — A.  Yes,  nominally.  In  or- 
der to  avoid  its  going  directly  to  the  treasury  Nicaragua  proposed  to  expend  that 
money  in  the  police  force  around  the  canal. 

Q.  That,  then,  with  the  engagement  to  build  the  canal  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  concession,  was  the  consideration  upon  which  Nicaraugna  made  these  grants? — 
A.  Yes ;  those  were  the  considerations. 

Q.  Then  afterwards  it  was  ascertained  that  there  would  be  some  overflow  of  Costa 
Rican  territory,  and  the  boundaries  were  originally  in  dispute  between  Costa  Rica 
and  Nicaragua.  President  Cleveland,  as  the  umpire,  settled  the  question  of  bound- 
aries and  settled  it  against  Nicaragua,  and,  as  1  understand,  Costa  Rica  set  up  her 
rights  and  her  interests  in  your  canal,  which  she  bad  always  insisted  upon,  but  she 
set  it  up  then  as  a  practical  question  and  demanded  of  the  concessionaires  certain 
payments  to  be  made  to  her,  as  I  understand;  that  is,  $1,500,000  stock  of  the  Mari- 
time Company.  That  is  all  correct,  is  itf — A.  As  to  the  reasons  that  you  give  I 
could  not  undertake  to  say.  That  was  before  I  had  anything  to  do  with  the  canal; 
but  Costa  Rica  is  to  receive  that  amount  of  stock.  The  canal  touches  her  territory, 
which  comes  down  to  the  San  Juan  River,  and  .when  the  canal  is  built  a  very  large 
amount  of  her  territory  will  be  flooded,  and  we  had  to  have  an  arrangement  with 
her. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Now,  as  to  that  $12,000,000  stock  that  was  paid  by  the  Maritime 
Company,  that  you  say  had  been  issued,  I  understand? — A.  It  has 
been  issued  to  the  Construction  Company  by  the  Maritime  Company. 

Q.  That  has  passed  into  the  hands  largely  of  other  people? — A.  That 
is,  in  the  Construction  Company's  hands,  except  about  $1,000,000, 
which,  Mr.  Miller  states,  has  been  di8i)osed  of. 

By  Senator  Davis: 

Q.  How  did  they  raise  the  $5,000,000  which  they  say  they  have  ex. 
pended  in  con  struction  ? — A.  In  the  sale  of  Construction  Company  stock- 
By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Now,  if  this  biU  should  pass  and  the  Government  pay  expendi- 
tnres,  they  would  pay  $1,000,000  on  account  of  Construction  Company 
stock  and  $1,000,000  Maritime  Canal  stock,  would  they  nott — A.  If 
they  should  pay  how  much  ? 

Q.  If  tliey  should  pay  all  the  expenditures  made  by  your  company, 
they  would  pay  the  comi)any  back  the  money  received  for  Maritime 
stock. — A.  As  I  before  stated,  I  und(*i'stand  that  they  have  expended 
in  cash  about  $4,500,000  and  about  $1,000,000  each  of  Maritime  bonds 
and  stock,  making  about  $0,500,000. 

Q.  But  one  million  was  obtained  by  the  sale  of  one  million  of  Con- 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA.  451 

struction  Company  stock,  and  they  threw  in  $1,000,000  of  Maritime 
Canal  stock  as  a  bonus. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  like  to  have  Mr.  Hitchcock  state  just  what 
he  desires  to  say,  and  then  you  can  cross-examine  him. 

Senator  Dolph.  I  know,  but  I  want  to  go  further 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  You  are  on  the  point,  now,  of  the  expenditures  ol 
the  company.  Now,  in  a  conference  with  Senator  Miller  yesterday,  I 
said  I  may  be  asked  with  reference  to  the  expenditures  of  the  Con- 
struction Company.  He  said  he  would  be  very  glad  to  come  over  and 
give  the  committee  further  details  with  reference  to  those  expenditures 
as  soon  as  he  was  able,  but  he  said  that  they  expended  $4,500,000  in 
cash,  and  then  that  they  used  one  million  Maritime  bonds  and  a  million 
Maritime  stock  besides,  which  makes  an  expenditure  all  told,  if  they  are 
to  be  redeemed,  of  six  and  a  half  millions.  That  is  the  way  he  put  it  to 
me,  and  not  being  ofl&cially  connected  with  the  Construction  Company, 
and  not  being  thoroughly  familiar  with  its  accounts,  that  is  all  1  know  of 
it.  You  understand  that  the  million  dollars  stock  is  out  of  the  twelve 
millions  we  are  talking  about,  which  belongs  to  the  Construction  Com- 
pany, l^ow,  as  to  what  we  are  obligated  to  give  that  company,  in  my 
annual  report  to  the  United  States  Government,  on  the  Ist  of  Decem- 
ber, I  state  that  up  to  the  31st  of  October  last  we  were  obligated  to  give 
to  the  Construction  Company  $6,855,000  bonds,  and  had  paid  that  com- 
pany $3,199,000  stock  for  work  done  up  to  that  date.  The  Maritime 
Company  is  obligated  to  give  that  to  the  Construction  Company  for 
work  done  up  to  October  31. 

Q.  When  you  speak  of  bonds,  do  you  mean  that  any  bonds  have  been 
issued  up  to  the  present  time1-^A.  No;  but  we  are  obligated  to  issue 
them. 

By  Senator  HISCOCK : 

Q.  Why,  there  has  been  $1,000,000  issued? — A.  No;  not  bonds,  but 
certificates  for  bonds. 

Q.  You  may  not  have  absolutely  issued  or  disposed  of  the  Maritime 
bonds,  but  in  some  way  evidence  has  been  given  so  that  the  holders 
are  entitled  to  them? — A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Now,  1  will  ask  my  question.  The  million  dollars  of  the  stock  of 
the  Maritime  Canal  Company  out  of  the  twelve  million  which  was  paid  to 
the  Construction  Company  for  its  concession,  which  has  been  disposed 
of,  was  sold,  together  with  a  like  amount  of  Construction  Company 
stock,  each  at  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  or  both  for  $1,000,000?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now  that  million  dollars  went  into  the  construction  of  the 
canal? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  is  a  part  of  the  expenditures  of  four  and  a  half  million 
cash  ? — A.  That  I  can  not  say,  whether  it  is  part  of  the  four  and  a  half 
million  or  additional  to  that. 

Q.  WeU,  if  it  is  additional,  that  would  be  an  additional  $1,000,000 
expenditure? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Now,  if  the  Government  pays  $1,000,000  on  account  of  construc- 
tion it  pays  the  Construction  Company  for  that  $1,000,000  Maritime 
stock? — A.  It  pays  for  all  the  Construction  Company  obtained  for  it. 

Q.  Well,  yes.  What  they  will  have  to  do  to  redeem  it  is  another 
question.  It  pays  all  the  Construction  Company  obtained  for  it? — ^A. 
Yes. 

Q.  Then  the  eleven  millions  remaining  now  held  and  controlled  by  the 
Construction  Company  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company's  stock  would 


452  MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

be  what  the  Construction  Company  actually  would  receive  if  it  is 
allowed  to  retain  twelve  million  stock  for  its  concessions  and  surveys 
done  prior  to  that  time! — A.  That  is  light. 

Q.  If,  therefore,  $12,000,000  Maritime  Company  stock,  agreed  to  be 
paid  to  the  Construction  Company,  is  the  consideration  to  be  received 
by  the  Construction  Company,  then  the  Constiuction  Company  ought 
not,  under  the  theory  of  this  bill,  to  have  the  money  refunded  which  it 
received  as  the  proceeds  of  the  $1,000,000  of  Maritime  stock  disposed 
of,  ought  itt  You  ought  not  to  receive  that  $1,000,000  and  at  the  same 
time  have  refunded  to  you  by  the  United  States  what  was  received 
from  the  sale  of  that  $1,000,000  and  put  into  the  work.  That  would  be 
double  payment,  would  it  nott — A.  The  point  is,  if  the  Construction 
Company  has  expended  in  cash  four  or  five  million  dollars,  whatever 
it  may  be,  if  it  has  only  that  returned,  and  has  to  redeem  the  $1,000,000 
of  bonds  of  t)ie  Maritime  Company  at  par,  of  course  it  would  be  that 
much  out  of  pocket. 

Q.  Ko  more  out  of  pocket  than  what  it  had  expended  as  receipt  of 
its  own  stock,  because,  you  may  say,  it  received  the  stock  of  the  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  and  threw  it  in  its  own  stock  as  a  bonus. — A. 
Well,  the  fact  remains,  as  I  stated  before,  if  it  i)aid  out  four  and  one- 
half  million  in  cash  and  is  obligated  in  addition  to  take  up  two  million 
bonds  and  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company,  which  has  to  be  canceled 
under  this  arrangement,  and  if  they  receive  only  four  and  one-half  mil- 
lions they  may  lose  two  millions. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  You  are  president  of  the  Maritime. Company? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Have  you  any  stock  in  the  Construction  (Company? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  much  ? — A.  I  have  quite  a  large  holding  of  it. 

Q.  Of  Construction  stock  t — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Have  any  of  the  other  directors  of  the  Maritime  Company  stock 
in  the  Construction  Company? — A.  I  think  they  have.  I  do  not  think 
they  all  have  stock  in  the  Construction  Company,  but  they  have  taken 
stock  to  help  on  the  enterprise.  The  old  association  Avas  obliged,  under 
these  concessions,  to  form  a  construction  company,  to  get  to  work  at 
once,  and  expend  a  certain  amount  of  money  at  a  certain  date.  They 
formed  a  construction  company,  went  to  work  and  put  in  their  money, 
and  everybody  interested  in  the  enterprise  took  this  (construction  Com- 
pany stock  and  paid  for  it,  and  helped  on  the  enterprise  in  that  way. 
That  is  why  persons  interested  in  this  canal  took  stock. 

Q.  As  I  understand  you  have  a  large  number  of  stockholders  in  the 
Construction  Company  who  are  not  interested  or  stockholders  in  the 
Maritime  Company  f — A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  HiscoOK: 

Q.  But  the  fact  about  it  was  that  there  was  no  way  to  launch  the 
Construction  Company  unless  the  Maritime  Company  did  it — I  mean 
in  the  way  of  furnishing  it  with  money  and  things  of  that  kind? — A. 
The  Construction  Company  was  formed  in  1887.  The  Maritime  Com- 
pany was  not  chartered  until  1880.  The  Construction  Company,  there 
fore,  had  already  gone  on;  persons  had  already  subscribed  for  stock, 
regardless  of  any  fature  charter  to  be  obtained  from  the  United  Stiites, 
and  the  gentlemen  interested  went  on  with  this  work.  When  this 
charter  was  obtained,  of  course  a  new  arrangement  had  tt)  be  made. 

Q.  But,  substantially,  the  members  of  the  Ccmstruction  Company 
are  the  members  of  the  Maritime  Company  I — A.  Yes, 


MARITIME    CANAL    COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  453 

By  Senator  MoKOAN: 

Q.  Now,  you  obtamcd  a  charter  from  Vermout  before  you  did  from 
Congress*? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Did  you  organize  under  it? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Are  the  terms  of  that  charter  the  same  as  this? — A.  The  same  as 
this.    It  is  identically  the  phraseology  of  the  act  of  Congress. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  What  was  the  object  of  that? — A.  The  object  was,  we  wanted  a 
charter.  We  were  obliged  to  act  under  our  concession,  and  not  know- 
ing whether  we  were  ever  going  to  get  one  from  the  United  States  we 
took  a  charter  from  the  State  of  Vermont. 

Q.  That  was  granted  before  the  Government  charter? — ^A.  Yes;  it 
was  granted  in  the  year  1888,  and  the  Government  charter  was  ap- 
proved February,  1889. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 

Q.  Now,  has  the  Maritime  Company  within  your  knowledge  ever 
made  an  application  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  or  to  any 
committee  of  the  Senate  to  have  its  bonds  indorsed? — A.  Never,  sir. 

Q.  The  movement  that  has  taken  place  here  has  been  a  movement  on 
the  part  of  this  committee,  and  of  the  Senate  to  which  your  concur- 
rence has  been  invited? — A.  Entirely  so. 

By  the  Chairman  : 
Q.  To  whom  will  you  distribute  the  Maritime  stock  that  you  have  on 
hand;  the  eleven  millions;  who  will  be  the  beneficiaries? — A.  You  are 
referring  now  to  the  Construction  Company,  of  which  I  say  I  am  not  an 
officer,  but  will  be  very  glad  to  give  any  information  I  have.  That 
belongs  to  the  stockholders  of  the  Construction  Company. 

By  Senator  Morgan  : 
Q.  Six  hundred  people? — A.  Yes;  some  five  or  six  hundred  stock- 
holders scattered  throughout  the  country. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Well,  you  say  the  stock  belongs  to  the  company,  the  proceeds  of 
which  in  the  dissolution  of  the  company  would  be  distributed  to  the 
stockholders? — A.  Either  the  stock  or  proceeds. 

Q.  Now  to  go  back  to  this  $1,000,000  stock?— A.  What  stock  are 
you  referring  to? 

Q.  The  $1,000,000  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  which  has  been 
disposed  of  by  the  Construction  Company.  That  was  the  property 
of  the  Construction  Company;  was  disposed  of  for  money,  and  the 
money  put  in  the  construction  of  this  canal? — A.  With  their  own  stock. 

Q.  Now,  if  your  company  was  reimbursed  for  expenditures  it  would 
not  make  any  difference  if  it  was  obtained  on  stock  or  on  a  promissory 
note? — A.  I  do  not  know  that  it  would. 

Q.  They  would  be  paid  for  that  stock  with  interest,  under  the  con- 
struction of  this  bill?— A.  WeU. 

Q.  Now,  you  could  not  say  that  they  would  be  reimbursed  for  the 
amount  expended  and  at  the  same  time  have  the  face  of  that  stock  in 
addition.  There  is  something  there  that  needs  straightening  oat.  The 
stock  has  been  parted  with  and  they  have  put  the  money  in  the  canal 
and  we  pay  that  back  with  interest. 

Senator  Morgan.  We  must  not  do  that,  of  course.  We  are  not  going 
to  pay  them  any  money  twice. 


454  MAEITIME    CANAli   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA. 

Senator  Dolph.  That  is  the  proposition.  Four  and  a  half  millions 
in  cash  and  one  million  bonds  and  one  million  stock.  Now,  if  the  con- 
sideration received  for  this  million  dollars  stock  is  a  part  of  the  four  and 
a  half  millions  there  is  no  claim  for  that  stock. 

Senator  Morgan.  When  we  come  to  pay  them  for  work  done  under 
this  bill  would  we  not  deduct  from  the  amount  of  bonds  issued  to  them 
the  amount  realized  from  the  sale  of  stock  ?  Of  course  we  would  re- 
duce the  amount  of  bonds. 

The  Chairman.  The  way  I  understand  this  is,  that  this  Construction 
Company  became  the  owner  of  twelve  millions  Maritime  stock  for  con- 
cessions and  work  done  prior  to  a  certain  date. 

Mr.  Hitchcock.  Allow  me  to  add  right  there,  it  also  subscribed  for 
$1,000,000  and  paid  pax  for  it. 

By  the  Chairman; 

Q.  Well  let  us  stop  at  this  $12,000,000.  That  is  the  sticking  point. 
That,  you  claim,  is  the  property  of  the  Construction  Company  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  They  have,  in  order  to  induce  parties  to  take  debentures  or  bonds, 
given  an  equal  amount  of  this  stock  as  an  inducement;  they  got  no 
money  for  this  except  as  an  inducement  to  take  their  bonds.  Is  that 
the  way  I  understand  it  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  And  the  Construction  Company  has  furnished  this  money  and  the 
Maritime  Company  is  now  under  obligations  to  pay  them  this  amount, 
whatever  it  is. — A.  There  are  two  distinct  points  about  that.  The 
Maritime  Company  pays  the  Construction  Company  $12,000,000  stock 
for  concessions  and  work  done  up  to  that  time.  That  is  one  point. 
Another  point  is  that  under  the  present  contract  they  have  gone  on  and 
done  work  and  we  are  obligated  to  give  them  for  the  work  they  have 
done  since  $6,855,000  bonds,  and  have  paid  theui  $3,109,000  stock, 
according  to  my  report  of  the  1st  of  December.  Those  are  the  naked 
facts  in  the  case.  Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  covered  in  what  I  said, 
quoting  from  a  conversation  with  Senator  Miller,  the  point  made.  The 
Senator  says  the  Construction  Company  has  put  in  $4,500,000  cash,  and 
have  got  a  million  Maritime  Company  bonds  and  a  million  Maritime 
Company  stock  to  take  care  of.  1  suggested  that  if  you  put  in  $0,500,- 
000  as  a  maximum  it  made  no  difference,  because  this  biU  provides  that 
these  accounts  are  to  be  audited,  and  you  simply  want  a  maximum  sum 
put  in,  and  then  your  own  accountants  will  decide  according  to  the 
terms  of  this  biU  if  you  pass  it.  You  have  it  entirely  in  your  hands  to 
pay  exactly  what  you  please. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  The  United  States  is  not  concerned  whether  you  sold  that  $1,000,000 
or  not. — A.  How  is  that? 

Q.  It  does  not  make  any  difference  how  you  obtained  the  money  to 
carry  on  the  construction  of  the  canal. — ^A.  If  I  understand  this  bill,  it 
is  to  reimburse  for  actual  expenditures. 

By  Senator  Gray  : 

Q.  Let  me  ask,  disembarrassed  fr&m  all  these  conflicting  negotiations 
and  relations  between  the  two  companies,  the  object  to  be  aimed  at  and 
to  get  at  in  some  way  is  this,  as  I  understand.  The  United  States  is  deal- 
ing with  the  Maritime  Company  and  not  the  Construction  Comi)any  ? — 
A.  Not  the  Construction  Company. 

Q.  And  it  proposes  to  pay  to  the  Maritime  Company  the  actual  money 
cost  of  the  canal  up  to  the  time  of  the  transaction. 

The  Chaibman.  Since  the  time  of  the  concession. 


MARITIME   CANAL   COMPANY    OF   NICARAGUA.  455 

By  Senator  Geay: 

Q.  Since  the  time  of  the  concession,  and  to  ratify  the  contracts  shorn 
of  whatever  stock  has  been  transferred  by  the  Maritime  Company  to 
pay  any  other  company  or  any  other  government  for  work  and  conces- 
sions ? — A.  That  is  right. 

Q.  And  that  therefore  the  situation  would  be,  if  that  object  is  ob- 
tained, that  the  company  would  have  had  repaid  by  the  United  States 
all  its  actual  expenditures  of  money  and  retain  this  issue  of  stock  what- 
ever was  left  as  their  consideration  for  the  transaction? — A.  Yes. 

By  Senator  Dolph  : 

Q.  Yes,  and  for  the  other  million  they  would  retain  whatever  they  got 
for  it? — A.  Allow  me  to  say  in  explanation  of  that  point,  which 
changes  the  view  of  it  somewhat.  The  Construction  Company  was  not 
permitted  to  sell  its  last  $2,000,000  of  stock  at  less  than  par.  Of 
course  it  never  having  sold  for  over  50  cents  on  the  dollar  it  could  not 
get  par.  Then  when  the  Construction  Company  wanted  to  sell  its 
stock  at  par  and  could  not  do  it,  it  offered  a  like  amount  of  Maritime 
stock. 

Q.  So  that  they  got  the  same  amount  for  the  Construction  stock  as 
for  the  ten  millions  previously  sold? — A.  They  got  par  with  Maritime 
stock. 

Q.  They  could  not  get  par  for  it,  could  they?  How  much  could  they 
have  sold  the  Constrution  Company  stock  for?  I  take  it  that  they 
would  not  have  been  paid  under  any  circumstances  over  50  cents. — ^A. 
Probably  not. 

Q.  So  that  they  virtually  got  50  cents  for  the  Maritime  stock! — ^A. 
Yes,  in  that  sense,  perhaps. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Q.  li^Tow,  I  understand  you  get  for  the  actual  cost  in  money  what  has 
been  done  since  the  granting  of  these  concessions  and  since  they  have 
been  paid  for;  so  that  you  get  twelve  millions  stock  and  the  actual  re- 
fund of  the  money  cost  of  the  work  and  no  more.  Do  you  receive  any- 
thing else? — ^A.  I  receive  uo  other  impression  from  this  bill. 

Q.  Do  you  expect  to  get  anything  at  all  from  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  or  this  company  except  the  twelve  millions  stock  and  the 
actual  cost  to  be  repaid  to  you? — ^A.  No,  sir. 


Thb  Maritime  Canal  Compant  of  Nicaragua, 

44  Wall  Street,  New  York,  February  1, 189S. 
Dkar  Sir:  I  have  received  your  commxuiicatioii  of  January  18,  transmitting  the 
following  resolution: 

"Besolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  directed  to  inquire  what 
sums,  if  any,  have  been  expended  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  Construction  Company,  or  any  company  allied  to  either  of  said  companies,  in 
and  about  the  construction  of  said  canal  or  otherwise,  with  the  items  of  said  ex- 
penditures, since  the  accounts  of  expenditures  heretofore  rendered  to  said  com- 
mittee." 

In  reply  I  submit  the  following  statement  of  expenditures  of  the  company  and  its 
agents  to  January  1,  1893 : 

For  concessions,  surveys,  preliminary  work,  etc.,  and  interest  thereon.  $550, 029. 03 
For  organization,  furniture,  administration,  and  general  expenses....  470, 260. 16 
For  construction  and  equipment : 

Lands  in  Nicaragua $52, 141.13 

Detailed  surveys 156, 105. 85 

Nicaragua  Mail  Steam  Niavigation  and  '1  ransxiorta- 

tion  Company,  purchase  and  betterments 465, 552. 47 

Dredging  plant 826,481.95 

Worki&K  plant,  labor,  materials,  etc 1, 970, 199. 10 

3,470,480.80 


456  MARITIME    CANAL   COMPANY    OF    NICARAGUA. 

For  printing  and  publications $87,032,19 

Interest  account 509, 417. 31 

For  commissions 15, 543. 61 

Redeemable  obligations  for  bonds 863, 105.00 

Capital  stock  redeemable 693,105.00 

Simdjy  outstanding  obligations 26,257.53 

6, 885, 230. 33 
Statement  of  December  15,  1890 4,236,886.52 

Expenditures  December  15,  1890,  to  January  1,  1893 2, 648, 343, 81 

I  am,  yours,  most  obediently, 

HiBAM  Hitchcock. 
Hon.  John  Sherman, 

Chairman  Committer  on  Foreign  Belationt,  United  States  Senate, 

WaahingUm,  D.  0. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  457 


FIFTY-THIRD  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

LSee  pp.  105, 107, 135, 139, 141,  402, 415.] 
April  14,  1894. 

[Senate  Report  No.  331.] 

Mr.  Morgan,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations,  submitted 
tlie  following  report: 

The  action  of  the  Committee  of  the  Senate  on  Foreign  Eelations 
apon  bills  heretofore  reported  for  aiding  in  the  construction  of  an  inter- 
oceanic  canal  through  Nicaragua  is  set  forth  in  reports  No.  1944,  Fifty- 
first  Congress,  second  session,  and  No.  1142,  second  session  of  the  Fifty- 
second  Congress,  made  by  Mr.  Sherman  as  chairmaji  of  the  committee. 

Those  reports  are  adopted  in  this  report  and  are  made  a  part  thereof. 

Since  December  22,  1892,  the  date  of  the  last  report  of  the  committee, 
the  president  of  the  canal  company  has  made  an  annual  report  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as  required  by  law,  which,  with  his  report 
made  December  3,  1892,  is  appended  to  this  report.  These  reports  are 
made  under  oath  by  the  president,  and  they  set  forth  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  the  work  on  the  canal  and  of  the  canal  property  up  to  Decem- 
ber, 1893.  Before  the  date  of  the  last  of  said  reports  work  on  the  canal 
was  suspended  in  consequence  of  the  disturbed  state  of  the  money 
market,  and  has  not  been  resumed. 

In  consequence  of  such  suspension  there  has  been  some  loss,  but  not 
of  a  serious  character,  in  the  depreciation  of  the  plant  connected  with 
the  construction  of  the  canal,  but  all  the  dredges  and  machinery  requi- 
site for  dredging,  and  the  houses,  structures,  and  wharves  necessary  for 
the  work  on  the  eastern  division,  have  been  supplied,  and,  with  slight 
repairs,  are  in  condition  for  the  immediate  resumption  of  the  work  on 
the  canal. 

These  facilities  for  the  work  have  been  carefully  prepared,  and  at  a 
very  low  cost.  The  work  on  the  canal  and  railroad  alongside  and  the 
deepening  of  the  channel  leading  into  the  harbor  at  Greytown  has 
been  done  at  a  cost  that  is  within  the  estimates  of  the  engineers. 

Some  expected  difficulties  have  been  solved  in  respect  of  clearing 
the  canal  line,  and  as  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  the  low  grounds 
between  the  seashore  and  the  divide  formed  by  a  ridge  of  low  hills  to  the 
west  of  the  mouth  of  the  canal.  These  apprehended  difficulties  have 
been  developed  and  overcome  and  leave  the  entire  line  of  the  canal, 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  free  from  all  practical  embarrassment  arising  from 
any  uncertainty  as  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  through  which  it  is  to  be 
constructed. 

ENGINEERING  AND  COST. 

The  engineering  work  on  the  canal,  upon  which  depends  its  success 
as  a  waterway,  has  been  done  so  thoroughly  as  to  escape  even  a  sag- 


458  NICARAGUA  CANAL   COMPANY. 

gestion  tliat  it  is  faulty,  or  that  it  needs  correction,  after  a  critical 
examination  by  many  of  the  best  engineers  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Europe. 

The  details  of  the  engineering  and  the  estimates  of  cost  of  the  canal 
are  given  in  the  previous  reports  of  the  committee  and  need  not  be 
here  rei»eated  as  no  occasion  has  arisen  for  any  alteration  in  them. 

The  grand  total  of  the  estimates  of  the  actual  cost  of  the  canal,  com- 
pleted for  full  service  and  extending  to  deep  water  in  the  Caribbean 
Sea  and  Pacific  Ocean,  through  completed  harbors,  is  stated  in  the 
report  of  Chief  Engineer  A.  G.  Menocal  "revised  to  conform  to  infor- 
mation obtained  up  to  January  1,  1890,"  at  $52,067,340.55.  To  this 
sum  Mr.  Menocal  added  "surveys,  hosjiitals,  shops,  management,  and 
contingencies,  26  per  cent,"  amounting  to  $13,016,835.45,  making  the 
grand  total  of  $65,084,176. 

At  the  request  of  the  chief  engineer,  the  Maritime  Canal  Company 
submitted  the  full  data  of  his  estimates  to  a  board  of  five  engineers, 
who  were  selected  without  any  suggestion  from  Mr.  Menocal,  for  crit- 
ical examination  and  revision. 

This  board  was  composed  of  the  following  named  engineers :  John 
Bogart,  E.  T.  D.  Myers,  A.  M.  Wellington,  H.  A.  Hitchcock,  and  Charles 
T.  Harvey,  all  of  them  men  of  distinguished  ability  and  established 
reputation. 

They  united  in  a  report  dated  May  9, 1892,  in  which  they  increased 
the  estimates  of  Mr.  Menocal  to  the  sum  of  $73,166,308  for  actual  cost 
of  the  canal  and  $14,633,262  "  to  cover  sijecified  and  unspecified  con- 
tingencies, labor  agencies,  shops,  police,  sanitary  service,  and  incident- 
als."   The  grand  total  of  their  estimate  was  $87,799,570. 

The  reasons  for  the  increase  of  the  estimates  are  stated  fully  in  their 
report. 

They  were  cautionary  in  their  character  and  largely  conjectural,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  their  report: 

We  have  carefally  examined  the  nniisiially  fall  maps,  profiles,  borings,  samples  of 
materials,  etc.,  which  have  been  prepared  and  collected  under  the  directions  of  youi 
dhief  engineer,  and  the  completeness  and  excellent  form  of  which  reflect  credit  upon 
four  engineering  staff. 

We  find  certain  elements  of  the  designs  submitted  which  may  probably  be  advan- 
tageously modified.  This  would  in  some  cases  reduce  and  in  others  increase  the 
quantities.  It  is  also  altogether  likely  that  some  parts  of  the  work  may  be  let  at 
lower  and  other  parts  at  higher  prices  than  are  estimated.  We,  however,  are  dis- 
posed to  base  our  conclusions  on  quantities  and  prices  which  should  prove  sufficient 
to  accomplish  it  upon  the  assumption  of  good  and  honest  manas^ement,  backed  by  an 
ample  treasury.  We  have  necessarily  borne  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  cost  of  the 
notable  precursors  of  this  canal  project,  both  at  Suez  and  Panama,  has  greatly  ex- 
ceeded the  amount  of  the  original  estimates,  and  that  this  has  been  true  of  many 
other  important  works.  While  this  might  be,  perhaps,  in  a  large  measure  traced  to 
unfortunate  management,  as  well  tis  the  lack  of  such  careful  preliminary  studies  as 
have  been  laid  before  us  in  this  case,  we  have  nevertheless  endeavored  to  guard 
against  a  similar  result  by  a  liberal  allowance  for  every  apparent  contingency. 

Acting  on  this  principle,  we  have  not  yet  deemed  it  wise  to  reduce  the  quantities 
or  prices  of  your  chief  engineer's  estimates  in  any  instance,  even  when  it  appeared 
possible  that  this  might  prudently  be  done.  His  figures  are,  of  course,  founded  upon 
a  better  knowedge  of  the  local  conditions  than  we  can  now  possess.  But  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  nas  appeared  at  all  doubtful  we  have  liberally  increased  one  or  both. 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  and  the  Canal  Construction  Company, 
composed  of  men  of  great  business  capacity  and  experience,  proceeded 
to  raise  the  money  to  inaugurate  this  work  and  to  prosecute  it  until  it 
would  command  the  confidence  of  capitalists  and  the  stock  exchange, 
upon  the  basis  of  this  increased  estimate,  and  they  have  expended, 
wisely  and  with  careful  economy,  more  than  $4,000,000  upon  it.  The 
work,  80  fiaj',  has  fallen  within  the  estimates  of  Mr.  Menoc&L 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  469 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua  caused  a  careful  examination  of  tlie 
work  to  be  made,  in  order  to  ascertain  and  determine  whether  it  had 
been  prosecuted  in  compliance  with  the  conditions  of  the  concession. 
The  President  of  Nicaragua,  in  a  message  to  the  Congress  of  that 
Eepublic,  made  the  following  statement  as  to  the  operations  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  up  to  December  25,  1890: 

The  questions  with  the  Interoceanic  Canal  Company,  which  were  pending  at  the 
death  of  President  Carazo,  have  been  satisfactorily  settled  by  an  agreement  made 
the  8tli  of  October  last  year,  and  from  that  date  the  works  of  construction  have 
been  prosecuted,  if  not  with  the  rapidity  which  we  are  bound  to  desire,  with  patri- 
otic impatience,  yet  with  the  firmness,  formality,  and  good  judgment  required  to 
raise  the  credit  of  the  enterprise  in  the  money  markets  and  attract  the  capital 
wanted  for  its  realization. 

The  company  has  fully  complied  with  the  condition  imposed  upon  it  by  article 
47  of  the  Cardeuas-Menocal  contract — that  is,  to  spend  $2,000,000  within  the  first 
year  after  beginning  the  work  of  construction;  and  all  the  preliminary  works 
already  finished  and  the  works  which  are  being  carried  on  give  us  right  to  believe 
that  the  opening  of  j'our  Isthmus  will  become  within  a  relatively  short  time  a  beau- 
tiful reality.  Only  yesterday  and  a  vessel  of  great  draft  entered  the  harbor  exca- 
vated by  the  canal  company,  in  the  same  place  where  for  so  many  years  nothing 
could  be  seen  but  lagoons  and  banks  of  shifting  sand. 

The  report  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  inspect  the  work  on 
the  canal  was  made  to  that  Government  on  November  6,  1890,  and 
stated  that  after  investigation  they  found  that  the  Maritime  Canal 
Company  had  expended  between  October  5,  1889,  and  October  7, 1890, 
the  sum  of  $3,099,971.02  upon  the  canal. 

This  report  was  received  and  published  in  the  Official  Gazette  of 
November  22,  1890,  and  thereupon  it  was  officially  stated  by  President 
Sacaza  that  all  the  requirements  of  article  47  of  the  concession  had 
been  fully  compUed  with  by  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua. 

THE  ACTION  OF  CONGRESS. 

While  this  work  was  being  thus  successfully  prosecuted  by  private 
citizens,  with  their  own  money,  and  after  a  contract  had  been  made 
with  a  construction  company  for  the  entire  work  to  be  done  on  the  canal, 
the  Senate,  on  April  11, 1890,  adopted  the  following  resolution,  in  an 
executive  session : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  directed 
to  inquire  into  what  steps  have  been  taken  under  the  act  of  Congress  entitleil  "An 
act  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  20th  Feb- 
ruary, 188lt,  and  what  are  the  present  conditions  and  prospects  of  the  enterprise;  and 
to  consider  and  report  what,  in  its  opinion,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  may 
require  in  respect  of  that  interoceanic  communication. 

In  obedience  to  that  resolution,  the  committee  proceeded  to  make 
inquiry  and  summoned  before  it  all  the  persons  who  had  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  subject  committed  to  them.  The  statements  of  the 
persons  examined  and  the  i>apers  laid  before  the  committee  are  printed 
in  the  report  of  the  committee  made,  unanimously,  on  the  10th  Jan- 
uary, 1891. 

A  free  and  full  discussion  was  had  between  the  committee  and  the 
officers  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  and  the  construction  company, 
which  resulted  in  the  bill  first  reported  by  the  committee  to  the  Senate. 
Tiiat  bill  embodied  the  terms  upon  which  it  was  ascertained  that  aU 
persons  concerned  in  said  canal  as  owners  or  contractors  were  willing 
and  consenting  to  place  the  concessions  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Kica, 
and  all  that  had  been  done  under  them  within  reach  of  the  power  of  Con- 
gress in  granting  aid  to  the  canal,  so  that  the  Government  of  the  United 


460  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

States  wonld  be  fully  secured  against  loss  upon  its  guarantee  of  the 
bonds  of  the  company  to  the  aniouiit  of  $10(),()(J0,000. 

The  reduction  of  the  stock  of  the  company  to  $100,000,000,  the 
lin)itation  of  the  issue  of  bonds  to  a  like  sum,  the  retirement  and  can- 
cellation of  all  the  existing  contracts  and  obligations  of  the  company, 
and  the  appointment  of  Government  directors  in  the  company,  were 
the  leading  conditions  imposed  upon  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  in 
the  bill  that  was  reported  to  the  Senate.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
point  out  more  fiilly  the  provisions  of  that  bill. 

This  action  of  the  Senate  and  its  acceptance  by  the  people  created 
the  belief  and  excited  the  desire  of  the  country  that  the  canal  would 
be  speedily  constructed  under  the  immediate  ausi)ices  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  with  the  use  of  its  credit. 

This  sentiment  and  conviction  has  increased  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  and  it  has  been  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  the  great  leading 
X)olitical  parties  of  the  country  have  declared  in  favor  of  its  construc- 
tion by  the  United  States,  as  far  as  that  may  be  done  under  the  con- 
cessions of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  In  the  annual  messages  of  our 
Presidents  this  subject  has  uniformly  received  a  strong  indorsement. 
The  policy  of  the  measure  then  reported,  and  of  the  bill  herewith  re- 
ported, is  largely  based  upon  the  duty  of  Congress  to  make  the  rates  of 
tolls  on  the  canal  as  cheap  as  is  consistent  with  duty  to  the  stockholders 
for  the  benefit  of  our  coastwise  commerce. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  was  natural  that  the  owners  of  these 
concessions  should  confidently  expect  that  they  would  be  virtually 
required  to  yield  tlieir  property  and  their  rights  as  concessionaires  to 
the  disposal  of  Congress. 

The  action  of  the  Senate  was  taken  up,  eagerly,  by  the  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  who,  in  State  and  commercial  conventions,  in 
boards  of  trade,  and  in  earnest  individual  effort,  discussed  the  subject 
and  sent  many  memorials  to  Congress  asking  that  the  United  States 
Government  would  proceed  with  the  work,  so  that  this  should  be  "an 
American  canal  under  American  control."  When  the  people  had  thus 
taken  up  the  subject  and  were  pressing  its  consideration  it  seemed  to 
be  impossible,  as  it  would  be  unpatriotic,  that  the  canal  should  be 
placed  under  the  control  of  a  European  Government,  or  should  be 
constructed  by  and  placed  in  the  power  of  European  capitalists. 

Under  such  conditions  the  property  of  the  company  and  its. credit 
were  virtually  placed  in  the  power  of  Congress,  and  the  company  was 
80  far  deprived  of  its  freedom  of  action  that  no  effort  was  made  to 
secure  foreign  aid,  either  from  capitalists  or  governments. 

Then  the  disturbance  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  world,  which 
began  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  extended  to  Australia  and  then  to 
Europe,  and  finally  to  the  United  States,  cut  off  all  hope,  apparently, 
of  the  construction  of  the  canal  for  years  to  come  by  the  unaided 
efforts  of  the  company,  and  forced  the  suspension  of  work  ujwn  it. 

When  the  canal  com])any  was  thus  rendered  powerless,  as  it  appeared, 
to  go  on  with  the  work,  capitalists  from  Europe  made  propositions  to 
the  company,  which  are  yet  pending,  to  enter  into  an  agreement  for 
the  completion  of  the  canal  on  terms  fai-  more  liberal  to  its  present 
owners  than  any  that  have  been  offered  by  the  United  States. 

If  action  by  Congress  is  d«'layed  unreasonably  the  company  will  be 
compelled  either  to  abandon  tbe  concessions  and  lose  tlie  money  they 
have  already  invested  in  the  canal  or  to  accept  the  offers  made  to  them 
by  the  foreign  capitalista. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  461 

If  either  of  these  results  should  follow  the  inaction  of  Congress,  the 
people  could  not  censure  the  canal  company  for  yielding  to  a  fate  that 
they  could  have  avoided  if  Congress  had  not  taken  uj)  the  subject  of 
constructing  the  canal  through  the  aid  of  the  United  States. 

The  work  done  on  the  canal  is  permanent,  as  far  as  it  has  progressed, 
is  important  as  a  demonstration  of  the  final  success  of  the  location 
and  i)l}in  of  the  canal,  and  it  will  not  be  abandoned  by  the  commercial 
world.    The  canal  will  be  built. 

THE   CONCESSIONS. 

The  value  of  the  concessions  made  by  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica  to 
the  "company  of  construction,"  which  have  been  made  permanent  and 
irrevocable  by  the  decrees  of  those  Governments,  could  scarcely  b<» 
overstated;  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  its  legisla 
tion,  granting  a  charter  to  the  company  which  is  accepted  by  those 
governments,  and  is  being  acted  upon  and  conformed  to  by  them,  is 
closely  connected  with  all  that  is  granted  in  those  concessions. 

The  concessions  are  very  liberal  in  grants  to  the  canal  company  of 
every  right  and  privilege  that  can  be  necessary  for  the  construction, 
control,  protection,  neutrality,  maintenance,  and  management  of  the 
canal.  They  are  framed  with  extreme  care  in  every  particular,  so  as  to 
define  clearly  the  rights  and  privileges  embraced  in  the  grants  and 
reservations.  The  concessions  cover  tlie  period  of  two  centuries.  They 
cover  a  fee-simple  grant  of  more  than  a  million  acres  of  land  of  very 
valuable  quality,  in  a  country  that  is  elevated  considerably  above  the 
water  level,  with  an  equable  and  healthy  climate,  with  cheap  and  con- 
venient transportation,  after  the  canal  is  completed,  covered  with  valu- 
able forests ;  especially  adapted  to  the  culture  of  coft'ee,  cocoa,  sugar, 
sisal,  and  other  valuable  textiles,  and  all  the  tropical  fruits. 

Mr.  Menocal,  the  chief  engineer  of  the  maritime  canal  of  Nicaragua, 
in  a  recent  letter  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  this  committee,  thus 
describes  the  lands  granted  to  that  company  in  the  concessions  of 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Kica: 

U.  S.  Navy-Yard,  Norfolk,  April  9, 1894. 
Hon.  John  T,  Morgan, 

U.  S.  Senator: 

Dear  Sir:  Referring  to  your  inqniries  in  connection  with  the  lauds  granted 
by  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  in  their  respective  concessions  to  the  Maritime 
Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  I  beg  to  say  tliat,  as  a  large  proportion  of  this-  land  is 
comprised  in  alternate  irregularly  shaped  lots  on  both  banks  of  the  river  San  Juan, 
from  the  lake  to  Ochoa,  and  on  the  flowage  line  of  the  basins  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Sau  Francisco  and  Deseado,  their  aggregate  acreage  can  only  be  accurately  deter- 
mined after  a  careful  location  of  all  the  lots  fronting  on  the  sinuous  banks  of  the 
river  and  basins.  However,  it  may  be  safely  estimated  that  the  fee  simple  grants 
by  Nicaragua  aggregate  not  less  than  800,000  acres  and  those  by  Costa  Rica  200,000 
acres. 

Both  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  have  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  company,  free 
of  charge  and  without  reservation,  all  the  spaces  belonging  to  the  States,  whether 
on  the  mainlanil  or  in  the  lake  and  its  islands,  or  at  the  ports,  roadsteads,  or  rivers, 
necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  and  its  accessory  works,  and  for  the  devi- 
ations of  streams  as  well  as  for  reservoir,  the  areas  flooded  by  waters  raised  by  the 
construction  of  dams,  and  the  spaces  occupied  by  the  ports,  railroads,  light-houses, 
buildings,  etc.  The  acreage  of  the  lands  included  in  these  easements  may  be  esti- 
mated at  not  less  than  150,000  acres,  and  50,000  in  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica, 
respectively. 

All  the  lands  occupied  by  the  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  lake  belong  to  the 
states  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  West  of  the  lake  the  canal  is  located  through 
private  lands,  and  the  canal  company  has  already  paid  to  the  Government  of  Nicar- 
agua $50,000  for  2,000  acres  of  land  required  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  on  that 
■ide,  as  pioYided  in  Article  xx  of  the  concession. 


462  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

Of  the  1,000,000  acres  of  lands  inclnded  in  the  fee-simple  ^ants  )f  Nicaragna  and 
Costa  Rica  360,000  acres  are  located  in  alternate  lots  on  both  sides  of  the  canal  and 
along  the  banks  of  the  river  San  Juan  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  lake,  and  640,000 
acres  are  comprised  in  40  lots  of  20  square  miles  eafli  granted  by  Nicaragua,  and  2b 
lots  of  8  square  miles  each  ceded  by  Costa  Kica.  These  lota  are  to  be  selected  by 
the  company  in  accordance  with  these  governments  from  the  existing  public  lands. 

As  to  the  value  of  these  lands,  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  fair  estimate  at  present. 
Between  the  lake  and  the  Atlantic  the  country  is  covered  with  a  virgin  forest,  con- 
taining an  unlimited  supply  of  timber,  well  adapt«d  for  constructions  of  all  kincU, 
and  of  great  value  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  canal  and  for  exportation 
when  adequate  means  of  transportation  to  the  ports  have  been  established.  At 
present  the  unimproved  navigation  on  the  river  San  Juan  is  the  only  route  connect- 
ing the  Atlantic  with  the  interior  of  the  country.  There  are  several  large  streams, 
tributaries  of  the  San  Juan,  which,  by  the  building  of  the  canal,  would  be  made 
navigable  several  miles  into  sections  of  the  conntry  now  inaccessible  by  land  or 
water,  but  these  streams,  like  the  mother  river,  are  now  in  the  same  condition  the 
Spanish  conquerors  found  them. 

The  soil  is  uniformly  fertile  and  offers  many  advantages  for  the  cultivation  of 
sngar,  rice,  beans,  corn,  fiber  plants,  cocoanuts,  bananas,  oranges,  pineapples,  and 
other  tropical  and  semitropical  plants,  and  in  the  highlands  specially  adapted  for 
the  cultivation  of  coffee.  This  statement  is  sustained  by  the  dense  growth  and  high 
forests  covering  that  section  of  the  country  and  by  the  small  settlements  found  on 
the  banks  of  rivers,  where  the  native  huts  are  surrounded  by  exuberant  orchards 
and  vegetable  gardens,  from  which  the  settler  gathers  two  or  more  crops  annually 
by  only  dropping  the  seeds  and  letting  nature  take  its  course. 

On  the  coast  the  land  is  low,  but  well  drained  by  numerous  small  streams  and 
small  lakes,  and  is  specially  adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  bananas  and  other  tropi- 
cal fruits.  A  few  miles  to  the  interior  the  foothills  are  met  with,  and  from  there  to 
the  lake  the  country  is  rolling,  with  intervening  fertile  valleys,  the  hills  rising 
50  to  300  feet;  the  whole  being  well  watered  and  covered  with  a  luxurious  growth 
and  giant  trees. 

Under  the  modifying  inflnence  of  the  northeast  trades  constantly  cooling  and 
purifying  the  air,  the  temperature  varies  from  about  74°  at  night  to  85°  in  the  shade 
at  noon,  rarely  reaching  90° ;  and  aa  to  the  healthfulness  of  the  country  I  can  add  to 
the  ofiBcial  records  of  the  Government  surveying  expeditions  and  of  the  anal  com- 
pany my  own  personal  experience  in  the  last  twenty  years.  During  that  time  I  have 
made  eleven  trips  to  Nicaragua,  with  an  average  residence  in  the  country  of  about 
six  months  on  each  trip,  or  five  and  one-half  years  altogether.  While  there,  myself 
and  assistants  were  constantly  engaged  in  the  arduous  work  of  exjiloring  this  unin- 
habited section,  cutting  our  way  through  the  dense  undergrowth,  wading  rivers  and 
swamps,  and  running  instrumental  lines  in  all  directions  where  the  topography  sug- 
gested any  favorable  features  for  the  location  of  the  canal. 

We  lived  on  the  plainest  food  and  slept  at  night  under  the  scanty  protection  of  a 
piece  of  canvas,  a  rubber  blanket,  or  a  few  paSu  leaves.  These  hardships  and  pri- 
vations were  of  several  months  duration,  and  on  some  of  my  trips  without  medical 
advice.  Fortunately  none  was  ever  needed.  No  member  of  the  party  ever  suffered 
serious  inconvenience  from  illness  dne  to  the  climate,  and  our  health,  far  from  being 
impaired,  was  generally  improved,  and  we  all  returned  to  our  homes  in  better  condi- 
tion than  when  we  left  it.  The  country,  therefore,  offers  advantages  for  agricul- 
tural pursuits  as  well  as  for  residence,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that,  with 
the  building  of  the  canal  and  the  introduction  of  railroads,  improved  water  trans- 
portation, and  the  increase  of  population,  the  land  grants  referred  to  will  become 
very  valuable. 

Hoping  that  this  information  may  be  of  some  value  to  you  in  connection  with  the 
■nbject  we  both  have  so  mach  at  heart,  I  remain,  with  beat  wishes  and  kindest  re- 
gards, yours  sincerely. 

A.   G.  MENOCiO.. 

All  minerals  in  these  lands  are  granted  to  the  company,  and  they  ai*e 
regarded  by  careful  observers  as  being  valuable. 

When  the  canal  is  completed  these  lands  will  be  worth  not  less  than 
$10,000,000,  and  if  they  are  sold  during  the  progress  of  the  construction 
will  yield  a  large  sum  to  the  treasury  of  the  company. 

Among  the  valuable  grants  made  to  the  canal  company  are  the  bed 
of  the  river  San  Juan  from  the  location  of  the  great  dam  into  and 
through  Lake  Nicaragua,  for  all  the  uses  and  purposes  of  constructiJig 
the  canal  and  of  ourestricted  navigation. 


I 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  463 

COMMERCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  VIEW. 

A  more  general  view  of  the  value  of  the  grants  in  these  concessions 
to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  to  our  coast-line  traffic,  and  with 
reference  to  their  importance  in  a  military  sense,  necessarily  raises  the 
estimate  of  their  value  into  a  sum  which,  if  counted  in  money,  is  really 
incalculable.  The  former  reports  of  this  committee,  which  are  em- 
bodied in  this  report,  contain  exact  data  throwing  the  full  light  of  truth 
upon  this  subject,  and  render  a  more  extended  comment  unnecessary. 

Several  valuable  papers  that  treat  of  these  subjects  have  been  recently 
printed  by  order  of  Congress,  included  in  which  are  the  reports  of  Oapt. 
Scriven  and  Maj.  Button  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  and  others,  besides 
reports  upon  Hawaii  and  our  rights  in  Bering  Sea,  which  bear  with 
great  force  ui)on  the  commercial  and  military  importance  of  the  canal 
to  the  United  States.  Concessions  of  such  value  and  Importance  that 
have  already  commanded  an  expenditure  of  more  than  $5,000,000,  wisely 
and  economically  employed  in  jiermanent  work  on  the  canal,  under  the 
careful  direction  of  private  enterprise,  must  be  worth  more  to  the  own- 
ers than  the  money  they  have  expended,  and  will  command  a  greater 
sum  in  the  market  if  they  are  offered  for  sale  to  all  bidders. 

To  the  United  States,  in  a  political  and  strategic  view,  and  as  a  sea 
route  to  our  Pacific  coasts,  shortened  by  more  than  half  the  length  of 
the  present  ocean  route,  this  waterway  is  of  greater  importance  than 
the  Suez  Canal  is  to  Europe  and  Great  Britain,  or  than  the  freedom  of 
the  Bosphorus  would  bo  to  Russia. 

As  a  competitor  with  Great  Britain  and  other  transatlantic  nations 
for  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  this  canal  is  indispensable  to 
the  United  States. 

On  these  points,  also,  the  previous  reports  of  this  committee  were 
quite  full,  and  they  supply  the  data  for  almost  exact  estimates  that  any 
one  can  easily  make,  and  need  not  now  be  repeated. 

A  general  view  of  the  geography  of  the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  oceans  and  the  lands  that  lie  between  them  leave  no  room  for 
doubt  that  the  amount  of  tonnage  that  must  pass  through  this  canal 
will,  almost  in  the  beginning,  equal  that  which  now  passes  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  and  will  be,  in  the  near  future,  very  much  greater. 

The  exchange  of  commodities  between  the  eastern  coasts  of  America 
and  the  eastern  coasts  of  Asia,  and  of  Japan  and  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  which  will  seek  the  transit  through  Nicaragua  as  the 
shortest  and  most  open  route  of  navigation,  will,  of  itself,  supply  more 
tonnage  to  pass  through  this  canal  than  all  that  now  passes  through 
the  Suez  Canal. 

The  trade  between  these  countries  will  be  more  direct  than  it  is  now, 
with  London  as  the  common  point  of  distribution,  and  will  therefore 
be  cheaper  than  the  present  system.  The  Mcaraguan  Canal  will  thus 
be  given  the  preference  over  the  Suez  Canal  by  merchants  and  navi- 
gators. When  we  add  to  this  the  traffic  that  will  pass  in  ships  between 
the  Eastern  and  Western  coasts  of  the  American  hemisphere,  the  amount 
of  tonnage  that  will  pass  through  the  Mcaraguan  Canal  must  be  largely 
in  excessof  that  which  will  find  its  way  through  the  Suez  Canal.  A  care- 
fully prepared  statement  is  appended  to  this  report,  marked  Exhibit  No. 
3,  which  shows  the  value  of  the  commerce  that  is  tributary  to  this  canal. 

The  Cordillera  range  of  mountains,  extending  the  entire  length  of 
South  America,  forbid  the  hope  that  the  eastern  and  western  coasts 
of  that  cimtinent  can  ever  interchange  their  commerce  by  means  of 
railways  so  as  to  make  it  advantageous. 


464  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

Althonfrh  the  United  States  and  Canada  have,  in  a  measure,  ever- 
come  the  like,  but  less  difficult,  obstructions  of  their  mountain  ranges, 
by  driviuj;  railroads  across  them,  the  expenses  of  transportation  are 
so  heavy  that  they  practically  forbid  commerce  between  the  Eastern 
and  Western  coasts  of  North  America. 

On  this  account,  the  commerce  between  the  eastern  and  western 
coasts  of  Mexico  by  rail  is  not  considerable,  and  as  to  Canada,  it  is 
trilling;  while  as  to  the  United  States  it  is  greatly  below  its  proper 
value,  and  our  Pacific  coast  commerce  is  seeking  ship  communication 
with  Europe  around  Cape  Horn  and  through  the  Suez  Canal  at  a 
destructive  loss  of  time  and  interest,  and  an  increase  of  freights  and  of 
damage  by  long  journeys  on  the  ocean  through  all  seasons  and  climes. 

"  The  ship's  journey  around  the  Horn"  is  a  distress  to  commerce  that 
the  civilization  of  the  age  requires  to  be  removed,  and  the  route  tlu'ough 
Nicaragua  is  the  only  possible  remedy  for  this  universal  evil. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  condition,  so  easy  to  be  remedied, 
will  be  a  reproach  to  the  men  of  this  age  if  some  active  and  decided 
movement  is  not  made  to  relieve  against  it. 

To  point  out  the  dangers,  hardships,  loss  of  time,  and  the  destruction 
of  life  and  property  incident  to  this  only  waterway  connecting  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  oceans,  which  must  be  navigated  in  the  roughest 
seas  and  the  most  inhospitable  climate  in  all  the  world,  is  only  to 
repeat  the  experience  of  seafaring  men  for  ages  past,  and  to  evoke  a 
prayer  from  them  that  the  United  States  will  do  its  obvious  duty  towards 
them. 

THE  STEATEGIO  VIEW  OF  THE  CANAL. 

The  importance  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  to  the  United  States  in  a 
military  and  strategic  view  would  demand  of  us  an  expenditure  of  ten 
times  the  sum  that  it  will  cost  to  build  and  protect  it.  Germany  and 
Great  Britain  have  already  occupied  every  island  and  harbor  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  south  of  the  Alaskan  peninsula  that  is  a  fit  place  for  a 
naval  station  or  for  dock  yards,  except  in  Hawaiia  and  the  harbor  of 
Pan  go  Pan  go,  in  Samoa. 

On  these  we  seem  to  have  a  feeble  hold.  On  the  southern  and  east- 
ern seas  that  wash  our  coasts,  these  powers  and  Spain  have  occupied 
and  have  strongly  fortified  every  available  harbor  from  Honduras  to 
Halifax.  The  greater  number  of  these  naval  strongholds  are  estab- 
lished for  no  purpose  of  protecting  or  defending  any  European  power. 

Those  in  the  Atlantic  waters  and  Carribean  Sea  are  intended  to  con- 
trol the  United  States  in  her  military  operations,  while  those  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  are  intended  to  hold  military  control  over  the  Western 
shores  of  both  the  American  continents.  The  United  States  is  com- 
pletely circumvallated,  on  the  north  by  British  Possessions  and  the 
frozen  ocean,  and  on  the  east,  south  and  west  by  these  military  posts. 

The  embarrassment  of  this  situation,  not  to  say  its  danger,  ought  to 
excite  our  earnest  attention,  at  least  to  the  finding  of  some  way  to  avoid 
it,  if  we  can  not  get  our  consent  to  overcome  it.  In  our  eflorts  so  far 
to  provide  some  safeguards  against  a  strong  and  inflexible  aggression 
that  moves  with  a  settled  purpose  to  gain  every  point  where  advantage 
is  to  be  found,  and  to  hold  it,  we  have  expended,  possibly,  more  money, 
but  with  less  effect,  than  European  powers  have  expended  to  encom- 
pass us  with  fortified  naval  stations  near  our  coasts  as  bases  of  supplies 
for  their  fleets. 

From  these  the  most  powerful  ships  of  war  can  assail  our  harbors,  and 
retire  to  cover  in  case  of  necessity,  while  the  United  States  must  double 
Cape  Horn  in  sending  assistance  from  oar  eastern  to  oar  western  coasts. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  465 

With  the  canal  at  our  command  we  need  not  have  two  fleets  to  pro- 
tect our  coasts,  as  we  are  now  compelled  to  do,  at  a  cost  already  exces- 
sive and  is  greatly  to  be  increased.  Without  the  canal  we  are,  rela- 
tively, in  a  situation  of  deplorable  weakness. 

COMPARED  WITH  THE  SUEZ  CANAL. 

When  private  enterprise  in  Southern  Europe  first  addressed  itself  to 
the  task  of  opening  a  sea-level  canal  through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  there 
was  no  lesson  of  experience  to  guide  the  movement  or  to  assure  its 
success.  After  a  time  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  without  the  firman  of  his 
suzerain,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  supported  the  undertaking  and  put 
heavy  burdens  on  his  people  to  sustain  it. 

This  wise  and  heroic  decree  of  the  ruler  of  a  government  nearly 
relapsed  into  barbarism  secured  the  Suez  Canal  and  should  have  secured 
the  inviolable  independence  of  his  country.  But  the  value  of  the  canal 
to  commercial  and  political  aspirations  for  dominion  attracted  the  cupid- 
ity of  Great  Britain  and  has  drawn  that  great  and  costly  work  and  the 
independence  of  Egypt  into  the  grasp  of  that  Empire. 

If  it  shall  result,  from  our  indifference  or  dread  of  expansion  in  the 
direction  of  national  duty  and  of  self-preservation,  that  Great  Britain 
or  any  other  great  European  power  shall  get  the  control  of  the  conces- 
sions that  we  have,  so  far,  refused,  the  result  is  even  now  plainly  man- 
ifest, that  the  Central  American  States  will  repeat  the  experience  of 
Egypt. 

Then  we  shall  have  our  country  broken  in  its  coast  line  of  trade  and 
defenses,  by  a  European  power,  not  in  violation  of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine, but  this  will  be  done  in  the  name  of  these  Eepublics  on  and 
near  the  line  of  the  canal.  The  precedent  for  this  line  of  action  is 
already  established  in  the  moral  forces  that  keep  Great  Britain  in  con- 
trol of  the  iMosquito  Eeservation  in  Nicaragua,  and  in  the  actual 
sovereign  assertion  of  right  and  power  over  The  Belize  and  the  Bay 
Islands,  against  which  we  have  "protested  overmuch." 

This  is  said  to  be  impossible  without  our  defeat  in  war.  But  why 
ehould  we  answer  with  a  threat  of  war  an  aggression  that  can  be 
avoided,  or  repelled,  by  the  guarantee  of  the  bonds  of  a  company 
seven-tenths  of  whose  stock  is  owned  by  the  United  States! 

An  examination  of  the  financial  value  of  the  canal  will  show  that  it 
is  to  be  the  best  great  property  in  the  world.  The  Suez  Canal  is  an 
unquestionable  proof  of  this  statement,  and  we  add  to  the  former  state- 
ments of  the  committee,  on  this  point,  the  following  facts: 

SUEZ  CANAL. 

The  Suez  canal  is  87  miles  long,  66  of  which  are  actual  canal,  the 
other  21  miles  being  lake  navigation.  The  canal  and  its  appurtenances 
were  completed  on  or  about  the  1st  of  January,  1870,  and  cost  about 
$91,000,000.  Since  that  time  there  have  been  expended  for  betterments 
and  improvements,  including  the  deepening  of  the  channel,  about 
$24,000,000  more;  bringing  the  total  cost  of  the  canal  up  to  about 
$115,000,000.  The  canal  was  originally  26  feet  deep.  Its  present  depth 
is  28  feet.  The  canal  to-day  is  capitalized  at  about  $90,500,000  in  stock 
and  obligations.  The  difference  between  the  cost  and  its  present  capi- 
talization in  stock  and  bonds  was  made  up  by  receipts  from  various 
sources  applied  to  construction  and  improvement  account. 

It  is  commonly  reported  that  the  actual  cost  of  construction  did  not 
exceed  $50,000,000. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 30 


466 


HICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPAWT. 


The  following  statement  shows  the  number  of  ships  and  net  tonnage 
which  passed  through  the  Suez  Canal,  and  the  gross  receipts  there- 
from, from  1870  to  1892,  inclusive: 


Te»r. 


Number 

Net 

Gross 

<tf  Bfaips. 

tonnage. 

receipt*. 

Franet. 

488 

438,600 

4,  345, 758 

1.494 

2,009,984 

26.430,75« 

2,028 

3, 057,  421 

36. 492, 620 

8,824 

6, 335. 752 

60. 057, 259 

8,389 

6.853,637 

68, 983,  500 

4,208 

8,609,020 

83, 421, 504 

8,659 

7,712,028 

7i,888,5«l 

1870 

1875..  w, 

1880 

1885 

18M 

1891 

1892 


The  cost  of  administration,  operation,  and  maintenance  of  the  canal 
for  the  years  1888  to  1892,  inclusive,  was  as  follows : 

1888(abont) .'....  $1,200,000 

1889  (about) 1,350,000 

1890  (about) 1,375,000 

1891  (about) 1, 475,0^0 

1892  (about) 1,435,000 

A  large  proportion  of  these  expenses  were  incurred  by  the  dredging 
made  necessary  to  relieve  the  canal  from  the  drifting  sands  of  the 
desert  which  accumulate. 

The  actual  net  revenues  of  the  company  for  a  series  of  years  past 
have  been  upwards  of  $12,000,000  annually.  The  net  profits  in  1892 
were  41,728,543  francs,  or  about  $8,345,000,  and  the  dividends  declared 
for  said  year  were  19*8  per  cent,  including  the  taxes  retained  for  the 
sinking  frind. 

The  shares  of  the  company,  originally  issued  at  500  francs  each,  are 
quoted  on  the  Paris  Bourse  at  2,692.50  francs. 

The  shares  of  the  Suez  Canal  held  by  the  English  Government  and 
purchased  for  £4,000,000  are  worth  to-day  over  jei9,000,000  in  the 
open  market. 

The  business  of  1892  and  1893  suffered  from  the  general  commercial 
depression  throughout  the  world,  and  was  lighter  than  that  done  in 
1891.  In  the  said  last-mentioned  year  the  net  profits  were  49,091,892 
francs,  or  about  $9,800,000,  and  the  dividends  declared  on  the  stock 
that  year  amounted  to  22*4  per  cent. 

The  effect  of  the  Suez  Canal  upon  the  commerce  of  the  world  is 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  whereas  in  1870,  the  first  full  year  of  its 
operation,  there  passed  through  the  canal  486  vessels,  registering 
436,600  tons,  the  number  of  vessels  passing  in  1891  was  4,207,  register- 
ing 8,700,000  tons. 

The  most  significant  fact  in  this  enormous  increase  is  that  the 
average  size  of  the  vessels  using  the  canal  in  1870  was  but  little  over 
1,300  tons  register,  while  in  1891  it  had  increased  to  over  2,090  tons, 
and  in  1892  to  2,200  tons. 

The  outside  limit  of  the  cost  of  the  Nicaraguan  Canal  is  $100,000,000, 
but  the  committee  assume,  in  correspondence  with  the  estimates  that 
have  been  so  carefully  made  and  revised,  that  the  cost  will  not  exceed 
$70,000,000,  and  that,  if  it  should,  there  will  be  a  fund  in  the  treasury 
of  the  company  from  the  sales  of  stock  remaining  undisposed  of  equal 
to  $16,000,000,  in  all  $86,000,000.  This  stock  will  go  to  par  as  soon  as 
the  construction  of  the  canal  is  resumed,  if  not  as  soon  as  Congress 
lias  provided  for  the  guaranty  of  the  bonds  of  the  company. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL  COMPANY,  467 

THE  ADVANTAGES  AND  BISK. 

The  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  ownership  oj  the  United 
States  of  $70,000,000  of  the  stock  of  this  company  wil.  be  a  boon  to 
the  people  that  is  not  equaled  by  the  benefits  of  any  work  of  a  public 
character  in  which  the  United  States  has  ever  engaged.  It  is  a  free 
gift  to  the  country,  which  the  enterprise,  courage,  and  skill  of  a  few 
earnest  men  has  placed  in  reach  of  the  Government  that  it  could 
never  have  acquired  through  diplomatic  effort.  Under  the  treaty  made 
with  Nicaragua  by  Secretiii-y  Frelingliuysen,  the  profits  to  be  derived 
by  the  United  States  from  the  canal  tolls  were  not  nearly  so  great  as 
they  would  be  under  the  bill  now  reported,  while  that  concession  was 
to  be  at  a  cost  of  $5,000,0i>0;  and  in  the  arrangement  proposed  by  this 
bill,  the  United  States  gets  $70,000,000  in  stock  that  is  worth  more 
than  the  stock  in  the  Suez  Canal,  without  cost  and  without  danger  of 
liability. 

It  is  entirely  improbable  that  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  will 
ever  be  required  to  advance  any  money  either  for  the  construction  of 
the  canal  or  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  bonds,  even  while  the 
canal  is  in  process  of  construction.  The  interest  on  the  bonds,  even 
after  $70,000,000  has  been  expended,  is  $2,100,000  per  annum.  Kit 
requires  seven  years  to  complete  the  canal,  the  issue  of  bonds  required 
will  be  about  $10,000,000  each  year:  that  is,  $300,000  the  first  year, 
$600,000  the  second  year,  $900,000  the  third  year,  and  so  on,  until  the 
seventh  year,  when  the  sum  needed  to  meet  the  interest  would  be 
$2,100,000.  At  that  time  the  canal  will  be  opened  and  in  full  operation, 
and  its  income  even  for  the  first  year  will  reach  $5,000,000,  at  the  rate 
of  tolls  now  received  by  the  Suez  Canal. 

At  the  beginning  of  ea(;h  quarter  the  bonds  required  to  be  guaranteed 
and  sold  will  cover  the  interest  to  accrue  during  that  period,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  accruing  interest  will  thus  be  provided  for  in 
every  case.  Under  the  plan  of  this  bill  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  will  ever  be  called  upon  to  supply  a 
dollar  of  money  to  the  canal  beyond  the  small  sums  that  are  required 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Government  inspections  required  by  the 
act,  and  these  will  be  made  by  naval  and  military  officers,  in  almost 
every  instance,  who  are  already  in  the  i)ay  of  the  United  States. 

When  Great  Britain,  after  the  Suez  Canal  was  completed,  saw  her 
advantage  in  the  investment  of  £4,000,000  in  its  stock,  there  was  only 
a  vague  impression  that  it  would  result  in  a  profit,  in  money,  yet  in 
about  fifteen  years  that  has  increased  nearly  400  per  cent,  and  is  pay- 
ing an  annual  dividend  of  over  22  per  cent. 

It  is  impossible  to  avoid,  or  to  discredit,  the  weight  of  this  fact  of 
actual  experience,  in  a  matter  that  is  so  nearly  a  case  in  i^oint.  The 
only  difference  in  the  two  canals,  as  earners  of  profit,  is  that  the  Nica- 
raguan  Canal  has  a  vastly  wider  and  more  lucrative  field  of  commerce 
from  which  to  draw  its  revenues  than  can  be  relied  upon  by  the  Suez 
Canal. 

Can  it  be  expected  that  Great  Britain  will  cease  its  efforts  to  gain 
control  of  the  Nicaraguan  Canal,  and  to  hold  the  keys  to  the  equatorial 
belt  of  commercial  dominion  that  reaches  around  the  world,  when  her 
experience  in  controlling  the  Suez  Canal  has  brought  to  her,  in  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  such  increase  of  profit  in  money,  and  such 
extension  of  commercial  and  political  power? 

One  of  these  new  gateways  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  must  belong 
to  Americans  and  be  under  American  control.    Private  enterprise  and 


468  NICARAGUA  CANAL   COMPANY. 

capital  can  build  them,  but  they  must  be  under  national  care,  and  be 
kept  open  by  a  powerful  arm  for  equal  international  use. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  and  our  responsible  men  of 
this  day  will  have  a  severe  reckoning  with  posterity  and  with  their 
political  opponents,  if  the  example  of  Great  Britain  goes  unheeded 
and  her  manifest  policy  to  dominate  the  commerce  of  the  world  is 
quietly  permitted  to  prevail,  to  the  dishonor  of  our  country  and  the 
disappointment  of  the  hopes  and  desires  of  the  people  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere. 

DIPLOMATIC  AND  OTHER  OBJECTIONS. 

In  the  former  reports  of  the  committee  the  right  of  Congress  to  en- 
gage in  this  work  has  been  sufficiently  discussed. 

There  seems  to  be  no  objection  urged  at  this  time,  except  that  it  is 
not  a  wise  policy  of  our  Government  to  do  anything  for  our  Navy,  or 
for  our  national  defense  or  protection,  or  for  our  commerce  except 
within  our  own  borders.  What  will  we  do  to  protect  the  fur  seals 
under  the  restrictions  of  such  a  policy? 

Objection  has  been  made  that  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nica- 
ragua is  a  private  corporation,  whose  bonds  the  United  iStates  is  asked 
to  guarantee.  In  law  and  in  fact  this  is  a  wholly  untenable  statement. 
Private  individuals  can  not  own  more  than  7  per  cent  of  the  stock  of 
this  company  under  the  provisions  of  this  bill.  The  United  States, 
under  the  bill  now  reported,  will  own  70  per  cent  of  the  stock,  Nica- 
ragua will  own  6^  per  cent,  and  Costa  Rica  will  own  1  per  cent  of  the 
stock. 

So  far  from  this  being  a  private  corporation,  or  one  for  the  benefit 
of  private  persons,  three  independent  governments  will  own  77J  per 
cent,  the  Maritime  Company  IG^  per  cent,  and  private  persons  may 
own  7  per  cent  of  the  stock. 

These  facts  completely  answer  these  objections;  but,  if  more  was 
needed,  the  concessions  and  charter  of  the  company  declare  this  to  be 
a  public  act  throughout,  and  the  representatives  of  the  stock  owned 
by  three  sovereign  republics  sit  as  directors  at  the  council  board  of 
this  company. 

No  corporation  connected  with  a  business  subject  could  be  more 
completely  a  public  corporation  than  this  is.  Not  only  is  it  a  corpora- 
tion to  promote  public  ends,  but  it  is  also  international  in  its  scope  and 
purposes,  and  nearly  municipal  in  its  authority  over  a  neutral  zone  in 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  fixed  by  the  concessions,  and  supported  by 
grants  of  authority  that  affect  all  maritime  nations. 

No  diplomatic  relation  of  the  United  States  is  in  the  least  degree 
affected  by  its  participation  in  the  ])roraotion,  assistance,  and  control 
of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragau,  under  the  provisions  of 
the  bill  as  it  is  now  reported  to  the  Senate. 

Our  powers  in  Panama  for  the  protection  of  the  isthmian  transit 
are  not  greater  than  those  guaranteed  to  the  United  States  in  our 
treaty  with  Nicaragua  for  the  protection  of  a  canal  through  the  terri- 
tory of  that  Republic. 

Under  such  authority,  the  United  States  has,  on  several  occasions, 
landed  troops  at  Panama  to  protect  the  railway  across  the  isthmus, 
built  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  under  a  charter  granted  by  New 
York.  This  incursion  of  military  forces  into  Panama  has  created  no 
friction  and  has  not  excited  any  feeling  of  uneasiness  there  or  in  any 
other  quarter. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY.  469 

The  attitude  in  which  the  United  States  is  placed,  in  respect  of  this 
canal,  and  as  it  is  defined  in  the  bill  now  reported  to  the  Senate,  is  in 
accordance  with  all  of  our  treaty  rights  and  obligations  with  all 
countries,  and  it  can  not  be  a  just  cause  of  uneasiness  to  any  power 
in  the  world. 

All  commercial  nations  are  deeply  interested  in  this  canal,  and  none 
of  them  have  intimated  a  doubt  as  to  the  faithful  observance  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  of  the  limitations  contained  in  the  conces- 
sions of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  for  this  waterway  of  nations. 

It  would  be  idle  for  us  to  hunt  for  objections  where  none  exist  on 
the  part  of  other  nations  to  our  close  relations  with  this  canal  com- 
pany. It  has  been  more  than  five  years  since  Congress,  through  one 
of  the  committees  of  the  Senate,  began  to  deal  with  this  canal  in  a 
serious  way,  and  during  all  of  that  period  the  work  on  the  canal  has 
been  steadily  progressing  under  the  charter  which  is  proposed  to  be 
amended  by  this  act. 

Ample  time  and  opportunity  has  been  given  to  other  nations  to  make 
objections  to  any  action  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  rela- 
tion to  the  canal,  if  any  objection  has  ever  been  contemplated  by  them. 
All  this  business  has  been  transacted  without  the  least  effort  at  con- 
cealment. The  committee  have  not  found  any  embarrassment  to  this 
work  in  our  relations  with  foreign  countries.  On  the  contrary,  every 
treaty  we  have,  that  relates  to  the  canal,  provides  for  and  supports  the 
attitude  in  which  the  bill  now  reported  places  the  United  States  in 
reference  to  this  great  international  work. 

STOCKS  AND  BONDS  OUTSTANDING. 

The  bill  herewith  reported  to  the  Senate  deals  exclusively  witli  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  an  organization  that  is  ex- 
pressly provided  for  in  the  concessions  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica, 
and  is  therein  distinctly  forecast  as  the  proteg^  of  the  United  States. 

The  bill  requires  that  all  outstanding  stocks  issued  and  obligations 
for  the  issue  of  stocks  or  bonds  shall  be  canceled,  and  all  existing  debts 
and  demands  against  the  company  shall  be  extinguished,  and  all  con- 
tracts for  work  to  be  done,  or  materials  to  be  furnished,  shall  be  taken 
up  before  this  act  shall  take  effect,  so  as  to  have  the  company  free  of 
all  debts  and  demands  at  the  time  of  its  reorganization  under  this  act. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  empowered  to  render  a  final  de- 
cision as  to  all  sums  to  be  paid  to  the  Maritime  Company  for  its  prop- 
erty and  to  enable  it  to  pay  its  outstanding  debts  and  obligations. 
The  stock  liabilities  and  the  concessions,  with  all  their  incidents  and 
all  outstanding  obligations  for  the  delivery  of  bonds  of  the  company, 
are  to  be  paid  for  in  the  stock  of  the  company,  not  to  exceed  $7,000,000, 
or  such  smaller  amount  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  deter- 
mine to  be  just  and  equitable. 

On  the  faith  of  these  obligations  and  stocks,  the  construction  com- 
pany, which  was  employed  to  complete  the  canal  at  a  total  cost  of 
$220,000,000,  in  the  stock  and  bonds  of  the  Maritime  Company,  ad- 
vanced and  expended  in  surveys,  plant,  machinery,  materials,  labor, 
and  salaries,  with  interest,  a  sum  of  money  alleged  to  be  equal  to 
$4,500,000. 

This  bill  requires  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  state  an  account 
with  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  as  to  all  the  items  of  these  cash 
expenditures  and  to  determine,  finally,  the  amount  thereof,  and  to  deliver 
the  bonds  of  the  company  guaranteed  by  the  United  States,  to  an 
amount  equal  to  the  sum  so  ascertained  and  determined,  not  to  exceed 
$4,500,000,  and  to  have  the  same  applied  to  the  liquidation  and  extin- 


470  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

guishment  of  all  demands  upon  the  company  for  sneh  cash  expendl- 
tures.  In  explanation  of  the  actual  situation  of  the  Maritime  Company, 
with  reference  to  these  matters,  the  attorney  of  that  company  submit- 
ted to  the  committee  the  following: 

STATEMENT. 

"The  bill  provides  that  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  shall  have  not 
exceeding  $4,500,000  in  guarantied  bonds,  and  not  more  than  $7,000,000 
in  stock,  with  which  to  call  in  and  cancel  the  following  secuiities  issued 
by  it  from  time  to  time,  to  wit : 

Stock  issued  to  subscribers  for  cash,  $1,014,500. 

Stock  paid  for  concessions,  $12,000,000. 

Stock  paid  for  work,  $3,504,900. 

Scrip  issued  for  bonds  paid  for  work,  $6,855,000. 

In  all,  $23,374,400. 

"In  addition  to  the  redemption  of  these  stocks  and  outstanding  obli- 
gations for  stock  and  bonds  the  Maritime  Company  is  required  to 
procure  the  construction  company  to  the  cancellation  of  the  contract 
of  January  3,  1890,  its  most  valuable  asset. 

"  To  carry  out  the  above  requirements  the  consent  of  the  constniction 
company  and  of  its  stockholders,  as  well  as  that  of  the  other  persons 
holding  securities  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  must  be  obtained 
before  the  provisions  of  the  bill  can  be  carried  into  eflect. 

"The  bulk  of  the  securities  to  be  redeemed  are  now  held  by  the  con- 
struction company,  but  about  $1,300,000  of  the  stock  of  the  Maritime 
Company  and  $1,300,000  of  obligations  for  Maritime  Company  bonds 
are  held  by  persons  not  connected  with  the  companies,  who  are  not 
likely  to  part  with  the  same  for  less  than  par,  no  matter  how  much  less 
they  paid  for  them. 

"The  stockholders  of  the  construction  company  will  doubtless  consent 
to  any  fair  and  equitable  provision  which  mil  give  them  a  fair  return 
upon  their  investment.  The  construction  company  has  raised  and 
expended,  under  its  contract  with  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  about 
$4,451,568,  which  represents  about  $4,404,900  of  Maritime  Company 
stock  and  about  $6,855,000  of  Maritime  Company  bonds  to  be  issued  to 
them.  One  million  dollars  of  the  stock  of  the  Maritime  Company  was 
sold  to  the  construction  company  for  cash,  at  par,  and  the  balance  of 
said  securities  were  issued,  or  agreed  to  be  issued,  under  the  contract 
with  the  construction  company  for  building  the  canal,  of  date  January 
3, 1890. 

"  In  addition  to  these  amounts  the  construction  company  acquired 
$12,000,000  of  maritime  company  stock  in  payment  for  the  concessions. 
This  amoant  included  the  $6,000,000  of  stock  to  which  the  promoters 
are  entitled  under  the  concession  from  Nicaragua. 

"If  this  bill  becomes  a  law,  and  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  under 
its  provisions,  so  decides,  the  Maritime  Company  would  have  $4,500,000 
in  bonds  with  which  to  pay  its  cash  obligations,  resulting  from  the  reci- 
sion  of  the  contract  with  the  construction  company,  for  completing 
the  canal,  and  $7,000,000,  in  stocks,  to  redeem  $6,855,000  of  its  obli- 
gations for  bonds. 

"Of  this  sum,  $1,300,000,  or  thereabouts,  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
public  and  can  only  be  redeemed  at  par. 

"The  stockholders  of  the  construction  company,  in  consenting  to  sur- 
resder  for  cancellation  the  securities  held  in  their  treasurv,  would, 
therefore,  probably  receive  no  more  than  $3,200,000  in  cash  Iot  $4,451,- 
668  Axpeiided  on  the  canal  work,  and  $5,700,000  in  stock  for  their 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  471 

concession  sold  to  the  Maritime  Canal  Company.  The  construction 
company,  m  order  to  raise  money  to  work  on  the  cansJ,  had  to  sell  the 
securities  paid  to  them  by  the  Maritime  Company  at  much  less  than 
par,  so  that  the  sum  realized  from  their  sale  is  much  less  than  they 
will  have  to  pay  for  their  redemption,  and  they  mnst,  therefore,  sustain 
a  heavy  loss  on  the  whole  transaction.  It  is  equally  obvious  that  the 
Maritime  Company  must  be  in  a  position  to  do  equal  justice  to  all  the 
holders  of  its  securities  without  distinction,  in  order  to  call  them  in 
and  cancel  them,  as  is  required  in  the  bill  to  be  reported  to  the  Senate." 

The  difficulties  to  be  met  in  this  reorganization  of  the  Maritime 
Canal  Company  under  this  proposed  amendment  to  its  original  charter 
have  been  very  great,  and  involve  very  considerable  sacrifices  on  the 
part  of  the  company  as  it  is  at  present  organized,  but  the  committee 
are  assured  that  all  that  is  required  in  this  bill  will  be  speedily  accom- 
plished. 

A  company  that  is  willing  to  accept  this  pittance  of  stock  and  bonds 
for  the  valuable  rights  and  concessions  thus  placed  within  the  power  of 
Congress,  involving  a  large  loss  to  individuals,  is  entitled  to  credit  for 
something  more  worthy  of  their  enterprising  and  patriotic  spirit  than 
to  be  regarded  as  a  body  of  adventurers  anxious  to  get  rid  of  a  bank- 
rupt concern. 

The  concession  of  70  per  cent  of  paid  up  stock  to  the  United  States, 
when  the  present  owners  get  not  exceeding  7  per  cent,  is  not  a  very 
slight  matter,  at  least  to  them. 

Under  their  concession  from  Nicaragua  they  are  entitled  to  $6,000,000 
paid  up  stock,  all  of  which  they  surrender  in  order  to  get  $7,000,000 
of  stock  with  which  to  free  the  Company  of  all  stock  already  issued 
and  all  outstanding  obligations  for  bonds  and  stock,  amounting  to  over 
$16,000,000. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  of  the  certainty  that  the  property  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company  is  of  immense  value  and  can  be  sold  to  foreign 
syndicates  at  a  sum  far  greater  than  is  provided  in  this  bill,  the  com- 
mittee ieel  constrained  to  declare  that,  in  their  opinion,  the  conduct  of 
all  who  are  financially  interested  in  the  canal  and  concerned  in  the 
eifort  to  place  this  subject  under  the  control  of  Congress  is  free  from 
selfish  purposes,  and  is  honorable  to  them,  and  is  entitled  to  be 
regarded  as  a  patriotic  sacrifice  on  their  part. 

This  bill  provides  for  the  guaranty  of  $70,000,000  of  bonds  of  the 
Maritime  Company,  bearing  3  per  cent  interest,  payable  quarterly,  the 
principal  to  fall  due  in  not  less  than  ten,  nor  more  than  thirty  years. 
This  reduction  of  the  amount  of  bonds  to  be  guaranteed,  below  the 
$100,000,000  provided  in  the  previous  reports  of  the  committee,  is  in 
nearer  accord  with  the  estimated  cost  of  the  canal,  and  it  leaves  70  per 
cent  of  the  entire  capital  stock  of  the  company  in  the  ownership  of  the 
United  States,  and  16J  per  cent  in  the  treasury  of  the  company;  to  all 
Df  which  resort  may  be  had,  in  case  of  necessity  to  raise  any  additional 
sum,  if  any  is  required,  to  complete  the  canal. 

The  safeguards  i^rovided  in  this  bill  to  prevent  any  possible  injury 
to  the  United  States  that  is  within  reach  of  the  most  cautious  fore- 
cast, are  chiefly  as  follows : 

1.  The  United  States,  at  all  times  and  in  all  conditions  of  the  com- 
pany, IB  to  appoint  ten  of  the  fifteen  members  of  the  board  of  directors, 


472  NICAEAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

and  all  the  expenditures  and  operations  of  the  company  are  to  be  under 
the  general  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

2.  The  President  may,  at  any  time  prior  to  July  1, 1897,  suspend  the 
issue  of  guaranteed  bonds  until  Congress  shall  otherwise  direct. 
After  that  time  the  condition  of  the  work  will,  it  is  believed,  be  so  far 
advanced,  and  its  practicability  will  be  so  well  established,  that  this 
authority  will  no  longer  be  useful. 

3.  The  power  of  foreclosing  the  mortgage  of  the  company,  by  sale, 
upon  the  order  of  the  President  and  without  judicial  proceedings,  is  a 
reservation  of  the  means  of  summary  disposal  of  the  mortgaged  estate, 
that  may  be  found  useful. 

4.  The  President  may,  in  his  discretion,  appoint  a  board  of  three 
engineers,  to  inspect  the  canal  and  everything  connected  with  it,  before 
any  bonds  are  issued  under  this  act. 

6.  All  work  on  the  canal  as  it  progresses  is  to  be  examined  by 
inspectors  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
certify  quarterly  to  its  actual  cx)st,  before  any  guaranteed  bonds  are 
delivered  to  the  company  in  payment  for  it. 

6.  No  money  raised  by  the  sale  of  bonds  or  stock  of  the  company 
shall  be  applied  otherwise  than  to  the  cost  of  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  the  canal. 

These  general  safeguards,  provided  to  insure  careful  progress,  faith- 
ful administration,  and  honest  conduct  on  the  part  of  all  persons  who 
may  be  connected  with  the  work  of  buUding  the  canal,  are  supple- 
mented by  other  provisions  of  like  character  relating  to  the  details  of 
the  plan  and  purposes  of  this  act. 

The  present  moment  seems  propitious  for  opening  this  waterway 
that  is  indispensable  to  our  physical  and  political  geography,  and  to 
the  proper  care  of  the  Government  for  the  protection  and  prosperity  of 
our  Pacific  coasts. 

The  plan  and  certain  effect  of  this  bUl,  if  it  becomes  a  law,  will  be  to 
put  into  active  business  employment  $100,000,000  of  money  borrowed 
firom  our  own  people,  without  risk  to  the  Government.  Such  a  move- 
ment at  this  time  would  stir  all  industries  into  activity  and  release 
other  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  that  are  now  being  hoarded  or 
employed  in  gambling  in  stocks.  It  would  furnish  good  and  whole- 
some employment  to  50,000  Americans  that  are  marching  on  the  high- 
ways, begging  for  work  and  often  for  food. 

It  would  yield  to  the  United  States,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  per  ton 
for  canal  charges,  not  less  than  $4,000,000  per  annum  of  dividends  on 
its  $70,000,000  of  stock  in  the  canal. 

With  this  fund,  if  so  applied,  we  could  grant,  or  pay,  to  our  coast- 
wise navigators  the  full  amount  of  tolls  they  would  have  to  pay  to  the 
canal.  Or,  if  we  chose,  we  could,  with  these  earnings,  build  a  ship 
canal  for  military  and  commercial  purposes  to  connect  the  Great  Lakes 
with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  through  the  Mississippi  Eiver. 

If  we  can  afford  to  pay  interest  on  $100,000,000,  locked  up  in  the 
Treasury  to  protect  our  national  credit,  we  could  even  better  afford,  if  that 
was  a  necessary  result,  to  pay  interest  on  $70,000,000  to  save  to  our 
commerce  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States  the  average  distance 
of  10,000  miles,  in  every  voyage,  and  the  crossing  of  the  torrid  zone 
twice  in  the  journey,  going  out,  and  twice  on  the  return  trip,  and  the 
passage  through  the  dreadful  seas  of  the  Antarctic  Ocean. 

The  committee  adheres  to  the  estimate  of  the  annual  earnings  of  the 
Nicaraguan  Canal,  made  in  their  former  reports,  as  the  minimum  sum 
that  will  probably  be  realized  from  tonnage  tolls  and  passengers,  although 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  473 

the  facts  now  in  view  indicate  a  much  larger  sum  than  $9,000,000,  at 
the  rate  of  $1  per  ton,  while  the  Suez  rate  is  more  than  $2  per  ton. 
This  would  pay  3  per  cent  interest  on  $70,000,000,  amounting  to  $2,- 
100,000,  and  cost  of  maintenance  and  current  expenses  $3,000,000,  and 
would  leave  for  dividends  $3,900,000,  of  which  seven-tenths  would 
belong  to  the  United  States. 


Exhibit  1. 

[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  "No,  1,  Fifty -second  Congress,  second  sesnfon.] 
LETTElt  FROM  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  I2fTERI0R,  TRANSMITTING  THE  ORIGINAL 

report  of  the  maritime  canal  company  of  nicaragua. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Washington,  December  5,  1892. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  for  the  information  of  the  Senate 
the  original  report  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  submitted  to  this 
Department  this  day,  in  accordance  with  section  6  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved 
February  20,  1889,  entitled  <' An  act  to  incorporate  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of 
Nicaragua." 

Very  respectfully, 

John  W.  Noble, 

Secretary. 
The  President  of  the  Senate. 

THE  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  MARITIME  CANAL  COMPANT  OF  NICARAGUA. 

The  Secretary  op  the  Interior: 

Sir  :  Pursuant  to  section  6  of  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to  incorporate  The  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  February  20,  1889,  whifh  provides 
that  said  company  shall  make  a  report  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  in  each 
year  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  in  accordance  with  the  instructions 
received  from  you  prescribing  the  form  of  such  report  and  the  particulars  to  be 

ffiven  thereby,  the  said  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  hereby  reports  as 
bllows: 

First.  That  the  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  company  was  held  at  No.  44  Wall 
street,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  3d  day  of  May,  1892,  pursuant  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  by-laws,  and  that  at  such  meeting  Messrs.  Charles  P.  Daly,  Daniel 
Animen,  Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  Henry  E.  Howland,  and  James  B.  Eustis  were  duly 
elected  directors  of  said  company  to  fill  the  places  made  vacant  by  the  class  whose 
term  of  office  expired  on  the  said  3d  day  of  May,  1892,  and  to  serve  for  the  period  of 
three  years,  as  provided  for  in  the  said  act  of  incorporation. 

Second.  That  the  board  of  directors  of  said  company,  as  now  constituted,  is  com- 
posed of  the  following  stockholders : 

Claaa  of  189S. — Joseph  Bryan,  James  Roosevelt,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Thomas  B.  At- 
kins, and  Horatio  Guzman  (Nicaraguan  director). 

Class  of  1894. — Alfred  B.  Darling,  Franklin  Fairbanks,  C.  Eidgley  Goodwin  and 
Alexander  T.  Mason. 

Class  of  1895. — Charles  P.  Daly,  Daniel  Ammen,  Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  Henry  E. 
Howland,  and  James  B.  Eustis. 

A  majority  of  the  above-named  directors  are  citizens  and  residents  of  the  United 
States.     The  vacancy  existing  in  the  class  of  1894  has  not  yet  been  filled. 

Third.  That  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  held  after  the  said 
annual  election,  the  following  officers  were  duly  elected  to  serve  for  the  ensuing 
year,  to  wit:  President,  Hiram  Hitchcock ;  vice-president,  Charles  P.  Daly ;  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  Thomas  B.  Atkins.  All  of  the  officers  so  elected  are  citizens  and 
residents  of  the  United  States.  That  at  feaid  meeting  the  following  directors  were 
elected  members  of  the  executive  committee,  as  provided  for  in  the  by-laws  of  said 
company,  to  wit:  James  Roosevelt,  chairman;  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horace  L.  Hotch- 
kiss, C.  Ridgley  Goodwin,  and  Alexander  T.  Mason. 

Fourth.  That  the  interests  of  this  company  are  at  present  represented  in  the 
Republic  of  Nicaragua  by  Mr.  Gonzalez  Espinosa,  as  resident  agent  at  Managua;, 
while  Mr.  Louis  Chable  represents  the  corporation  in  a  siiuilar  capacity  at  San  Jose^ 
in  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica. 


474  NICARAGDA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

Fifth.  That  on  the  11th  clay  of  December,  1889,  in  a<-cordance  with  the  pTovisions 
of  section  1  of  the  said  act  of  incorporation,  a  certificate  of  the  ap]>otntnient  of 
Messrs.  Daly,  Hoyt  &.  Mason,  conusclors  at  hiw,  of  No  44  Wall  street,  iu  iho  city  of 
New  York,  as  the  attorneys  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nitaraj;ua,  was  duly 
made  by  the  presitleut  of  the  company  and  tilcil  in  the  othce  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  United  States,  and  said  tirm  are  still  the  legal  representatives  of  said 
corporation. 

bixth.  That  since  the  organization  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragna 
10,145  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  said  company  have  been  subi^cribed  for  at  par, 
amounting  in  the  a<^gregate  to  the  snm  of  f  1,014,500,  of  which  amount  $1,001,450 
have  been  paid  Into  the  treasury  in  cash;  that  there  has  been  paid  into  the  treasury 
from  other  sources  $39,299.70,  making  the  total  amount  of  cash  received  $1,040,749.70; 
that  the  other  assets  of  the  com]>any  consist  of  its  capital  stock,  of  the  concessions, 
rights,  privileges,  and  franchises  which  it  now  owns,  and  of  the  plant,  equip- 
ments, materials,  lands,  Imihlings,  structures,  railways,  steamboats,  t«*lephone  and 
telegraph  lines,  dredges,  locomotives,  tars,  machinery,  stores,  machine  shops,  sup- 
plies, and  other  property  in  Central  America,  including  the  lands  sitnated  between 
the  lake  and  the  Pacific,  which  we  purchased  from  the  Government  of  Nicaragna 
for  the  ronte  of  the  canal,  at  a  cost  of  $50,000,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
the  Nicaragnan  concession. 

^^eventh.  That  since  the  organization  of  the  company  it  has  paid  for  property, 
work  and  labor  done,  and  materials  furnished  in  the  execution  of  the  work  of  con- 
structing the  canal  and  in  administration  expenses,  the  sum  of  $815,649.63  in  cash 
and  31,i^  shares  of  the  fnll-paid  capital  stock  of  the  company  of  the  par  value  of 
1^,199,000,  and  is  obligated  for  $6,855,000  of  its  first-mortgage  bonds.  It  has  also 
issued  180,(X)0  shares  of  its  capital  stock  of  the  par  value  of  $18,000,000  in  payment 
for  concessionary  rights,  privileges,  franchises,  and  other  property. 

Eighth.  That  the  liabilities  ofthe  company  consist  of  the  amounts  still  dne  nnder 
the  concessions  granted  to  the  company ;  of  the  $6,855,000  of  bonds  before  mentioned, 
the  said  bonds  being  due  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Constmction  Company  lor  work 
an<l  labor  done  and  materials  furnished  in  the  execution  of  the  work  of  constructing 
the  Interoceanic  Canal,  and  of -cash  liabilities  outstanding  and  unpaid  to  an  amonnt 
notexce»»ding  $50,000. 

Ninth.  That  while  the  work  of  actual  construction  was  not  formally  inang^nrated 
until  the  8th  day  of  October,  1889,  preliminary  work  on  the  canal  was  commenced 
on  the  3d  day  of  June  of  that  year,  since  which  time  operations  have  been  prose- 
cuted with  diligence  and  energy.  The  following  statement  covers  the  period  that 
has  elapsed  since  the  last-mentioned  date  and  shows  what  has  been  accomplished  by 
the  company  in  Nicaragua  since  the  inception  of  the  canal  work  up  to  the  time  of 
this  report. 

The  axial  and  detailed  surveys  of  the  proposed  interoceanic  canal,  its  harbors, 
locks,  and  other  accessory  work,  were  completed  early  in  the  spring  of  1889,  and 
the  final  location  ofthe  route  from  ocean  to  ocean  practically  determined.  Several 
months  elapsed  after  the  completion  of  this  work  before  the  voluminous  plans  and 
drawings  prepared  by  the  company  were  approved  by  the  Government  of  Nicaragua 
and  the  formal  commencement  of  construction  authorized,  during  which  time  a  corps 
of  engineers  was  kept  constantly  employed  and  much  valuable  preparatory  work 
was  done,  such  as  the  commencement  of  the  erection  of  permanent  (luarters,  wharves, 
storehouses,  clearing  the  ground,  and  accumulating  supplies,  tools,  machinery,  etc. 

The  necessity  of  securing  a  safe  entrance  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  old  port  (which, 
until  1860,  was  easily  accessible  to  vessels  of  upward  of  20-foot  draft)  was  realized 
as  indispensible  to  economical  and  rapid  progress,  and  therefore  the  first  work  of 
actual  construction  was  in  execution  of  tne  engineers'  plans  for  restoring  the  har- 
bor. One  of  the  means  to  accomplish  this  end  was  the  erection  of  a  breakwater  to 
protect  the  entrance.  This  massive  work,  which  will  nltimately  absorb  much  of 
the  rock  excavated  from  the  divide  cut,  has  been  pushed  out  about  1,000  feet  and  has 
been  filled  in  with  brush  mattresses,  rock,  and  hydraulic-cement  concrete.  Quar- 
ters for  accommodation  of  the  workmen  and  storage  for  supplies  were  erected  near 
this  work,  and  a  railroad  track  has  been  laid  upon  the  breakwater  and  extended 
landward  to  facilitate  the  handling  of  building  material  and  other  supplies.  In  the 
framework  of  this  breakwater  creosoted  piling  only  was  used,  as  the  marine  worm 
soon  destroys  unprotected  wood.  The  filling  placed  within  and  beneath  the  hea\'y 
creosoted  timber  framework  forms  a  solid  mass  of  what  would  otherwise  be  insuf- 
ficiently protected  from  injury  by  the  elements  and  by  the  teredo.  The  bar  in  front 
of  the  old  San  Juan  harbor  has,  since  1860,  been  one  of  the  most  difficult  on  the 
coast. 

The  breakwater  was  constructed  from  the  beach  to  and  across  this  bar,  and  al- 
though it  encountered  the  full  force  of  the  waves,  it  was  carried  forward  through 
the  heavj-  surf  without  interruption  on  account  of  the  wt-ather  and  without  acci- 
dant  of  any  kind.     Am  it  advanced  it  afforded  a  partial  shelter  to  the  beach  to  lee- 


NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY.  475 

ward  and  also  served  as  a  barrier  to  the  moving  sand,  which,  Impelled  by  the  cur- 
rents and  ))revailing  winds  and  driven  constantly  to  the  westward,  built  up  and 
maintained  the  sand  8X)it  that  thirty  years  ago  closeil  the  old  port  of  San  Juan. 
This  artificial  interruption  to  tlie  operation  of  the  winds  and  current  permitted 
countervailing  forces  of  nature  to  (;onie  into  play,  so  that  by  the  time  the  pier  had 
been  pushed  out  600  feet  the  sand  beach  under  its  lee  was  swept  away  and  a  channel 
formed  communicating  from  the  open  ocean  to  the  old  harbor  and  restoring  it  to  the 
extent  of  permitting  the  entrance  of  light-draft  seagoing  vessels  at  a  point  where, 
six  months  before,  there  was  a  sandbank  3  or  4  feet  above  the  sea  level.  The  at- 
tainment of  this  result  was  without  the  assistance  of  any  dredge  or  any  artificial 
aid  other  than  that  afibrded  by  the  breakwater. 

It  is  evident  from  this  experience  that  the  plan  of  the  engineers  for  the  restoration 
of  the  port  of  San  Juan  is  not  only  theoretically  8ound,'but  practicable.  The  build- 
ing of  the  pier  has  steadily  progressed  as  materials  were  available,  and  its  total 
length,  as  already  stated,  is  now  over  1,000  feet.  The  depth  of  the  channel  under 
the  lee  of  tlie  pier  reached  10  feet  when  the  structure  had  been  extended  800  feet. 
In  the  winter  of  1890-91  a  dredge  increased  this  depth  to  about  15  feet,  which  haa 
since  been  maintained,  except  in  restricted  areas,  which  are  easily  deepened  by 
dredging.  The  first  deep-sea  vessel  to  enter  the  restored  harbor  was  the  steamer 
Sverdrup,  with  a  cargo  of  machinery,  etc.,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1891,  and  since  then 
many  other  vessels  have  frequented  the  port. 

The  construction  of  permanent  buildings  was  begun  in  the  summer  of  1889  and  has 
been  in  progress  ever  since.  The  completed  structures  are  all  of  wood  (pine  from 
the  United  States)  and  are  roofed  with  corrugated  galvanized  iron.  The  offices, 
quarters,  and  hospitals  are  neat  and  comfortable,  being  ceiled  and  painted  and  pro- 
vided with  wide  verandas  outside.  The  permanent  buildings  thus  far  erected  are 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  San  Juan,  where  the  general  headquarters  are  located 
and  where  the  most  important  operations  have  been  concentrated.  They  consist  of 
five  groups,  covering  an  area  of  about  If  acres,  and  have  a  floor  space  as  stated 
below : 

Square  feet. 

Headquarters 13,986 

Hospital 14,174 

La  F6  depot 21,864 

Railroad  headquarters 18,  778 

Camp  Cheney 7, 100 

Total 75,902 

Besides  the  above,  numerous  and  extensive  wharves  equipped  for  unloading 
freight,  sheds,  small  outhouses,  water  tanks,  etc.,  have  been  constructed.  The 
mac'hine  and  smith's  shops  are  equipped  with  a  varied  and  extensive  assortment  of 
modern  tools.     A  tramway  connects  the  more  important  of  these  establishments. 

Work  in  clearing  the  canal  line  of  forest  growth  was  begun  near  Greytowu  in 
January,  1890,  and  for  a  distance  of  about  10  miles  back  from  the  coast  a  clearing 
has  been  made  of  486  feet  in  width.  Similar  work  was  commenced  on  the  west  side 
of  Lake  Nicaragua  in  the  month  of  November,  1890,  and  for  9  miles  the  ground  there 
is  ready  for  construction  work. 

A  telegraph  line  to  the  interior,  connecting  with  thetelegraph  systems  of  the  coun- 
try and  the  ocean  cables,  was  one  of  the  first  works  commenced,  and  it  was  soon 
pushed  through  to  Castillo,  covering  with  its  loops  a  distance  of  60  miles.  For  the 
first  10  miles  the  line  ran  across  a  very  difficult  swamp,  where  the  work  was  most 
arduous ;  the  poles  of  native  timber  were  difficult  of  procurement ;  and,  together  with 
all  other  supplies,  had  to  be  carried  to  where  they  were  needed  by  men  wading  in 
water  from  2  to  4  feet  in  depth.  In  some  places  the  water  was  so  deep  that  the  poles 
could  not  be  set  in  the  earth  at  all,  and  in  such  cases  they  were  secured  to  tree 
stumps,  and  otherwise  supported  by  wire  guys.  Through  the  hill  country  the  line 
was  not  only  an  expensive  one  to  build,  but  is  difficult  to  maintain,  and  to  protect 
the  wires  and  poles  from  damage  by  falling  timber  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  clear- 
ing of  the  forest  along  the  line  to  a  width  of  about  100  feet.  In  addition  to  this 
telegraph  service,  all  the  offices  and  the  more  important  camps  and  stations  are  now 
also  in  telephonic  communication. 

As  the  heaviest  single  body  of  work  to  be  accomplished  on  the  whole  line  is  con- 
centrated within  a  distance  of  3  miles  at  the  rock-cutting,  "The  Eastern  Divide,"  and 
as  the  time  required  to  complete  the  canal  will  necessarily  be  measured  by  the  time 
spent  in  opening  this  deep  cut,  it  was  considered  important  to  install  a  plant  for  the 
work  at  the  earliest  date  possible.  The  difficulties  of  transporting  to  the  Divide 
the  quantity  of  machinery,  etc.,  needed  for  the  heavy  rock-cutting  to  be  done  at 
that  point  made  requisite  the  immediate  construction  of  a  railroad.  This  work  was 
commenced  in  the  summer  of  1890  and  has  been  pushed  forward  with  marked  buo- 
cess.    The  line  traverses  what  had  always  been  considered  an  impassable  swamp, 


476  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

and  for  the  first  10  miles  there  are  bnt  4  miles  of  hard  ground.  Soon  after  beginning 
the  roadbed  heavy  rains  set  in  and  the  swamp  was  Hooded  to  a  depth  of  from  1  to  4 
feet.  All  the  earth  used  for  filling  had  to  be  brought  from  a  distance  by  construc- 
tion trains,  which  necessitated  laying  the  track  first  and  making  the  required  em- 
bankment afterward. 

To  accomplish  this,  a  heavy  cordnroy  of  logs  was  laid  for  many  miles.  These 
logs,  which  were  procured  from  the  neighboring  forest,  were  rolled,  floated,  or 
dragged  by  man  power  alone  to  the  line  of  the  proposed  track,  and  there  laid  trans- 
versely as  compactly  aa  possible.  Upon  them  were  placed  longitudinal  stringers, 
consisting  of  native  tree  trunks,  on  which  the  railroad  ties  were  laid,  and  upon 
these  the  steel  rails  were  then  spiked  down.  Trains  loaded  with  sand  were  run  out 
over  the  structure  and  the  sand  dumped  and  packed  into  the  interstices  and  under 
the  ties,  which  were  raised'gradually  by  the  workmen  until  the  desired  grade  was 
secured.  There  were  6  miles  in  all  of  this  construction  through  swamps,  the  men 
working  most  of  the  time  in  water  reaching  above  the  knees  and  oiten  to  the  waist 
or  armpits.  The  material  used  for  grading  and  ballasting  the  first  8  miles  of  the 
roadbed  waa  taken  from  the  canal  prism,  near  the  harbor,  and  distributed  along 
the  line  by  construction  trains,  the  cars  being  loaded  by  means  of  a  steam  shovel  or 
navvy,  capable  of  delivering  1,300  cubic  yards  per  day. 

There  are  several  places  along  the  railway  where  streams  and  other  water  course* 
are  crossed.  These  are  spanned  by  pile  bridges,  and  a  powerful  steam  pile-driver 
has  been  used  in  their  construction.  The  portion  of  road  already  completed  is  the 
most  difficult  of  the  whole  line,  and  but  7  miles  now  remain  to  be  built  to  reach 
the  Eastern  Divide.  There  are  several  miles  of  side  track,  switches,  etc.,  already 
in  place,  and  the  road  is  equipped  for  construction  work  with  4  locomotives,  50  cars, 
Bteam  shovel^  ballast-unloader,  and  all  other  requisite  appliances.  All  the  crossties 
and  bridge  tuubers  are  of  Northern  pine,  charged  with  16  pounds  creosote  oil  to  the 
cubic  foot.  At  the  terminns  on  the  harbor  is  a  fine  wharf,  264  feet  long,  built  in  the 
best  manner  of  creosoted  timber,  and  equipped  with  modern  steam  conveniences  for 
handling  freight  rapidly.  The  survey  for  the  remainder  of  the  line,  extending  to 
the  San  Juan  River  at  Ochoa,  has  been  completed;  in  fact,  two  locations  have  been 
surveyed  and  profiles  prepared  in  sufficient  detail  to  permit  accurate  estimates  of 
cost.  Between  Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  Pacific  the  railroad  line  is  also  located,  and 
everything  made  ready  for  its  construction,  which  mnst  necessarily  precede  the 
inauguration  upon  a  larger  scale  of  the  work  of  excavation. 

In  the  summer  of  1890  there  was  purchased  from  the  American  Contracting  and 
Dredging  Company  the  extensive  and  valuable  plant  used  so  successfully  on  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Panama  Canal  from  the  year  1881  to  the  callapse  of  that  enter- 
prise in  1888.  The  property  consisted  of  seven  dredges,  the  most  powerful  ever 
built,  two  fine  tugboats,  twenty  lighters,  several  launches,  the  equipment  of  an  entire 
machine  shop,  stationary  engines,  pumps,  and  a  vast  quantity  of  tools,  spare  parts, 
materials  for  repairs,  etc.  Many  of  the  articles  are  in  quantities  which  wiU  suffice 
until  the  completion  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal. 

During  the  autumn  of  1890  this  dredging  plant  was  transferred  to  San  Juan  del 
Norte,  where  portions  of  it  were  immediately  equipped  for  work,  and  three  of  the 
dredges  have  since  been  in  use  for  various  periods,  upon  the  canal  proper,  in  the 
harbor,  and  in  the  entrance  channel  leading  thereto.  Dredging  on  the  canal  line 
west  01  the  harbor  has  uninterruptedly  been  carried  forward  and  a  point  well  inland 
has  been  reached,  by  an  open  channel  17  feet  deep  and  varying  in  width  from  150  to 
230  feet,  which  drains  the  swamp  and  lowers  the  level  of  the  swamp  waters,  thereby 
securing  for  the  railroad  embankment  immunity  from  injury  by  flood  waters.  No 
obstructions  to  free  dredging  have  been  encountere<l  so  far,  although  the  canal  has 
now  been  opened  for  a  distance  of  about  8,750  feet.  A  powerful  seagoing  suction 
dredge  for  deepening  the  channel  across  the  bar  has  been  constructed  in  Scotland  for 
the  company  and  is  now  ready  to  be  sent  to  its  destination. 

The  floating  plant  has  been  kept  in  repair,  and  the  buildings,  offices,  quarters,  and 
hospitals  maintained  in  good  condition,  while  the  equipment  of  the  ifiaohine  shops  is 
being  increased  as  there  is  need. 

All  the  engineers  employed  on  the  line  have  been  and  are  of  known  and  tried 
ability.  Those  in  positions  of  chief  responsibility  have  had  extensive  practice  in 
works  of  engineering  construction  in  the  United  States  and  the  tropics.  The  engi- 
neers, administrative  staff,  surveyors,  and  nearly  all  the  skilled  mechanics  have 
been  hired  in  the  United  States  and  sent  oat  under  contract  for  at  least  a  year's 
service,  and  several  have  been  continuously  employed  in  Nicaragua  for  upwards  of 
three  years.  Natives  of  Central  America  and  negroes  from  the  island  of  Jamaica 
have  been  employed  for  unskilled  labor,  and  all  employes  have  been  not  only  boused 
and  fed  by  the  company,  but  also  supplied  with  medicine  and  hospital  attendance. 
The  rate  of  wages  paid  to  ordinary  laborers  varies  from  20  to  30  soles  per  month,  and 
it  is  evident  from  paat  experience  that  an  abundance  of  acclimated  labor,  entirely 
adapted  to  the  company's  needs,  is  readily  obtainable  from  the  localities  uameo. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  477 

No  Chinese  or  other  Asiatic  workmen  have  been  employed,  nor  w.ll  each  be  used 
upon  the  work  in  the  future. 

In  1  lie  location  of  the  canal  line  the  route  chosen  from  among  the  many  tentative 
lines  run  was  that  which  presented  the  fewest  difficulties.  No  change  from  the  loca- 
tion first  decided  upon  has  since  been  made,  except  as  further  examination  and 
studies  have  demonstrated  the  certainty  of  betterments,  either  by  shortening  the 
length  or  deereas.^ig  the  difficulties  and  cost  of  construction.  During  the  past  year 
one  or  more  parties  of  engineers  have  been  constantly  in  the  field  engaged  in  critical 
examination  of  the  topography  at  certain  localities  where  previous  surveys  had  sug- 
gested that  betterments  in  the  location  or  design  might  be  practicable.  In  some 
cases,  after  very  close  examination  and  study,  their  hopes  proved  unrealizable,  but 
in  one  instance  instrumental  examinations  have  completely  demonstrated  not  only 
the  practicability,  but  the  economy  to  result  from  a  rectification  of  the  line.  The 
location  previously  adopted  between  the  sites  of  Locks  Nos.  2  and  3  involved  a  curve 
of  large  radius  in  the  sailing  line  through  the  second  Deseado  basin.  It  is  now  dis- 
covered that  this  curve  may  be  eliminated,  with  a  saving  in  distance  of  upwards  of 
1,000  feet  and  a  saving  in  earth  excavation  of  upwards  of  600,000  cubic  yards. 

A  site  for  the  Ochoa  Dam  has  been  located  about  a  half  mile  below  that  origi- 
nally chosen ;  should  the  borings  yet  to  be  made  at  this  locality  prove  its  suitability 
of  foundation,  without  material  increase  of  cost  over  that  already  assigned  in  the 
estimates,  another  curve  in  the  sailing  line  may  be  eliminated  and  a  large  reduction 
in  mass  of  excavation  will  be  possible.  A  party  of  engineers  has  been  for  many 
months  engaged  in  boring  the  strata  at  the  proposed  site  of  La  Flor  Dam,  which  is 
located  about  3  miles  from  the  Pacific  terminus.  Although  their  work  at  last  ad- 
vices had  not  been  completed,  yet  the  results  already  known  demonstrate  the  cer- 
tainty of  securing  a  solid  rock  foundation  for  the  dam  and  for  the  locks  which  are  to  be 
built  at  this  point.  This  existence  of  a  solid  foundation  of  homogeneous  limestone 
at  an  inconsiderable  depth  is  regarded  as  very  important,  for  it  will  permit  the  con- 
struction of  a  dam  of  less  mass  than  would  have  been  required  on  the  clay  founda- 
tion contemplated  before  the  deep  borings  with  the  diamond  drill  had  been  made. 

A  party  of  engineers  was  also  engaged  for  many  weeks  in  further  surveys  for  the 
minor  canal  required  under  the  concession  to  be  built  between  Lake  Nicaragua  and 
Lake  Managua,  for  steamboat  navigation,  known  as  the  Tipitapa  Canal.  This  work, 
which  is  not  of  large  magnitude,  has  now  been  so  thoroughly  studied  that  plans  can 
be  prepared  for  construction  and  everything  made  ready  for  its  speedy  completion 
within  a  short  time. 

At  the  Machuca  Rapids,  in  the  San  Juan  River,  a  considerable  mass  of  rock  has 
been  removed,  improving  the  navigability  of  the  river  at  this  point. 

About  two  years  have  elapsed  since  the  old  port  was  reopened,  and  the  correct- 
ness of  the  theories  upon  which  the  works  for  reopening  and  maintaining  the  harbor 
and  its  entrance  were  based  has  been  thoroughly  demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  engineers.  Hydrographic  parties  have  been  kept  constantly  at  work,  adding 
to  their  previous  knowledge  of  tidal  and  other  currents  and  in  the  preparation  of 
charts  showing  the  effect  of  the  works  of  construction  upon  the  coast  line  and  the 
harbor. 

In  March,  1891,  the  Hon.  Warner  Miller,  president  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Con- 
struction Company,  accompanied  by  a  large  staff",  visited  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua 
and  made  a  complete  and  thorough  examination  of  the  entire  line  of  the  canal  and 
of  the  numerous  works  connected  with  the  construction  thereof.  The  reports 
received  from  this  expedition  were  most  gratifying,  and  showed  that  the  work  then 
accomplished  had  been  done  in  a  systematic  manner,  with  all  possible  care^  thor- 
oughness, and  dispatch,  and  within  the  estimates  of  the  engineers. 

In  addition  to  the  results  already  achieved,  as  hereinbefore  set  forth,  the  company 
has  organized  and  established  in  Nicaragua  a  complete  hospital  service  and  has  per- 
fected the  sanitary  arrangements  in  and  about  its  camps  and  headquarters.  In  the 
early  part  of  1889  the  medical  work  was  carried  on  by  assistant  surgeons  located  at 
different  points  along  the  canal  route,  but  the  department  was  not  regularly  organ- 
ized until  October  of  that  year,  when  a  chief  surgeon  was  appointed  and  the  hos- 
pital at  headquarters  was  virtually  completed  and  made  ready  for  occupation. 

This  hospital  at  present  consists  of  thirteen  buildings,  of  which  five  are  two-story 
structures  surrounded  by  broad  verandas.  The  remaining  buildings  of  the  group 
are  one-story  structures,  for  the  most  part  built  of  wood.  The  total  capacity  of  the 
hospital  is  125  beds.  It  is  situated  on  the  beach,  about  500  feet  from  the  surf,  and 
is  equipped  with  a  first-class  pharmacy  and  operating  room.  Owing  to  the  mildness 
of  the  climate,  it  is  possible  to  provide  perfect  ventilation  with  a  smaller  number  of 
cubic  feet  for  each  patient  than  would  be  considered  necessary  in  a  colder  climate. 
In  1890  it  was  found  necessary  to  erect,  8  miles  up  the  railway  line,  at  Camp  Perez, 
a  temporary  hospital,  known  as  temporary  hospital  No.  1,  accommodating  about 
50  patients.  This  hospital  consists  of  one  large  building,  containing,  in  addition 
to  the  general  laborers'  ward,  a  pharmacy  and  nurses'  room.    A  second  building  was 


478  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY. 

erected  for  cnlinary  pnrposes.  Medical  Btations  have  been  established  and  operated 
at  different  times  at  points  remote  firom  the  hospitals,  according  to  the  necessities 
of  the  work. 

During  the  time  covered  by  this  report  stations  have  been  established  at  Camp 
Francis,  on  the  beach;  Carazo,  on  the  San  .Juan  River;  Poco-Mas- Arriba;  Satisfac- 
tion, on  the  Deseado  River;  Lake  Silico;  San  Francisco  River,  and  at  Railway  Camp 
No.  1.  These  stations  are  all  on  the  Atlantic  division.  On  the  Pacific  division 
Btations  have  been  operated  at  different  times  at  Rivas  and  Tipitapa.  In  connection 
with  headquarters  hospital,  an  efficient  ambulance  service  has  been  maintained  since 
the  fall  of  1889.  The  company  has  also  operated  a  ro.ad  ambulance  to  stations  on  the 
beach  and  a  car  ambulance  between  the  hospital  and  La  F6,  at  which  latter  place 
connections  were  made  with  the  railway  terminus,  the  navigation  docks,  and  the 
breakwater.  On  the  railway  line  an  ambuhmce  caboose  car  has  been  in  use  since 
the  summer  of  1891. 

Every  possible  precaution  against  the  development  of  disease  among  the  com- 
pany's employes  has  been  observed,  such  as  watching  for  and  removing  all  local 
causes  and  preventing,  as  far  as  possible,  the  entrance  into  camps  from  outside 
sources  of  the  genns  of  contagious  or  epidemic  diseases,  and  by  an  efficient  quaran- 
tine service.  Every  surgeon,  in  his  section,  exercises  the  duties  of  a  sanitary 
inspector  and  reports  to  the  chief  surgeon  any  necessary  changes  in  the  camps  or 
other  surroundings.  A  supervision  of  the  food  furnished  employes  and  the  mode  of 
its  preparation  is  maintained.  When  a  new  camp  is  built  the  surgeon  of  the  station 
inspects  the  location  and  surroundings  and  sees  that  hygienic  rules  are  observed  in 
its  location  and  construction.  The  station  surgeon  reports  every  ten  days  upon  the 
sanitary  condition  of  all  camps  in  his  station. 

Another  method  employed  for  prevention  of  disease  among  the  company's 
employ6s  has  been  a  thorough  physical  examination  of  all  laborers  seeking  to  enter 
the  service.  It  is  easier  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  disease  than  to  eradicate  it  when 
once  lodged,  and  the  advantage  of  this  practice  has  been  proven  by  the  considerable 
decrease  in  the  percentage  of  sickness  among  employes  since  the  adoption  of  the 
rules.  The  start  of  surgeons  necessary  to  carry  out  the  complete  and  careful  scheme 
of  work  inaugurated  by  the  company  has  been  regulated  in  number  by  the  charac- 
ter of  the  work,  number  of  employes,  relative  distance  of  camps,  and  methods  of 
transportation. 

There  have  been  in  the  employ  of  the  company  since  1889,  1  chief  surgeon  and  10 
assistant  surgeons ;  also,  1  druggist  and  2  assistant  druggists.  The  other  employes, 
including  nurses,  orderlies,  cooks,  ambulance  men,  etc.,  have  varied  in  number  firom 
20  to  30.  There  have  been  treated  in  the  hospitals  of  the  company  during  the  past 
three  years  2,3(54  patients.  The  total  number  of  deaths  was  35,  making  a  total 
death  rate  of  1'48  per  cent  of  cases  treated.  ITiese  deaths,  however,  include  not 
only  those  due  to  climatic  diseases,  but  also  to  accidents  and  chronic  diseases  among 
employes  admitted  to  the  company's  service  before  the  rules  for  a  physical  examina- 
tion were  adopted.  The  total  number  of  deaths  due  to  diseases  that  may  be 
termed  climatic  were  17,  or  0"72  per  cent.  From  this  record  it  will  be  seen  that  any 
existing  opinion  regarding  the  unhealthfulness  of  the  climate  in  Nicaragua  is  erro- 
neous. Far  removed  from  the  severity  of  the  Northern  winters,  though  geograph- 
ically in  the  tropics,  the  temperature  is  moderate  and  equable  throughout  the 
whole  year.  The  northeast  trade  winds  temper  the  atmosphere  and  have  a  marked 
influence. 

The  mean  temperature  during  1890  was  77*25°  F.  In  1891  there  was  an  extreme 
range  of  28°  from  a  minimum  of  67°  to  a  maximum  of  95°,  or  a  mean  of  81°  F.  This 
difference  of  mean  temperature  was  probably  due  to  the  decrease  of  the  annual  rain- 
fall. It  has  been  asserted  that  the  country  teems  with  fatal  maladies  and  that  the 
canal  employes  would  be  exposed  to  severe  types  of  fever  as  soon  as  the  work  of 
excavation  was  commenced.  This,  however,  has  not  proved  to  be  the  case,  as  an 
examination  of  the  records  and  statistics  kept  by  the  medical  department  will  show. 
The  dredges  have  already  advanced  over  a  mile  into  the  swamps  without  encounter- 
ing anything  but  sand  and  light  loam,  which,  exposed  to  the  sun,  produces  no  un- 
nsual  sickness,  and  the  borings  prove  that  the  soil  as  far  as  the  foothills  or  the  entire 
width  of  the  swamp  lands  is  of  a  similar  character.  Most  of  the  diseases  met  with 
have  been  mild  in  type.  This  is  especially  true  of  bronchitis  and  pneumonia.  The 
cases  of  fever  are  of  the  remittent  or  intermittent  type,  very  amenable  to  treatment, 
and  not  of  as  lonj^  duration  as  in  the  United  States. 

No  epidemic  disease  has  visited  the  country  since  the  work  was  begun,  and  the 
occasional  reports  which  have  been  published  in  the  daily  press  were  without  any 
foun<lation  in  fact.  Chagres  fever  is  entirely  unknown  as  an  epidemic  disease,  and 
in  1890,  when  a  number  of  cases  were  brought  on  towing  steamers  in  the  service  of 
the  company  from  Colon  to  Nicaragua,  every  one  taken  to  the  canal  hospitaJ  recov- 
ered, while  of  those  admitted  from  the  same  ships  to  the  Colon  hospital  a  number 
di*d. 


NICARAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY.  479 

For  the  accommodation  of  a  working  force  of  10,000  men  tliere  will  be  required 
two  general  hospitals  of  150  beds  each  for  both  officers  and  men,  resembling  very 
closely  the  present  headquarters  hospital,  and  two  of  100  beds  each  for  laborers,  the 
general  hospitals  being  located,  one  at  the  eastern  end,  the  other  near  the  western 
end  of  the  canal,  and  the  laborers'  hospitals  at  convenient  points  along  the  line. 
These  will  provide  50  beds  jer  thousand  men,  wJiich  will  be  ample,  excepting  in 
case  of  an  epidemic,  when  it  would  be  necessary  to  erect  temporary  hospitals  wher- 
ever needed.  A  field  equipment  for  a  couple  of  temporary  hospitals  which  could  be 
used  in  the  event  of  such  an  emergency  could  be  kept  constantly  on  hand.  A  prop- 
erly arranged  ambulance  department,  developed  from  the  present  nucleus,  and  a 
druggist  department  similiarly  developed  Ibm  the  central  store,  with  a  pharmacy 
connected  with  each  hospital,  are  all  provided  for  in  the  general  plans,  which  are 
already  to  be  put  into  operation  as  soon  as  a  larger  development  of  the  work  of  con- 
struction is  determined  upon. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  the  medical  organization  and  the  system  of 
sanitation  inaugurated  by  the  company  has  proved  itself  to  be  exceedingly  valuable 
in  maintaining  a  death  rate  which  is  not  only  very  greatly  below  that  of  any  other 
known  large  work  of  constrmtion  in  its  hospital  records,  but  also  is  very  materially 
below  the  death  rates  of  hospitals  in  the  United  States,  as  the  following  figures  will 
show :  In  1890,  at  the  New  York  Presbyterian  Hospital,  the  death  rate  was  10"73  per 
cent;  in  the  Roosevelt  Hospital,  Mew  York,  it  was  9'76  per  cent;  and  in  the  Orange 
Memorial  Hospital  it  was  7 "88  per  cent,  while  in  headquarters  hospital  of  the  canal 
company  it  was  only  1'38  per  cent.  The  system  which  has  operated  with  such 
exceptional  results  during  the  last  three  years  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  work 
as  satisfactorily  in  its  extension. 

The  company  has  gone  to  its  work  of  building  the  canal  in  a  plain,  unostentatious, 
systematic  manner,  and  although  nearly  all  accomplished  to  date  may  be  described 
as  preliminary  work  only,  yet  a  very  important  advance  has  been  made.  The  results 
may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

WOBK  AOCOMPLISBKD. 

(1)  The  prosecution  of  the  final  surveys  for  location  and  constniction  and  surveys 
for  economical  improvements  as  to  details. 

(2)  The  subterranean  examinations  of  the  strata  requiring  removal  by  means  of 
borings  with  the  diamond  drill. 

(3)  The  restoration  of  the  harbor  of  San  Juan  del  Norte  to  the  extent  of  securing 
an  easy  entrance  to  the  port  for  vessels  of  moderate  draft. 

(4)  The  construction  of  extensive  wharves  and  landing  facilities. 

(5)  The  erection  of  permanent  buildings  for  offices,  quarters,  hospitals,  storehouses, 
shops,  etc.,  having  a  floor  area  of  an  acre  and  three-fourths. 

(6)  The  builcUng  of  a  large  number  of  temporary  camps  along  the  line  for  accomo- 
dation of  employes. 

(7)  The  completion  of  a  telegraph  line  permitting  ready  communication  with  the 
work. 

(8)  The  clearing  of  the  canal  line  of  timber  for  some  20  miles. 

(9)  The  completion  of  surveys  for  location  and  of  plans  for  construction  of  the 
railroad  system,  and  the  construction  and  equipment  of  11  miles  of  this  line. 

(10)  The  acquisition  by  purchase  of  the  most  valuable  and  powerful  dredging 
plant  to  be  found  in  America  under  one  management. 

(11)  The  fitting  up  and  operation  of  this  plant  and  the  opening  of  over  a  mile  of 
the  canal. 

(12)  The  acquirement  by  purchase  of  the  valuable  and  exclusive  franchise  for  the 
steam  navigation  of  the  San  Juan  River  and  Lake,  together  with  the  extensive  plant 
of  the  navigation  company,  consisting  of  offices,  lands,  steamboats,  tugs,  lighters, 
repair  shops,  etc. 

(13)  And  lastly,  what  is  felt  to  be  the  most  important  result  of  all  is  the  demon- 
stration, secured  by  experience,  of  the  salubrity  of  the  climate,  the  efficiency  of  labor, 
and  the  sufficiency  of  the  estimates  of  the  chief  engineer  for  the  harbor  and  canal 
dredging  and  railroad  work. 

The  Government  of  Nicaragua,  by  a  communication  dated  November  8,  1890,  has 
officially  recognized  and  declared  that  the  company  has  more  than  complied  with 
the  provisions  of  article  47  of  the  concession,  requiring  the  expenditure  of  $2,000,000 
during  the  first  year  of  the  work.  This  formal  acknowledgment  confirms  the  com- 
pany's title  to  the  concessionary  rights  for  a  term  of  ten  years  in  which  to  complete 
the  canal. 

A  detailed  description  of  the  proposed  canal  and  the  work  to  be  accomplished  In 
its  construction,  together  with  the  maps  showing  the  route  thereof  as  the  same  has 
been  finally  located,  was  annexed  to  the  annual  report  of  the  company  for  the  year 
1890,  to  which  reference  is  hereby  made  for  said  particulars. 


480  NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 

In  witness  whereof  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragna  has  cansed  its  cor- 
porate  seal  to  be  hereunto  affixed,  and  these  presents  to  be  signed  I  jr  its  president 
and  secretary,  this  3d  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1892. 

The  Maritimk  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 

By  Hiram  Hjtchcock, 

President, 
[seal.]  Thos.  B.  Atkins, 

Secretary. 

State  of  New  York,  dty  and  county  of  New  TorJi,  «»; 

Hiram  Hitchcock,  being  duly  sworn,  says :  That  he  is  the  president  of  the  said  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  has  read  tlie  foregoing  annual  re- 
port and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  aU  respects  correct 
and  true. 

Hiram  Hitchcock. 

8wom  to  before  me  this  3d  day  of  December,  1892. 

[seal.]  V.   BiGELOW, 

Notary  Public,  New  York  County. 

State  of  New  York,  city  and  county  of  New  York,  b$  : 

Thomas  B.  Atkins,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  That  he  is  the  secretary  of  the  said 
The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  has  read  the  foregoing  annual 
report  and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  all  respects  correct 
and  true. 

Thos.  B.  Atkins. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  3d  day  of  December,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  V.   BiGELOW, 

Notary  Puhlio,  New  York  County 

State  of  New  York,  City  and  County  of  New  York,  as : 

On  the  3d  day  of  December,  1892,  before  me  personally  came  Thomas  B.  Atkins, 
known  to  uie  to  be  the  secretary  of  The  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua, 
and  with  whom  I  am  personally  acquainted,  who,  being  by  me  duly  sworn,  did 
depose  and  say :  That  he  resided  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  that  he  was  the  secretary 
of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  knew  the  corporate  seal  of 
said  company ;  that  the  seal  affixed  to  the  foregoiug  report  was  such  corporate  seal ; 
that  it  was  so  affixed  by  the  order  of  the  board  of  directors  of  said  company,  and  that 
he  signed  his  name  thereto  by  the  like  order  as  secretary  of  the  said  company. 

And  the  said  Thomas  B.  Atkins  further  said  that  he  was  acquainted  with  Hiram 
Hitchcock  and  knew  him  to  be  the  president  of  said  company ;  that  the  signature 
of  the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock  subscribed  to  the  said  instrument  was  in  the  genuine 
handwriting  of  the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock  and  was  thereto  subscribed  by  the  like 
order  of  the  said  board  of  directors  and  in  the  presence  of  him,  the  said  Thomas  B. 
Atkins. 

In  witness  whereof  I  haye  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  official  seal  this  3d  day  of 
December,  A.  D.  1892. 

[8EAI>]  V.  BiGKLOW, 

Notary  Public,  New  York  County. 


Exhibit  2. 

[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  5,  Fifty -third  Congress,  second  session.] 

letter  from  the  seoretart  of  the  interior.  forwarding  report  of 
maritime  canal  company  of  nicaragua. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 

Washington,  December  5,  189,f. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  for  the  information  of  the  Senate,  the 
original  report  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,  submitted  to  this  De- 
partment this  day,  in  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  section  6  of  the  act  of 
(Jongress  approved  February  20,  1889,  entitled!,  "An  act  to  incorporate  the  Maritime 
Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua." 
Very  respectfully, 

Hoke  Smith, 

Secretary. 
The  President  of  the  Senatb. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  481 

New  York,  December  — ,  189S. 

Sir:  Fnrsnant  to  section  6  of  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to  incorporate  The  Maritime 
Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua,"  approved  February  20, 1889,  which  provides  that  said 
company  shall  make  a  report  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  in  each  year  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  in  accordance  with  instructions  prescribing  the  form 
of  such  report  and  the  particulars  to  be  given  therein,  the  said  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany of  Nicaragua  reports  as  follows: 

First.  That  the  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  company  was  held  at  No.  44  Wall 
street,  in  the  citj'  of  New  York,  on  the  4th  day  of  May,  1893,  pursuant  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  by-laws,  and  that  at  such  meeting  Messrs.  Joseph  Bryan,  James 
Roosevelt,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Thomas  B.  Atkins,  and  Horacio  Guzman  were  duly 
elected  directors  of  said  company  to  fill  the  places  made  vacant  by  the  class  whose 
term  of  office  expired  on  the  said  4th  day  of  May,  1893,  and  to  serve  for  the  period 
of  three  years  as  provided  for  in  the  said  act  of  incorporation,  and  that  at  the  same 
time  Mr.  Robert  Sturgis  was  elected  as  director  to  fill  a  vacancy  existing  in  the 
class  of  1895,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Barton  was  elected  as  director  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the 
class  of  1894.  Mr.  Barton  failed  to  qualify  and  Mr.  F.  F.  Thompson  was  subse- 
quently elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  class  of  1894.  Since  then  Mr.  A.  B.  Dar- 
ling and  Mr.  Alexander  T.  Mason  of  the  class  of  1894  have  resigned  and  the  vacan- 
cies caused  by  their  resignations  have  not  yet  been  filled. 

Second.  That  the  board  of  directors  of  said  company  as  now  constituted  is  com- 
posed of  the  following  stockholders : 

Class  of  1S94. — Franklin  Fairbanks,  C.  Ridgeley  Goodwin,  and  F.  F.  Thompson. 

Class  of  1895. — Charles  P.  Daley,  Daniel  Ammen,  Horace  L.  Hotchkiss,  Henry  E. 
Howland,  and  Robert  Sturgis. 

Class  of  1S96. — Joseph  Bryan,  James  Roosevelt,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Thomas  B.  At- 
kins, and  Horacio  Guzman  (Nicaraguau  director). 

A  majoritj'  of  the  above-named  directors  are  citizens  and  residents  of  the  United 
States. 

Third.  That  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  held  after  the  said 
annual  election  the  following  officers  were  duly  elected  to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year, 
to  wit:  President,  Hiram  Hitchcock;  vice-president,  Charles  P.  Daly;  secretary 
and  treasurer,  Thomas  B.  Atkins.  All  of  the  officers  so  elected  are  citizens  and  res- 
idents of  the  United  States.  That  at  said  meeting  the  lollowiug  directors  were 
elected  members  of  the  executive  committee,  as  provided  for  in  the  by-laws  of  said 
company,  to  wit:  James  Roosevelt,  chairman;  Hiram  Hitchcock,  Horace  L.  Hotch- 
kiss, Henry  E.  Howland,  and  Alexander  T.  Mason. 

Fourth.  That  since  the  organization  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicara- 
gua 10,145  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  said  company  have  been  subscribed  for  at 
par,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  the  sum  of  $1,014,500,  of  which  amount  $1,006,- 
940  has  been  paid  into  the  treasury  in  cash;  that  there  has  been  paid  into  the 
treasury  from  other  sources  $48,871.62,  making  the  total  amount  of  cash  received 
$1,055,811.62. 

Fifth.  That  since  the  organization  of  the  company  it  has  paid  for  property,  work, 
and  labor  done,  and  materials  furnished  in  the  execution  of  the  work  of  construct- 
ing the  canal  and  in  administration  expenses,  the  sum  of  $830,778.67  in  cash  and 
31,990  shares  of  the  full-paid  capital  stock  of  the  company  of  the  par  value  of  $3,199,- 
000,  and  is  obligated  for  $6,855,000  of  its  first-mortgage  bonds.  It  has  also  issued 
180,000  shares  of  its  capital  stock  of  the  par  value  of  $18,000,000  in  payment  for  con- 
cessionary rights,  privileges,  franchises,  and  other  property. 

Sixth.  That  the  liabilities  of  the  company  consist  of  the  amounts  still  due  under 
the  concessions  granted  to  the  company;  of  the  $6,855,000  of  bonds  befoi'e  men- 
tioned, the  said  bonds  being  due  to  the  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company  for 
work  and  labor  done  and  materials  furnished  in  the  execution  of  the  work  of  con- 
structing the  Interooeanic  Canal,  and  of  cash  liabilities  outstanding  and  unpaid  to 
an  amount  not  exceeding  $50,000. 

Seventh.  The  assets  of  the  company  consist  of  its  capital  stock,  of  the  concessions, 
rights,  privileges,  and  franchises  which  it  now  owns,  and  of  the  plant,  equipments, 
materials,,  lands,  buildings,  structures,  railways,  steamboats,  telephone  and  tele- 
graph lines,  dredges,  locomotives,  cars,  machinery,  stores,  machine  shops,  supplies, 
and  other  property  in  Central  America,  including  the  lands  situated  bet  ween  the  lake 
and  the  Pacific,  purchased  from  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  for  the  route  of  the  canal, 
at  a  cost  of  $50,000,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Nicaraguau  concession. 

In  our  annual  report  for  1892  we  submitted  a  statement  of  the  work  that  had 
been  accomplished  up  to  that  date;  since  then  the  unprecedented  conditions  of  the 
money  market  have  been  the  cause  of  serious  embarrassment  to  all  enterprises  that 
depended  upon  the  sale  of  securities  for  means  to  prosecute  their  undertakings. 
The  Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company,  under  contract  with  this  company  for 
the  construction  of  the  canal,  suftered  under  the  general  conditions  in  common  with 
others,  and  was  obliged  first  to  limit  its  expenditures  to  what  was  requisite  for  pro- 
tection and  preservation  of  its  plant,  and  finally  to  suspend  all  paymeixts.    Thia 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 31 


482  NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMrANY. 

resulted  in  the  appointment,  on  August  30,  1893,  by  the  circuit  court  for  the  United 
States  for  the  southern  district  of  New  York,  of  a  receiver  for  that  company.  The 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  that  company  was  appointed  such  receiver. 

The  result  of  this  condition  of  aft'airs  is  that  no  material  advancement  in  con- 
struction work  has  been  accomplished  since  the  report  made  by  the  company  to  the 
Department  in  December,  1892,  and,  therefore,  we  beg  to  refer  to  that  roi)ort  as  show- 
ing substantially  the  present  condition  of  the  work. 

Upon  the  appointment  of  the  receiver  measur&s  were  inaugurated  by  shareholders 
of  the  construction  company  for  the  reorganization  of  that  company  upon  a  strong 
tinancial  basis,  providing  for  the  liquidation  of  its  indebtedness  and  the  active  prose- 
cution of  work  under  its  contract,  in  the  immediate  future.  These  measures  are 
now  well  under  way  with  the  every  assurance  of  a  successful  issue,  and  the  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  is  awaiting  the  result. 

In  witness  whereof  the  Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua  has  can8e<l  its 
corporjite  seal  to  be  hereunto  affixed  and  these  piesents  to  be  signed  by  its  president 
and  secretary  this  4th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1893. 

The  Maritime  Canal  Company  or  Nicaragua. 
By  iliRAM  Hitchcock, 

President. 
[SEAL.]  Tno8.  B.  Atki.ns, 

Secretary. 
The  Secretary  op  the  Interior, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

State  of  New  York,  City  and  County  of  Nno  York,  tt: 

Hiram  Hitchcock,  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  he  is  the  presiilent  of  the  said  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  has  reail  the  foregoing  annual 
report  and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  all  respects  correct 
and  tme. 

IliRAM  Hitchcock. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  December,  1893. 

[seal.]  V.  BiGELOW, 

Notary  Puilic,  New  York  County. 

State  op  New  York,  City  and  County  of  New  York,  as  : 

Thomas  B.  Atkins,  being  duly  sworn,  says,  that  he  is  the  secretary  of  the  said  The 
Maritime  Canal  Company,  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  has  read  the  foregoing  annual 
report  and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  that  the  same  is  in  all  respects  correct 
and  true. 

Thos.  B.  Atkins. 
Sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  December,  1893. 
[SEAL.]  V.  Bigelow, 

Notary  Puhlio,  New  York  County. 

State  op  New  York,  City  and  County  of  Neto  York,  ga: 

On  the  4th  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1893,  before  me  personally  came  Thomas 
B.  Atkins,  known  to  me  to  be  the  secretary  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  of 
Nicaragua,  and  with  whom  I  am  personally  acquainted,  who,  being  by  me  duly 
sworn,  did  depose  and  say,  that  he  resided  in  Roselle,  N.  J. ;  that  he  was  the  secre- 
tary of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company,  of  Nicaragua;  that  he  knew  the  corporate  seal 
of  said  company;  that  the  seal  affixed  to  the  foregoing  report  was  snch  corporate 
seal ;  that  it  was  so  affixed  by  the  order  of  the  board  of  dirQctors  of  said  company, 
and  that  he  signed  his  name  thereto  by  the  like  order  as  secretary  of  the  said  company. 

And  the  said  Thomas  B.  Atkins  further  said  that  he  was  acquainted  with  Hiram 
Hitchcock  and  knew  him  to  be  the  i)re8ident  of  said  company;  that  the  signature  of 
the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock  subscribed  to  the  said  instrument  was  in  the  genuine 
handwriting  of  the  said  Hiram  Hitchcock,  and  was  thereto  subscribed  by  the  like 
order  of  the  said  board  of  directors  and  in  the  presence  of  him,  the  said  Thomas  B. 
Atkins. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  official  seal  this  4th  day  of 
December,  A.  D.  1893. 

[seal.]  V.  Bigelow, 

Notary  Puilic,  New  York  County, 

Exhibit  3. 

It  has  been  commonly  said  that  the  attractive  influence  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
will  be  felt  as  far  as  the  meridian  110°  east  from  Greenwich.  There  can  be  very 
little  doubt  as  to  the  general  correctness  of  this  opinion ;  there  is  room  for  question 
whether  it  will  not  be  felt  even  beyond  that  limit. 

Owing  to  favoring  winds  and  currents  which  prevail  in  the  Pacific  it  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  English  sailing  vessels  which  make  the  outward  voyage  to  Hongkong  or 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY  483 

Aastralia  by  the  way  of  Good  Hope  to  return  around  Cape  Horn.  Sailing  vessels 
can  only  avail  themselves  of  the  shortened  distance  of  the  Suez  route  by  towage 
through  the  entire  length  of  the  Ked  Sea,  as  well  as  through  the  canal,  a  total  dis- 
tance of  1,310  miles ;  whereas  the  entire  length  of  tho  Nicaragua  Canal  is  but  169^ 
miles  through,  which  distance  the  cost  of  towage  would  not  be  a  prohibitive  expense, 
and  the  shortened  distance,  together  with  favoring  winds  and  currents  already 
availed  of,  in  return  voyages  as  but  just  mentioned,  would  extend  the  influence  of 
the  canal  as  regards  return  voyages  even  beyond  the  dividing  meridian. 

One  hundred  and  ten  degrees  east  from  Greenwich  includes,  so  far  as  the  United 
States  is  concerned,  the  entire  coast  of  China  with  the  ports  of  Macao,  Hongkong, 
Shanghai,  and  the  island  of  Formosa,  the  Kingdom  of  Corea,  the  Empire  of  Japan,  the 
Philippine  Islands,  Borneo,  New  Guinea,  Australia,  Tasmania,  New  Zealand,  and,  in 
fact,  almost  all  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  These  points,  together  with  the  entire 
inhabited  portion  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  American  Continent,  are  brought  nearer 
to  the  eastern  ports  of  the  United  States  by  distances  varying  from  3,000  to  10,000 
miles.  But  what  is  of  still  greater  importance  is  that  all  of  them  are  brought  nearly 
the  whole  width  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  nearer  to  New  York  than  to  European  ports. 
New  York  and  Liverpool  are  now  practically  equidistant  from  Valparaiso,  Callao,  Aca- 
pulco,  San  Francisco,  and  all  intermediate  ports,  but  with  the  opening  of  the  canal 
New  York  will  be  brought  2,700  miles  nearer  these  ports  than  Liverpool.  At  the 
same  time  Valparaiso,  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America,  is  brought  1,000  miles 
nearer  to  Liverpool  and  other  European  ports  than  by  existing  routes,  and  points 
north  of  Valparaiso  are  approximated  by  distances  varying  from  1,000  to  6,000  miles. 

In  view  of  these  conditions  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  claim  that  all  commerce  exist- 
ing within  the  limit  designated  will  be  subject  to  the  attractive  influence  of  a  canal 
across  the  American  isthmus,  although  there  may  be  diftereuces  of  opinion  as  to  the 
degree  to  which  that  attraction  will  be  felt. 

In  the  years  1889  and  1890,  according  to  the  latest  accessible  returns,  principally 
taken  from  the  Statistician's  Year  Book  and  the  United  States  Reports  on  Commerce 
and  Navigation  published  in  1891,  there  was  transacted  between  the  points  severally 
named  in  the  following  tabl-es  commerce  to  the  amount  of  the  value  indicated: 

Table  A. — Traffic  entirely  tnbutary  to  the  canal. 
Between — 

Great  Britain  and  United  States  Pacific  ports $31, 229, 063 

France  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 2, 276, 049 

Germany  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 1,287,129 

Belgium  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 1,  450, 168 

Italy  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 232,290 

Cuba  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 587,  794 

Brazil  and  United  States  Pacific  ports 513,  077 

Great  Britain  and  Ecuador 1,69.3,030 

Great  Britain  and  Peru 11,260,380 

Great  Britain  and  Chile 65,390,571 

France  and  Chile 7,857,426 

Germany  and  Chile 14,098,930 

Belgium  and  Peru 7,031,400 

Belgium  and  Chile 433,500 

Belgium  and  China 304,900 

Rest  of  Europe  and  western  coast  of  South  America 5, 000,  000 

Europe  and  Pacific  ports  of  Mexico  ( Acapulco,  Manzanillo,  San  Bias, 

Mazatlan) 5,000,000 

Great  Britain  and  Japan 33,  732,  534 

Germany  and  Japan 6,526,  283 

Holland  and  Belgium 1,550,420 

Great  Britain  and  New  Zealand 53,  429,  965 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Japan 13,  796, 115 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Hongkong 2,  303, 982 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  China 14, 164,  632 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  New  Zealand 3, 419, 000 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Australia 11,472,003 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Philippine  Islands 10, 101,  362 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Hawaiian  Islands 469,  500 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Chile 5,789,411 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Peru 1,573,530 

United  States  (Atlantic  ports)  and  Ecuador 1, 063, 721 

315, 038, 165 

To  this  aggregate  must  be  added :  For  existing  traffic  between  Pacific  ports  of  the 
Uuited  States  and  British  Columbia  with  Atlantic  ports,  value  not  returned,  esti- 


484  NICAEAGUA    CANAL   COMPANY. 

mated  at  250,000  tons.  For  canned  and  dried  fruits,  wines,  canned  salmon,  shingles, 
hops,  wool,  etc.,  transported  by  the  railroads  in  1890  to  the  amount  of  over  250,000 
tons. 

All  of  the  foregoing  is  traflfic  which,  because  of  the  manifest  advantage  to  it  in  the 
saving  of  distance  or  coat,  or  both,  must  certainly  make  use  of  the  canal.  It  has 
been  questioned  whether  all  of  the  business  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America 
will  find  it  advantageous  to  use  the  canal,  inasmuch  as  the  saving  of  distiiiico  at 
Valparaiso  for  steamers  which  pass  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan  is  but  little 
more  than  1,000  miles;  this,  however,  is  not  a  fair  statement  of  facts.  Nine-tenths 
of  the  business  is  transacted  by  the  Pacific  Steam  Navigation  Companj',  which  run 
theirvessels  from  Liverpool  to  Callao,  stopping  at  Valparaiso  and  otlier  i)orts  en  route. 
The  distance  via  the  Strait  of  Magellan  from  Liverpool  to  Callao,  which  is  the 
actual  length  of  the  voyage,  is  about  9,960  miles.  The  distance,  making  the  voyage 
in  the  opposite  direction  via  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  would  be  7,734  miles  to  Valparaiso, 
without  reference  to  calling  at  the  intermediate  ports,  which  wonlil  be  about  the 
same  in  either  direction,  or  a  saving  of  at  least  2,'J26  miles  on  the  voyage.  For  sail- 
ing vessels  which  can  not  avail  themselves  of  the  shorter  route  by  "the  Straits,"  but 
must  double  Cape  Horn  on  their  passage,  Valparaiso,  without  regard  to  Callao,  will 
be  within  the  zone  of  canal  attraction.  For  this  reason  the  entire  amount  of  this 
commerce  is  included  in  Table  A. 

Table  B. — lYaffic  within  the  zone  of  the  canal's  attraction,  but  not  entirely  tribu- 
tary to  it: 

Between  Central  America  and  all  countries: 

Guatemala,  exclusive  of  specie $17,418,737 

Salvador,  exclusive  of  specie 8, 559,  836 

Nicaragua,  exclusive  of  specie 5,  644, 408 

Costa  Rica,  exclusive  of  specie 10, 029,  283 

$41,  652,  264 

Between  Hongkong  and  Great  Britain.   16,500,000 

Between  China  and  Great  Britain 55,272,  430 

Between  China,  Germany,  France,  etc 22,700,469 

Between  Australia  and  Great  Britain: 

New  South  Wales 88,50.5,150 

Queensland 21,2.58,125 

South  Australia 24,  250, 570 

Victoria '. 82,256,300 

West  Australia 3,712,100 

219, 982, 245 

Between — 

Australia  and  Belgium 3,543,470 

Australia  and  Germany 14, 651, 250 

Anstralici  and  Switzerland 842, 812 

Australia  and  Sweden  and  Norway 2, 560, 825 

Tasmania  and  Great  Britain 4, 051,  610 

Philippine  Islands 19,372,075 

Japan  and  France 17,592,895 

New  Caledonia,  Tahiti,  etc.,  and  France 1,565,812 

Between  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  and — 

Hongkong 3,238,087 

China 5,033,735 

Japan 12,540,938 

Australia 3,073,754 

Philippine  Islands 1,613,451 

Hawaiian  Islands 16,555,725 

42,955,690 

Total 463,243,847 

(For  analysis  and  distribution  of  these  tables  see  pp.  9,  10,  and  11.) 

In  addition  to  the  commerce  included  in  these  tables,  there  is  a  large  business 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  straits  settlement  and  between  Holland  and  Great 
Britain  and  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  in  which  the  United  States  does  not  now  partici- 
pate, except  to  a  very  limited  extent  through  the  Pacific  ports,  or  aa  purchaser  in 
the  markets  of  England  and  Holland.  With  the  development  of  commerce  between 
the  United  States  and  the  coasts  of  Asia  and  the  Pacific  islands  consequent  upon  the 
opening  of  the  canal,  it  will  naturally  follow  that  this  business,  lying  so  near  to  the 
dividing  line,  although  actually  beyond  it,  shall,  to  some  extent,  contribute  to  the 
aggregate  of  the  canal  traffic,  as  being  within  advantageous  reach  of  voyages  from 
Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States  undertaken  originally  perhaps  to  other  adjacent 
points,  but  «xtended  to  embrace  this  business  incidentally. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL   COMPANY. 


485 


To  determine  the  "tonnage  equivalent"  of  the  commerce,  which  enters  into  the 
foregoing  tables  in  the  form  of  values  only,  the  only  form  in  which  the  information 
is  accessible  in  the  aggregate,  other  statistical  information  furnishes  valtiable  data. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  aggregate  is  in  low  price  commodities  carried  in 
large  bulk ;  as  the  wheat  of  California  and  Chile  and  the  nitrates  and  guano  of  Chile, 
shipped  to  Europe,  and  the  coal  oil  of  tlie  United  States  shipped  to  Japan,  Cliina, 
and  other  points  of  destination.  The  value  and  bulk  of  these  commodities  is  defi- 
nitely reported,  and  thus  removed  from  the  field  of  estimate.  For^ihe  remainder,  a 
careful  consideration  of  other  well-established  statistics  will  afford  a  satisfactory 
unit  of  valuation,  or  an  average  value  per  ton,  by  which  may  be  determined  the 
bulk  represented  by  so  many  millions  of  dollars  of  value.  This  method  is  made  neces- 
sary by  the  fact  that  the  shipping  returns  of  tonnage  entered  and  cleared  are  fre- 
quently misleading.  In  the  South  American  States,  the  same  vessel  is  often  regis- 
tered in  more  than  one  port  of  the  same  country,  and  is  thus  made  to  coiiut  twice  or 
more  in  the  tonnage  reports.  The  only  traffic  data  of  tliose  countries,  of  reliability, 
are  the  values  of  exports  and  imports,  which,  from  the  channel  through  which  they 
are  collected — customs  returns — are  not  apt,  at  all  events,  to  be  exaggerated. 

The  total  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 1890, 
is  reported  as  follows  (merchandise  only) : 


Yalne. 


Entered,  cargo  only 
Cleared,  cargo  only. 

Total 


14,  111,  944 

15,  930,  385 


$789,  310,  409 
845,  293,  S•^S 


30,  042, 329 


1, 634,  604,  337 


Average  value  of  1  ton,  $54.41. 

Statistics  for  Great  Britain,  France,ifeid  Germany  are  as  yet  complete  and  accessi- 
ble only  for  the  year  1889.  In  that  year  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain  and  other 
countries  was  as  follows : 


Tons. 


Vain*. 


Entered,  cargo  only 
Cleared,  cargo  only. 

Total 


28,517,000 
33,  048,  000 


£427,  595, 442 
313,874,970 


61, 565, 000 


741, 470, 412 


Average  value  of  1  ton,  £12  10d=$58.76. 

The  commerce  of  France  with  foreign  countries  for  1889,  by  sea,  was  as  follows : 


Tons. 


Value. 


Entered,  cargo  only 
Cleared,  cargo  only . 

Total 


12,835,819 
9,  397, 239 


Fra7icg. 
3, 670,  000,  000 
3,  246,  000,  000 


22, 233,  088 


C,  916, 000, 000 


Average  valne  of  1  ton,  310  franca  =  $59.52. 

Of  Germany,  the  only  statistics  available  for  use  are  those  of  the  port  of  Hamburg, 
which  is  the  principal  port  of  entry  of  the  German  P^mpive.    They  are  as  follows : 


Entered,  cargo  only 
Cleared,  cargo  only 

Total 


Tons. 


4, 469,  698 
3, 496,  303 


7, 966, 001 


Value. 


Marks. 
1,245,  .581,000 
1,  206, 415,  000 


2, 451, 996, 000 


Average  value  of  1  ton,  307  marka  =  $73.33. 


486  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY 

We  have  thus  the  commerce — 


1 

Tone       [Per  ton. 


Of  Great  Britain  . 

Of  France 

Of  Hamburg 

Of  United  States . 


CI,  565, 000 
22, 23:i,  088 
7,966.001 
80, 042, 329 


$58.70 
59.52 
73.83 
54.48 


Making  a  total  of  121,806,415  tons  of  merchandise,  at  $58.84  per  ton,  as  its  average 
value. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  return^  are  of  registered  tonnage,  and  the  unit 
value  thus  established  is  for  "  registered,"  not  actual  tons. 

In  1890  the  wheat  and  flour  fleet  from  San  Francisco  carried  780,000  tons  of  wheat 
and  flour,  at  a  valuation  of  $21,250,000,  to  Europe.  Chile  sent  860,000  tons  of  nitrates, 
at  a  valuation  of  $27,290,410,  and  75,000  tons  of  wheat,  at  a  valuation  of  $2,111,412. 
Peru  sent  about  75,000  tons  of  nitrate  and  6,000  tons  of  guano,  at  a  valuation  of 
$350,000.  Deducting  tliis  tonnage  at  its  valuation,  viz,  1,796,000  tons,  at  a  value 
of  $ol,011,822,  from  the  total  tonnage  and  valuation  of  European  commerce,  viz, 
91,764,089  tons,  valued  at  $5,531,784,255,  the  average  tonnage  value  of  the  remainder 
is  $60.90. 

In  the  year  1890  the  United  States  exported  coal  oil,  crude  and  refined,  to  the 
value  of  $47,147,163,  over  3,300,000  tons  in  bulk.  Deducting  this  and  the  tonnage 
and  value  of  the  wheat  exports  of  California  from  the  total  tonnage  and  value  of 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  the  average  value  of  the  remainder  is  $62.23,  or 
again  adding  together  the  value  and  tonnage  of  the  coal  oil  traffic  and  the  value  and 
bulk  of  the  wheat,  nitrates,  etc.,  as  previously  given,  and  deducting  the  totals  this 
time  from  the  total  tonnage  and  valuation  of  the  commerce  of  the  four  great  mari- 
time nations,  $7,166,388,5S§  aod  tons  121,806,A^;  the  average  value  of  the  remainder 
is  $60.64  per  ton.  M0- 

From  the  foregoing,  it  appears  just  to  assume  $62  per  ton  as  a  unit  of  value  cer- 
tainly not  too  low  wherewith  to  transmute  the  values  of  ordinary  conmierce,  the 
bulk  of  wliich  is  unknown,  over  and  above  that  which  is  known,  into  correspondent 
tonnage  quantities. 

Of  the  exportation  of  coal  oil  from  the  United  States,  714,150  tons  of  illuminating 
oil,  at  a  valuation  of  $13,974,134  was  shipped  to  foreign  ports  on  the  Pacific  in  addi- 
tion to  large  quantities  shipped  to  San  Franr-isco,  San  Diego,  Portland,  and  other 
home  ports.  Seven  million  four  hundred  and  seventy-two  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  sixty  gallons,  or  about  37,000  tons  were  shijjped  to  San  Fraucisco  alone. 

Of  the  lar^c  aggregate  shipped  to  foreign  ports,  the  principal  portion  was  trans- 
ported by  sailing  vessels  around  one  or  the  other  of  the  capes,  as  such  craft  could 
not  avail  themselves  of  the  shorter  route  by  Suez,  for  the  reasons  before  given ;  but 
as  sailing  vessels  will  be  able  to  make  use  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  this  entire  busi- 
ness with  its  increase,  will  naturally  take  that  route.  Three  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  ten  tons  of  it  at  a  valuation  of  $7,745,740  was  carried 
between  ports  included  in  Table  A;  95,000  tons  at  a  valuation  of  $1,837,481  between 

Eorts  in  Table  B,  and  236,540  tons,  valued  at  $4,390,913  was  distributed  between 
ritish  and  French  East  Indies  and  Oceanica. 

The  aggregate  of  the  commerce  included  in  Table  A  amounts  to  $315,038,165.  Of 
this  total  $21,250,000  represents  shipments  of  wheat  from  San  Fraucisco  to  Europe, 
780,000  tons;  $27,290,410  shipments  of  nitrates  from  Chile,  860,000  tons;  $2,111,412 
shipments  of  wheat  from  Chile,  75,000  tons;  $350,000  shipments  of  nitrates  and 
guiino  from  Peru,  81,000;  7,745,000  shipments  of  coal  oil  from  United  .States  to  ports 
in  Table  A,  $382,610  tons;  $256,291,343,  the  remainder  of  Table  A,  represents  general 
traflic  between  port*  indicated.  Taken  at  the  average  value  of  $62  per  ton  it  is 
equivalent  to  4,133,730  tons. 

For  existing  traffic  around  (!ape  Horn  and  via  Isthmus  of  Panama  between  ports 
of  the  United  States  and  with  British  Columbia,  estimated  at  250,000  tons. 

For  transcontinental  railroad  traffic  in  1890  California  exported  from  the  port  of 
San  Francisco  148,446,150  pounds  of  canned  and  dried  fruits,  including  raisins: 
1,623,867  cases  of  canned  salmon;  4,500,000  gallons  of  wines  and  brandy;  5,734,120 
pounds  of  hops,  and  22,662,000  pounds  of  wool,  fully  90  per  cent  of  which  was 
transported  by  sail  across  the  continent.  Portland,  Seattle,  Tacoma,  and  other 
cities  were  also  large  exporters  of  like  commodities;  quantities  of  shingles  were 
shipped  from  Puget  Sound  and  all  the  places  named  were  large  importers  of  pro- 
visions by  railroad.  At  a  moderate  estimate  this  business  amounted  to  250,000  tons; 
total,  6,812,340  tons. 

The  commerce  included  in  Table  B,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  $463,243,847, 
while  within  the  lone  of  the  canal's  influence,  will  be  attracted  by  it  only  in  part. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  487 

The  valne  of  coal  oil  shipped  to  Central  America  and  the  East  Indies,  Dutch, 
French,  and  British,  etc.,  amounts  to  $6,228,394,  equivalent  to  (may  be  regarded  as 
entirely  tributary)  331,540  tons. 

(The  proportion  taken  by  Central  America  is  small,  and  therefore  need  not  be 
separated  in  the  general  estimate.) 

The  total  commerce  of  the  four  States  of  Central  America  which  have  their  principal 
ports  on  the  Pacific  amounts  to  $41,652,264.  As  coffee  constitutes  the  principal  com- 
modity of  export,  it  is  conceded  that  the  average  tounage  value  is  increased.  One  hun- 
dred dollars  is  therefore  assumed  as  the  unit  of  value  iu  this  case,  at  which  rate  the 
valuation  is  equivalent  to  416,652  tons.  A  small  portion  of  this  business  is  transacted 
by  the  gulf  ports ;  for  this  reason  60  per  cent  only  is  estimated  as  tributary  to  the 
canal,  say,  250,000  tons. 

The  commerce  of  Hongkong,  Shanghai,  Japan,  Australia,  Tasmania,  the  Philip- 
pines, and  other  islands  of  the  Pacific  with  Europe  amounts  to  $378,635,893.  As  high- 
priced  commodities  also  enter  largely  into  this  trade,  we  assume  the  same  unit  of 
value  per  ton  as  for  Central  America,  say,  $100;  the  equivalent  tonnage  is  3,786,359 
tons.  A  very  large  proportion  of  this  trade  is  now  carried  in  sailing  vessels  which 
make  thoir  outward  voyage  by  way  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  because  of  the  favor- 
ing winds  and  currents  return  home  by  the  longer  route  around  Cape  Horn. 

Conceding  that  one-half  of  this  total  traffic  (the  outward  bound)  will  not  bo 
aftected,  it  is  fair  to  consider  40  per  cent  of  the  remainder,  or  20  per  cent  of  the 
whole,  as  tributary,  say,  757,272  tons. 

The  business  between  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  and  Hongkong,  China, 
Japan,  Australia,  etc*.,  is  also  in  high-priced  commodities,  and  amounts  to  $42,955,690, 
which,  taken  at  $100  per  ton,  is  equivalent  to  429,557  tons.  It  is  largely  local  trade 
of  the  Pacific  slope,  but  some  of  it  is  transshijjped  by  rail  to  Eastern  ports;  the 
proportion  tributary  is  estimated  at  one-eighth,  say,  50,000  tons. 

The  shipments  /?'o»i  the  Straits  Settlements  and  the  Dutch  East  Indies  to  Great 
Britain  and  from  the  Dutch  East  Indies  to  Holland  amount,  in  the  aggregate,  to  a 
valuation  of  $95,472,688,  or,  at  an  average  per  ton  of  $100,  to  an  equivalent  of 
954,727  tons.  It  is  not  included  iu  Table  B,  being  more  remote  and  likely  to  yield 
but  a  small  proportion,  say,  10  per  cent  only,  95,473  tons.  The  aggregate  of  these 
estimates  amounts  to  8,296,625  tons. 

This  total  may  be  regarded  as  the  tonnage  now  existing,  which  if  transit  by  the 
canal  were  possible  to-day,  would  naturally  seek  that  route  and  pay  its  tolls  in 
preference  to  following  routes  which  are  at  present  in  use. 

Statistics  show  the  normal  growth  of  commerce  to  be  at  the  ratio  of  about  1  per " 
cent  per  annum.  Assuming  that  the  canal  will  be  completed  and  ready  for  use  by 
the  year  1897,  and  that  the  statistics  which  we  have  used  are  for  the  year  1890,  we 
may  add  7  per  cent  for  natural  growth,  say  580,760  tons,  making  in  round  numbers 
8,900,000  tons  as  the  aggregate  of  the  existing  freight  for  which  the  canal  at  its 
opening  will  afi^ord  the  most  convenient  route  for  transportation;  but  this  is  only 
allowing  for  a  normal  growth  of  commerce,  but  for  manifest  reasons  growth  in 
greater  proportion  than  usual  is  to  be  expected  whenever  the  near  prospect  of  the 
canal's  completion  shall  give  such  assurauce  of  its  availability  as  to  induce  immi- 
gration and  warrant  merchants  in  venturing  upon  new  enterprises.  Moreover,  with 
the  opening  of  the  canal  not  only  will  a  new  route  be  provided,  but  new  fields  will 
be  opened  to  commerce  by  the  more  advantageous  provision  for  transport  of  the  com- 
modities of  commerce,  as  was  argued  in  the  pamphlet  on  prospective  traffic,  pub- 
lished in  1890.     In  that  pamphlet  it  was  remarked : 

"  The  products  of  Alaska,  as  well  as  of  Washington  and  Oregon,  mostly  low-priced 
commodities  furnishing  a  large  bulk  of  tounage,  will  be  carried  at  less  cost  to  East- 
ern markets,  the  markets  of  the  Western  coast  of  South  America  will  be  opened  to 
the  low-priced  coals  of  the  Southwestern  States,  and  the  coasting  trade  now  carried 
on  with  the  West  Indies  to  the  extent  of  over  500,000  tons  per  annum  will  be  multi- 
plied beyond  calculation.  If  a  traffic  of  500,000  tons  has  been  developed  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Islands  of  the  Carribean  Sea,  what  may  be  expected  when 
the  markets  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  Columbia,  Mexico,  and  Central  America,  of  the 
States  of  Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Chile,  and  of  southern  California  are  opened  to 
the  easy  access  of  coasting  vessels  t 

"  In  the  existing  lake  and  coastwise  trade  of  the  United  States  steel  barges  carry- 
ing from  1,500  to  3,000  tons  freight,  transported  by  powerful  tugs,  are  taken  at  low 
cost  to  market  points,  and  there  left  to  discharge  and  reload  for  a  return  voyage, 
while  their  motive  power  returns  without  delay  with  freights,  iu  similar  barges, 
made  ready  for  departure  before  its  arrival.  Thus  movement  of  freight  is  accele- 
rated, invested  CTipital  is  made  to  yield  its  largest  returns,  shippers  profit  by  the 
possibility  of  lowered  rates  and  consumers  by  the  possibility  of  lowered  jirices.  Under 
such  methods  the  traffic  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  has  developed  from  1,567,741 
tons  in  1881  to  the  enormous  aggregate  of  8,388,891  tons  in  1891,  and  is  still  increas- 
ing. And  this  traffic  has  grown  up  in  connection  with  the  internal  trade  only  of  a 
portion  of  the  Northwestern  States  with  the  East.    Like  results  nrill  follow  similar 


488  NICARAGUA    CANAL    COMPANY. 

methods,  which  are  equally  available  in  the  waters  opened  jp  by  the  Nicaragua 
Canal,  and  American  enterprise  will  not  be  slow  to  ayail  itself  of  the  unprecedented 
opportunity.    What  people  have  ever  had  such  an  opportunity  put  before  themt" 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  products  of  the  forests  and  fisheries  of  Oregoa, 
Washington,  and  Alaska,  and  the  products  of  British  Columbia.  Returning  to  the 
subject,  the  following  facts  will  be  of  interest: 

The  salmon  pack  of  British  Columbia,  Alaska,  Washington,  Oregon,  and  California 
amounted  in  1889  to  1,683,800  cases,  about  84,200  tons,  valued  at  if9,064,000,  exceed- 
ing in  quantity  the  pack  of  1888  by  527,000  cases ;  680,000  cases  of  the  product  was 
from  Alaska  and  422,000  from  British  Columbia.  This  is  a  Rowing  industry.  The 
pack  amoanted  in  1880  to  only  679,490  cases ;  in  ten  years  it  has  increased  nearly 
250  per  cent;  by  1897,  at  the  same  ratio  of  increase,  it  will  amount  to  nearly 
3,500,000  cases.  Hop-growing  as  an  industry  was  commenced  in  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington in  1865.  In  1889  the  product  was  70, 000  bales,  regularly  quoted  and  compet- 
ing with  other  goods  in  the  New  York  market.  The  fur-seal  and  whale  fisheries  »'"o 
also  grow^ing  and  important  industries. 

The  cultivation  of  India  rubber  as  an  industry  in  Central  America  and  on  the 
western  coaat  of  California  is  already  attracting  attention.  The  increasing  demand 
for  the  gum  and  the  destruction  of  trees  in  their  natural  state  by  the  reckless 
hnleros,  or  native  gum-gatherers,  makes  attention  to  an  artificial  supply  for  future 
demands  of  manufacture  imjierative.  Already  large  manufacturing  corporations  in 
this  country  are  making  plantations  to  meet  it.  The  huleros  are  so  careless  that  not 
only  are  they  destructive  of  the  trees,  but  much  of  the  gum  brought  by  them  to 
market  is  in  bad  condition  and  commands  only  26  cents  per  pound,  whereas  when 
properly  collected  it  is  worth  as  much  as  80  cents  for  the  best  quality.  The  tree 
grows  naturally  in  Central  America  and  Mexico.  The  western  coast  of  the  last- 
named  country  and  of  southern  California  between  the  ocean  and  1,800  to  2,000  feet 
of  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea  seems  particularly  favorable  to  its  best 
development.  A  plantation  is  made  with  shoots  gathered  in  the  forests,  and  with 
proper  care  will  be  in  condition  to  yield  a  crop  in  six  or  seven  years,  A  tree  in  good 
condition  yields  10  to  12  pounds  per  annum,  and.  if  not  maltreated,  continues  to 
yield  year  after  year,  apparently  without  limit.  Its  yield  is  worth,  according  to 
quality — which  depends  chiefly  upon  its  treatment — from  50  cents  to  80  cents  per 
pound.     This,  too,  is  an  industry  which  will  pay  tribute  to  the  can:il. 

But  in  the  forests  of  the  northwestern  Pacific  coast  there  already  exists  material 
which  needs  only  the  facilities  of  the  canal  for  its  transportation  to  a  favorable 
market  to  yield  a  tonnage  which  alone  will  probably  exceed  that  of  all  other  indus- 
tries combined.  The  wonderful  growth  of  the  lumber  trade  of  that  section  under 
present  limitations  of  transjiortation  is  an  indication  of  the  magnitude  to  which  it 
will  grow  with  the  opening  of  new  and  more  extended  markets  by  the  shortening 
of  distances  to  them  on  lines  within  the  still  waters  of  the  Tenij)erate  and  Torrid 
zones  instead  of  by  the  routes  now  existing  through  the  tempestuous  seas  of  the 
storm  zone. 

In  1886  the  shipment  of  Inraber  from  Oregon  amounted  to  6,000,000  feet,  equal  to 
12,500  tons ;  in  1887,  to  48.000,000  feet,  equal  to  100,000  tons.  In  1888  the  amount 
cut  amounted  to  706,985,000  feet,  and  the  shipments  abroad  to  471,325,000  feet,  equal 
to  981,925  tons,  or  nearly  1,000,000  tons. 

Concerning  the  lumber  trade  with  Eastern  markets,  the  Post-Intelligencer,  of 
Seattle,  Wash.,  published  the  following  under  the  dates  indicated: 

"July  11. — The  sound  sawmills  (Puget  Sound)  have  lately  been  filling  special 
Eastern  and  Southern  orders  for  extra  length  stuff.  Quite  a  large  number  of  huge 
spars  have  been  lately  shipped  from  sound  ports  to  the  East  where  there  is  ever  an 
active  market  sale  for  tliat  material. 

"July  14. — The  Puget  Sound  cedar  shingles  were  first  entered  in  the  Eastern  mar- 
kets five  years  ago.  The  demand  for  them  has  ever  since  steadily  increased,  and 
now  shingle  mills  all  over  the  sound  are  shipping  their  products  East  as  far  as  Ohio 
(i.  e.  railroad  routes)." 

The  forests  of  Maine  no  longer  yield  the  timber  needed  for  masts  and  spars  of  lar^e 
vessels.  In  the  forests  of  Oregon  trees  grow  to  12  feet  in  diameter  and  300  feet  m 
height.  The  average  length  of  a  cargo  of  sticks  taken  to  Boston  from  Puget  Sound 
by  the  bark  Crapo.  in  1890,  was  126  feet,  and  their  average  diameter  39  inches. 
Sixty  of  these  sticks  were  bought  by  a  shipl)uilder  of  Bath,  Me.,  and  were  made 
into  a  raftand  towed  around  to  his  yard.  This  fact  shows  how  depleted  the  Maine 
forests  are  of  spar  timber.  Cuba  hasattempted  the  importation  of  lumberfor  build- 
ing purposes  around  Cape  Horn,  but  found  the  experiment  too  costly  to  be  continued. 
In  our  Southern  States  their  own  hard  pine,  though  less  desirable,  is  taking  the 
place  of  soft  pine  because  of  advancing  prices.  All  these  demands  will  be  met  and 
supplied  from  the  Oregon  and  Washington  lumber  fields  with  the  opening  of  the 
canal.  What  this  demand  and  supply  will  actually  amount  to  is  mere  conjecture, 
but  oonBidering  the  coastwise  trade  as  a  whole,  including  the  mahogany,  rosewood. 


NICARAGUA   CANAL    COMPANY.  489 

ironwood,  and  teak  of  Southern  Pacific  coasts,  the  growing  trade  of  Central  America 
in  coffee,  cocoa,  india  rubber,  mahogany,  and  other  hard  woods,  the  furs  of  Alaska, 
and  the  seal  fisheries,  whale  oil,  wheat,  canned  salmon,  and  other  products  of  British 
Columbia,  Washington,  and  Oregon,  spar  timber,  and  other  lumber  from  the  forests, 
and  our  outbound  trade  in  coal,  textile  fabrics,  agricultural  implements,  machinery, 
iron  goods,  etc.,  an  addition  of  1,000,000  tons  per  annum  will  be  conceded  to  be 
none  too  great  an  allowance. 

The  aggregate  of  the  traffic,  apparent  at  present,  from  which  the  canal  may  be 
expected  to  derive  its  business  and  its  revenue,  amounts,  then,  to  8,900,000  tons,  to 
which  may  be  added  at  least  1,000,000  tons  for  the  traffic  mentioned  on  foregoing 
pages,  not  to  speak  of  those  unforeseen  and  unexpected  developments,  of  which  the 
commerce  of  all  new  countries  has  always  been  prolific,  whenever  increased  facili- 
ties have  afforded  more  favorable  opportunity  for  an  exploitation  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  region.  In  this  respect  the  opportunity  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  is 
unique.  The  countries  chiefly  brought  into  nearer  contact  by  the  Suez  Canal  are 
old  and  densely  populated.  Europe  with  its  population  of  101  to  the  square  mile, 
and  Asia,  with  a  population  of  57  to  the  mile,  or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  England, 
France,  and  Belgium  as  parts  of  Europe,  and  India  and  China  as  parts  of  Asia,  have 
very  few  new  or  untried  resources  yet  remaining  open  for  development.  On  the 
other  hand,  by  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  North  America  with  a  population  of  14  to  the 
mile,  chiefly  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  South  America  with  a  population  of  5 
to  the  mile,  and  Australia  with  a  population  of  only  1.4  to  the  mile,  all  of  them  the 
abodes  of  vigorous,  rapidly  increasing,  and  enterprising  populations,  with  as  yet 
many  only  partially  developed  resources,  the  magnitude  and  value  of  which  are 
already  shown  by  such  essays  as  have  been  possible  under  existing  circumstances 
to  be  almost  incalculable,  are  brought  nearer  to  each  other  and  into  closer  connec- 
tion with  Europe,  by  a  channel  of  communication  through  a  country  unsurpassed  in 
its  natural  beauties  and  resources,  possessing  a  climate  exceptionally  healthy,  which 
from  its  natural  characteristics  must,  when  facilities  for  travel  are  afforded,  become 
a  pleasure  resort  for  travelers  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

It  would  seem  that  if  the  conditions  for  an  unprecedented  growth  of  population, 
commerce,  and  material  prosperity  ever  existed  anywhere,  they  exist  here  to  a 
degree  never  before  exceeded.  The  great  success  of  the  canal  at  Suez,  not  only  in 
respect  of  its  returns  to  those  who  ventured  their  capital  in  its  construction,  but 
more  especially  in  the  realization  of  all  the  advantages  to  commerce  which  were 
predicted  of  it  by  its  projectors,  is  an  assurance  that  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  when 
completed,  will  find  commerce  ready  to  avail  itself,  at  once,  of  its  advantages, 
instead  of  waiting  until  the  more  venturesome  spirits  shall  have  tried  them  and 
proved  their  merits.  Because  of  the  great  success  at  Suez,  the  advantages  of  canal 
transit  have  ceased  to  be  subject  of  experiment,  and  have  become  demonstrated  facts. 
The  business  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  therefore,  will  not  be  of  small  beginnings  and 
slow  growth,  but  will  at  once  assume  a  magnitude  commensurate  with  the  oppor- 
tunity; and  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  expect  that  of  the  9,900,000  tons  estimated  as 
within  the  zone  of  attraction,  at  least  two-thirds,  or,  say,  6,500,000  tons,  will  seek 
the  new  route  for  transit  as  early  as  within  the  second  year  of  its  operation. 

If  the  canal  tolls  be  fixed  at  $2.50  per  ton  this  amount  of  traffic  will  yield  a  grosu 
revenue  of  $16,250,000. 

The  cost  of  maintenance  and  operation  of  the  canal  after  its  completion  can 
not  be  large.  The  route  is  made  up  principally  of  broad  stretches  of  water,  with 
natural  banks,  or  of  cuttings  through  solid  rock,  which,  once  made,  will  be  perma- 
nent ;  and  there  are  no  sands  drifting  from  widespread  desert  plains,  as  at  Suez,  to 
fill  its  channel  continually  and  make  necessary  large  and  unceasing  expense  for 
heavy  dredging.  The  cost  of  maintenance  must,  from  the  nature  of  things,  there- 
fore, be  moderate.  The  operation  of  the  lock  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal,  which 
passed  nearly  7,500,000  tons  in  the  season  of  1890-91,  together  with  all  other  expenses 
of  that  canal  for  tbat  year,  amounted  to  $45,417.  Allowing  $50,000  for  each  of 
the  6  locks  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  for  operating  alone,  and  making  a  similarly 
liberal  allowance  for  maintenance,  administration,  and  all  other  expenses,  the  total 
annual  cost  can  not  exceed  $1,500,000,  which,  on  an  annual  traffic  of  6,500,000  tons, 
at  the  rate  of  toll  suggested,  shows  a  net  revenue  of  $14,750,000,  or  5  per  cent  on  a 
total  capitalization  of  $295,000,000  to  be  realized  immediately  upon  the  attainment 
by  the  enterprise  of  such  a  condition  of  advancement  as  will  afford  opportunity 
for  demonstration  of  its  capabilities. 

What  the  growth  of  its  traffic  and  revenue  may  be  from  this  point  is,  of  course,  a 
matter  of  conjecture,  but  in  view  of  all  the  contingent  conditions  it  can  not  fail  to 
he  large  and  rapid,  and  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  although  the  canal 
has  been  projected  with  a  view  to  the  accommodation  of  a  large  traffic,  its  capacity, 
before  many  years  shall  have  passed,  will  be  taxed  to  the  utmost. 
[See  Senate  Report  No.  1142,  Fifty  second  Congress,  second  session,  p.  410;  Senate 
Report  No.  1944,  Fifty-lirst  Congress,  second  session,  p.  187.3 


490  PACIFIO    CABLES. 

FIFTY-FOURTH  CONGRESS.  FIRST  SESSION. 

May  6,  1896. 

[Senate  Report  No.  871.] 

Mr.  Frye,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  snbmitt<ed  the 
following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  have  considered  the  several 
bills  referred  to  it  to  facilitate  the  construction  and  maintenance  of 
telegraphic  cables  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  for  the  use  of  the  Government 
in  its  foreign  intercourse,  and  submit  the  following  report: 

The  exigencies  of  commerce  and  the  public  necessitj'  of  intercourse 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  have  prompted 
for  ten  years  past  various  steps  taken  in  Congress  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  line  of  telegraph  to  Honolulu.  The  Senate  at  its  last 
session  by  a  decisive  vote  adopted,  and  the  House  by  a  large  minority 
supported,  a  joint  rosolution  directing  the  immediate  construction  of 
such  a  line  at  the  sole  expense  of  the  United  States,  and  this  action 
was  fully  justified  by  existing  conditions.  For  almost  a  century  the 
interest  of  the  American  people  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  has  never 
flagged.  While  the  great  powers  of  Europe  have  been  appropriating 
to  themselves  the  many  valuable  and  strategic  spots  on  the  world's 
map,  whereby  to  open  up  new  markets  for  their  products,  or  afford 
protection  to  their  commerce  and  bases  for  their  naval  operations,  the 
"manifest  destiny"  of  Hawaii  has  so  plainly  placed  those  islands 
within  the  circle  of  American  influence  and  protection  that  the  whole 
world  has  stood  aloof,  and  by  common  consent  recognized  their  ulti- 
mate coalescence  with  the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 

Located  in  latitude  19°  to  22°  north  and  longitude  80°  west  from 
Washington,  the  Hawaiian  Islands  are  the  center  of  a  circle  embracing 
an  area  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  world's  surface  within  which  there 
is  included  no  other  island  or  group  of  importance  to  commerce,  travel, 
or  a  naval  establishment.  They  are  the  nearest  land  westward  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  late  commander  of  our  Army, 
Gen.  John  M.  Schofield,  who  made  a  x)ersonal  inspection  of  their  posi- 
tion, harbors,  etc. ,  "constitute  the  only  natural  outpost  to  the  defenses 
of  the  Pacific  coast." 

Regarding  the  importance  of  their  position,  and  the  menace  to  our 
western  coast  their  possession  would  be  in  the  hands  of  any  rival  gov- 
ernment, we  have  not  only  declared  against  the  interference  by  any 
foreign  power  in  their  concerns,  but  have  arrogated  to  ourselves  the 
right  of  influencing  their  interests.  To  this  end  a  treaty  of  reciprocity 
was  entered  into  between  the  two  Governments,  January  30,  1875,  by 
which  certain  products  were  to  be  received  from  and  into  the  two  coun- 
tries "  free  of  duty,"  and  in  which  it  was  agreed  on  the  part  of  Hawaii 
as  follows : 

It  is  agreed  on  the  part  of  His  Hawaiian  Majesty  that,  so  long  as  this  treaty 
shall  remain  in  force,  he  will  not  lease  or  otherwise  dispose  of.  or  create  any  lien 
upon  any  port,  harbor,  or  other  territory  in  his  dominions,  or  grant  any  special 
privilege  or  rights  of  use  therein  to  any  other  power,  state,  or  government,  nor 
make  any  treaty  by  which  any  other  nation  shall  obtain  the  same  privileges,  rela- 
tive to  the  admission  of  any  articles  free  of  duty,  hereby  secured  to  the  United 
States. 

In  the  year  1887  this  treaty  was  renewed  and  extended  by  the  two 
Governments,  with  the  following  agreement  on  the  part  of  Hawaii: 

Article  II.  His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  grants  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  the  exclusive  right  to  enter  the  harbor  of  Pearl 


PACIFIC    CABLES.  491 

River,  in  the  island  of  Oahu,  and  to  establish  and  maintain  there  a  coaling  and 
repair  station  for  the  use  of  vessels  of  the  United  States:  and  to  that  end  the 
United  States  may  improve  the  entrance  to  said  harbor  and  do  all  other  things 
needful  to  the  purpose  aforesaid. 

While  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  not  as  yet  availed 
itself  of  the  privilege  and  "exclusive  right  to  enter  the  harbor  of 
Pearl  River,"  it  is  more  than  probable  that  such  action  will  be  taken 
in  the  near  future.  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  practical  investiga- 
tion and  experiment  that  the  cost  of  improving  the  entrance  to  said 
harbor,  so  as  to  admit  any  ship  of  the  United  States  Navy,  would  be 
less  than  $200,000.  The  value  to  the  vessels  of  our  Pacific  squadron 
in  being  able  to  anchor  in  the  clear,  fresh  waters  of  Pearl  River,  and 
thereby  counteract  the  effect  of  the  salt  water  and  the  ravages  of 
insects,  would  alone  pay  for  the  expenditure  of  a  much  greater  sum. 

As  a  rendezvous  for  our  Navy,  from  whence  by  means  of  telegraphic 
communication  vessels  can  be  instantly  ordered  to  any  part  of  the 
world,  the  importance  of  Pearl  River  Harbor  to  the  United  States  is 
incalculable. 

Looking,  then,  to  the  establishing  of  telegraphic  communication 
simply  in  the  light  of  self-interest,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  can  not  afford  to  neglect  any  opportunity  for  securing  such  com- 
munication upon  favorable  terms  and  acquiring  such  "exclusive  con- 
trol "  as  may  be  necessary  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  Government. 

The  committee  has  found  in  the  situation  which  resulted  in  the 
proposed  contract  an  opjjortunity  to  secure  the  desired  result,  and 
with  it  the  much  larger  end  of  direct  connection  with  the  telegraph 
system  of  Japan,  which  in  its  turn  connects  with  China,  India,  Aus- 
tralia, and  much  of  the  world  that  is  now  reached  from  the  United 
States  only  by  making  almost  the  circuit  of  the  world. 

This  is  brought  within  reach  upon  terms  that  relieve  the  United 
States  from  the  first  cost  and  risk  of  maintenance,  as  well  as  from 
the  aspects  of  commercial  venture.  The  price  for  private  messages 
is  limited  almost  to  one-third  what  is  now  charged  per  word  from  the 
United  States  to  Japan,  while  communication  with  Hawaii  is  provided 
at  but  10  cents  per  word  more  than  the  price  which  competition  has 
established  for  the  multitudinous  messages  crossing  the  Atlantic. 

The  situation  which  permitted  this  arose  from  a  concession  made  in 
August,  1895,  by  the  Hawaiian  Government  to  a* citizen  of  the  United 
States  long  identified  with  Hawaiian  industries,  which  contemplates 
the  laying  of  a  telegraphic  cable  from  Honolulu  to  the  United  States, 
and  also  an  interisland  telegraphic  system,  placing  the  whole  of  that 
country  in  communication  with  it. 

In  aid  of  that  undertaking  the  concession  provides  an  annual  sub- 
sidy of  $40,000  for  twenty  years,  and  bestows  for  the  same  period  an 
exclusive  right  of  landing.  The  latter  has  its  value  and  doubtless 
had  its  cause  in  the  growing  activity  of  Australian  and  Canadian 
interests  in  seeking  the  cooperation  of  the  English  Government  in  the 
establishment  of  a  telegraph  line  from  Canada  to  Australia,  to  which 
a  landing  on  one  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  considered  indispensa- 
ble on  account  of  electrical  limitations  that  are  necessarily  involved. 
The  value  of  priority  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  for 
a  long  time  to  be  exclusive,  until  such  time  as  a  second  line  can  be 
regarded  as  a  profitable  venture,  the  first  line  being  able  to  duplicate 
its  cables  at  much  less  cost  and  risk. 

This  advantage  of  priority  in  crossing  the  Pacific  the  Hawaiian 
people  have  tendered  to  the  United  States,  with  access  in  addition  to 


492  PACIFIC   CABLES. 

all  of  their  own  islands.  As  first  offered  to  the  committee  it  involved 
only  a  line  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Against  this  it  was  reasonably 
urged  that  large  interests  exist  which  would  materially  suffer  by  the 
loss  of  profits  now  enjoyed  from  tolls  on  telegraphic  messages  between 
the  United  States  and  trans-Pacific  points,  and  which  for  that  reason 
could  afford  to  invest  in  a  cable  from  the  United  States  to  Honolulu,  if 
that  could  be  used  to  prevent  the  building  of  a  through  line  across  the 
Pacific.  The  result  is  a  proposed  through  line,  to  Ik'  guarantied  by  a 
deposit  immediately  upon  the  passage  of  the  bill  and  with  payments 
to  be  suspended  in  case  of  protracted  interruption. 

The  Hawaiian  Government,  on  its  part,  to  secure  immediate  con- 
struction, has  conditioned  the  continuing  validity  of  its  grant  upon 
the  rendering  of  "substantial  assistance"  by  the  United  States,  and 
also  upon  the  further  condition  that  the  contractor  commence  work  by 
May  1,  1897,  thus  reserving  to  that  people  the  right  and  power  in  case 
their  overture  to  the  United  States  shall  be  declined  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  movement  to  lay  a  cable  from  Canada  to  Australia,  and 
secure  for  themselves  and  their  commerce  through  English  channels 
telegraphic  connection  with  the  world.  To  this  aspect  of  the  situation 
Canadian  interests,  governmental,  commercial,  railway,  and  telegraph, 
are  actively  alive. 

Rival  lines — Canadian  and  American— of  steamers  between  Japan 
and  North  America  are  already  supported  by  the  commerce  of  Japan. 
That  commerce  itself  goes  naturally  to  either  country  and  to  its  trans- 
portation and  telegraph  lines  in  proportion  to  the  facilities  accorded. 

The  imports  and  exports  of  the  United  States  from  and  to  Japan 
for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1895,  were  in  the  aggregate  128,330,674. 
The  function  of  the  telegraphic  cable,  not  merely  in  determining  the 
relative  facilities  of  intercourse  but  in  developing  new  commerce  by 
reason  of  the  new  facilities,  seems  obvious. 

It  may  be  said  here,  properly,  that  if  a  cable  is  laid  from  San  Fran- 
cisco to  Japan  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  proposed  Australian 
line  will  be  built  from  Australia  to  Honolulu  only,  and  connect  that 
country  with  North  America  by  that  means. 

The  commerce  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  not  only  chiefly  with  the 
United  States,  but  in  a  sense  which  is  unfortunately  rare,  is  carried  in 
vessels  belonging  to  this  country.  Of  390  voyages  made  from  the 
United  States  to  Hawaii  during  the  year  1893-94,  351  were  made  by 
vessels  of  this  country.  That  these  ships  should  be  at  the  termination 
of  each  voyage  distant  on  an  average  three  weeks  from  communication 
with  home,  distant  as  nowhere  else  within  commercial  regions,  is  at 
least  a  wide  departure  from  the  policy  of  Great  Britain,  which  has 
under  subsidy  not  less  than  10,000  miles  of  cable  extending  into  the 
remotest  commercial  regions,  at  an  annual  cost  to  the  Government  of 
that  country  of  $450,000.  The  average  rate  of  these  subsidies  ($45  per 
mile)  is  about  $20  per  mile  in  excess  of  the  sum  which  in  this  case  it  is 
proposed  to  pay  for  a  limited  period,  the  messages  of  the  United  States 
to  be  carried  free  not  only  during  that  period,  but  in  perpetuity. 

In  large  proportion,  also,  proprietary  interests  in  Hawaii  are  owned 
or  operated,  or  both,  by  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  commit- 
tee regard  this  consideration  also  as  of  weight  in  determining  the 
propriety  of  seconding  such  American  effort  in  this  direction  as  would 
result  from  enabling  them  to  direct  by  telegraph,  in  case  of  need, 
their  interests  in  either  country. 

The  extent  to  which  the  interests  of  the  nation  as  such  are  involved 
may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  every  telegraphic  cable  now  crossing 


PACIFIC    CABLES.  493 

the  Atlantic  from  Nortli  America  has  its  starting  point  in  Nova 
Scotia.  In  the  event  of  any  severance  of  peaceful  relations  with 
Great  Britain,  communication  by  that  channel  would,  of  coursp,  be 
immediately  and,  as  it  were,  automatically  closed  and  this  country  be 
dependent  for  telegraphic  communication  upon  cables  crossing  the 
Atlantic  from  Brazil  to  Portugal,  with  all  of  the  contingencies  which 
that  situation  would  involve,  while  the  construction  of  a  trans-Pacific 
cable,  such  as  the  bill  provides  for,  would  maintain  direct  communi- 
cation by  a  channel  not  likely  in  anj''  case  to  be  involved  at  the  same 
time  with  hostile  measures. 

The  economic  value,  also,  to  the  Government  of  such  a  line  is  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  more  than  once  within  the  past  two  years 
steam  vessels  of  the  Government  have  been  dispatched  posthaste  to 
Honolulu  and  return,  while  only  within  the  past  few  months  a  United 
States  vessel  of  war  was  some  time  overdue  and  was  the  cause  of  grave 
apprehension  for  two  weeks  or  more  after  the  time  when  her  arrival 
and  safety  at  Honolulu  would  have  been  known  if  commnnication  by 
telegraph  were  in  existence.  These  matters  of  the  past  are  liable  at 
any  day  to  be  repeated  on  a  scale  of  transcendent  consequence  if  the 
situation  arrives  in  any  quarter  to  make  immediate  and  active  con- 
trol of  its  war  vessels  on  the  Pacific  indispensable  to  the  United  States 
at  a  time  when  communication  by  telegraph  between  the  United  States 
and  Europe  via  Nova  Scotia  is  cut  off. 

The  committee,  as  has  been  said,  have  preferred  to  report  a  bill  for 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  proposed  cable  by  a  private 
company,  rather  than  a  bill  providing  for  its  construction  and  main- 
tenance by  the  United  States,  such  as  passed  the  Senate  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  year.  They  prefer  this  course,  although  an  assignment 
and  transfer  to  the  United  States  is  freely  offered  without  charge  and 
without  other  condition  than  that  the  contractor's  obligations  under 
it  to  the  Hawaiian  Government  be  performed  by  the  United  States. 
The  construction  proposed  by  the  bill  which  in  February  passed  the 
Senate  was  to  Honolulu  only.  The  construction  now  proposed  is  to 
the  coast  of  Japan.  The  cost  and  risk  of  maintenance,  in  their  judg- 
ment, are  such  as  the  United  States  should  not  avoidably  incur,  save 
for  a  strictly  public  purpose,  while  possible  entanglements  with  for- 
eign countries  may  be  found  easier  of  solution  in  the  absence,  rather 
than  in  the  presence,  of  property  belonging  directly  to  the  United 
States. 

The  question  of  whether  or  not  the  payment  of  $160,000  a  year  for 
twenty  years  is  reasonable  was  considered  by  your  committee.  They 
find  that  the  cost  of  the  cable,  laid  and  in  condition  to  be  operated, 
will  be  at  least  13,000,000;  the  cost  of  a  cable  steamer,  fittings,  etc., 
$400,000.  The  annual  interest  on  these  sums  at  4  per  cent  would  be 
$136,000.  The  maintenance  of  the  ship  would  cost  $125,000  a  year; 
operating  expenses  of  the  cable,  $75,000  a  year;  breakage,  repairs, 
etc.,  $250,000  a  year  for  the  first  five  years,  making  a  total  annual 
cost  of  $586,000. 

These  figures  were  obtained  in  part  by  Mr.  Spalding,  who  represents 
the  Pacific  Cable  Company,  a  New  Jersey  corporation,  and  in  part 
from  Mr.  Schrymser,  president  of  the  Pacific  Cable  Corporation  of  N  ew 
York. 

As  to  the  reasonableness  of  the  annual  charge  of  $250,000  for  the 
first  five  years  for  maintenance,  repairs,  etc.,  the  committee  annex 
a  letter  from  President  Schrymser,  dated  New  York,  February  8, 
1896. 


494  PACIFIC   CABLES. 

Tried  by  this  test,  which  is  believed  to  be  a  fair  one,  the  annual 
cost  for  maintenance  alone  of  a  cable  from  the  United  States  to  Japan 
by  way  of  Honolulu,  or  by  any  other  route,  must  be  largely  in  excess  of 
the  total  amount  payable  under  the  bill  now  reported  by  the  United 
States. 

The  bill  has  been  made  to  provide  that  the  arrangement  shall  be  by 
contract  with  the  United  States  through  the  Postmaster-General  and 
the  lowest  bidder  therefor,  and  shall  be  completed  and  continue  under 
the  supervision  of  that  oflBcer,  because  the  telegraph  being  part  of  the 
machinery  of  communication  such  governmental  control  as  is  in  differ- 
ent countries  exercised  is  uniformly  exercised  through  their  respec- 
tive postal  departments,  and  that  course  has  been  pursued  hitherto 
by  the  United  States.  The  contract  relation  is  believed  to  secure  to 
the  United  States  better  control  than  a  mere  grant  would  do,  while  it 
is  accepted  by  the  company  as  giving  to  the  grant  an  increased  aspect 
of  stability. 

Your  committee  therefore  recommend  the  accompanying  bill  as  a 
substitute  for  those  referred. 


Pacific  Cable  Company,  37  and  39  Wall  Street, 

Neuj  York,  February  8, 1896. 

My  Dear  Sm:  Referring  to  the  statement  I  made  to  your  committee  as  to  the 
probable  annual  cost  of  repairs  to  the  proposed  cable  between  the  United  States 
and  Hawaii,  length  being  2,43;J  miles,  I  now  give  you  the  following  information 
re8i)ecting  the  cost  of  repairs  and  the  amounts  of  reserve  for  repairs  and  renewals 
of  ihe  various  cable  companies: 

Direct  United  States  Cable  Company. — This  company's  cable  is  2,564  miles  in 
length,  and  was  laid  between  Ireland  and  Nova  Scotiain  1875,  twenty  years  ago. 
Its  reserve  fund,  accumulated  during  that  time,  is  £'305.005,  say  $1 ,500,000.  It  is 
stated  that  if  the  company  were  to  be  suddenly  broutrlit  to  its  beam  ends  it  would 
be  short  of  the  amount  n  quired  to  provide  a  new  cable. 

You  vdll  understand  that  it  is  the  aim  of  all  well -managed  cable  companies  to 
provide  a  fund  that  will  cover  all  repairs  and  also  lie  sufficient  to  renew  their 
cables,  say,  in  twenty  years,  that  being  the  estimated  life  of  a  deep-sea  cable. 

One  rei>air  of  the  Direct  Cable  Company's  cable  cost  that  company  £58,814 
($294,700). 

Western  Union  Cable  Conj/)aji//.— This  company  has  two  cables  between  England 
and  Nova  Scotia,  each  being  about  2,562  miles  in  length.  These  cables  were  laid 
in  1881-82.  The  company  has  had  two  interruptions  to  their  cables,  one  of  which 
lasted  just  short  of  a  year,  the  other  somewhat  over  a  year.  The  steamer  Fa  raday, 
of  8,000  tons,  was  employed  on  the  last  repair  expedition,  at  a  cost  of  $l,5(iO 
a  day.  She  was  out  for  over  four  months,  being  unable  to  make  repairs,  owing 
to  bad  weather.  The  steamer  was  obliged  to  remain  in  port  for  two  months  untU 
fair  weather  would  justify  the  work.  She  was  again  at  sea  for  nearly  two  months, 
during  which  time  nothing  was  heard  from  her,  and  it  was  feared  that  she  had 
been  lost.  However,  she  recovered  the  cable  and  repaired  it.  It  is  known  the»e 
two  repairs  cost  over  $500,000,  which  includes  the  cost  of  the  new  cable  employed 
in  the  repair. 

French  Cable  Company. — This  cable  was  laid  between  the  coast  of  France  and 
the  island  of  St.  Pierre,  off  Nova  Scotia,  in  1879.  It  is  2,281  miles  in  length. 
This  company  was  unable  to  accumulate  a  reserve  fund,  owing  to  frequent  inter- 
ruptions. Its  cable  was  inten-upted  during  last  June,  since  which  time  the  steam- 
ers Faraday  and  Arago  have  been  engaged  endeavoring  to  make  repairs,  at  an 
expense  of  $1,500  a  day.  The  Arago  left  St.  Johns  December  23, 1895,  and  has  not 
been  heard  of  since  that  date. 

Eastern  Telegraph  Company. — The  cables  of  this  company  are  of  all  ages, 
lengths,  and  weight,  the  seas  in  which  they  are  laid  differing  very  much  as  to  the 
type  of  cable  used.  Its  reserve  fund  amounts  to  £422,000  ($2,110,000),  and  in  the 
opinion  of  the  chairman  the  reserve  fund  should  be  double  that  amount. 

Mexican  Telegraph  Coinpa  ny. — This  company  operates  704  miles  of  cable  between 
Galveston,  Tex.,  and  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico.  It  is  a  coast  line  and  in  water  of  about 
100  fathoms  in  depth,  therefore  easily  repaired  at  any  season,  and  yet  the  board  of 


PACIFIC    CABLES.  495 

directors  have  deemed  it  prudent  to  carry  to  reserve  $1,007,000  during  the  past 
thirteen  years,  averaging  $77,461  per  annum.  You  will  observe  that  this  cable  has 
nothing  like  the  risks  of  a  remote  deep-sea  Pacific  cable.  It  is  about  one- third  the 
length  of  the  proposed  United  States-Hawaii  cable,  and  yet  we  have  averaged  a 
reserve  fund  of  $77,461  annually  for  repairs  and  renewals. 

These  figures  fully  sustain  my  statement  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  reserve  at 
'  least  $200,000  or  $250,000  a  year  for  the  first  five  years  to  provide  for  the  repair 
and  renewal  of  the  proposed  United  States-Hawaii  cable.  You  will  bear  in  mind 
that  repairs  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  will  be  at  greater  depths  than  in  the  North 
Atlantic,  and  that  all  cable  and  material  will  have  to  be  transported  thousands  of 
miles,  which  will  largely  increase  the  cost  as  compared  with  repairs  between  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States.  No  one  can  foretell  the  amount  of  cable  necessary 
for  a  deep-sea  repair.  The  Anglo-American  Telegraph  Company  expended  in 
1894  in  repairing  its  1874  cable  between  Valencia  and  Hearts  Content  £74,360 
($371,800),  of  which  amount  a  little  over  £56,000  ($280,000)  was  for  a  new  cable 
inserted. 
I  think  I  have  given  you  sufiicient  proof  that  it  would  require  a  reserve  of 
),000  a  year  to  provide  for  the  repairs  and  renewals  on  a  cable  between  United 
States  and  Hawaii  for  the  first  five  years,  and  thereafter  at  least  $150,000  a  year 
should  be  carried  to  reserve  fund  for  that  purpose. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  yours,  very  respectfully, 

James  A.  Scrymser,  President. 
Hon.  William  P.  Frye, 

United  States  Senator,  Washington,  D.  C, 


This  agreement,  made  this  13th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1895,  by  and  between  San- 
ford  Ballard  Dole,  President  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  for  himself  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  office  and  in  behalf  of  the  Hawaiian  Government,  and  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  cabinet,  party  of  the  first  part,  hereinalter  called  "'the  Govern- 
ment," and  Zephaniah  Swift  Spalding,  of  Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands,  party  of 
the  second  part,  hereinafter  called  •'  the  contractor,"  witnesseth: 

AGREEMENTS  BY  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Article  I, — Grant  of  exclusive  franchise. 

Section  1.  In  consideration  of  the  covenants,  agreements,  and  undertakings 
hereinafter  contained  on  the  part  of  the  contractor  or  his  representatives  or  assigns 
to  be  kept  or  performed,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  in  the  exercise  of  the  power 
to  him  granted  by  the  provisions  of  an  act  entitled  "An  act  to  facilitate  the  con- 
struction and  maintenance  of  telegraphic  cables  in  the  Pacific,"  approved  on  the 
12th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1895,  and  of  every  other  power,  if  any,  him  hereunto 
enabling,  doth  hereby  grant,  concede,  and  confirm  unto  the  contractor  and  his 
representatives  and  assigns,  upon  the  terms  and  conditions  hereinafter  contained, 
the  sole  and  exclusive  privilege  and  franchise  for  and  during  the  full  term  of 
twenty  years  from  the  Ist  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1895,  to  construct  or  land  upon 
the  shores  of  the  Hawaiian  group  a  submarine  electric  telegraph  cable  or  cables 
to  or  from  any  point  or  points  on  the  North  American  Continent  or  any  island 
or  islands  contiguous  thereto. 

Sec.  2.  Cable  to  terminate  at  San  Francisco  and  be  maintained  for  tiventy  years.  — 
Provided,  however,  and  this  agreement  is  upon  these  express  conditions,  viz,  that 
the  first  cable  which  shall  or  may  be  constructed  or  laid  under  this  franchise,  and 
for  the  maintenance  of  which  a  subsidy  is  herein  agreed  to  be  paid,  shall  have  its 
eastern  terminus  at  or  near  San  Francisco,  Cal. ,  and  its  western  terminus  at  or 
near  Honolulu,  and  shall  be  maintained  in  working  order  in  conformity  with  and 
subject  to  the  specifications,  conditions,  and  agreements  hereinafter  contained  for 
the  full  term  of  this  agreement. 

Sec.  3.  Exchisive  grant  not  to  conflict  with  treaty  rights  of  foreign  governments. — 
And  further,  that  this  grant  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  any  foreign  govern- 
ment, having  existing  treaty  rights  with  the  Republic  of  Hawaii  allowing  any  such 
government  so  to  do,  to  land  a  cable  upon  the  Hawaiian  group  for  other  than  com- 
mercial purposes  from  any  point  on  the  North  American  Continent. 

Article  II. — Orant  of  subsidy , 

Section  1.  Amount  and  term  of  subsidy. — And  the  Government  doth  hereby 
further  covenant  with  the  contractor  and  his  representatives  and  assigns,  that 
there  shall  be  paid  to  him,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  by  the  Government  of  the 


496  PACIFIC    CABLES. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  npon  the  terms  and  conditions  hereinafter  set  forth,  subject  to 
ratification  hereof  by  the  legislature  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  an  annual  subsidy 
of  $40,000.  gold  coin  of  the  United  States,  for  and  during  the  period  of  twenty 
years  from  the  date  of  the  establishment  by  the  contractor,  or  his  representatives 
or  assigns,  of  telegrajjhic  communication  between  the  city  of  Honolulu,  in  the 
Republic  of  Hawaii,  and  a  pcjint  at  or  near  San  Francisco,  Cal.;  and  between  the 
said  city  of  Honolulu  and  the  islands  of  Hawaii,  Maui.  Molokai,  and  Kauai. 

Sec.  2.  Time  and  place  of  pai/ment  of  xubxidy.—Hach  subsidy  shall  he  paid  to 
the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  at  the  treasury  of  the  Government 
in  said  Honolulu,  by  the  minister  of  finance  of  the  Government,  or  his  successor 
in  oflBce,  in  equal  quarterly  installments  of  $10,000  each,  during  each  and  all  of  the 
years  of  said  above-mentioned  term  of  twenty  years. 

Subject,  however,  to  suspeusion  or  cancellation  upon  the  terms  and  conditions 
hereinafter  set  forth. 

Sec.  :?.  Grant  conditioned  upon  beginninrj and  completion  of  cable  upon  specified 
dates,  and  performance  of  other  arp-eements. — Provided,  however,  and  this  agree- 
ment is  upon  these  further  express  conditions,  viz: 

(a)  That  the  contractor  and  his  representatives  and  assigns  shall  not  be  entitled 
to  such  exclusive  franchise,  nor  to  the  payment  of  such  subsidy,  nor  any  part 
thereof,  unless  the  construction  of  such  cables  shall  begin  on  or  before  the  1st 
day  of  May.  A.  D.  1897,  and  such  telegraphic  communication  be  established  not 
later  than  the  1st  day  of  November.  A.  D.  1898, 

{b)  And  further,  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  shall  join  in  this 
undertaking  by  the  grant  of  substantial  assistance  to  the  contractor,  his  repre- 
sentatives or  assigns. 

And  provided  further.  That  upon  the  failure  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the 
United  States  Government,  as  herein  specified,  or  upon  the  breach  by  or  failure 
of  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  to  perform  or  observe  all  or  any 
of  the  terms,  agreements,  or  conditions  herein  contained,  the  party  of  the  first 
part  or  his  successors  in  office  may  cancel  and  terminate  this  agreement,  and  all 
obligations  on  the  part  of  the  Government  thereunder,  by  notifying  the  contractor, 
his  representatives  or  assigns,  of  such  cancellation  and  termination,  by  delivering 
a  written  notice  thereof  at  the  house  of  Bishop  &  Co. .  in  said  Honolulu,  not  less 
than  sixty  days  before  such  cancellation  and  termination  shall  take  place. 

But  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  contractor  and  his  representatives  and 
assigns  under  this  agreement  shall  not  be  terminated  by  his  or  their  failure  to 
begin  the  constniction  of  the  cable  herein  jirovided  for.  and  establish  communica- 
tion thereon  as  herein  j  rovided  for,  upon  the  dates  herein  specified,  or  upon  or  by 
reason  of  any  other  breach  of  any  condition,  or  any  failure  to  keep  or  observe  any 
covenant  or  agi-eement  herein  contained  on  the  part  of  the  contractor,  or  his  repre- 
sentatives or  assigns,  to  be  kei)t  or  performed,  unless  and  until  the  Government 
shall  in  writing  notify  him  or  them  that  it  has  canceled  this  agreement  by  reason 
of  such  breach  or  failure,  by  delivering  such  written  notice  at  the  said  house  of 
Bishop  «S:  Co.  not  less  than  sixty  days  before  the  date  upon  which  such  tei-mina- 
tion  and  cancellation  are  to  take  efi'ect. 

Skc;.  4.  Suspension  of  subsidy  during  temjjorary  failure  of  cable. — (c)  And 
farther  that  in  case  of  a  failure  or  interruption  of  efficient  electrical  connection 
and  communicating  power  over  the  said  cable  or  cables  between  the  points  herein- 
after specified,  or  any  of  them,  for  a  period  of  more  than  ninety  consecutive  days, 
from  any  cause  other  than  governmental  restraint  or  illegal  obstruction,  the  Gov- 
ernment shall  not  be  bound  to  pay  the  .sa'd  subsidy  in  full,  but  may  deduct  there- 
from a  jiroportionate  amount  for  the  period  of  such  interruption,  as  follows:  For 
the  time  of  failure  or  interrnption  of  such  communication  between  San  Francisco 
and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  beyond  said  term  of  ninety  consecutive  days,  at  the  rate 
of  §;iO,0(^0  per  annum;  for  the  time  of  failure  or  interruption  of  such  communica- 
tion between  the  said  islands,  or  any  of  them,  beyond  said  term  of  ninety  con- 
secutive days,  at  the  rate  of  $10,000  per  annum. 

Sec.  5.  Cancellation  of  contract  in  case  of  failure  for  one  year, — And  provided 
further.  That  if  the  said  line  or  lines,  or  either  of  them,  shall  fail  to  furnish  such 
communication  for  a  period  exceeding  one  year  beyond  such  term  of  ninety  con- 
secutive days,  then  and  in  su;h  case  the  Government  may,  at  its  option,  cancel 
this  contract  Jis  far  as  it  refers  to  the  line  or  system  so  interrupted,  and  it  shall 
thereupon  be  freed  from  all  obligations  to  pay  any  farther  subsidy  on  account  of 
the  line  or  system  so  interrupted. 

That  is  to  say,  if  the  line  upon  which  such  communication  is  so  interrupted  shall 
be  a  part  of  the  interisland  cable  system  it  shall  be  relieved  from  the  obligation  to 
pay  $10,000  per  annum  of  said  subsidy. 

And  if  the  interrnption  of  such  communication  for  such  period  be  on  the  line 
between  San  Francisco  and  Honolulu,  it  shall  be  relieved  Irom  the  obligation  to 


PACIFIC    CABLES,  497 

pay  $30,000  per  annum  of  sxich  subsidy,  and  the  grant  of  an  exclusive  franchise  to 
lay  and  maintain  a  cable  to  or  from  the  North  American  Continent  to  the  Hawai- 
ian group,  and  of  all  other  rights  and  privileges  referring  or  relating  to  such  line 
or  system  herein  contained  shall  thereupon  and  thereby  become  and  be  null  and 
void. 

Article  III. — Other  privileges. 

Section  1.  Riqhts  of  way  and  building  siten. — And  the  Government  doth  hereby 
further  grant  to  the  contractor,  his  representatives  and  assigns,  for  the  said  term 
of  twenty  years,  the  free  use  of  a  right  of  way  aci-ossall  Government  lands  for  the 
landing  of  any  such  cable  or  cables,  or  the  construction  of  any  land  lines  connect- 
ing the  same,  and  of  suitable  sites  on  any  Government  lands  which  may  be  approved 
by  the  Government,  for  the  construction  of  srations  and  storehouses  for  the  main- 
tenance or  operation  of  the  cable  or  cables,  and  doth  covenant  with  the  contractor, 
his  represeniatives  and  assigns,  that  during  the  period  of  twenty  years  from  the 
date  of  the  establishment  by  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  of  tel- 
egraphic communication  between  the  said  city  of  Honolulu  and  the  other  points 
herein  specified,  the  contractor,  his  representatives  and  assigns,  shall  continue  to 
have  the  free  use  of  such  rights  of  way  and  sites. 

Sec.  2.  E.r^mplioii  from  dnties. — And  also  that  dui'ing  the  said  term  of  twenty 
years  there  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Republic,  free  of  all  duties,  all  material  to 
be  used  exclusively  in  the  construction,  maintenance,  or  operation  of  any  such 
cable  or  cables. 

Sec.  3.  Exemption  from  taxes. — And  also  that  for  the  said  term  of  twenty  years 
no  taxes  shall  be  levied  upon  the  property  of  the  oontractor,  his  representatives  or 
assigns,  located  in  the  Republic,  belonging  to  or  connected  with  such  cable  or 
cables,  and  necessary  or  properly  appurtenant  to  the  construction,  maintenance, 
or  operation  of  such  cable  or  cables. 

Sec.  4.  Exemption  from  port  charges. — And  also  that  during  such  term  of  twenty 
years  no  harbor  or  port  dues  or  charges,  except  pilotage,  shall  be  levied  upon  or 
collected  from  any  vessel  or  vessels  exclusively  engaged  in  laying  or  maintaining 
any  such  cable  or  cables,  or  which  may  be  stationed  in  the  waters  of  the  Republic 
for  such  purposes. 

Sec,  5,  (irant  of  power  of  eminent  domain. — And  also  that  during  such  term  of 
twenty  years  the  contractor,  his  representatives  and  assigns,  shall  have  the  power 
and  privilege  to  condemn  and  appropriate,  according  to  law,  such  property  or 
rights  of  way  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  construction,  maintenance,  or  operation 
of  such  cable  or  cables  and  the  land  connections  thereof, 

agreements  of  the  contractor. 
Article  IV. — Location  and  equipment  of  lines. 

Section  1.  Specification  of  location  of  lines.— \n  consideration  of  the  several 
grants  and  covenants  of  the  Government  hereinbefoie  contained,  the  contractor, 
for  himself  and  his  representatives  and  assigns,  doth  hereby  covenant  to  and  agree 
with  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  and  his  successors  in  office,  that  he,  the  said 
contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  will,  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of  May, 
A.  D,  1897,  begin  to  construct  the  cables  necessary  to  connect  the  several  points 
herein  specified,  and  that  he,  the  said  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns, 
will,  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of  November,  A,  D.  1898,  construct,  complete,  lay, 
equip,  and  establish  in  efficient  working  condition  cables  as  follows: 

From  a  point  on  the  west  coast  of  California,  at  or  near  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, to  a  point  at  or  near  the  said  city  of  Honolulu. 

And  also  from  the  island  of  Hawaii,  at  or  near  Kawaihae,  to  the  island  of  Maui, 
at  or  near  Nuu, 

And  also  from  the  island  of  Maui,  at  or  near  Napili,  to  the  island  of  Molokai,  at 
or  near  Pukoo. 

And  also  from  the  island  of  Molokai,  at  or  near  its  west  point,  to  the  island  of 
Oahu.  at  or  near  Waikiki, 

And  also  from  the  island  of  Oahu,  at  or  near  Waianea,  to  the  island  of  Kauai,  at 
or  near  Nawiliwili. 

And  also  will  construct  all  necessary  stations  and  connections,  so  as  to  make 
such  cable  and  cables  available  for  communication  to  and  from  each  of  such  islands. 

The  landing  places  at  the  several  termini  mentioned  shall  be  at  such  points  on 
the  said  respective  shores  as  shall  be  determined  by  the  engineer  in  charge  of  the 
work. 

'     S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 32 


498  PACIFIC   CABLES. 

Src.  2.  Interisland  land  lines. — And  the  contractor  doth  further  covenant  with 
the  Government  that  he,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  will,  on  or  be* ore  the  said 
Ist  day  of  November.  A.  D.  1898,  construt-t  and  e<iuip  anil  connect  with  such  cable 
and  cables  all  necessary  land  lines  and  stations  on  each  of  the  said  tnnnierated 
islands,  si  that  efficient  telegraphic  coiiimnnication  may  be  maintained  Ijetweeu 
Honolulu  and  a  point  at  or  near  said  San  Francisco,  and  between  Honolulu  and  each 
of  the  said  islands,  and  between  each  of  said  islands  and  any  other  of  said  islands. 

Sec.  3.  Maintenance  of  lines. — And  further,  that  after  such  calles  and  lanl  Ines 
are  so  constructed,  laid,  and  placed  in  operation  the  said  cab  e.s  and  laud  lines, 
and  each  and  every  one  of  them,  shall  be,  during  the  term  of  twenty  years  there- 
after, c-ontinnously  and  fully  eiiuipped,  operated,  and  maintained,  so  that  the 
same  shall  and  will  constitute  and  form  reliable  means  of  telegraphic  communica- 
tion between  the  points  enumerated. 

S:i'.  4.  Pi'ovLso  for  deUii/  in  certain  casea. — Provided,  however.  That  if  any  delay 
in  constructing,  laying,  and  completing  the  said  cable  or  cables  shall  be  caused  or 
arise  from  any  strike,  lockout,  or  other  combination  preventing  the  contractor "s 
wori.s,  or  any  of  the  trades  or  occupations  upon  which  the  contractor,  his  rep- 
resentatives or  a-esigns.  or  manufacturers  of  cable  from  which  he  is  or  they  are 
obtaining  the  cable,  shall  be  dependent  in  carrying  out  any  contract  or  work 
lie  essary  to  the  proper  fulfillment  of  the  contract,  or  shall  bo  caused  by  any 
restraints  or  obstructions  occasioned  by  any  governmental  authority,  or  otherwise 
than  by  the  default  of  said  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  then  or  in 
any  such  case  the  time  for  completing  snch  cable  or  cables  shall  be  e.xtended  for 
such  period  or  periods  as  shall  be  certified  to  be  reasonable  by  a  competent  elec- 
trical engineer,  who  shall  be  approved  by  the  Government. 

Skc.  5.  Exemption  of  emit nictor  from  lialnlity  under  cerliiin  coiiditionK. — And 
jtrovided further.  That  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  shall  not  be 
responsible  in  damages  to  the  Government  for  any  delay  or  failure  in  manufac- 
turing or  laying  the  said  cable  or  cables,  except  snch  as  maybe  caused  by  the  cul- 
pable neglect  of  the  contra^-tor,  his  representatives,  agents,  or  assigns,  in  carrying 
out  the  terms  of  this  agreement,  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  tins  agreement 
being  that  the  coutractor.  his  representatives  and  assigns,  shall  take  all  re.ison- 
able  precautions  and  use  their  best  endeavors  to  construct,  lay,  and  operate  the 
said  cable  or  cables  between  the  said  respective  points  within  the  time  specified, 
but  that  he  and  they  shall  not  be  responsible  in  damages  if  he  and  they  shall  bona 
fide  use  his  or  their  best  efforts  to  accomplish  such  object. 

Article  V. — Ownership  of  interisland  lines. 

Section  1.  Government  option  to  assume  onmership  of  interisland  lines. — And 
the  contractor,  for  himself  and  his  representatives  and  assigns,  doth  hereby  i  ur- 
ther  covenant  with  the  Government  that,  if  so  re  juested  in  writing  by  th-  Govern- 
ment within  one  year  after  the  said  interisland  cable  svstem  is  completed,  he.  the 
contractor,  or  his  representatives  or  assigns,  shall  and  will  sell,  transfer,  and  con- 
vey to  the  Government  all  of  the  said  interisland  cable  and  cables,  and  the  eijuip- 
ment.  stations,  and  appnrtenances.  po>s  and  land  lines,  and  evervthing  thereunto 
appertaining,  charging  and  receiving  therefor  only  the  actual  cash  cost  of  the  said 
land  lines,  stations,  and  equipments,  and  making  no  charge  for  the  construction, 
laying,  or  furnishing  of  sucii  submarine  cables. 

Sec.  2  Gorernmeut  title 'o  oitens.'and  cables  to  he  frev  from  (dl  liens. — If  the  Gov- 
ernment shall  so  acquire  such  interisland  cable  system  it  sha  I  acquire  and  hold  it 
free  from  any  obligation  to  pay  any  indebtedness  or  any  bond  or  bonds  or  interest 
thereon,  or  any  part  thereof,  which  may  have  been  incurred,  created,  or  executed 
in.  upon,  or  concerning  the  same  and  free  from  any  and  every  other  debt,  obliga- 
tion, and  lien  of  any  kind  whatever. 

But  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  constrned  that  such  acquiring  of  such 
inter  sland  cable  system  shall  release  the  Government  from  the  obligation  of  con- 
tinuing to  pay  the  full  amount  of  the  subsidy  hereinbefore  granted. 

Sec.  'S.  (iover)iment  (icqiiisition  of  inti'rishnid  ndde  to  release  contractor  from 
responsibilitf/  therefor. — If  the  said  interisland  cable  system  shall  be  bo  acquired 
by  the  Q<)vernment,  the  maintenance  and  operation,  and  all  costs,  charges,  and 
expenses  of  maintaining  and  operating  such  interisland  cable  so  conveyed  shall, 
from  the  date  of  snch  conveyance,  be  conducted,  borne,  and  sustained  by  the  Gov- 
emmt  nt:  and  the  contractor,  his  representatives  and  a.ssigns,  shall,  from  and  after 
such  date,  be  reieved  from  all  resjtonsibility  and  expeii.se  for  or  concerning  such 
system,  and  no  interrupt. on  or  failure  of  communication  occurring  in  such  inter- 
island cable  system  after  the  same  shall  have  been  so  acquired  by  the  (government 
sha  1  work,  or  i.e  made  the  cause,  d  recti y  or  indirectly,  of  the  suspension  or  for- 
feiture of  the  subsidy  herel»y  gran.ed,  or  any  part  ti.ereof,  or  be  made  a  ground 
for  the  forfeiture  (»f  this  agreement  or  any  privilege  thereby  granted. 


PACIFIC    CABLES.  499 

Article  VL — Use  of  cable  ship. 

And  the  contractor,  for  himself  and  his  representatives  and  assigns,  doth  further 
covenant  with  the  Government:  That  if  the  said  interisland  cable  shall  be  so  con- 
.veytd  to  the  Government,  the  contractor,  his  representatives  and  assigns,  will  at 
all  times  allow  the  cable-repairing  ship  owned  by  or  controlled  by  him  or  them  to 
be  used  by  the  Government  in  the  repair  or  replacing  of  any  of  the  cables  in  such 
interisland  system,  charging  therefor  only  the  actual  t  ash  outlay  of  the  contractor, 
his  representative*  or  assigns,  in  making  such  repairs  or  replacement. 

Article  VII. — Specifications  of  size,  weight,  materials,  and  efficiency  of  cables. 

And  the  contractor  doth  hereby  further  covenant  with  the  Government  that  the 
manufacture,  size,  and  weight  of  the  material  used  in  and  the  method  of  storing 
and  laying  the  said  cable  and  cables  shall  be  in  accordance  with  the  several  speci- 
fications hereunto  annexed,  and  made  a  part  of  this  agreement. 

And  further,  that  all  of  such  cable  or  cables  so  to  be  constructed,  laid,  eriuipped, 
operated,  and  maintained,  and  all  instruments  and  appliances  shall  and  will  be 
manufjictared  and  constructed  throughout  in  a  good  and  workmanlike  manner 
and  of  the  best  materials. 

And  further,  that  each  and  every  of  the  said  sections  of  cable  shall,  during  the 
said  term  of  twenty  years,  be  continuously,  except  as  herein  provided,  capable  of 
efficiently  transmitting  not  less  than  fifteen  words  per  minute  between  the  several 
points  herein  specified. 

And  further,  that  during  the  said  term  of  twenty  years  efiicient  operators  shall 
be  maintained  at  each  of  the  stations  on  said  lines,  who  shall  and  will  transmit 
over  said  cable  lines  all  messages  at  such  stations  received  for  transmission  at  such 
rate  of  speed  for  the  rates  of  tariff  herein  provided  for. 

Abticle  VIII. — Schedule  of  rates. 

Section  1.  Interisland  rates. — And  the  contractor,  for  himself  and  his  repre- 
sentatives and  assigns,  doth  hereby  further  covenant  with  the  Government  that 
during  the  continuance  of  the  terms  of  this  agreement  the  maximum  charge  for 
messages  transmitted  over  the  said  interisland  cable  system,  from  the  point  of 
receiving  such  messages  to  its  point  of  destination,  shall  not  exceed  the  following 
prescribed  limit,  viz,  not  to  exceed  10  cents  for  each  word  so  transmitted. 

Provided,  however,  That  it  shall  not  be  obligatory  upon  the  contractor,  his  rep- 
resentatives or  assigns,  to  send  any  message  for  less  than  $1. 

Sec.  2.  Foreign  rates. — And  further,  that  during  such  period  the  maximum  rates 
for  the  transmission  of  any  message,  other  than  Government  messages,  to  or  from 
the  Hawaiian  Islands  over  such  cable  between  Honolulu  and  San  Francisco,  shall 
be  such  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  in  any  contract  which  shall  be  made  between  the 
contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  and  the  United  States  Government,  not 
exceeding  §1  per  word,  and  any  contract  with  such  Government  shall  prescribe  a 
maximum  scale  of  rates. 

And  further,  that  if  telegraphic  communications  shall  be  hereafter  established 
between  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Australasia  or  Japan  the  rate  to  be  charged  for 
any  message  transmitted  from  Honolulu  to  San  Francisco,  or  from  San  Francisco 
to  Honolulu,  shall  not  exceed  a  pro  rata  proportion,  based  on  distance,  of  the  reg- 
ular rate  for  transmitting  a  similar  message  to  or  from  San  Francisco  and  Austral- 
asia or  .Japan. 

And  further,  that  messages  from  Honolulu  to  points  beyond  San  Francisco  shall 
not  be  charged  higher  rates  beyond  San  Francisco  than  the  rates  which  the  con- 
tractor may  be  charged  for  the  transmission  of  the  same. 

Sec.  3.  Press  rates. — And  furthur,  that  the  rates  for  ordinary  messages  or  items 
of  news  to  any  newspaper  or  news  bureau  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii  (commonly 
known  as  press  messages)  shall  not  exceed  one-half  the  rate  which  shall  be  charged 
for  other  messages,  excepting  messaj^es  to  or  from  the  Hawaiian  Government,  or 
any  officer  thereof  in  his  official  capacity,  or  to  or  from  any  foreign  government. 

Provided,  however,  That  it  shall  not  be  obligatory  upon  the  contractor,  his  rep- 
resentatives or  assigns,  to  send  any  press  message  for  less  than  $1. 

Sec.  4.  Hawaiiayi  Government  rates. — And  further,  that  during  the  said  term  of 
twenty  years  all  messages  concerning  the  official  business  of  the  Hawaiian  Gov- 
ernment, to  or  from  the  Hawaiian  Government  or  any  of  its  officials,  transmitted 
over  said  interisland  system  of  cables,  or  over  the  said  cable  from  Honolulu  to  San 
Francisco,  shall  be  transmitted  free  up  to  the  amount  of  the  annual  subsidy  paid 
by  the  Government  to  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  reckoning 
the  charge  and  scale  of  rates  for  such  Government  messages  at  the  rate  herein 
prescribed  or  provided  for  ordinary  messages. 


500  PACIFIC  Cables. 

Article  IX.— .sVr?  rity  for  ^irciUion  of  contract. 

Section  1.  Deposit  of  bonds  with  vtinister  of  finance. — And  the  contractor,  for 
himself  and  his  representatives  .and  assigns,  doth  hereby  further  covenant  with 
the  Government  that  he  will,  ni)on  the  execution  of  this  aprret'raent,  deposit  with 
the  minister  of  finance  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  Hawaiian  <  overnment  l.oiuls 
to  the  amount  of  J'ii.UOUas  security  tliat  he  and  his  representativt-s  and  assigns 
will  construct,  lay.  and  equip  the  said  (tables  and  land  lines  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  this  agreement. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  construction,  equipment,  and  laying  of  said  systems 
of  cable  and  land  lines  in  the  manner  heiein  iirovided  for  the  obligation  and  ob- 
ligations secured  by  such  bonds  shall  be  deemetl  to  have  been  fulfilled  and  jjerformed, 
and  such  bonds  shall  thereupon  be  returned  to  the  contractor,  his  representatives 
or  assigns. 

But  if  after  the  Ijeginning  of  the  construction  of  said  cables,  in  manner  heiein 
Bjiecified,  there  shall  be  any  failure  to  complete  the  construction,  laying,  and  equip- 
ment of  such  systems  and  such  land  lines  within  the  time  herein  speciiied,  then 
and  in  such  case  such  bonds  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  Hawaiian  Government  as 
li(inidated  damages,  and  there  shall  be  no  further  or  other  claim  by  way  of  dam- 
ages by  the  Government  against  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns. 

Sec.  2.  ( 'oiifrartnr  tuaij  caiKvl  iiim  cotitruct  iritltin  <i  spirijh'ff  tune. —  I'mrnled, 
hoirerer.  That  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  may  at  any  time  prior 
to  the  1st  day  of  May,  A.  D.  181)7,  notify  the  Government  of  his  or  th>  ir  desire  to 
cancel  this  contract,  whereupon  this  contract  shall  become  null  and  v<nd,  and 
such  bonds  so  deposited  as  security  shall  thereupon  be  forthwith  returned  to  the 
contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns. 

Article  X. — Definition  of  "  beginning  of  construction.** 

It  is  hereby  mutually  agreed  that  the  beginning  of  the  construction  of  the  cables 
specified  in  section  1  of  Article  IV  of  this  agreement  shall  be  construed  to  mean, 
and  shall  mean,  the  completion  and  execution  of  a  contract  between  the  contractor 
and  a  resjjonsible  cable  construction  company  or  compan  es  for  the  construction 
and  laying  of  such  cable  and  cables  within  the  period  limited  by  the  terms  of  this 
contract,  and  the  actual  beginning  of  the  work  of  construction  under  such  contract 
with  such  construction  company  or  companies,  and  a  written  notice  to  the  Glov- 
erument  by  the  contractor,  his  representatives  or  assigns,  accompanied  by  proofs 
of  the  execution  of  such  contract. 

Article  XL — Contract  binding  on  and  in  favor  of  representatives,  assigns,  etc 

It  is  hereby  mutually  agreed  by  and  between  the  parties  hereto,  on  behalf  of 
themselves  and  their  respective  successors,  representatives,  and  assigns,  that  all 
terms  and  conditions  herein  contained  uj)on  the  pan  of  the  Government  to  be 
observed,  kept,  or  performed,  shall  be  equally  binding  and  obligatory  as  well  upon 
the  Hawaiian  Government  and  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  and  his  successors; 
and  that  all  of  the  agreements  and  covenants  herein  contained  upon  the  part  of 
the  contractor  to  be  kept  or  observed  or  performed,  are  and  shall  be  as  well  in 
favor  of  and  enforceable  by  the  Hawaiian  Government  and  the  party  of  the  first 
part  as  his  successors  in  office. 

And  further,  that  all  of  the  terms  and  conditions  and  covenantsherein  contained 
upon  the  part  of  the  contractor  to  be  observed,  kept,  or  perl  oruied  shall  be  equally 
bnding  and  obligatory  upon  the  taid  party  of  the  second  \  art  as  upi  n  his  repre- 
sentatives and  assigns:  and  that  all  of  the  agreements  and  covenants  herein  con- 
tained on  the  part  of  the  Government,  or  of  said  party  ol  the  first  i)art.  or  bis 
su  cessors,  to  be  kept,  observed,  or  jterformed,  are.  and  shall  be.  as  well  in  tavor 
of  and  enforceable  by  the  party  of  the  second  part  as  his  representatives  and  assigns. 

[Specifications  of  cables  hereinbefore  referred  to.    Proposed  telegraph  cable  from 
San  Francisco  to  Honolulu  and  Hawaiian  interisland  cables.] 

SAN  FBANCISCO-HONOLULU  CABLE. 

The  landing  place  near  San  Francisco  may  be  at  Monterey  Bay,  and  the  landing 
place  near  Honolulu  at  Waikiki. 


PACIFIC    CABLES.  501 

Lengths  of  cable  required. 

Nautical  miles. 

Whore  end  (type  A)  _ 2 

Iiuermediate  No.  1  (type  E) 3 

Intermediate  No.  2  (type  B) 51 

Deep  sea  (type  D) 2,444 

Total... •- ..  2,500 

SPECIFICATION. 

Core. 

(a)  Conductor. — The  conductor  to  be  a  strand  of  copper  wires  weighing  400 
pounds  per  nautical  mile,  or  within  5  per  cent  thereof,  and  the  resistance  at  75' 
Fahrenheit  shall  not  be  more  than  ;'.tl7  ohms. 

(&)  Insulator. — The  conductor  is  to  be  insulated  with  three  coatings  of  gutta- 
percha of  improved  inductive  capacity,  prepared  according  to  Mr.  WilloughV)y 
Smith's  system,  alternating  with  three  coatings  of  Otiatterton's  compound,  and  to 
weigh  oOU  pounds  per  knot,  or  within  5  per  cent  thereof.  The  resistance  of  the 
completed  core  to  be  not  less  than  oO  megohms  per  nautical  mile  after  one  min- 
ute's electrification,  when  tested  at  a  temperature  of  75  Fahrenheit,  after  twenty- 
four  hours'  immersion  in  water,  fourteen  days  after  manufacture,  and  the  average 
inductive  capacity  per  nautical  mile  throughout  the  entire  length  is  not  to  exceed 
0.414  microfarad. 

(c)  Slieathiug. — The  core  of  types  A,  E,  and  B  to  be  covered  with  Clifford's  pat- 
ent sheathing  for  protection  against  the  ravages  of  insects. 

(d)  Serving. — The  coi'e  of  all  the  types  to  be  served  with  a  good  and  sufficient 
serving  of  jute  yarn,  steeped  in  cutch  or  other  preservative  mixture,  and  applied 
wet. 

Outer  coverings — SJiore  end. 

(e)  Outer  coverings — Type  A. — Type  B  to  be  served  with  tarred  jute  yarn,  and 
again  closed  with  14  galvanized  BB  iron  wires.  No.  1  B.  W.  G.,  equal  to  three  hun- 
dred one- thousandths  of  an  inch  when  galvanized,  or  within  3 J  per  cent  thereof. 

Intermediate,  No.  1. 

(/)  Type  E. — The  served  core  to  be  covered  with  12  galvanized  BB  iron  wires, 
No.  4  B.  W".  G.,  eqiaal  to  two  hun  Ired  and  thirty-eight  one-thousandths  of  an  inch 
when  galvanized,  or  within  2.J  per  cent  thereof. 

Intermediate,  No.  2. 

(g)  Type  B. — The  served  core  to  be  covered  with  12  galvanized  BB  iron  wires. 
No.  6  B.  W.  G.,  equal  to  two  hundred  one  thousandths  of  an  inch  when  galvan- 
ized, or  within  2^  per  cent  thereof. 

Deep  sea. 

(h)  Type  D. — The  served  core  to  be  covered  with  17'galvanized  steel  wires,  each 
wire  being  tapped  and  compounded.  The  steel  wires  to  be  No.  14  B.  W.  G.,  equal 
to  eighty-three  one-thousandths  of  an  inch  when  galvanized,  or  within  2i  per  cent 
thereof,  and  to  bear  a  breaking  strain  of  not  less  than  85  tons  per  square  inch,  with 
an  elongation  of  not  less  than  4  per  cent. 

(i)  Before  being  used  for  the  sheathing  of  types  A,  E,  and  B,  the  galvanized  iron 
wire  is  to  be  heated  in  a  kiln  or  oven  just  sufficiently  to  drive  off  all  moisture,  and 
while  warm  is  to  be  dipped  into  a  hot  compound  or  black  varnish. 

Outside  serving. 

(J)  Types  A  and  E,  manufactured  as  above,  to  be  covered  with  two  servings  of 
jute  yarn  laid  on  spirally  in  oppo.site  directions,  alternately  with  two  coatings  of 
Clark's  compound. 

(k)  Types  B  and  D,  manufactured  as  above,  to  be  covered  with  two  of  Johnson  & 
Phillips's  patent  tapes,  laid  on  spirally  in  opposite  directions,  alternately  with  2 
coatings  of  Clark's  compound. 


502  PACrFIC    CABLES. 

HAWAIIAN  INTERISLAND  CABLES. 

Lengths  of  cable  required, 

Naatical  miles. 

Shore  end  (Type  A) 10 

Intermediate  (Type  B') 25 

Deep  sea  (Tyi)e  D) , 142 

Total 177 

SPECIFICATION. 

Core. 

(a)  Condiictor.— The  conductor  to  be  a  strand  of  copper  wires  weighinaf  100 
pounds  i)er  nautical  mile,  or  within  5  per  cent  thereof,  and  the  resistance  at  75'  F. 
shall  not  be  more  than  12.22  ohms. 

(h)  Insidatoi:— The  conductor  is  to  be  insulated  with  three  coatings  of  gutta- 
percha of  imxiroved  inductive  capacity,  prepared  according  to  Mr.  Willoughby 
Smith's  system,  alternating  with  three  coats  of  Chatterton's  compound,  and  to 
weigh  100  pounds  per  nautical  mile,  or  within  H  per  cent  thereof.  The  resistance 
of  the  completed  core  is  to  be  not  less  Ihan  150  m*.  goiiius  per  nautical  mile  after 
one  minute's  electrification,  wlien  tested  at  a  temperature  of  75  Fahrenheit,  after 
twenty-four  hours" immersion  in  water,  iourteen  days  after  manufacture. 

(c)  Sheathing.— The  core  of  Types  A  and  B'  to  Le  c  )vered  with  Clifford's  patent 
sheathing  for  protec  ti  )n  against  the  ravages  of  insects. 

(d)  Seri'iiig. — The  core  to  be  covered  with  a  good  and  sufficient  serving  of  jute 
yam,  steeped  in  cutch  or  other  preservative  mixture,  to  be  applied  wet. 

Outer  coverings — Shore  end. 

(e)  Outer  coverings. — Type  A.— Type  B'  to  le  served  with  tarred  jute  yam.  and 
again  closed  with  twelve  galvanized  BB  iron  wires.  No.  1  B.  W.  Q..  equal  to  three 
hundred  one-thousandths  of  an  inch  when  galvanized,  or  within  2^  per  cent 
thereof. 

Intermediate. 

(/)  7)fpe  BK — The  served  core  to  1  e  covered  with  twelve  galvanized  BB  iron 
wires,  No.  9  B.  W.  G.,  erjual  to  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  one-thousandths  of 
an  inch  when  galvanized,  or  within  2J  per  cent  thereof. 

Deep  sea. 

(g)  Type  D. — The  served  core  to  be  covered  with  fifteen  galvanized  homogeneous 
iron  wires.  The  homogent  ous  wires  to  be  No.  13  B.  W.  G.,  equal  to  ninety-nine 
one-thousandths  of  an  inch  when  galvanized,  or  within  2^  per  cent  thereof,  and  to 
bear  a  breaking  strain  of  not  less  than  52  tons  per  square  inch  with  an  elongation 
of  not  less  than  3  per  cent. 

(h)  Dii'pinr). — Before  being  used  for  the  sherithing  the  galvanized  iron  wire  is 
be  heated  in  a  kiln  or  oven  just  sufficiently  to  drive  off  all  moisture,  and  while 
warm  is  to  be  dipped  into  a  hot  compound  or  black  varnish. 

Outside  serving, 

(t)  Outside  serving. —Type  A  to  be  covered  with  two  servings  of  jute  yam  laid 
on  spirally  in  (pposite  dire  lions  and  two  coatings  of  Clark's  compound. 

(./)  Types  B'  and  D  to  lie  covered  with  two  John.son  &  Phillips's  patent  tapes 
laid  on  spirally  in  opposite  directions,  alternately  with  two  coatings  of  Clark's 
compound. 

GENERAL  CLAUSES. 

(k)  Cable  to  be  kept  under  water. — The  cable,  when  completed,  to  be  coiled  in 
suitable  water-ti^t  tanks,  and  kept,  as  far  as  practicable,  constantly  und-r  water. 

(/)  Tanks  onlumrtl  ship.  The  completed  caMe  to  be  coiled  on  board  ship  in 
water-tight  tanks,  and  kept,  as  far  as  praclicab'e.  under  water  unlil  submerged. 


PACIFIC  CABLES— INTERNATIONAL  BOUNDARY  COMMISSION.      503 

(m)  Final  electrical  condition  of  cable. — Tho  elec'ricil  condition  of  the  cable 
when  laid  to  be  such  as,  having  regard  to  its  previous  cond  tion.  and  niakinj?  d;  e 
aliovvanci'  for  the  mean  actual  temperature  of  the  water,  as  shown  by  the  resistance 
of  tlie  conductor,  to  give  no  good  grounds  for  believing  that  any  fault  exists  in  the 
insulator  or  conductor. 

In  witness  whereof  the  said  Sanford  Ballard  Dole.  President  of  the  Republic  of 
Hawaii,  hath  hereunto  set  his  hand  and  caused  the  great  seal  of  the  Republic,  of 
Hawaii  to  be  hereunto  attached;  and  Francis  M.  Hatch,  minister  of  foreign  atf;iir  •: 
Samuel  M.  Damon,  minister  of  finance;  Jam  s  A.  King,  minister  of  interior,  and 
William  O.  Smith,  attorney-general,  cor  stitutin.?  the  ca'-inet  of  the  Republic  of 
Hawaii,  in  token  of  their  consent  to  and  approval  of  this  agr.  emont,  and  the  said 
Zephaniah  Swift  Spalding  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and  seals  the  day  and 
year  first  above  written. 
Done  in  triplicate. 

[SEAL.J  Sanford  B.  Dole. 

Francis  M,  Hatch, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
J.  A.  King,  Minister  of  the  hiterior. 
S.  M.  Damon.  Minister  of  Finance. 
William  O.  Smith,  Attorney- General. 
Zetuaniaii  Swikt  Spalding. 

We,  William  C.  Wilder,  president  of  the  sena'eof  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  and 
J.  F.  Clay,  secretary  of  the  senate  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  do  hereby  certify 
that  tKe  foregoing  agreement  between  Sanford  Ballard  Dole,  President  of  the 
Rei)ublic  of  Hawaii,  and  Zephaniah  Swift  Spalding  was  submitted  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  said  senate  on  thti  l'2th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  189"),  and  was  ratified, 
approved,  and  confirmed  by  llie  said  senate  on  the  18th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1895. 

W.  C.  Wilder, 
President  of  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. 

J.  F.  Clay, 
Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. 
Honolulu,  August  U,  lSDr>. 

We,  D.  L.  Naone.  speaker,  and  James  N.  K.  Keola,  clerk  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  agree- 
ment between  Sanford  Ballard  Dole,  President  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii,  and 
Zephaniah  Swift  Spalding  was  submitted  by  the  President  to  the  said  house  of 
representatives  on  the  12tli  day  of  August,  A.  D.  189.1,  and  was  ratified  .approved, 
and  confirmed  by  the  said  house  of  representatives  on  the  13th  day  of  August, 
A.  D.  1895. 

D.  L.  Naone. 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. 

J  AS.  N.  K.  Keola, 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Republic  of  Hawaii. 
Honolulu,  August  U,  A.  D.  1895. 


FIFTY-SIXTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION". 
February  23,  1900. 

[Senate  Report  No.  461.] 

Mr.  Clark,  of  Wyominj^,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
joint  resolution  (S.  R,  71)  authorizing  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  invite  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  to  join  in  the  forma- 
tion of  an  international  commission  to  examine  and  report  upon  the 
diversion  of  the  waters  that  are  the  boundaries  of  the  two  countries, 
nmke  the  following  report: 

It  appears  from  the  papers  before  your  committee,  comprising 
coxjies  of  correspondence  passing  between  the  president  of  the  com- 


504  INTERNATIONAL    BOUNDARY    COMMISSION. 

missioners  of  the  New  York  State  Reservation  at  Niagara  ahd  tlie 
Secretary  of  State,  and  between  the  governor  of  the  .Slate  of  New 
York  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  by  reason  of  the  diversion  of 
the  waters  of  the  lakes  through  the  Welland  Canal,  and  the  proposed 
diversion  of  wat<}rs  in  great  volume,  to  be  taken  under  grants  for  the 
construction  of  the  Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  the  proposed  canal  from 
Georgian  Lake  to  the  Ottawa  River,  and  other  projected  waterways, 
together  with  like  diversions  of  waters  in  very  considerable  quantities 
from  the  Niagara  River  above  the  Falls  of  Niagara  for  the  generation 
of  mechanical  power,  under  grants  from  the  State  of  New  York  and 
the  Province  of  Ontario,  the  water  levels  of  the  several  lakes  forming 
a  portion  of  the  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Canada  are 
reduced,  and  will  be  in  future  under  like  grants  greatly  diminished,  so 
as  to  constitute  a  serious  menace  to  navigation  on  these  waters;  and 
by  reason  of  the  diminution  in  the  volume  of  the  water  of  the  Niagara 
River  contributing  to  the  destruction  of  the  natural  grandeur  of  the 
Falls  of  Niagara. 

It  further  appears  to  your  committee  that  the  question  of  divereion 
of  waters  forming  a  boundary'  between  nations  is  a  proper  subject  for 
joint  consideration  by  representatives  of  the  nations  having  riparian 
rights  therein. 

It  further  appears  to  your  committee  that  the  sum  of  $20,000,  pro- 
posed to  be  appropriated  by  the  resolution  under  consideration,  is  a 
reasonable  sum  for  the  expenses  of  the  commissioners  for  the  United 
States  in  the  prosecution  of  the  proposed  investigation. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  j'our  committee  ajDprove  of  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  the  resolution  (S.  R.  71)  and  recommend  that  the  same  do 
pass. 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE  WITH  FOREIGN 

NATIONS. 


505 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE  WITH  FOREIGN  NATIONS. 


FIRST  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION". 
August  5,  1789. 

With  reference  to  arranging  and  bringing  forward  a  system  to  i-ogu- 
late  the  trade  and  intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  the  ter- 
ritory of  other  powers  in  North  America  and  the  West  Indies,  Mr. 
Butler  reported  as  follows : 

That  it  will  be  expedient  to  pass  a  law  for  imposing  an  increased 
duty  of  tonnage,  for  a  limited  time,  on  all  foreign  ships  and  other 
vessels  that  shall  load  in  the  United  States,  with  the  produce  of  the 
same,  to  any  port  or  place  in  America  whereto  the  vessels  of  the 
United  Stated  are  not  permitted  to  carry  their  own  produce;  but  such 
a  law  being  of  the  nature  of  a  revenue  law,  your  committee  conceive 
that  the  originating  a  bill  for  that  purpose  is  by  the  Constitution 
exclusively  placed  in  the  House  of  Representative. 

Your  committee  beg  leave  further  to  report  as  their  opinion  that  it 
will  be  expedient  to  direct  a  bill  to  be  brought  in  for  imposing  similar 
restraints  upon  the  trade  of  the  European  settlements  in  America  with 
the  United  States  that  are  imposed  on  the  trade  of  the  United  States 
with  those  settlements. 


FIRST  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
May  25,  1790. 

On  providing  the  means  of  intercourse  between  the  United  States 
and  foreign  nations,  Mr.  Strong  reported  an  amended  bill,  which 
became  a  law  by  the  apju-oval  of  the  President  on  July  1,  1790.  It  is 
as  follows : 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  shall  be,  and  he  hereby  is,  authorized  to 
draw  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  a  sum  not  exceeding 
forty  thousand  dollars  annually,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  monies  arising 
from  the  duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,  for  the  support  of  such  per- 
sons as  he  shall  commission  to  serve  the  United  States  in  foreign 
parts,  and  for  the  expense  incident  to  the  business  in  which  they  may 
be  employed :  Provided,  That,  exclusive  of  an  outfit,  which  shall  in 
no  case  exceed  the  amount  of  one  year's  full  salary  to  the  minister 
plenipotentiary  or  charge  des  affaires  to  whom  the  same  may  be 
allowed,  the  President  shall  not  allow  to  any  minister  plenipotentiary 
a  greater  sum  than  at  the  rate  of  nine  thousand  dollars  per  annum, 
iiA  a  compensation  for  all  his  personal  services  and  other  expenses ; 

507 


508       CONSULS    AND   VICE-CONSULS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

nor  a  greater  sum  for  the  same  than  four  thousand  five  hundred  doi 
lars  per  annum  to  a  charge  des  affaires;  uor  a  greater  sum  for  tlio 
same  than  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  annum 
to  the  secretary  of  anj'  minister  plenipotentiai  y;  And  provided  also, 
That  the  President  shall  account  specially  for  all  such  expenditures 
of  the  said  money  as  in  his  judgment  may  be  made  public,  and  also 
for  the  amount  of  such  expenditures  as  he  may  think  it  advisable  not 
to  specify,  and  cause  a  regular  statement  and  account  thereof  to  be 
laid  before  Congress  annually,  and  also  lodged  in  the  proper  office  of 
the  Treasury  Department. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  continue  and 
be  in  force  for  the  space  of  two  years,  and  from  thence  until  the  end 
of  the  next  session  of  Congress  thereafter,  and  no  longer. 
(Stat.  L.,  Vol.  I, p.  128;  Leg.  Jour.,  Vol.  I,  p.  173.) 


FIRST  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 
January  26,  1791. 

Concerning  consuls  and  vice-consuls  of  the  United  States  in  foreign 
parts,  Mr.  Ellsworth  reported  as  follows: 

A  BILL  for  carrying  into  full  effect  the  convention  between  the  King  of  the 
French  and  the  United  States  of  America,  entered  into  for  the  purpose  of  defin- 
ing and  establishing  the  functions  and  privileges  of  their  respective  consols  and 
vice-consuls. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembtedy  That 
where  in  the  seventh  article  of  the  said  convention  it  is  agreed  that 
when  there  shall  be  no  consul  or  vice-consul  of  the  King  of  the  French 
to  attend  to  the  saving  of  the  wreck  of  any  French  vessels  stranded 
on  the  coasts  of  the  United  States,  or  that  the  residence  of  the  said 
consul  or  vice-consul  (he  not  being  at  the  place  of  the  wreck)  shall  be 
more  distant  from  the  said  place  tlian  that  of  the  competent  judge  of 
the  country,  the  latter  shall  immediately  proceed  to  perform  the  office 
therein  prescribed;  the  district  judge  of  the  United  States  of  the  dis- 
trict in  which  the  wreck  shall  happen  shall  proceed  therein,  accord- 
ing to  the  tenor  of  said  article.  And  in  such  cases  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  officers  of  the  customs  within  whose  districts  such  wrecks 
shall  happen  to  give  notice  thereof  as  soon  as  may  be  to  the  said 
judge,  and  to  aid  and  to  assist  him  to  perform  the  duties  hereby 
assigned  to  him.  The  district  judges  of  the  United  States  shall  also 
within  their  respective  districts  be  the  competent  judges  for  the  pur- 
poses expressed  in  the  ninth  article  of  the  said  convention,  and  it  shall 
be  incumbent  on  them  to  give  aid  to  the  consuls  and  vice-consuls  of 
the  King  of  the  French  in  arresting  and  securing  deserters  from  the 
vessels  of  the  French  nation,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  said  article. 

And  where  by  any  article  of  the  said  convention  the  consuls  and 
vice-consuls  of  the  King  of  the  French  are  entitled  to  the  aid  of  the 
competent  executive  officers  of  the  country  in  the  execution  of  any 
precept,  the  marshals  of  the  United  States  and  their  deputies  shall 
within  their  respective  districts  be  the  competent  officers,  and  shall 
give  their  aid  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  stipulations. 

And  whenever  commitments  to  the  jails  of  the  country  shall  become 
necessary  in  pureuance  of  anj'  stipulation  of  the  said  convention,  they 


CONSULS    AND    VICE-CUNSULS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.        509 

shall  be  to  such  jails  within  the  respective  districts  as  other  commit- 
ments under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  are  by  law  made. 

And  for  the  direction  of  the  consuls  and  vice-consuls  of  the  United 
States  in  certain  cases. 

Sec.  2.  Be  it  enacted  hy  the  authority  of  the  aforesaid,  That  they 
shall  have  right,  in  the  ports  or  places  to  which  they  are  or  may  be 
severally  appointed,  of  receiving  the  protests  or  declarations  which 
such  captains,  masters,  crews,  passengers,  aud  merchants  as  are  citi- 
zens of  the  United  81  ates  and  may  i-espectively  choose  to  make  thero, 
and  also  such  as  any  foreigner  may  choose  to  make  before  them  rela- 
tive to  the  personal  interest  of  any  citizens  of  the  United  States;  and 
the  copies  of  tlie  said  acts  duly  authenticated  by  the  said  consuls  or 
vice-consuls,  under  the  seal  of  their  consulates,  respectively,  shall 
receive  faith  in  law,  equally  as  their  originals  would  in  the  courts  of 
the  United  States.  It  shall  be  their  duty,  where  the  laws  of  the  coun- 
try permit,  to  take  possession  of  the  personal  estate  left  by  any  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States  other  than  seamen  belonging  to  any  ship  or 
vessel  who  shall  die  within  their  consulate,  leaving  there  no  legal 
representative,  partner  in  trade,  or  trustee  by  him  appointed,  to  take 
care  of  his  effects;  they  shall  inventory  the  same  with  the  assistance 
of  two  merchants  of  the  United  States,  or,  for  want  of  them,  of  any 
others  of  their  choice;  shall  collect  the  debts  due  to  the  deceased  in 
the  country  where  he  died,  and  pay  the  debts  due  from  his  estate  which 
he  shall  have  there  contracted;  shall  sell  at  auction  after  reasonable 
public  notice  such  part  of  the  estate  as  shall  be  of  a  perishable  nature, 
and  such  further  part,  if  any,  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  payment 
of  his  debts,  and  at  the  expiration  of  one  year  from  his  decease  the 
residue;  and  the  balance  of  the  estate  they  shall  transmit  to  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  to  be  holden  in  trust  for  the  legal  claim- 
ants. But  if  at  any  time  before  such  transmission  the  legal  repre- 
sentative of  the  deceased  shall  appear  and  demand  his  effects  in  their 
hands,  they  shall  deliver  them  up,  being  paid  their  fees,  and  shall  cease 
their  proceedings. 

For  the  information  of  the  representative  of  the  deceased,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  consul  or  vice-consul  authorized  to  proceed  as  afore- 
said in  the  settlement  of  his  estate  immediately  to  notify  his  death 
in  one  of  the  gazettes  published  in  the  consulate,  and  also  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  that  the  same  may  be  notified  in  the  State  to  which  the 
deceased  shall  belong ;  and  he  shall  also,  as  soon  as  may  be,  transmit 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  an  inventory  of  the  effects  of  the  deceased 
taken  as  before  directed. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  consuls  and  vice- 
consuls,  in  cases  where  ships  or  vessels  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
stranded  on  the  coasts  of  their  consulates,  respectively,  shall,  as  far 
as  the  laws  of  the  country  will  permit,  take  proper  measures,  as  well 
for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  said  ships  or  vessels,  their  cargoes  and 
appurtenances,  as  for  storing  and  securing  the  elfects  and  merchandise 
saved,  and  for  taking  an  inventory  or  inventories  thereof;  and  the 
merchandise  and  effects  saved,  with  the  inventory  or  inventories  thereof 
taken  as  aforesaid,  shall,  after  deducting  therofrom  the  expense,  be 
delivered  to  the  owner  or  owners:  Provided,  That  no  consul  or  vice- 
consul  shall  have  authority  to  take  possession  of  any  such  goods, 
wares,  merchandise,  or  other  property  when  the  master,  owner,  or  con- 
signee thereof  is  present  or  capable  of  taking  possession  of  the  same. 

Sec.  4.  And  he  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful 
for  every  consul  and  vice-consul  of  the  United  States  to  take  and 


510       CONSULS    AND   VICE-CONSULS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

receive  the  following  fees  of  office  for  the  services  which  he  shall 
have  performed: 

For  authenticating,  under  the  consular  seal,  every  protest,  declara- 
tion, deposition,  or  other  act  which  such  captains,  masters,  mariners, 
seamen,  passengers,  merchants,  or  others  as  are  citizens  of  tlie  United 
States  may  respectively  choose  to  make,  the  sum  of  two  dollars. 

For  the  taking  into  possession,  inventorying,  selling,  and  finally  set- 
tling and  paying  or  transmitting  as  aforesaid  the  balance  due  on  the 
pereonal  estate  left  by  any  citizen  of  the  LTnited  States  who  shall  die 
within  the  limits  of  his  consulate,  live  per  centum  on  the  gross  amount 
of  such  estate. 

For  taking  into  possession  and  otherwise  proceeding  on  any  sucli 
estate  which  shall  be  delivered  over  to  the  legal  representative  before 
a  final  settlement  of  the  same,  as  is  hereinbefore  directed,  two  and  a 
half  per  centum  on  such  part  delivered  over  as  shall  not  be  in  money 
and  five  per  centum  on  the  gross  amount  of  the  residue. 

And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  consuls  and  vice-consuls  of  the 
United  States  to  give  receipts  for  all  fees  which  they  shall  receive  by 
virtue  of  this  act,  expressing  the  particular  services  for  which  they 
are  paid. 

Sec.  5.  Andheit further  enacted.  That  in  case  it  be  found  neces- 
sary for  the  int-erest  of  the  United  States  that  a  consul  or  consuls  l)e 
appointed  to  reside  on  the  coast  of  Barbary,  the  President  be  author- 
ized to  allow  an  annual  salary,  not  exceeding  two  thousand  dollars,  to 
each  person  so  to  be  appointed:  Provided,  1'hat  such  salary  be  not 
allowed  to  more  than  one  consul  for  any  one  of  the  States  on  the  said 
coast. 

Sec.  6.  And  he  it  further  enacted.  That  every  consul  and  vice-consul 
shall,  before  they  enter  into  the  execution  of  their  trusts,  or,  if  already 
in  the  execution  of  the  same,  within  one  year  from  the  passage  of  this 
act,  or  if  resident  in  Asia  within  two  years,  give  bond  with  such  sure- 
ties as  shall  be  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  State  in  a  sum  of  not  less 
than  two  thousand  or  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  conditioned  for 
the  true  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office  according  to 
law,  and  also  for  truly  accounting  for  all  moneys,  goods,  and  effects 
which  may  act;  and  the  said  bond  shall  be  lodged  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Sec.  7.  And  he  it  further  enacted,  That  to  prevent  the  mariners  and 
seamen  employed  in  vessels  belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  in  cases  of  shipwreck,  sickness,  or  captivity,  from  suffering  in 
foreign  ports,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  consuls  and  vice-consuls, 
respectively,  from  time  to  time  to  provide  for  them  in  the  most  rea- 
sonable manner,  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  subject  to  such 
instructions  as  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  give,  and  not  exceeding 
an  allowance  of  twelve  cents  to  a  man  per  diem;  and  all  masters  and 
commanders  of  vessels  belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and 
bound  to  some  port  of  the  same,  are  hereby  required  and  enjoined  to 
take  such  mariners  or  seamen  on  board  of  their  ships  or  vessels,  at 
the  request  of  the  said  consuls  or  vice-consuls,  respectively,  and  to 
transport  them  to  the  port  in  the  United  States  to  which  such  ships 
or  vessels  maybe  bound,  free  of  costs  or  charge;  but  that  the  said 
mariners  or  seamen  shall,  if  able,  be  bound  to  do  duty  on  board  such 
ships  or  vessels,  according  to  their  several  abilities:  Provided,  That 
no  master  or  captain  of  any  ship  or  vessel  shall  be  obliged  to  take  a 
greater  number  than  two  men  to  every  one  hundred  tons  burthen  of 
the  said  ship  or  vessel,  on  any  one  voyage ;  and  if  any  such  captain  or 


DUTIES  ON  TONNAGE RELEASE  OF  TRADE  FROM  EMBARGO.      511 

master  sluill  refuse  the  same  on  the  request  or  order  of  the  consul  or 
vice-consul,  such  captain  or  master  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of 
thirty  dollars  for  each  mariner  or  seaman  so  refused,  to  be  recovered 
for  tlic  benefit  of  the  United  States  by  the  said  consul  or  vice-consul 
in  liis  own  name,  in  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction. 

Sec.  8.  And  he  it  further  enacted,  That  where  a  ship  or  vessel 
belonging  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  is  sold  in  a  foreign  port  or 
place,  the  master,  unless  the  crew  are  liable  by  their  contract  or  do 
consent  to  be  discharged  there,  shall  send  them  back  to  the  State 
where  they  entered  on  board,  or  furnish  them  with  means  sufficient 
for  their  return,  to  be  ascertained  by  tlie  consul  or  vice-consul  of  the 
United  States  having  jurisdiction  of  the  port  or  place.  And  in  case 
of  the  masters  refusal,  the  said  consul  or  vice-consul  may  (if  the  laws 
of  the  land  permit  it)  cause  his  ship,  goods,  and  person  to  be  arrested 
until  he  shall  comply  with  his  duty  herein. 

Sec.  9.  And.  he  it  further  enacted,  That  the  specification  of  certain 
powers  and  duties,  in  this  act,  to  be  exercised  or  performed  by  the 
consuls  and  vice-consuls  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to 
the  exclusion  of  others  resulting  from, the  nature  of  their  appoint- 
ments or  any  treaty  or  convention  under  which  they  may  act. 

(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  1,  pp.  189,  194,  231,  232;  Stat.  L.,  vol.  1,  p.  254.) 


THIRD  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  3,  1794. 

Concerning  the  remission  of  the  duties  arising  on  the  tonnage  of 
sundry  French  vessels  which  have  taken  refuge  in  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Cabot  reported  as  follows : 

Whereas  the  disastrous  situation  of  the  town  of  Cape  Francois,  in 
the  island  of  Hispaniola,  compelling  sundry  vessels  belonging  to  citi- 
zens of  the  French  Republic,  in  the  month  of  June  last,  to  take  refuge 
within  the  ports  of  the  United  States;  and  whereas  they  are  liable  by 
law  to  the  payment  of  foreign  tonnage  which,  considering  the  necessity 
of  their  case,  ouglit  equitably  to  be  remitted  to  them:  Therefore, 

Be  it  enacted  hij  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assenihled,  That  the  duties  on 
the  tonnage  to  which  any  of  the  vessels  aforesaid  are  or  may  have 
been  liable,  within  any  of  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  be  and  are 
hereby  remitted:  Provided,  nevertheless,  That  the  master,  owner,  or 
consignee  of  every  such  vessel  shall  make  proof  to  the  proper  officer 
of  the  port  in  which  such  vessel  may  be  that  the  said  vessel  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  said  island  of  Hispaniola  and  to  take  refuge  within 
the  said  port  by  reason  of  the  calamity  aforesaid. 

(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  2,  p.  34;  Stat.  L.,  vol.  1,  p.  342.) 


May  8,  1794.  • 

Concerning  release  of  a  portion  of  the  trade  of  the  United  States 
from  embargo,  Mr  Butler  reported  as  follows : 

That,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  it  is  not  advisable  to  grant 
anj'  partial  enlargements  or  permissions  for  the  departure  of  vessels 
now  embargoed. 

(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  2,  p.  75.) 


512  SUSPENSION    OF    COMMERCIAL    INTERCOURSE. 

FIFTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
July  14,  1798. 

On  the  suspension  of  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  France  and  dependencies  thereof,  Mr.  Bingham  reported 
tlie  following  bill: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repi'eseniatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  provision 
for  giving  bond  and  finding  suflBcient  surety  or  sureties  for  vessels 
bound  on  foreign  voj^ages  as  required  in  the  second  section  of  fhe  act 
entitled  "An  act  to  suspend  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  France  and  the  dependencies  thereof,"  shall  extend 
no  further  than  to  obligations  to  the  amount  of  the  valuer  of  the  ves- 
sels, respectively,  and  to  a  sum  in  addition  thereto  equal  to  one-third 
of  the  value  of  the  cargo:  Provided,  That  in  no  case  the  sun^ty  or 
sureties  shall  be  answerable  for  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  any- 
thing in  the  act  above  mentioned  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Approved,  Julv  16,  1798. 

(Annals,  5th  Cong.,  pp.*  615,  616;  Stat.  L.,  vol.  1,  p.  609.) 


NINTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
January  28,  1806. 

On  the  suspension  of  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  the  French  island  of  Santo  Domingo,  Mr.  Logan  reported 
the  following  bill : 

Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  all  commercial  intercourse  between  any 
person  or  persons  resident  within  the  United  States  and  any  person 
or  persons  resident  within  the  island  of  San  Domingo,  not  in  posses- 
sion and  under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France,  shall  be, 
and  from  and  after  due  notice  of  this  act  at  the  custom-houses,  respec- 
tively, is  hereby,  prohibited.  And  any  ship  or  vessel  owned,  hired, 
or  employed,  wholly  or  in  part,  by  any  person  or  persons  resident 
within  the  United  States,  or  by  any  citizen  or  citizens  thereof,  resi- 
dent elsewhere,  and  sailing  from  any  port  of  the  United  States  after 

that  time,  or  from  any  other  portion  of  America,  after  the day 

of next,  or  from  any  other  port  whatever,  after  the day 

of ,  which,  contrary  to  the  intent  hereof,  shall  be  voluntary 

carried,  or  shall  be  destined  to  proceed,  whether  directly  or  from  any 
intermediate  port  or  place,  to  any  port  or  place  in  the  island  of  San 
Domingo,  and  not  in  possession  and  not  under  the  acknowledged 
Government  of  France,  and  also  any  cargo  which  shall  be  found  on 
board  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  when  detected  or  interrupted  in  such 
unlawful  purpose,  or  at  her  return  from  such  voyage  to  the  United 
States,  shall  be  wholly  forfeited  and  may  be  seized  or  condemned  in 
any  port  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  after  due  notice  of  this  act  at 
the  several  custom-houses,  no  ship  or  vessel  whatever  shall  receive  a 
clearance  for  any  port  or  place  within  the  island  of  San  Domingo,  and 
not  in  the  actual  possession  of  France;  nor  shall  any  clearance  be 
granted  for  any  foreign  voyage  to  any  ship  or  vessel,  hired,  owned,  or 
employed,  wholly  or  in  part,  by  any  person  or  persons  resident  in  the 
United  States,  by  any  citizen  or  citizens  thereof  resident  elsewhere, 


SUSPENSION    OF   OOMMEECIAL   INTEEOOUESE.  513 

until  the  owner  or  the  employer  for  the  voyage  or  his  factor  or  agent, 
with  the  master  and  one  or  more  sufficient  surety  or  sureties  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  collector  of  the  district,  shall  give  bond  to  the 
United  States,  such  owner,  employer,  or  factor,  with  the  master,  in  a 
sum  equal  to  the  value  of  the  vessel  and  of  her  cargo,  and  such  surety 
or  sureties  in  a  sum  equal  to  the  value  of  the  vessel  and  of  one-third 
of  her  cargo,  when  it  shall  not  exceed  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  if  it 
shall  exceed  that  sum,  witli  condition  that  the  ship  or  vessel  for 
which  a  clearance  shall  be  required,  is  actually  destined  and  shall 
proceed  to  some  port  or  place  without  the  limits  of  such  part  of  the 
island  of  San  Domingo  as  shall  not  be  in  the  actual  possession  and 
under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France,  and  during  the 
intended  voyage  shall  not  be  voluntarily  carried  or  permitted  to  pro- 
ceed, whether  directly  or  from  any  intermediate  port  or  place,  to  any 
port  or  place  within  the  island  of  San  Domingo  as  shall  not  be  in  the 
actual  possession  and  under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France 
and  shall  not  at  any  port  or  place  voluntarily  sell,  deliver,  or  unlade 
any  part  of  such  cargo,  and  generally  that  such  ship  or  vessel,  whilst 
on  such  voyage,  shall  not  be  employed  in  any  traffic  or  commerce 
with  or  for  any  person  resident  within  any  part  of  the  island  of  San 
Domingo  not  in  the  actual  possession  and  under  the  acknowledged 
Government  of  France. 

Sec.  3.  And  he  it  further  enacted^  That  all  penalties  and  forfeitures 
incurred  by  force  of  this  act,  and  which  may  be  recovered,  shall  be 
distributed  and  accounted  for  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  act 
entitled,  "An  act  to  regulate  the  collection  of  duties  on  imports  and 
tonnage;"  and  may  be  mitigated  or  remitted  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  mitigating  or 
remitting  the  forfeitures,  penalties,  and  disabilities  accruing  in  cer- 
tain cases  therein  mentioned." 

(Annals,  9th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  pp.  52,  75.) 


February  28,  1806. 

On  the  suspension  of  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  the  French  island  of  Santo  Domingo,  Mr.  Baldwin  reported 
the  following  bill: 

Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  all  commercial  intercourse  between  any 
person  or  persons  resident  within  the  United  States  and  any  person  or 
persons  resident  within  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  not  in  possession 
and  under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France  shall  be,  and  is 
hereby,  prohibited ;  and  any  ship  or  vessel  owned,  hired,  or  employed, 
wholly  or  in  part,  by  any  person  or  persons  resident  within  the  United 
States  and  sailing  from  any  port  within  the  United  States  after  due 
notice  of  this  act  at  the  custom-houses,  respectively,  which,  contrary  to 
the  intent  thereof,  shall  be  voluntarily  carried,  or  shall  be  destined 
to  proceed,  whether  directly  or  from  any  intermediary  port  or  place,  to 
any  port  or  place  within  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  and  not  be  in 
possession  and  not  under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France; 
and  also  any  cargo  which  shall  be  found  on  board  of  such  ship  or 
vessel,  when  detected  and  interrupted  in  such  unlawful  purpose  or  at 
ner  return  from  such  voj^age  to  the  United  States,  shall  be  wholly 
forfeited,  and  may  be  seized  and  condemned  in  any  court  of  the 
United  States  having  competent  jurisdiction. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 33 


514  FRIGATE    CHESAPEAKE. 

Tliat  after  due  notice  of  this  act  at  the  several  cnstom-honses  no 
ship  or  vessel  whatever  shall  receive  a  clearance  for  any  port  or  place 
within  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  and  not  in  actual  possession  of 
France;  nor  shall  any  clearance  be  granted  for  a  foreign  voyage  to 
any  ship  or  vessel  owned,  hired,  or  employed,  wholly  or  in  part,  by 
any  person  or  persons  resident  within  the  United  States  until  the 
owner  or  employer  for  the  voyage,  or  his  factor  or  agent,  with 
the  master,  shall  give  bond  to  the  United  States  in  a  sum  equal  to  the 
value  of  the  vessel  and  of  her  cargo,  with  condition  that  the  ship  or 
vessel,  for  which  a  clearance  shall  be  required,  is  destined  to  some 
port  or  place  without  the  limits  of  such  part  of  the  island  of  Santo 
Domingo  as  shall  not  be  in  the  actual  possession  and  under  the  acknowl- 
edged Government  of  France,  and  during  tlie  intended  voyage  shall 
not  be  voluntarily  carried  or  permitted  to  proceed,  whether  directly 
or  from  any  intermediate  port  or  place,  to  any  port  or  place  within 
such  part  of  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  as  shall  not  be  in  the  actual 
possession  and  under  the  acknowledged  Government  of  France;  and 
in  case  of  being  forced  by  any  casualty  into  any  port  or  place  hereby 
interdicted  shall  not,  in  any  such  port  or  place,  voluntarily  sell, 
deliver,  or  unlade  any  part  of  such  cargo,  except  so  much  as  may  be 
absolutely  necessarj'  to  defray  the  expenses  requisite  to  enable  the 
vessel  to  proceed  on  her  intended  voyage;  and  generally  that  such 
ship  or  vessel  whilst  on  such  voyage  shall  not  be  employed  in  any 
traffic  or  commerce  with  or  for  any  person  resident  within  any  part 
of  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  not  in  the  actual  possession  and  under 
the  acknowledged  Government  of  France. 

That  all  penalties  and  forfeitures  incurred  by  force  of  this  act,  and 
which  may  be  recovered,  shall  be  distributed  and  accounted  for  in  the 
manner  prescribed  by  the  act  intituled  "An  act  to  regulate  the  col- 
lection of  duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,"  passed  the  second  day  of 
March,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine,  and  may  be 
mitigated  or  remitted  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  act  intituled 
"An  act  to  provide  for  mitigating  or  remitting  the  forfeitures,  penal- 
ties, and  disabilities  accruing  in  certain  cases  therein  mentioned," 
passed  the  third  of  March,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven,  and  made  perpetual  by  an  act  passed  the  eleventh  of  February, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred. 

That  this  act  shall  continue  and  be  in  force  for  one  year  and  no 
longer. 

That  at  any  time  after  the  passing  of  the  act  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  if  he  shall  deem  it  expedient  and 
consistent  with  the  interests  of  the  United  States,  by  his  order  to 
remit  and  discontinue  the  restraints  and  prohibitions  on  the  commerce 
aforesaid. 

Approved,  February  28,  1806. 

(Stat.  L.,  vol.  2,  pp.  351,352;  vol.  4,  p.  36.) 


TENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
April  16,  1808. 

As  to  the  attack  upon  the  frigate  Chesapeake  by  the  British  ship  of 
war  Leopard,  Mr.  Anderson  reported  as  follows : 

That,  on  a  review  of  the  several  orders,  decrees,  and  the  decisions 
of  Great  Britain  and  France,  within  the  period  of  the  existing  war,  it 


FRIGATE    CHESAPEAKE.  515 

appears  that,  previous  to  the  measures  above  referred  to  in  the  letters 
from  Mr.  Erskine  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  from  Mr.  Chamj)agny 
to  General  Armstrong,  various  and  heavy  injuries  have  been  com- 
mitted against  the  neutral  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  United 
States  under  the  following  heads : 

First.  The  British  order  of  June,  1803,  unlawfully  restricting  the 
trade  of  the  United  States,  with  a  certain  portion  of  the  unblockaded 
ports  of  her  enemies,  and  condemning  vessels  with  innocent  cargoes, 
on  a  return  from  ports  where  they  liad  deposited  contraband  articles. 

Second.  The  capture  and  condemnation,  in  the  British  courts  of 
admiralty,  of  American  property,  on  a  pretended  principle,  debarring 
neutral  nations  from  a  trade  with  the  enemies  of  Great  Britain  inter- 
dicted in  time  of  peace.  The  injuries  suffered  by  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  on  this  head  arose  not  from  any  public  order  of  the 
British  council,  but  from  a  variation  in  tlie  principle  upon  which  the 
courts  of  admiraltj'  pronounced  their  decisions.  These  decisions  have, 
indeed,  again  varied  without  any  new  orders  of  council  being  issued ; 
and  in  the  higher  courts  of  admiralty  some  of  the  decisions  which 
had  formed  the  greatest  cause  for  complaint  have  been  reversed  and 
the  property  been  restored.  There  still  remains,  however,  a  heavy 
claim  for  indemnity  for  confiscations  which  were  made  during  the 
period  of  these  unwarrantable  decisions,  and  for  which  all  negotiation 
has  hitherto  proved  unavailing. 

Third.  Blockades  notified  to  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at 
London,  and  thence  made  a  capture  against  the  trade  of  the  United 
States,  in  entire  disregard  to  the  law  of  nations,  and  even  of  the  defi- 
nition of  legal  blockades  laid  down  by  the  British  Government  itself. 
Examples  of  these  illegitimate  blockades  will  be  found  in  the  notifi- 
cations of  the  blockade  of  May  16,  1806,  of  the  coast  of  the  river 
Elbe  to  Brest,  inclusive;  blockade  of  the  11th  May,  1807,  expounded 
19th  June,  1807,  of  the  Elbe,  Weser,  and  Ems,  and  the  coast  between 
the  same;  blockade  11th  May,  1807,  of  the  Dardanelles  and  Smyrna; 
blockade  of  8th  January,  1808,  of  Carthagena,  Cadiz,  and  St.  Lucia, 
and  all  of  the  intermediate  ports  between  Carthagena  and  St.  Lucar, 
comprehending  a  much  greater  extent  of  coast  than  the  whole  British 
navy  could  blockade  according  to  the  established  law  of  nations. 

Fourth.  To  these  injuries,  immediately  authorized  by  the  British 
Government,  might  be  added  other  spurious  blockades  by  British 
naval  commanders,  particularly  that  of  the  island  of  Curacoa,  which, 
for  a  very  considerable  period,  was  made  a  pretext  for  the  very 
extensive  spoliations  on  the  commerce  of  the  United  States. 

Fifth.  The  British  proclamation  of  October  last,  which  makes  it  the 
duty  of  British  officers  to  impress  from  American  merchant  vessels 
all  such  of  their  crews  as  might  be  taken  or  mistaken  for  British  sub- 
jects, these  officers  being  the  sole  and  absolute  judges  in  the  case. 

For  the  decrees  and  acts  of  the  French  Government  violating  the 
maritime  law  of  nations,  in  respect  to  the  United  States,  the  com- 
mittee refer  to  the  instances  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  January  25,  1806,  to  the  Senate,  in  one  of  which,  viz,  a 
decree  of  the  French  General  Ferrand,  at  Santo  Domingo,  are  regula- 
tions sensibly  affecting  the  neutral  and  commercial  rights  of  the 
United  States. 

The  French  act,  next  in  order  of  time,  is  the  decree  of  November 
21,  1806,  declaring  the  British  Isles  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  pro- 
fessing to  be  a  retaliation  on  antecedent  proceedings  of  Great  Britain, 
violating  the  law  of  nations. 


516  FRIGATE   CHESAPEAKE. 

Tliis  decree  was  followed,  first,  by  the  British  order  of  January, 
1807,  professing  to  be  a  retaliation  on  that  decree,  and  subjecting  to 
capture  the  trade  of  the  United  States,  from  the  port  of  one  belligerent 
to  the  port  of  another;  and,  secondly,  by  the  ordei-s  of  November  last, 
professing  to  be  a  retaliation  on  the  same  decree,  and  prohibiting  the 
commerce  of  neutrals  with  the  enemies  of  Great  Britain,  as  explained 
in  the  aforesaid  letter  of  ^Ir.  Erskine.  These  last  British  orders  have 
been  again  followed  by  the  French  decree  of  December  17,  purport- 
ing to  be  a  retaliation  on  the  said  orders,  and  to  be  put  in  force 
against  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  as  stated  in  the  aforesaid 
letter  of  Mr.  Champagny. 

The  committee  forbear  to  enter  into  a  comparative  view  of  these 
proceedings  of  the  different  belligerent  powers,  deeming  it  sufficient 
to  present  the  materials  from  which  it  may  be  formed.  They  think 
it  their  duty,  nevertheless,  to  offer  the  following  remarks,  suggested 
by  a  collective  view  of  the  whole: 

The  injuries  and  dangers  resulting  to  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  from  the  course  and  increase  of  these  belligerent  measures,  and 
from  similar  ones  adopted  by  other  nations,  were  such  as  to  first  induce 
the  more  circumspect  of  our  merchants  and  shipowners  no  longer  to 
commit  their  property  to  the  high  seas  and  at  length  to  impose  on  Con- 
gress the  indispensable  duty  of  interposing  some  legislative  provision 
for  such  an  unexampled  state  of  things. 

Among  other  expedients  out  of  which  a  choice  was  to  be  made  may 
be  reckoned,  first,  a  protection  of  commerce  by  ships  of  war;  second, 
a  protection  of  it  by  self-armed  vessels;  third,  a  war  of  offense  as  well 
of  defense;  fourth,  a  general  suspension  of  foreign  commerce;  fifth, 
an  embargo  on  our  vessels,  mariners,  and  merchandise. 

This  last  was  adopted,  and  the  policy  of  it  was  enforced  at  the  par- 
ticular moment  by  accounts,  quickly  after  confirmed,  of  the  British 
order  of  November  last,  and  by  the  probability  that  these  would  be 
followed,  as  has  also  happened,  by  an  invigorated  spirit  of  retaliation 
in  other  belligerent  powers;  the  happy  effect  of  the  precaution  is  dem- 
onstrated by  the  well-known  fact  that  the  ports  of  Europe  are  crowded 
with  the  captured  vessels  of  the  United  States,  unfortunately  not 
within  the  reach  of  the  precaution. 

With  respect  to  a  protection  of  our  commerce  by  ships  of  war,  it 
must  be  obviously  impracticable,  in  any  material  degree,  without  a 
lapse  of  time,  and  an  expense  which  amounts  to  a  prohibition  of  that 
resort,  besides  that  it  would  necessarily  involve  hostile  collisions  with 
one  or  more  of  the  belligerent  powers. 

Self-armed  merchantmen  would  have  the  same  tendency.  At  the 
same  time  they  would  be  utterly  inadequate  to  a  security  against  the 
multiplied  fleets  and  cruisere  to  be  encountered. 

An  entire  suspension  of  foreign  commerce,  as  the  resort  in  the  first 
instance,  would  evidently  have  produ{*ed  some  inconveniences  not 
incident  to  the  embargo  as  it  was  modified.  But  the  committee  do 
not  suppress  their  opinion  that,  after  a  reasonable  time,  it  may  not 
improperly  take  the  place  of  the  embargo  in  the  case  of  a  protracted 
adherence  by  the  belligerent  powers  to  their  destructive  proceedings 
against  our  neutral  commerce. 

With  respect  to  a  resort  to  war  as  a  remedy  for  the  evils  experi- 
enced, the  committee  will  offer  no  other  reflection  than  that  it  is  in 
itself  so  great  an  evil  that  the  United  States  have  wisely  considered 
peace  and  honest  neutrality  as  the  best  foundation  of  their  general 
policy.  It  is  not  for  the  committee  to  say  under  what  degree  of  aggra- 
vated injuries  a  departure  from  this  policy  may  become  a  duty,  and 


FKIGATE    CHESAPEAKE.  517 

the  most  pacific  nation  find  itself  compelled  to  exchange,  for  the 
calamities  of  war,  the  greater  distresses  of  longer  forbearance. 

In  this  present  state  of  things  the  committee  can  not  recommend 
any  departure  from  that  policy  which  withholds  our  commercial  and 
agricultural  proj^erty  from  the  licensed  depredations  of  the  great 
maritime  and  belligerent  powers.  They  hope  that  an  adherence  to 
this  policy  will  eventually  secure  to  us  the  blessings  of  peace  without 
any  sacrifice  of  our  national  rights;  and  they  have  no  doubt  that  it 
will  be  supported  by  all  the  manly  virtue  which  the  good  people  of 
the  United  States  have  ever  discovered  on  great  and  patriotic  occa- 
sions. But  the  committee  would  not  suggest  on  this  subject  that  bet- 
ter counsels  in  the  belligerent  governments,  producing  juster  conduct 
toward  neutral  nations,  would  render  a  continuance  of  the  embargo 
necessary,  and  that  it  will  be  a  provident  measure  to  vest  in  the  Execu- 
tive a  power,  in  such  an  event,  to  suspend  until  the  next  session  of 
Congress,  wholly  or  in  part,  the  several  acts  prohibiting  the  departure 
of  our  vessels  for  foreign  ports. 

Although  the  committee  have  abstained  from  entering  into'any  par- 
ticular comparison  of  the  proceedings  of  the  French  and  British  Gov- 
ernments toward  the  United  States,  they  can  not  reconcile  it  with 
their  duty  or  with  the  just  sensibility  of  the  nation  not  to  advert  to 
the  tenor  and  language  of  the  late  communications  made  by  the 
respective  organs  of  those  Governments. 

In  the  letter  of  Mr.  Champagny  the  United  States  are  not  only 
threatened  with  confiscation  as  the  final  destiny  of  American  prop- 
erty seized  under  French  decrees,  unless  dispositions  shall  be  mani- 
fested by  them  against  them  by  Great  Britain  satisfactory  to  France, 
but  they  are  even  declared,  without  reserve  of  any  sort,  to  be  actually 
in  a  state  of  war  against  Great  Britain. 

In  the  letter  of  Mr.  Erskine  to  the  Secretary  of  State  the  United 
States  are  explicity  charged  with  justly  subjecting  their  commerce  to 
confiscations,  under  British  orders,  by  not  opposing  an  effectual  resist- 
ance against  the  decrees  of  France ;  in  other  words,  by  not  making 
war  against  that  nation  in  case  no  other  interposition  should  be 
effectual.  There  are  in  this  exposition  of  the  British  orders  certain 
features  which  claim  particular  attention.  Among  the  regulations  of 
which  they  consist  it  is  provided  that  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States,  bound  from  their  own  ports  to  its  legal  and  ordinary  markets, 
shall  pass  through  British  ports;  there  shall  in  all  cases  take  their 
clearance  from  British  officers,  shall  in  some  cases  obtain  special 
licenses,  and  in  others  pay  a  direct  and  avowed  tax,  thus  putting  the 
United  States  on  a  commercial  footing  even  worse  than  was  allowed 
to  British  colonies,  which  were  left  free  to  carry  their  exports  directly 
to  foreign  markets,  in  cases  where  an  intermediate  voyage  to  the  par- 
ent country  would  be  too  oppressive.  In  the  present  case  not  a  single 
article  is  permitted  to  be  sent  from  the  United  States  to  the  most 
southern  ports  of  Europe  without  a  previous  voyage  to  Great  Britain, 
and,  in  some  cases,  not  without  purchasing  even  that  privilege — with- 
out paying  a  tribute  to  the  British  treasury.  The  committee  have 
taken  into  consideration  the  documents  relating  to  the  attack  on  the 
frigate  Chesapeake;  but  they  have  not  deemed  it  their  duty,  in  the 
actual  posture  of  that  subject,  to  make  any  other  remark  than  that  it 
strengthens  the  motives  for  persevering  in  all  the  provisional  and  pre- 
cautionary measures  hitherto  contemplated.  The  committee  beg  leave 
to  submit  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  do  bring  in  a  bill  authorizing  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  event  of  such  peace  or  suspension  of  hostilities  between 


518  INTEBDIOnON    OF    COMMERCIAL   INTERCOURSE. 

the  belligerent  powers  of  Europe,  or  of  such  changes  in  their  measures  affecting 
neutral  commerce,  as  may  render  that  of  the  United  States  sufficiently  safe,  in  his 
judgment,  to  suspend  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the 
porte  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto, 
under  such  exceptions  and  restrictions  aa  the  public  interest  and  circumstances 
ot  the  case  may  appear  to  require:  Provided,  Such  suspension  shall  not  extend 
beyond days  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of  Congress. 

Besolved,  That  the  committee  do  bring  in  a  bill  authorizing  the  President  of 
the  United  States  to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  several  acts  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  certain  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  if  in  his  judgment  the 
public  interest  should  require  it:  Provided,  That  suspension  shall  not  extend 
beyond days  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of  Congress. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  prohibiting  after 

the day  of all  commercial  intercourse  with  such  of  the  belligerent 

nations  whose  edicts  against  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States  may 
render  such  prohibition  expedient. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  further  instructed  to  report  a  bill  expatriat- 
ing all  citizens  of  the  United  States  commanding  such  ships  or  vessels  of  the 
United  States  who  shall  be  convicted  of  voluntarily  accepting  any  license  or 

Saying  any  tax,  in  conformity  with  the  British  orders  in  council  of  the  11th  of 
[ovember  last. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  further  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  imposing 
on  the  navigation  and  commerce  of  foreign  nations  restrictions  corresponding 
with  the  restrictions  imposed  by  them,  respectively,  on  the  commerce  and  the 
navigation  of  the  United  States. 

(Annals,  10th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  pp.  186,364;  Am.  St.  Pap.,  vol. 
3,  p.  218.) 


TENTH  CONGBESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
February  16,  1809. 

Concerning  the  interdiction  of  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  and  France  and  their  dependencies, 
and  for  other  purposes,  Mr.  Giles  reported  the  following  bill: 

That  from  and  after  the  passing  of  this  act  the  entrance  of  the 
harbors  and  waters  of  the  United.  States  and  of  the  Territories  thereof 
be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  interdicted  to  all  public  ships  and  vessels 
belonging  to  Great  Britain  and  France,  excepting  vessels  only  which 
may  be  forced  in  by  distress,  or  which  are  charged  with  dispatches  or 
business  from  the  Government  to  which  they  belong,  and  also  packets 
having  no  cargo  or  merchandise  on  board.  And  as  any  public  ship 
or  vessel  as  aforesaid  not  being  included  in  the  exception  above  men- 
tioned shall  enter  any  harbor  or  waters  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  the  Territories  thereof,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  or  such  other  person  as  he  shall  have 
empowered  for  the  purpose,  to  employ  such  part  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces,  or  of  the  Militia  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  Territo- 
ries thereof,  as  he  shall  deem  necessary,  to  compel  such  ship  or  vessel 
to  depart. 

That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  the  territories  thereof,  or  for  any  person  or  persons  resid- 
ing or  being  in  the  same,  to  have  any  intercourse  with,  or  to  afford 
any  aid  or  supplies  to  any  public  ship  or  vessel  as  aforesaid,  which 
shall,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  have  entered  any  liarbor 
or  waters  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  or  the  territo- 
ries thereof;  and  if  any  person  shall,  contraiy  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  have  any  intercourse  with  such  ship  or  vessel,  or  shall  afford 
any  aid  to  such  ship  or  vessel,  either  in  repairing  the  said  vessel  or 


INTERDICTION    OF    COMMERCIAL    INTERCOURSE.  519 

in  furnishing  her,  her  officers  or  crew  with  supplies  of  any  kind  or  in 
any  manner  whatever,  or  if  any  pilot  or  other  person  shall  assist  in 
navigating  such  ship  or  vessel,  unless  it  be  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing her  beyond  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  every 
person  so  offending  shall  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  not  less  than  one 
hundred  dollars  nor  exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars;  and  shall  also 
be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not  less  than  one  month  nor  more  than 
one  year. 

That  from  and  after  the  twentieth  of  May  next  the  entrance  of  the 
harbors  and  waters  of  the  United  States  and  the  Territories  thereof, 
and  the  same  is  hereby  interdicted  to  all  ships  or  vesssels  sailing 
under  the  flag  of  Great  Britain  or  France,  or  owned  in  whole  or  in 
part  by  any  citizen  or  subject  of  either;  vessels  hired,  chartered,  or 
employed  by  the  Government  of  either  country  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  carrying  letters  or  dispatches,  and  also  vessels  forced  in  by  distress 
or  by  the  dangers  of  the  sea  only  excepted.  And  if  any  ship  or  ves- 
sel sailing  under  the  flag  of  Great  Britain  or  France,  or  owned  in  whole 
or  in  part  by  any  citizen  or  subject  of  either  and  not  excepted  as  afore- 
said, shall,  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May  next,  arrive  either  with  or 
without  a  cargo  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  Terri- 
tories thereof,  such  ship  or  vessel,  together  with  the  cargo,  if  any, 
which  may  be  found  on  board  shall  be  forfeited,  and  may  be  seized 
and  condemned  in  any  court  of  the  United  States  or  the  Territories 
thereof  having  competent  jurisdiction,  and  all  and  every  act  or  acts 
heretofore  passed  which  shall  be  within  the  purview  of  this  act  shall 
shall  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed. 

That  from  and  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May  next  it  shall  not  be 
lawful  to  import  into  the  United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof  any 
goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  whatever  from  any  port  or  place  situated 
in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  or  in  any  of  the  colonies  or  dependencies 
of  Great  Britain,  nor  from  any  port  or  place  situated  in  France,  or  in 
any  of  her  colonies  or  dependencies,  nor  from  any  port  or  place  in  the 
actual  possession  of  either  Great  Britain  or  France,  Nor  shall  it  be 
lawful  to  import  into  the  United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof  from 
any  foreign  port  or  place  whatever  any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise 
whatever  being  the  growth,  produce,  or  manufacture  of  France,  or  any 
of  her  colonies  or  dependencies,  or  being  of  the  growth,  produce,  or 
manufacture  of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  or  of  any  of  the  colonies  or 
dependencies  of  Great  Britain,  or  being  of  the  growth,  produce, 
or  manufacture  of  any  place  or  country  in  the  abtual  possession  of 
either  Great  Britain  or  France :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  construed  to  aifect  the  cargoes  of  ships  or  vessels 
owned  wholly  by  a  citizen  or  citizens  of  the  United  States  which 
had  cleared  for  any  port  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  prior  to 
the  twenty-second  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seven,  or  which  had  departed  for  such  port  by  the  permission  of 
the  President  under  the  acts  supplementary  to  the  act  laying  an 
embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the 
United  States, 

That  whenever  any  article  or  articles,  the  importation  of  which  are 
prohibited  by  this  act,  shall  after  the  twentieth  of  May  be  imported 
into  the  United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof  contrary  to  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  of  this  act,  or  shall  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May 
be  put  on  board  of  any  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft,  or  carriage  with  the 
intention  of  importing  the  same  into  the  United  States  or  the  Terri- 
tories thereof,  all  such  articles  as  well  as  all  other  articles  on  board 


520  nrrEEDiCTioN  of  commercial  intercourse. 

the  same  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft,  or  carriage  belonging  to  the  owner 
of  such  prohibited  articles  shall  be  forfeited,  and  the  owner  thereof 
shall  moreover  forfeit  and  pay  treble  the  value  of  such  articles. 

That  if  any  article  or  articles,  the  importation  of  which  is  prohib- 
ited by  this  act,  shall  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May  be  put  on  board 
of  any  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft,  or  carriage  with  the  intention  of 
importing  the  same  into  the  United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof 
contrary  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act,  and  vsith  the 
knowledge  of  the  owner  or  master  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft, 
or  carriage,  such  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft,  or  carriage  shall  be  for- 
feited, and  the  owner  or  master  thereof  shall  moreover  each  forfeit 
and  pay  treble  the  value  of  such  articles. 

*rhat  if  any  article  or  articles,  the  importation  of  which  are  prohib- 
ited by  this  act,  and  which  shall  nevertheless  be  on  board  of  any 
ship,  boat,  raft,  vessel,  or  carriage  arriving  after  the  twentieth  day 
of  May  next  in  the  United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof,  shall  be 
omitted  in  the  manifest,  report,  or  entry  of  the  master  or  the  person 
having  the  charge  or  command  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  boat,  raft,  or  car- 
riage, or  shall  be  omitted  in  the  entry  of  the  goods  owned  by  the  owner 
or  consigned  to  the  consignee  of  such  articles,  or  shall  be  imported 
or  landed,  or  attempted  to  be  imported  or  landed  without  a  permit, 
the  same  penalties,  fines,  and  forfeitures  shall  be  incurred,  and  may 
be  recovered  as  in  the  case  of  similar  omission  or  omissions,  land- 
ing, importation,  or  attempt  to  land  or  import  in  relation  to  articles 
liable  to  duties  on  their  importation  into  the  United  States. 

That  every  collector,  naval  officer,  surveyor,  or  other  officer  of  the 
customs  shall  have  the  like  power  and  authority  to  seize  goods,  wares, 
and  merchandise  imported  contrary  to  the  intent  and  meaning  of  this 
act,  to  keep  the  same  in  custody  until  it  shall  have  been  ascertained 
whether  the  same  have  been  forfeited  or  not,  and  to  enter  any  ship 
or  vessel,  dwelling  house,  store,  building,  or  other  place  for  the  pur- 
pose of  searching  for  and  seizing  any  such  goods,  wares,  and  mer- 
chandise which  he  or  they  now  have  by  law  in  relation  to  goods,  wares, 
and  merchandise  subject  to  duty;  and  if  any  person  or  persons  shall 
conceal  or  buy  any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise,  knowing  them  to  be 
liable  to  seizure  by  this  act,  such  person  or  persons  shall,  on  convic- 
tion thereof,  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  double  the  amount  or  value  of  the 
goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  so  concealed  or  purchased. 

That  the  following  additions  shall  be  made  to  the  oath  or  affirma- 
tion taken  by  the  masters  or  persons  having  the  charge  or  command 
of  any  ship  or  vessel  arriving  at  any  port  of  the  United  States  or  the 
Territories  thereof  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May,  viz:  "I  further 
swear  (or  affirm)  that  there  are  not,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and 
belief,  on  board  (insert  the  denomination  and  name  of  the  vessel)  any 
goods,  wares,  or  merchandise,  the  importation  of  which  into  the 
United  States  or  the  Territories  thereof  is  prohibited  by  law;  and  I  do 
further  swear  (or  affirm)  that  if  I  shall  hereafter  discover  or  know  of 
any  such  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  on  board  the  same  vessel,  or 
which  shall  have  been  imported  in  the  same,  I  will  immediately  and 
without  delay  make  due  report  thereof  to  the  collector  of  the  port  of 
this  district." 

That  the  following  addition  be  made,  after  the  twentieth  of  May,  to 
the  oath  or  affirmation  taken  by  importers,  consignees,  or  agents,  at 
the  time  of  entering  goods  imported  into  the  United  States  or  the  Ter- 
ritories thereof,  viz:  "I  also  swear  (or  affirm)  that  there  are  not,  to 
the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  amongst  the  said  goods,  wares, 


ESTTEEDICTION    OF    COMMEECIAL   INTEECOURSE.  521 

and  merchandise  imported  or  consigned  as  aforesaid,  any  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise,  the  importation  of  which  into  the  United 
States  or  the  Territories  thereof  is  prohibited  by  law;  and  I  do  further 
swear  (or  affirm)  that  if  I  shall  hereafter  discover  or  know  of  any 
such  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  amongst  the  said  goods,  wares, 
and  merchandise  imported  or  consigned  as  aforesaid,  I  will  immedi- 
ately and  without  delay  report  the  same  to  the  collector  of  this 
district." 

That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  hereby  is, 
authorized,  in  case  either  France  or  Great  Britain  shall  so  revoke  or 
modify  her  edicts  as  that  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  com- 
merce of  the  United  States,  to  declare  the  same  by  proclamation; 
after  which  the  trade  of  the  United  States  suspended  by  this  act  and 
by  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 
harbors  of  the  United  States  and  the  several  acts  supplementary 
thereto  may  be  renewed  with  the  nation  so  doing:  Provided,  That  all 
penalties  and  forfeitures  which  shall  have  been  previously  incurred 
by  virtue  of  this  or  any  other  act  the  operation  of  which  shall  so  cease 
and  determine  shall  be  recovered  and  distributed  in  like  manner  as 
if  the  same  had  continued  in  full  force  and  virtue;  and  vessels  bound 
thereafter  to  any  foreign  port  or  place  with  which  commercial  inter- 
course by  virtue  of  this  section  be  again  permitted  shall  give  bond  to 
the  United  States,  with  approved  security,  in  double  the  value  of  the 
vessel  and  cargo  that  they  shall  not  proceed  to  any  foreign  port  nor 
trade  with  any  other  country  other  than  those  with  which  commercial 
intercourse  shall  have  been  or  may  be  permitted  by  this  act. 

That  so  much  of  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels 
in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts 
supplementary  thereto,  as  forbids  the  departure  of  vessels  owned  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  the  exportation  of  domestic  and  for- 
eign merchandise  to  any  foreign  port  or  place  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby,  repealed  after  the  fifteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  nine,  except  so  far  as  they  relate  to  Great  Britain  or 
France  or  their  colonies  or  dependencies — places  in  the  actual  posses- 
sion of  either :  Provided,  that  all  the  penalties  and  forfeitures  which 
shall  have  been  previously  incurred  by  virtue  of  so  much  of  the  said 
acts  as  is  repealed  by  this  act,  or  which  have  been  or  may  hereafter 
be  incurred  by  virtue  of  the  said  acts  on  account  of  any  infraction  of 
so  much  of  the  said  acts  as  is  not  repealed  by  this  act,  shall  be  recov- 
ered and  distributed  in  like  manner  as  if  the  said  acts  had  continued 
in  full  force  and  virtue. 

That  during  the  continuance  of  so  much  of  the  act  laying  an 
embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  as  is 
not  repealed  by  this  act,  no  ship  or  vessel  bound  to  a  foreign  port, 
with  which  commercial  intercourse  shall,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  be 
again  permitted,  shall  be  allowed  to  depart  for  such  port  unless  the 
owner  or  owners,  consignee,  or  factor  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  and 
in  a  sum  four  times  the  value  if  the  vessel  is  owned  in  part  or  in 
whole  by  any  foreigner  or  foreigners,  that  the  vessel  shall  not  leave 
the  port  without  a  clearance,  nor  shall,  when  leaving  the  port,  pro- 
ceed to  any  port  or  place  in  Great  Britain  or  France,  or  in  the  colo- 
nies or  the  dependencies  of  either,  or  in  the  actual  possession  of 
either,  nor  be  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  during  the  voyage  in  any 
trade  with  such  port,  nor  shall  put  any  article  on  board  of  any  other 
vessel,  nor  unless  every  other  requisite  and  provision  of  the  second 


522  rNTERDICTTON    OF    COMMERCIAL    INTERCOURSE. 

section  of  the  act  intituled  "An  act  to  enforce  and  make  more  effec- 
tual an  act  intituled  'An  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  ves- 
sels in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  the  several 
acts  supplementary  thereto,'"  shall  have  been  complied  with.  And 
the  party  or  parties  to  the  above-mentioned  bond  shall,  within  a 
reasonable  time  after  the  date  of  the  same,  to  be  expressed  in  the  said 
bond,  produce  to  the  collector  of  the  district  from  which  the  vessel 
shall  have  cleared,  a  certificate  of  the  landing  of  the  same,  in  tlie 
same  manner  as  is  provided  by  law  for  the  landing  of  goods  exported 
with  the  privilege  of  drawback;  on  failure  whereof  the  bond  shall  be 
put  in  suit,  and  in  every  such  suit  judgment  shall  be  given  against 
the  defendant  or  defendants,  unless  proof  shall  be  produced  of  such 
relanding  or  of  loss  at  sea. 

That  so  much  of  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels 
in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts 
supplementary  thereto,  as  compels  vessels  owned  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  bound  to  another  port  of  the  same  States,  or  vessels 
licensed  for  the  coasting  trade,  or  boats  either  not  masted  or  not 
decked,  to  give  bond  and  to  load  under  the  inspection  of  a  revenue 
officer,  or  renders  them  liable  to  detention  merely  on  account  of  the 
nature  of  their  cargo  (such  provisions  excepted  as  relate  to  collection 
districts  adjacent  to  the  territories,  colonies,  or  provinces  of  a  foreign 
nation,  or  to  vessels  belonging  to  or  bound  to  such  districts),  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby,  repealed  from  and  after  the  fifteenth  day  of 
March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine:  Provided,  however. 
That  all  penalties  and  forfeitures  which  shall  have  been  previously 
incurred  by  any  of  the  said  acts,  or  may  hereafter  be  incurred  by 
virtue  of  the  said  acts  on  account  of  any  infraction  of  so  much  of  the 
said  acts  as  is  not  repealed  by  this  act,  shall  be  recovered  and  dis- 
tributed in  like  manner  as  if  the  same  had  continued  in  full  force  and 
virtue. 

That  during  the  continuance  of  so  much  of  the  said  act  laying  an 
embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  as  is 
not  repealed  by  this  act,  no  vessel  owned  by  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  bound  to  another  port  of  the  United  States,  or  licensed  for  tlie 
coasting  trade,  shall  be  allowed  to  depart  from  any  port  of  the  United 
States,  or  shall  receive  a  clearance,  nor  shall  it  be  lawful  to  put  on 
board  of  any  such  vessel  any  specie  or  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise, 
unless  a  permit  shall  have  been  previously  obtained  from  the  proper 
collector,  or  from  a  revenue  officer  authorized  by  the  collector  to  grant 
such  permits,  nor  unless  the  owner,  consignee,  agent,  or  factor  shall 
with  the  mast^er  give  bond,  with  one  or  more  sureties,  to  the  United 
States,  in  a  sum  double  the  value  of  the  vessel  and  cargo,  that  the 
vessel  shall  not  proceed  to  any  foreign  port  or  place,  and  that  the 
cargo  shall  be  relanded  in  some  port  of  the  United  States:  Provided, 
That  it  shall  be  lawful  and  sufficient  in  the  case  of  any  such  vessel 
whose  employment  has  been  uniformly  confined  to  rivers,  bays,  and 
sounds  within  the -jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  to  give  bond  in 
an  amount  equal  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  each  ton  of  said 
vessel,  with  condition  that  such  vessel  shall  not,  during  the  time 
limited  in  the  condition  of  the  bond,  proceed  to  any  foreign  port  or 
place,  or  put  any  article  on  board  of  any  other  vessel,  or  be  employed 
in  any  foreign  trade. 

That  if  any  ship  or  vessel  shall,  during  the  continuance  of  so  much 
of  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 


COMMERCIAL   INTERCOURSE.  523 

harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several  acts  supplementary 
thereto,  as  is  not  repealed  by  this  act,  depart  from  any  port  of  the 
United  States  without  a  clearance  or  permit,  or  having  given  bond  in 
the  manner  provided  by  law,  such  ship  or  vessel,  together  with  her 
cargo,  shall  be  wholly  forfeited;  and  the  owner  or  owners,  agent, 
freighter,  or  factors,  master  or  commander  of  such  ship  or  vessel  shall, 
moreover,  severally  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  equal  to  the  value  of  the 
ship  or  vessel  and  of  the  cargo  put  on  board  of  the  same. 

That  the  act  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  certain  goods,  wares,  and 
merchandise,  passed  the  eighteenth  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  six,  and  the  act  supplementary  thereto,  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby,  repealed  from  and  after  the  twentieth  day  of  May  next :  Pro- 
vided, That  all  penalties  and  forfeitures  which  shall  have  been  pre- 
viously incurred  by  virtue  of  the  said  acts  shall  be  recovered  and 
distributed  in  like  manner  as  if  the  said  acts  had  continued  in  full 
force  and  virtue. 

That  all  penalties  and  forfeitures  arising  under  or  incurred  \)y  virtue 
of  this  act  may  be  sued  for,  prosecuted,  and  recovered,  with  costs  of 
suit,  by  action  of  debt,  in  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
or  by  indictment  or  information,  in  any  court  having  competent  juris- 
diction to  try  the  same;  and  shall  be  distributed  and  accounted  for  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  the  act  intituled  "An  act  to  regulate  the 
duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,"  passed  the  second  day  of  March,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine;  and  such  penalties  and 
forfeitures  may  be  examined,  mitigated,  or  remitted  in  like  manner 
or  under  the  like  conditions,  regulations,  and  restrictions  as  are  pre- 
scribed, authorized,  and  directed  by  the  act  intituled  "An  act  to  pro- 
vide for  mitigating  and  remitting  the  forfeitures,  penalties,  and  disa- 
bilities accruing  in  certain  cases  therein  mentioned,"  passed  the  third 
day  of  March,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven,  and 
made  perpetual  by  an  act  passed  the  eleventh  day  of  February,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred. 

That  this  act  shall  continue  and  be  in  force  until  the  end  of  the 
next  session  of  Congress,  and  no  longer;  and  that  the  act  laying  an 
embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  t&e  United 
States,  and  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  shall  be,  and  the 
same  are  hereby,  repealed  from  and  after  the  end  of  the  next  session 
of  Congress. 

(Stat.  L.,  vol.  2,  p.  528;  vol.  4,  pp.  344,  345,  346.) 


ELEVENTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
April  24,  1810. 

Concerning  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  and  France  and  their  dependencies,  Mr.  Smith  reported 
the  following  amendments  to  the  bill  of  the  House : 

Sec.  ],  line  2:  Strike  out  section  1  and  insert  in  lieu  thereof  the  fol- 
lowing: "  Section  1.  From  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act  no  Brit- 
ish or  French  armed  vessel  shall  be  admitted  to  enter  the  harbors  or 
waters  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States;  but  every  British 
and  French  armed  vessel  is  hereby  interdicted,  except  when  they  shall 
be  forced  in  by  distress,  by  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  or  when  charged 
with  dispatches  or  business  from  their  Government,  or  coming  as  a 


524  TRADE    WITH    DEPENDENCIES    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

public  packet  for  the  conveyance  of  letters;  in  which  case,  as  well  as 
in  all  othei-s,  when  they  shall  be  permitted  to  enter,  the  comniandiii}? 
officer  shall  immediately  report  his  vessel  to  the  collector  of  the  dis- 
trict, stating  the  object  or  causes  of  his  entering  the  harbors  or 
waters  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  take  such  position  therein  as 
shall  be  assigned  him  by  such  collector,  and  shall  conform  himself, 
his  vessel,  and  crew  to  such  regulations  respecting  health,  repairs, 
supplies,  stay,  intercourse,  and  departure  as  shall  be  signified  to  him 
by  the  said  collector,  under  the  authority  and  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  not  conforming  thereto  shall  be  required 
to  depart  from  the  United  States." 

Strike  out  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  sections,  and  insert: 

"Sec.  2.  That  all  pacific  intercourse  with 'any  interdicted  foreign 
armed  vessels,  or  the  officers  or  crew  thereof,  is  hereby  forbidden ;  and 
if  any  person  shall  aflFord  any  aid  to  such  armed  vessel,  either  in  pre- 
paring her  or  in  furnishing  her,  her  officers  or  crew  with  supplies  of 
any  kind  or  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  or  if  any  pilot  shall  assist  in 
navigating  the  said  armed  vessel  contrary  to  his  prohibition,  unless 
for  the  purpose  of  carrj'ing  her  beyond  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States,  the  person  or  persons  so  offending  shall  be  liable  to 
be  bound  to  their  good  behaviour,  and  shall  moreover  forfeit  and  pay  a 
sum  not  exceeding  two  thousand  dollars,  to  be  recovered  upon  indict- 
ment or  information  in  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction;  one 
moiety  thereof  to  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  and  the  other 
moiety  to  the  person  who  shall  give  information  and  prosecute  the 
same  to  effect:  Provided,  That  if  the  prosecution  shall  be  by  a  pub- 
lic officer  the  whole  forfeiture  shall  accrue  to  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States. 

"  Sec.  3.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  hereby  is, 
authorized  to  employ  the  public  and  armed  vessels  in  protecting  tli^ 
commerce  of  the  United  States,  and  to  issue  instructions  which  shall 
be  conformable  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  nations  for  the  government 
of  the  ships  which  may  be  employed  in  that  service." 

Sec.  5.  Strike  out  from  the  word  "aforesaid,"  in  the  seventeenth 
line,  to  the  end  of  the  section. 

(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  4,  pp.  497,  499 j  Stat.  L.,vol.  2,  p.  605;  Annals, 
11th  Cong.,  2d  sess.,  p.  666.) 


THIRTEENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION, 
June  28,  1813. 

Concerning  trade  or  traffic  with  the  dominions  or  dependencies  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Campbell  reported  the  following  bill: 

That  any  citizen  or  inhabitant  of  the  United  States  or  the  Territo- 
ries thereof  who  shall,  during  the  war  in  which  the  said  United  States 
is  at  present  engaged,  either  directly  or  indirectly  carry  on  any  trade, 
commerce,  or  traffic  in  any  articles  whatever  with  any  of  the  domin- 
ions, colonies,  or  dependencies  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  or  with  any  person  or  persons  residing  within  the  same; 
and  any  citizen  or  inhabitant  as  aforesaid  who  shall  directly  or  indi- 
rectly be  privy  to,  or  aiding  or  abetting  in  carrying  on  any  such  trade, 
commerce,  or  traffic,  shall  be  adjudged  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and 
shall  upon  conviction  for  every  such  offence  be  imprisoned  for  a  term 


OOMMEEOIAL    INTEECOUKSE    WITH   FOEEIGN   NATIONS.        525 

not  exceeding  two  years  nor  less  than  six  months  and  be  fined  in  a 
sum  not  exceeding  five  thousand  nor  less  than  five  hundred  dollars; 
and  any  ship,  vessel,  or  carriage,  of  what  kind  soever,  employed  or 
used  in  any  such  trade,  commerce,  or  traffic,  as  above  described,  and 
any  cargo  which  shall  be  found  on  board  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  and 
any  articles  which  shall  be  found  in  such  carriage,  when  detected  or 
taken  in  such  unlawful  trade,  commerce,  or  traffic,  or  at  the  return  of 
the  same  to  the  United  States,  shall  be  forfeited,  the  one-half  to  the 
use  of  the  United  States,  and  the  other  half  to  any  person  or  persons 
who  shall  give  information  thereof,  and  may  be  seized  wherever  found, 
and  condemned  before  any  court  of  the  United  States  or  the  Terri- 
tories thereof  having  competent  jurisdiction:  Provided,  That  nothing 
in  this  act  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  repeal,  impair,  or 
affect  any  law  now  in  force  providing  for  the  punishment  of  treason 
or  of  any  other  offence  against  the  United  States. 

(Annals,  13th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  pp.  18,  19,36.) 


THIBTEENTH  COXGBESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
April  11,  1814. 

On  message  of  President  of  March  31,  1814,  as  to  commercial  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations,  Mr.  Bibb,  of  Georgia,  made  the  following 
report : 

Taking  into  consideration  the  great  importance  of  the  measures 
recommended,  the  committee  think  it  a  duty  which  they  owe  to  the 
House  and  to  the  nation  to  state  the  grounds  on  which  their  report  is 
founded.  Uniting  with  the  Executive  in  the  policy  of  those  measures, 
they  wish  to  explain  the  reasons  which  have  produced  that  union. 

Of  the  past  it  is  unnecessary  to  take  a  review.  The  attention  of  the 
committee  is  drawn  with  more  solicitude  to  the  future. 

Previous  to  the  late  changes  in  Europe  the  bearing  of  our  restrictive 
measures  was  for  the  most  part  confined  to  our  enemies;  the  obstruc- 
tions to  our  commercial  intercourse  with  the  friendly  powers  of  the 
world  being  in  a  manner  insuperable. 

At  present  a  prospect  exists  of  an  extended  commercial  inter- 
course with  them,  highly  important  to  both  parties,  and  which,  it  may 
be  presumed,  they  will  find  an  equal  interest  and  disposition  to  pro- 
mote. Denmark,  all  Germany,  and  Holland,  heretofore  under  the 
double  restraint  of  internal  regulations  and  external  blockades  and 
depredations,  from  a  commerce  with  the  United  States,  appear  by  late 
events  to  be  liberated  therefrom.  Like  changes  equally  favorable  to 
the  commerce  of  this  country  appear  to  be  taking  place  in  Italy  and 
the  more  eastern  parts  of  the  Mediterranean.  With  respect  to  Spain 
and  Portugal,  in  the  commerce  with  whom  the  United  States  have 
great  interest,  it  may  be  expected  that  commerce  may  be  carried  on 
without  the  aid  heretofore  afforded  to  the  enemy.  Should  peace  take 
place  between  France  and  her  enemies,  including  Great  Britain,  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States  with  France  will  fall  under  the  same 
remarks. 

The  considerations  of  an  internal  nature  which  urge  a  repeal  of 
these  acts  at  this  time  are  not  less  forcible  than  those  which  have 
already  been  related.  Among  those  are  the  following:  The  commit- 
tee are  persuaded  that  it  will  considerably  augment  the  public  rev- 
enue, and  thereby  maintain  the  public  credit;  that  it  will  enhance 


526  BELEASE    OF    CLAIMS SYSTEM   OF   NAVIGATION. 

the  price  and  promote  the  circulation  of  our  produce  in  lieu  of  specie, 
wliicli  hiis  of  late  become  so  much  the  object  of  speculations  tending 
to  embarrass  the  Government. 

(Am.  St.  Pap.,  vol.  3,  p.  629;  Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  5,  p.  493.) 


THIRTEENTH  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 
February  27,  1816. 

As  to  the  expediency  of  making  provision  by  law  to  release  all  or 
any  claims  of  the  United  States  to  penalties  or  forfeitures,  under  acts 
which  have  imposed  prohibitions  or  temporary  restrictions  on  com- 
mercial intercourse,  and  to  discontinue  prosecutions  therefor  upon 
payment  of  costs  legally  incurred,  Mr.  Bibb  reported  as  follows : 

That  it  is  inexpedient  to  make  such  provision. 
(Leg.  Jour.,  vol.  3,  p.  670.) 


FOURTEENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  7,  1816. 

On  system  of  navigation  for  the  United  States  Mr.  Bibb  made  the 
following  report : 

The  attention  of  the  committee  has  been  drawn  to  the  policy  of  "  con- 
fining the  American  navigation  to  American  seamen  "  by  the  message 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Two  considerations,  distinct  in 
their  character,  are  suggested  in  behalf  of  the  measure :  First,  as  it  might 
have  a  conciliatory  tendency  toward  foreign  nations;  and,  second,  as 
it  would  increase  the  independence  of  our  navigation  and  the  resources 
of  our  maritime  defense. 

An  act  for  the  regulation  of  the  seamen  on  board  of  the  public  and 
private  vessels  of  the  United  States,  passed  the  3d  day  of  March, 
1813,  prohibits  the  employment  as  seamen  of  the  subjects  or  citizens 
of  any  foreign  nation  which  shall  prohibit  the  like  employment  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  Tliat  act  furnishes  indiputable  evi- 
dence of  the  conciliatory  spirit  of  the  national  councils,  and  a  cor- 
responding disposition  on  the  part  of  other  Governments  only  is 
wanting  to  give  it  effect.  The  committee,  however,  deem  it  expe- 
dient to  advance  the  independence  of  the  navigation  and  resources  or 
maritime  defense  of  the  United  States,  and  for  that  purpose  submit  a 
bill  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate.  That  the  nature  and  extent 
of  its  provisions  may  be  more  readily  understood,  the  following  out- 
line of  the  existing  regulations  concerning  commercial  vessels  and  of 
the  proposed  modifications  is  presented: 

Commercial  vessels  which  are  registered  or  enrolled  according  to 
the  existing  laws  are  denominated  ships  or  vessels  of  the  United 
States.  For  carrying  on  trade  with  foreign  countries  they  are  regis- 
tered. For  the  coasting  trade  or  fisheries  of  the  United  States  they 
are  enrolled  or  licensed. 

Ships  or  vessels  built  within  the  United  States,  or  captured  or  con  - 
demned  as  prize,  or  adjudged  as  forfeited  for  breach  of  law,  and 
belonging  wholly  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  may  be  regis- 
tered or  enrolled,  if  they  are  commanded  by  citizens,  either  native  or 


SYSTEM    OF    NAVIGATION.  527 

naturalized.  Such  vessels  are  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  ports 
nearest  to  which  the  managing  owners  reside.  And  they  are  regis- 
tered or  enrolled  in  the  offices  of  the  customs  for  the  districts  which 
comprehend  the  respective  ports. 

When  a  vessel  is  registered,  the  ownership,  name,  description,  and 
tonnage,  being  legally  ascertained,  are  stated  distinctly,  with  the 
name  of  the  master,  and  entered  in  some  proper  book  for  a  record  or 
registry  to  be  kept  by  the  collector  of  customs.  A  certificate  of  such 
registry  is  issued  as  evidence  of  ownership  to  accompany  the  vessel, 
in  addition  to  the  seal  and  signature  of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States,  and  is  attested  under  the  seal  of  the  collector 
with  his  signature,  and  is  countersigned  by  the  naval  officer  or  sur- 
veyor, where  there  is  such  an  officer,  for  the  port  to  which  the  vessel 
belongs.     And  a  copy  is  transmitted  to  the  Register  of  the  Treasury. 

The  certificate  of  a  vessel  to  be  employed  in  foreign  waters  may 
continue  in  force  so  long  as  the  ownership  continues  the  same.  On  a 
change  of  property,  if  purchased  by  any  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
the  vessel  is  registered  anew.  When  the  master  is  Changed,  the  col- 
lector of  the  customs  is  authorized  to  indorse  a  memorandum  of  such 
change  on  the  certificate  of  registry. 

The  requisites  for  this  important  document  are  prescribed  in  tlie 
act  of  the  31st  of  December,  1792,  entitled  "An  act  concerning  the 
registering  and  recording  of  ships  and  vessels."  And  the  various 
provisions  in  the  same  act  were  adapted  to  guard  the  interest  of  ship- 
owners and  shipbuilders  of  the  United  States  against  the  intrusions 
or  impositions  of  foreigners. 

In  relation  to  vessels  of  20  tons  or  upward  which  may  be  enrolled, 
the  same  qualifications  and  requisites  are  required,  and  similar  guards 
against  abuses  are  provided  in  the  act  of  the  18th  of  February,  1793, 
entitled  "An  act  for  enrolling  and  licensing  ships  or  vessels  to  be 
employed  in  the  coasting  trade  and  fisheries,  and  for  regulating  tlie 
same."  A  certificate  of  enrollment,  which  is  issued  for  a  coasting  or 
fishing  vessel  of  the  United  States,  is  strictly  analogous  to  the  certifi- 
cate of  registry  for  a  merchant  vessel.  The  documents  contain  simi- 
lar statements  respecting  the  vessels  and  the  titles  of  the  owners,  and 
are  authenticated  in  the  same  manner. 

Vessels  of  less  than  20  tons  are  licensed,  without  being  enrolled, 
according  to  the  act  of  the  18th  of  February,  1793.  And  the  duty  of 
tonnage  on  a  licensed  vessel  is  payable  once  in  a  year.  A  license  is 
issued  from  the  oflice  of  the  customs  for  the  vessel  to  be  employed  in 
the  coasting  trade  or  the  whale  fishery  or  the  cod  fishery.  It  may  be 
in  force  for  one  year,  and  is  given  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  the  col- 
lector, who  is  required  to  make  a  record  of  such  licenses,  and  transmit 
copies  to  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  that  the  privileges  appertain- 
ing to  ships  or  vessels  of  the  United  States  in  the  coasting  trade  or 
fisheries  maybe  fully  enjoyed;  and  the  same  law  requires  enrolled 
vessels  to  have  licenses. 

As  the  act  of  the  31st  of  December,  1792,  has  provided  that  the 
privileges  appertaining  to  registered  ships  or  vessels  of  the  United 
States  shall  not  continue  to  be  enjoyed  longer  than  they  continue  to 
be  commanded  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  it  has,  in  effect, 
required  every  such  vessel  to  have  one  citizen  on  boartl  as  master  or 
commander.  And  the  same  requisite  is  included  in  the  act  of  the 
18th  of  February,  1793,  for  enrolling  or  licensing  ships  or  vessels. 
These  acts  contain  the  principal  regulations  for  commercial  shipping. 
There  are  no  laws  in  operation  which  require  any  more  of  the  citizens 


528  B.   APPLEBY    AND    OTHERS. 

to  be  employed  for  navigating  the  vessels  in  foreign  trade  or  the 
coasting  trade  or  fislieries.  There  is  no  act  of  Congress  which  requires 
the  subordinate  officers,  or  any  part  of  the  crew  on  board  any  vessel 
whatever,  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

On  examination  it  appears  that  systematic  regulations  concerning 
the  ownership  of  vessels  were  established  bj'  the  registering  act  of 
December,  1792,  and  the  enrolling  and  licensing  act  of  February,  1793, 
but  the  United  States  have  remained  to  this  day  without  a  navigation 
act  for  each  branch  of  their  commerce. 

As  it  concerns  the  maritime  interests  of  the  United  States,  there- 
fore it  is  of  importance  to  establish  a  policy  requiring  the  commercial 
vessels  of  the  United  States  to  be  navigated  principally  by  mariners 
of  the  country.  With  this  view,  it  is  considered  proper  to  allow  the 
privileges  of  American  character  to  none  but  vessels  navigated  by 
American  mariners,  as  the  law  may  require,  to  provide  for  ascertain- 
ing who  shall  be  regarded  as  such  mariners,  and  to  make  it  requisite 
for  vessels  of  the  United  States  to  have  documents  on  board  as  evi- 
dence of  being  so  navigated. 

That  the  policy  may  be  carried  into  effect  without  inconvenience, 
various  particulars  in  a  system  of  navigation  must  correspond  to  exist- 
ing laws  respecting  the  collection  of  duties,  the  ownership  of  vessels, 
or  the  government  of  persons  in  the  merchant  service  or  fisheries. 
Several  regulations  similar  to  those  already  in  force  are  proposed  to 
be  incorporated. 

The  documents  for  vessels  sailing  on  foreign  voyages  may  supersede 
the  use  of  any  other  certificates  of  citizenship  for  persons  employed  in 
navigating  them,  and  it  is  proposed  to  repeal  the  section  of  the  act  of 
May,  1796,  which  has  authorized  the  collectors  to  deliver  certificates 
to  individual  mariners.  Abuses  which  are  known  to  have  prevailed 
in  relation  to  such  certificates  may  be  avoided  by  requiring  proper 
documents  to  accompany  the  vessels. 

(Annals,  14th  Cong.,  1st  sess.,  p.  172.) 


SEVENTEENTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  15,  1822. 

[Senate  BejKirt  No.  6.] 

Mr.  King,  of  New  York,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
to  whom  were  referred  the  memorial  of  R.  Appleby  and  others,  of 
the  collection  district.  South  Carolina,  and  the  resolutions  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  praying  for  the  repeal 
of  the  laws  closing  the  ports  of  the  United  States  against  British  ves- 
sels employed  in  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  British 
colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  report: 

That,  referring  to  the  period  between  the  completion  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  it  can  not  be  doubted 
that  the  embarrassments  of  the  agriculture,  trade,  and  navigation  of 
the  several  States  were  truly  ascribed  to  the  want  of  power  in  the 
Congress  to  make  adequate  laws  for  their  encouragement  and  pro- 
tection, and  no  motive  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
was  more  strongly  or  more  generally  felt  than  the  opinion  that  the 
vesting  of  power  in  Congress  to  regulate  trade  would  serve  to  promote 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  Union. 

The  new  Government  under  the  Constitution  very  soon  experienced 


E.   APPLEBY    AND    OTHEES.  529 

the  influence  created  by  the  extraordinary  changes  that  were  taking 
place  in  France,  and  which  in  the  sequel  engaged  all  Europe  in  arms. 

War  between  the  great  maritime  powers  invariably  produces  tem- 
porary relaxations  of  their  laws  respecting  the  trade  and  navigation 
of  foreign  nations  with  their  respective  territories.  The  suspension 
of  these  laws,  and  especially  of  such  of  them  as  regulated  the  colonial 
trade,  had  the  effect  of  giving  to  the  agriculture,  trade,  and  naviga- 
tion of  the  United  States  the  advantages  which  would  have  been  given 
to  them  by  a  system  of  free  trade  that  should  have  for  its  basis  the 
equal  and  reciprocal  benefits  of  all  nations. 

The  condition  of  neutrality  that  was  adopted  by  the  United  States 
during  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolution  secured  to  every  commer- 
cial nation  benefits  which  a  peaceable  and  industrious  people  are  able 
to  afford  during  periods  of  great  public  calamity,  and  our  example 
during  these  wars  has  served  to  prove  that  justice  is  the  most  profit- 
able as  well  as  the  wisest  policy  of  nations. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  general  peace  some  of  the  maritime 
nations,  notwithstanding  the  doubts  that  have  been  raised  in  regard 
to  the  truth  of  the  former  theories  of  trade,  have  returned  to  and 
resumed  their  ancient  commercial  policy,  and  in  consequence  thereof 
the  United  States  have  in  their  own  defense  been  obliged  to  resort  to 
the  exercise  of  the  powers  to  regulate  trade  vested  in  Congress  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  and  cherishing  the  industrj'^  and  navigation 
of  the  States. 

Great  moderation  has  been  observed  by  the  United  States  on  this 
subject,  and  persevering  endeavors  have  been  made  to  adjust  by 
treaty  their  commercial  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  and  espe- 
cially with  England.  So  far  as  respects  the  English  territories  in 
Europe  and  in  Asia,  the  intercourse  is  arranged  by  the  treaty  of  1815; 
but  this  treaty  contains  no  provision  concerning  the  navigation  and 
trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  English  colonies  in  the  West 
Indies  and  North  America.  The  value  of  this  branch  of  trade  and 
the  importance  of  the  navigation  employed  in  the  same  have  been 
long  understood  by  both  parties,  and  the  actual  embarrassment  thereof 
which  now  exists  can  not  be  ascribed  to  the  want  of  a  disposition  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  to  have  placed  the  same  on  a  fair  and 
friendly  footing;  but  it  continues  to  be  insisted  on  by  England  that, 
not  only  the  colonial  trade,  but  the  trade  between  the  United  States 
and  these  colonies  ought  to  be  considered  and  regulated  as  a  monopoly 
that  foreign  nations  are  bound  to  respect  and  with  which  they  may 
not  interfere. 

The  act  commonly  called  the  navigation  act  of  England,  while  it 
reserves  the  colonial  navigation  exclusively  to  the  vessels  of  England 
and  her  colonies,  opens  the  trade  between  England  and  foreign  nations 
to  the  vessels  of  both,  subject  to  equal  and  the  same  regulations. 

The  colonial,  like  the  coasting  trade,  has  been  treated  as  a  monopoly 
so  long  as  the  same  was  confined  to  the  navigation  between  territories 
of  the  same  nation;  but  whenever  it  may  suit  the  convenience  of  a 
nation  to  open  a  trade  between  her  colonies  and  a  foreign  nation,  the 
claim  to  treat  this  trade  as  a  monopoly  is  without  just  authority, 
being  contrary  to  the  rights  of  such  foreign  nation,  which  within  its 
own  dominions  must  possess  authority  to  make  such  regulations  as 
may  be  deemed  expedient. 

It  is  an  unwarrantable  extension  of  national  monopolies  by  ex  parte 
laws  to  attempt  to  include  the  navigation  of  a  foreign  nation  within 
the  rules  by  which  the  navigation  between  portions  of  the  same  nation 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 34 


530  B.  APPLEBY  AND  OTHERS. 

is  governed.  If  this  may  be  done  between  the  colonies  and  a  foreign 
nation,  it  may  also  bo  done  in  respect  to  the  navigation  between  any 
other  portion  or  the  whole  of  the  territories  of  such  nation  and  foreign 
nations. 

England  allows  the  importation  of  lumber  and  breadstuflfs  from  the 
United  States  into  the  colony  of  Jamaica,  but  forbids  the  same  unless 
the  importation  be  made  in  English  vessels;  she  also  allows  the  impor- 
tation of  cotton  and  tobacco  from  the  United  States  into  England, 
but  with  equal  right  she  may  forbid  the  same  unless  the  importations 
be  made  in  English  vessels.  This  has  not  been  done  in  the  latter 
case,  and  there  would  be  but  one  sentiment  in  the  United  States 
should  it  be  attempted.  Yet  in  the  former  case  this  is  and  has  been 
the  law  ever  since  the  date  of  our  independence,  and  it  may  with 
equal  right  be  applied  to  Liverpool  as  to  Jamaica. 

After  long  endurance  and  fruitless  efforts  to  adjust  this  question  by 
treaty,  Congress,  with  great  unanimity,  have,  passed  laws  to  counter- 
vail the  restrictions  imposed  by  England  upon  the  intercourse  between 
the  United  States  and  her  colonies  in  the  West  Indies. 

England  having  forbidden  the  importation  of  supplies  from  the 
United  States  into  her  West  India  colonies  in  American  vessels,  the 
United  States,  in  their  turn,  have  forbidden  the  exportation  of  these 
supplies  in  British  vessels.  The  two  restrictions  have  put  an  end  to 
the  direct  intercourse,  and  the  trade  is  carried  on  indirectly,  the  sup- 
plies for  these  colonies  being  carried  in  American  vessels  from  the 
United  States  to  the  Swedish  and  Danish  islands,  and  the  produce  of 
the  English  West  Indies  being  brought  in  English  vessels  to  the  same 
islands,  and  there  exchanged  for  the  provisions  and  lumber  of  the 
United  States.  American  supplies  are  also  sent  in  American  vessels 
to  the  free  port  of  Bermuda,  and  there  sold  for  cash;  and  flour,  in  like 
manner,  is  sent  from  the  United  States  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  as  well 
as  to  the  port  of  Liverpool,  and  from  these  places  carried  in  English 
vessels  to  Jamaica  and  other  English  colonies  in  the  West  Indies.  In 
this  condition  of  our  navigation  and  trade,  our  tonnage  continues 
annually  to  increase,  and  the  value  of  our  exports  exceeds  that  of  our 
Imports. 

In  countries  of  great  extent,  and  whose  productions  are  various, 
though  the  people  are  generally  employed  in  similar  occupations,  new 
regulations  may,  for  a  time,  affect  some  portions  of  the  country  more 
than  others;  but  every  portion  soon  accommodates  itself  to  the  new 
regulation,  and  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  are  in  a  short  time 
certain  to  be  equalized  by  the  entire  freedom  with  which  every  branch 
of  industry  is  prosecuted. 

It  was  on  account  of  this  diversity  of  products,  and  of  the  different 
manner  of  doing  business  in  the  several  States,  that  jealousies  for- 
merly existed  between  them,  which  defeated  every  attempt  to  establish 
any  common  regulation  of  trade  under  the  confederation.  The  want 
of  American  tonnage  suflBcient  to  create  the  requisite  competition  in 
the  exports  of  the  countrj'^  added  to  the  difficulties  of  this  period. 

But  as  the  national  tonnage  is  now  fully  sufficient  for  the  national 
exports,  and  as  Congress  have  offered  to  all  nations  a  system  of  entire 
equality  and  freedom  in  the  commercial  intercourse  between  them 
and  the  United  States,  the  time  has  come  in  which  it  has  been  thought 
to  be  due  to  the  welfare  and  character  of  the  United  States  to  coun- 
tervail the  regulations  which  so  long,  and  so  much  to  our  disadvan- 
tage, have  been  imposed  by  England  on  the  trade  and  navigation 
between  the  United  States  and  her  West  India  colonies. 


E.   APPLEBY    AKD    OTHEKS.  531 

This  national  measure,  so  long  called  for  to  protect  the  ships  and 
seamen  of  the  United  States,  was  calculated  to  awaken  the  remnant 
of  local  jealousy  that  may  still  exist  among  us,  against  the  influence 
of  which  we  may  with  confidence  appeal  to  the  character  and  neces- 
sity of  the  law. 

By  the  exclusion  of  English  vessels  American  vessels  are  employed 
in  their  place,  and  whatever  is  lost  by  the  former  is  gained  by  the 
latter.  By  revoking  the  countervailing  laws  we  take  away  the  profits 
now  enjoyed  by  American  vessels,  and  give  them  back  again  to  the 
vessels  of  England,  and  in  doing  so  grant  a  bounty  to  foreign  ships 
at  the  expense  of  our  own. 

Navigation  and  maritime  industry,  for  a  peculiar  reason,  call  for 
national  protection,  for  the  art  of  navigation  is  an  expedient  of  war 
as  well  as  of  commerce,  and  in  this  respect  difi'ers  from  every  other 
branch  of  industry.  Though  it  was  once  doubted,  doubt  no  longer 
exists,  that  a  navy  is  the  best  defense  of  the  United  States,  and  this 
maxim  is  not  more  true  than  that  a  naval  power  never  has  existed, 
and  can  never  exist,  without  a  commercial  marine,  hence  the  policy 
of  encouraging  and  protecting  the  ships  and  seamen  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  commercial  differences  which  arise  between  nations  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  industry  are  differently  affected,  and  calculations 
founded  on  the  supposed  interest  of  either  party  being  often  fallacious, 
may  prove  to  be  uncertain  guides  in  the  policy  of  nations,  while,  by 
referring  every  question  of  disagreement  to  the  honor  of  the  nation, 
in  tlie  purity  and  preservation  of  which  everyone  is  alike  concerned, 
a  standard  is  provided  that  can  never  mislead. 

In  the  least,  as  well  as  the  most  difficult,  disputes  national  honor 
is  the  safest  counselor,  and  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  public 
injuries  long  endured  invite  further  aggression,  and  in  the  end 
degrade  and  destroy  the  pride  and  safety  of  nations. 

In  respect  to  the  commercial  difference  which  has  so  long  existed 
between  the  United  States  and  England ,  the  claim  of  the  latter  exclu- 
sively to  regulate  the  intercourse  and  navigation  between  the  United 
States  and  her  West  India  colonies  has  affected  the  reputation  and 
rights  of  the  United  States,  and  the  public  honor  justifies  the  coun- 
tervailing measures  adopted  on  this  subject.  To  recede  from  the 
same  would  be  equivalent  to  their  final  relinquishment,  and  would 
not  fail  to  encourage  the  belief  that  a  wrong  so  long  endured  would 
no  longer  be  opposed,  and  that  further  aggression  might  be  made 
without  resistance. 

It  must  be  always  remembered  that  the  countervailing  measures 
which  have  been  adopted  by  Congress  are  entirely  defensive,  and  as 
we  desire  to  concur  in  the  establishment  of  a  free  trade  with  every 
nation,  we  are  ready  to  abandon  the  restrictions  on  the  English  navi- 
gation as  soon  as  England  manifests  a  disposition  to  give  up  the 
restrictions  which  she  was  tlie  first  to  impose  on  our  navigation.  And 
does  public  policy  require,  or  will  the  national  honor  permit,  that  we 
should  do  so  sooner?  With  these  views  the  committee  submit  the 
following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  discharged  from  the 
further  consideration  of  the  petition  of  R.  Applebyand  others,  of  Colleton  district, 
South  Carolina,  and  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Baltimore, 
praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  laws  imposing  restrictions  on  English  vessels  employed 
in  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  English  colonies  in  the  West  Indies, 


532      PUNISHMENT  OF  CRIMES WRECKED    AMERICAN    SEAMEN. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSIOR. 
March  8,  1838. 

On  conference  on  act  supplementary  to  an  act  entitled  "An  act  in 
addition  to  the  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the 
United  States,  and  to  repeal  the  acts  therein  mentioned,"  Mr.  Buchan- 
nan  reported  as  follows : 

That  they  have  agreed  to  recommend  for  the  adoption  of  their 
respective  Houses  the  amendment  proposed  by  the  Senate  to  the  sec- 
ond section  of  the  said  bill,  with  the  following  amendment,  to  wit: 
Insert  after  the  word  "whatsoever"  the  following  words:  "or  with 
any  other  trade;"  so  as  to  make  the  provision  read  as  follows:  "  Pro- 
vided, That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  extend 
to  or  interfere  with  any  trade  in  arms  or  munitions  of  war,  conducted 
in  vessels  by  sea,  with  any  foreign  port  or  place  whatsoever,  or  with 
any  other  trade  which  might  have  been  lawfully  carried  on,  before  the 
passage  of  this  act,  under  the  law  of  nations  and  the  provisions  of  the 
act  hereby  amended." 

(Leg.  Jour.,  p.  277.) 


THIBTY-FIBST  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
June  13,  1850. 

On  report  from  Secretary  of  State  as  to  conduct  of  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment toward  wrecked  American  seamen,  capabilities  of  oriental 
nations  for  commerce  with  United  States,  and  proper  observance  of 
treaty  of  1833  with  Siam,  Mr.  Foote  reported  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  Palmer  have  leave  to  withdraw,  take  out  a  copy- 
right for,  and  print  on  his  own  account  the  documents  entitled  "A 
Comprehensive  View  of  the  Principal  Independent  Maritime  Countries 
of  the  East,"  which  accompanied  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  the  Senate,  under  date  of  the  23d  April  last,  and  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate 

be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  to  subscribe  for copies  of  the 

work  under  the  above  title,  for  the  use  of  the  Senate,  provided  the 
same  shall  be  delivered  by  Mr.  Palmer  at  a  price  not  exceeding,  per 
copy,  the  rate  for  printing,  lithographing,  and  binding  public  docu- 
ments for  the  Senate  in  1819,  with  20  jjer  cent  discount. 
(Leg.  Jour.,  p.  394.) 


FIFTIETH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 

June  20,  1888. 
[Senate  Report  No.  1629.] 

Mr.  Edmunds,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  was  referred  Senate 
bill  2544,  "authorizing  and  directing  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  make  proclamation  prohibiting  the  importation  of  products 
of  foreign  States  in  certain  cases,  and  for  other  purposes,"  respect- 
fully reports : 


IMPOKTATION  OF  PRODUCTS HENRY  V.  POOR.      533 

That  the  powers  named  in  the  bill  and  proposed  to  be  conferred 
upon  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  respect  of  unjust  discrimi- 
nations by  foreign  countries  against  the  importation  and  sale  therein 
of  products  of  the  United  States  are,  as  the  committee  thinks,  com- 
pletely covered  and  embraced  in  section  5  of  Senate  bill  535,  "pro- 
viding for  an  inspection  of  meats  for  exportation,  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  adulterated  articles  of  food  or  drink,  and  authorizing 
the  President  to  make  proclamation  in  certain  cases,  and  for  other 
purposes,"  which  bill  passed  the  Senate  on  the  21st  March,  1888,  and 
is  now  pending  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  committee  is, 
therefore,  of  opinion  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  Senate  to  act  fur- 
ther upon  the  subject  until  some  action  shall  have  been  taken  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  on  the  bill  which  has  already  passed  this 
body. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 


August  22,  1888. 

[Senate  Report  No.  2083.] 

Mr.  Sherman,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  was  referred  the 
resolution  of  the  Senate  of  March  9,  1888,  begs  leave  to  report: 

That  it  has  been  proceeding  in  the  execution  of  the  duties  imposed 
upon  it  and  lias  accumulated  a  considerable  mass  of  information,  a 
large  part  of  which  was  compiled  by  Henry  V.  Poor;  that  the  Senate 
having  since  committed  the  same  subject  to  a  select  committee,  this 
committee  asks  that  it  may  be  discharged  from  the  further  execution 
of  the  aforesaid  order  of  the  Senate,  and  it  returns  with  this  report 
the  documents  and  papers  referred  to. 


FIFTY-THIRD  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 

May  17,  1894. 

[Senate  Report  No.  410.] 

Mr,  Turpie,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
the  following  report: 

Two  memorials  were  referred  to  this  committee  upon  the  14th  of 
August,  1893,  in  regard  to  the  traffic  in  firearms  and  intoxicants  with 
the  natives  of  the  islands  of  New  Hebrides  by  Europeans  and  Ameri- 
cans, concerning  which,  after  due  consideration  thereof,  the  com- 
mittee beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

The  New  Hebrides  are  a  group  of  islands  in  the  South  Pacific  Ocean 
situated  about  200  miles  northeast  of  New  Caledonia,  well  known  as 
the  site  of  the  French  penal  colony  in  those  waters. 

The  group  consists  of  quite  a  number  of  islands,  16  or  18  of  which 
are  of  considerable  size.  The  native  population  is  estimated  at  the 
number  of  180,000.  The  area  of  the  habitable  islands  is  about  5,700 
square  miles. 

The  natives  are  a  mixed  race  of  the  Milan esian  and  negro  Papuan 
tribes,  living  for  the  most  part  in  a  wild  and  uncivilized  condition. 


534    TEAFFIC  IN  FIREARMS,  ETC. ,  WITH  NATIVES  OF  NEW  HEBRIDES. 

This  condition  has  not  changed  much  even  during  the  one  hundnMl 
and  fifty  years  that  they  have  been  in  contact  witli  the  commerce  and 
civilization  of  the  outer  world.  The  only  exception  to  this  is  found 
in  the  Christian  native  settlements,  the  colonies  of  the  missionaries, 
where  the  converted  natives  are  spoken  of  as  leading  a  life  of  quiet 
industry  and  sobriety,  and  as  steadily  advancing  in  the  arts  and  habits 
of  civilization.  The  native  Christian  population  is  said  to  number 
8,000  souls. 

The  labor  of  the  missionaries  in  the  conversion  and  improvement  of 
the  native  population  during  later  years  is  making  quite  substantial 
progress.  It  is  charged,  however,  in  the  petition  and  resolutions  laid 
before  the  committee  that  this  beneficent  work  has  been,  and  now  is, 
much  hindered  and  retarded  by  the  sale  to  the  natives  by  foreigners 
of  intoxicating  liquors  and  firearms,  and  it  is  alleged  also  in  said 
papers  "that  much  of  this  traffic  is  carried  on  by  this  country,"  the 
United  States.  The  white  permanent  settlements  upon  these  islands 
are  French  and  English.  They  are  otily  visited  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  for  commercial  objects,  except  those  of  our  citizens  who 
have  gone  thither  as  teachers  and  missionaries. 

The  natives  of  these  islands  have  no  regular  system  of  government. 
They  are  under  the  rule  of  independent  native  chiefs.  There  seems 
to  be  no  general  authority,  either  legislative  or  executive,  which  all 
acknowledge.  They  have,  nevertheless,  an  autonomy,  but  it  is  so  dis- 
integrated, separate,  and  divided  in  its  functions  as  to  be  somewhat 
obscure,  undefined,  presenting  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  treaty 
or  negotiation  with  the  whole  people.  The  French  and  English  Gov- 
ernments have  both  heretofore  on  different  occasions  found  or  deemed 
it  necessary  to  interfere  by  military  or  naval  force  to  protect  the  lives 
and  property  of  their  respective  subjects  living  upon  the  islands. 

The  French  Government  in  1887  took  formal  possession  of  some  of 
the  islands  by  landing  a  military  force  thereon,  but  this  action  was 
remonstrated  against  by  Great  Britain  in  such  terms  that  the  occupa- 
tion was  declared  to  be  only  for  a  limited  time  and  purpose.  A  con- 
vention for  a  joint  naval  commission  was  signed  on  November  16, 
1887,  and  the  French  agreed  to  evacuate  the  islands  within  four 
months  from  that  date.  On  January  26, 1888,  the  English  and  French 
representatives  signed  at  Paris  a  declaration  defining  the  functions 
and  powers  of  the  Anglo-French  naval  commission  and  establishing 
regulations  for  its  guidance.  The  commission  consists  of  a  president 
and  two  British  and  two  French  naval  officers.  It  is  charged  with 
the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  protection  of  the  lives  and  the 
property  of  British  and  French  citizens  in  the  New  Hebrides. 

The  presidency  of  the  commission  is  to  be  held  in  alternate  months 
by  the  commanders  in  chief  of  the  British  and  French  naval  forces 
present  in  the  group.  The  regulations  provide  that  in  the  event  of  a 
disturbance  of  peace  and  good  order  in  any  part  of  the  New  Hebrides 
where  British  or  French  subjects  are  found,  or  in  the  event  of  danger 
manacing  their  lives  or  property,  the  commission  shall  forthwith  meet 
and  take  measures  for  repressing  disturbance  or  protecting  the  inter- 
ests endangered,  not  resorting  to  military  force  unless  its  employment 
is  considered  indispensable.  If  a  military  or  naval  force  lands  it  must 
not  remain  longer  than  is  deemed  necessary  by  the  commission.  In  a 
sudden  emergency  the  British  or  French  naval  commanders  nearest 
the  scene  of  action  may  take  measures  for  the  protection  of  persons  or 
property  of  either  nationality,  in  concert,  if  possible,  or  separately 
when  only  one  force  is  near  the  disturbed  locality,  but  they  must  at 


TEAFFIO  IN  FIEEAEMS,  ETC. ,  WITH  NATIVES  OF  NEW  HEBEIDES.    535 

once  report  to  their  senior  officers,  who  shall  communicate  the  report 
to  each  other  and  immediately  summon  the  commission. 

The  commission  has  no  power  to  interfere  in  disputes  concerning 
titles  to  land,  or  to  dispossess  either  natives  or  foreigners  of  lands 
that  they  hold  in  possession,  but  it  is  charged  with  the  police  duties 
of  stopping  the  slave  trade  with  the  Kanakas  and  of  preventing  acts 
of  piracy.  The  last  of  the  French  troops  left  the  New  Hebrides  on 
March  15,  1888.  This  international  convention  between  the  two  pow- 
ers had  been  preceded  by  and  accompanied  with  quite  prolonged 
negotiations  between  them  as  to  the  subject  of  the  prohibition  of  the 
sale  of  intoxicants  and  firearms  to  the  natives  of  the  New  Hebridean 
islands. 

It  appears  from  our  report  upon  foreign  relations  for  1892-93  that 
these  negotiations  had  been  submitted,  or  at  least  communicated,  to 
our  Department  of  State.  Secretary  Foster,  in  a  letter  of  date  Novem- 
ber 18,  1892,  tendered  the  assistance  and  good  offices  of  this  Govern- 
ment in  aid  of  this  movement.  On  the  4th  day  of  July,  1892,  the 
British  Government,  through  its  legation  at  Washington,  had  sub- 
mitted a  draft  of  a  proposed  international  agreement  to  be  entered  into 
by  the  principal  powers  concerning  this  traffic.  (F.  R,,  1892,  p.  287.) 
On  the  11th  of  October,  1892,  Mr.  Foster,  our  Secretary  of  State,  sent 
an  official  dispatch  to  the  minister  of  Great  Britain,  in  which  he  assured 
him — 

That  this  Government  looks  with  favor  upon  any  humanitarian  work,  and 
would  like  further  information  as  to  the  scope  and  form  of  the  proposed  agreement. 

But  at  the  same  time  Secretary  Foster  also  said : 

While  the  sentiments  and  convictions  of  this  Government  indorse  restrictions 
of  deleterious  commerce  with  the  native  Pacific  islanders,  the  method  of  giving 
expression  thereto  is  necessarily  influenced  by  the  disparity  of  policy  and  interests 
between  the  United  States  and  the  great  European  States  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  Secretary  at  the  same  time  intimates  that  when  such  method  of 
expression  has  been  generally  acquiesced  in  by  the  powers  more  imme- 
diately interested  the  United  States  may  become  a  party  thereto. 
Here,  so  far  as  the  record  at  present  shows,  negotiations  paused. 

Under  these  circumstances  and  conditions  your  committee  cordially 
indorses  the  offer  of  this  Government  to  cooperate  with  other  powers 
in  prohibiting  this  traffic  with  the  natives  of  the  New  Hebrides. 

In  the  present  autonomous  but  somewhat  irregular  political  status 
of  the  native  system  of  government,  it  is  obvious  that  only  external 
treaty  regulations  will  avail  to  prevent  this  traffic  and  that  such  regu- 
lations must  be  joint  and  cooperative  in  their  methods  to  be  effective. 

The  committee,  therefore,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  kindly  offices 
of  this  Government  should  be  continuously  tendered  in  aid  of  such 
cooperation  until  an  international  agreement  be  concluded  which 
shall  finally  prevent  and  prohibit  this  traffic,  so  destructive  to  the 
moral  and  physical  well-being  of  the  natives  of  the  New  Hebrides;  and 
with  the  hope  that  this  may  at  an  early  day  be  accomplished,  we  ask 
that  we  may  be  discharged  from  present  further  consideration  of  the 
petition  and  resolutions.  And  the  committee  do  now  present  the 
accompanying  resolution  on  this  subject  to  the  Senate  and  request 
favorable  consideration  thereof,  and  do  recommend  its  adoption. 


TARIFF   RESTRICTIONS. 


537 


TARIFF    RESTRICTIONS. 


FORTY-EIGHTH  CONGRESS,  FIRST  SESSION. 
March  19,  1884. 

Mr.  Miller  of  California,  from,  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
submitted  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  to  which  was  referred  the 
resolution  of  the  Senate  of  January  22,  1884,  the  first  clause  of  which 
is  as  follows — 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  be  instructed  to  inquire  into 
and  report  to  the  Senate  such  legislation  as  shall  protect  our  interests  against  those 
governments  which  have  prohibited  or  restrained  the  importation  of  meats  from 
the  United  States — 

has  considered  the  foregoing,  and  begs  leave  to  report  herewith  a  bill 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  contains  the  legislation  nec- 
essary for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  matter  embraced  in  that  part  of  the  resolution  above 
quoted. 

The  facts  and  data  upon  which  the  committee  has  based  its  conclu- 
sions, as  expressed  in  this  bill,  are  for  the  greater  part  included  in  the 
three  documents  appended  hereto  and  made  a  part  of  this  report,  viz: 

First.  House  Executive  Document  No.  70,  Forty-eighth  Congress, 
first  session,  being  a  communication  from  the  Secretary  of  State  rela- 
tive to  the  restrictions  upon  the  importation  of  American  hog  products 
into  Germany  and  France. 

Second.  House  Executive  Document  No.  106,  Forty-eighth  Congress, 
first  session,  being  the  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the 
President  "to  examine  into  the  swine  industry  of  the  United  States 
and  into  the  allegations  as  to  the  healthfulness  of  the  pork  products." 

Third.  Report  of  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  to  the  Treas- 
ury Department  of  February  12,  1884,  "on  the  production  of  swine  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  interdiction  of  American  hog  products  from 
Franco  and  Germany,"  etc. 

Appended  hereto  is  also  a  copy  of  a  dispatch  ^  from  the  American 
minister  at  Paris  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State,  dated  February 
8,  1884,  transmitting  a  copy  of  the  answers  made  by  the  French  Acad- 
emy of  Medicine  to  the  questions  propounded  by  the  French  minister 
of  commerce  on  the  subject  of  the  importation  of  foreign  meats,  which 
show  that  the  academy  voted,  with  but  one  dissentient  voice,  that 
"the  importation  of  foreign  salt  pork  may  be  fearlessly  authorized  by 
the  French  Government,  as  it  is  clearly  proved  that  no  danger  to 
public  health  has  been  caused  by  such  importation." 

The  investigation  which  the  committee  has  been  able  to  make  of 
this  subject  results  in  establishing  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  commit- 
tee, among  others,  two  important  propositions  or  matters  of  fact. 

First.  That  trichinae  do  exist  to  a  limited  extent  in  swine  through- 
out all  swine-producing  countries,  and  in  the  United  States  as  well  as 
others,  but  to  a  less  degree  than  in  Germany  or  France.  The  evidence 
shows  that  about  2  per  cent  of  American  pork  is  infected  by  trichinse. 

Second.  That  lihe  curing  process  of  pork  by  salt  destroys  trichinae 
to  such  a  degree  that  pork  thoroughly  salted  and  permitted  to  remain 

»  See  p.  861. 


540  SWINE   PKODUCT9    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

long  enough  to  become  saturated  with  the  salt,  although  infested  with 
trichinaB,  is  innoxious. 

Without  entering  upon  an  argument  in  respect  to  the  propriety  or 
inexpediency  of  a  policy  of  retaliation  as  to  those  governments  which 
have  discriminated  or  may  hereafter  discriminate  without  just  reason 
against  any  class  of  American  productions,  the  committee  propose  to 
briefly  state  the  propositions  of  the  bill. 

First.  It  is  proposed  to  institute  at  the  principal  ports  of  the  United 
States  a  system  of  inspection  of  salted  pork  intended  for  exportation, 
and  exported  within  sixty  days  next  after  the  date  upon  which  the 
same  may  have  been  salted  and  packed,  so  that  the  fact  of  the  innox- 
ious and  wholesome  character  of  the  article  shall  be  established  by 
the  best,  highest,  and  most  reliable  proof. 

Second.  The  President  is  to  be  authorized  at  his  discretion  to  exclude 
from  the  United  States,  by  proclamation,  any  product  of  any  foreign 
state  which,  by  unjust  discrimination,  prohibits  the  importation  into 
such  foreign  state  of  any  product  of  the  United  States. 

Third.  The  importation  into  the  United  States  of  any  adulterated 
or  unwholesome  food,  or  vinous,  spirituous,  or  malt  liquors,  adulter- 
ated or  mixed  with  any  poisonous  or  noxious  chemical,  drug,  or  other 
ingredient  injurious  t<5  health,  is  by  the  bill  prohibited  under  proper 
penalties. 

Fourth.  The  President  is  to  be  authorized,  by  proclamation,  at  his 
discretion,  to  suspend  the  importation  of  articles  so  adulterated  from 
any  country  for  such  period  of  time  as  may  be  deemed  sufficient  to 
prevent  the  practice  of  such  adulteration  of  articles  intended  for 
importation  into  the  United  States. 

These  are  the  measures  which  the  committee  deem  necessary  and 
adequate  as  a  remedy  for  the  evils  comprehended  in  that  part  of  the 
resolution  which  has  been  considered. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  committee  to  consider  the  second  branch 
of  the  resolution  and  make  report  as  early  as  practicable. 


[Forty-eighth  Congress,  first  session.  House  Ex.  Doc.  No.  70.] 

IMPORTATION  OP  AMERICAN  HOG  PRODUCTS  INTO  GERMANY  AND 

FRANCE. 

[Message  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  transmitting  a  communication  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  relative  to  the  restrictions  upon  the  importation  of  American  hog  products 
into  Germany  and  France.] 

To  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States: 

I  transmit  herewith,  in  response  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Honse  of  Representa- 
tives, the  following  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  with  accompanying  papers, 
relative  to  the  restrictions  upon  the  importation  of  American  hog  prodncts  into 
Germany  and  France. 

Chester  A.  Abthub. 
Executive  Mansion, 

January  SI,  I884, 


To  the  President: 

There  have  been  referred  to  the  undersigned,  for  appropriate  action  thereon, 
the  two  following  resolutions  of  the  House  of  Representatives: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  refjuested  to  furnish  for  the 
information  of  this  House,  if  not  incompatible  with  the  public  service,  all  commu- 
nications, documents,  and  papers  in  his  possession  relating  to  the  exclusion  ot  and 
restrictions  upon  the  importation  of  American  hog  products  into  Germany  and 
France. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  541 

"  Whereas  Germany  and  certain  other  foreign  governments  have  interdicted 
the  importation  of  the  swine  products  of  this  country  for  the  pretended  reason 
that  said  products  are  not  proper  and  wholesome  for  food;  and 

"Whereas  an  invitation  on  the  part  of  this  Government  to  said  foreign  gov- 
ernments to  send  agents  here  to  test  said  products  has  been  declined, -thus  indicat- 
ing that  the  pretended  reasons  given  for  such  interdiction  are  not  real  reasons;  and 

"Whereas  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Government  to  act  promptly  and  with  energy 
to  resent  the  injustice  done  by  said  charges  and  to  protect  these  great  products 
from  said  imputation:  Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  requested  to  trans- 
mit to  this  House,  if,  in  his  opinion,  it  be  not  incompatible  with  the  public  inter- 
ests, copies  of  any  and  all  correspondence  had  by  the  State  Department  with  all 
foreign  governments  on  this  subject,  together  with  any  and  all  information  that 
he  may  have  bearing  upon  this  question." 

Regarding  these  two  resolutions,  jointly,  as  embodying  the  wish  of  the  popular 
branch  of  Congress  to  be  possessed  of  whatever  may  throw  light  upon  the  meas- 
ures adopted  by  foreign  governments  to  the  detriment  of  an  important  branch  of 
the  export  trade  of  the  United  States,  and  also  of  all  that  may  tend  toward  a  just 
and  effective  remedy  for  such  detrimental  measures,  the  undersigned  has  endeav- 
ored to  cover  the  whole  ground  embraced  by  both  resolutions,  hj  collecting  and 
submitting  to  the  President,  herewith,  copies  of  all  pertinent  matter  found  of  rec- 
ord in  the  Department  of  State,  to  the  end  that  it,  or  so  much  of  it  as  the  Presi- 
dent may  deem  proper,  may  be  communicated  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
response  to  its  requests;  and  in  so  doing  the  undersigned  avails  of  the  occasion  to 
submit  to  the  President,  as  briefly  as  possible,  such  considerations  drawn  from  a 
general  review  of  the  action  of  this  Government  hitherto  in  the  premises  as  seem 
to  him  appropriate  to  the  understanding  of  the  general  subject  in  its  international 
bearings. 

The  action  of  the  leading  governments  of  Europe  took  shape  between  1879  and 
1881,  and  was  practically  simultaneous  in  several  countries. 

On  the  ground  of  the  alleged  frequent  discovery  of  trichinae  in  hog's  meat  com- 
ing from  Cincinnati  into  Italy,  the  sanitary  department  of  that  Government 
issued  an  order  on  the  20th  of  February,  1879,  prohibiting  all  pork  imports  of 
whatever  character  from  the  United  States— a  prohibition  which  was  soon  after- 
ward. May  6, 1879,  made  general  against  all  foreign  pork.  About  September,  1879, 
the  Hungarian  council  general  of  public  health  caused  a  like  prohibition  in  Hun- 
gary. Dr.  Ludwig  von  Grosse,  at  the  International  Medical  Congress  of  Amster- 
dam, in  September,  1879,  announced  that  the  prevalence  of  trichinae  in  pork 
products  from  America  had  led  to  consultation  between  the  Austrian  and  Hun- 
garian Governments,  with  a  view  to  making  the  prohibition  adopted  in  Hungary 
universal  throughout  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire,  which,  however,  was  not 
accomplished  until  more  than  a  year  afterward.  By  an  imperial  decree  of  June 
25,  1880.  Germany  prohibited  the  importation  of  chopped  pork  and  sausages  (but 
not  of  hams  or  bacon)  Irom  America.  The  French  Government,  as  the  result  of 
the  alleged  discovery  of  trichinae  in  some  salt  pork  from  America,  issued  a  decree 
on  the  18th  of  February,  1881,  upon  the  advice  of  the  consultative  committee  of 
public  health,  forbidding  the  importation  of  salt  pork  coming  from  the  United 
States.  This  action  on  the  part  of  France  was  followed  by  several  other  States  of 
Europe,  and  Turkey  and  Greece  excluded  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States, 
professedly  in  pursuance  of  the  French  example.  The  consideration  of  the  same 
measure  in  Austria-Hungary,  pending  since  1879,  was  closed  by  the  promulgation, 
March  10,  1881,  of  a  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  of  swine  meat,  lard,  and 
sausages  of  every  kind  from  the  United  States. 

Efforts  were  made,  for  professed  sanitary  reasons,  to  effect  like  prohibitory 
enactments  in  Belgium  and  Switzerland  during  the  same  time,  but  those  Govern- 
ments, holding  rightly  that  no  danger  from  trichinae  attended  the  consumption  of 
properly  cooked  hog  products,  abstained  from  the  interdiction  sought. 

Meanwhile  in  England  popular  excitement  arose  in  the  early  part  of  1880, 
caused  by  the  publication  of  reports  by  several  British  consular  officers  in  the 
United  States  alleging  the  prevalence  of  hog  cholera  in  the  West  to  an  unusual 
and  alarming  degree,  and  imports  of  live  swine  and  svpine  products  to  the  British 
Islands  were  checked  for  a  time,  but  no  prohibitory  legislation  ensued. 

Apparently  confined  at  first  to  scientific  and  hygienic  considerations,  the  move- 
ment soon  took,  in  the  great  European  countries,  an  interested  commercial  aspect. 
The  Governments  of  France,  Germany,  and  Austria  seem  to  have  become  sub- 
jected to  pressure  from  adverse  quarters.  On  the  one  hand,  there  became  mani- 
fest a  general  tendency  among  men  of  science  and  practical  economists  to  condemn 
the  prohibition  as  unwise  and  needles-^.  On  the  other,  the  local  hog  raisers  and 
packers  raised  objection  to  the  admission  of  a  foreign  product  which,  from  its 


542  8wi:ne  products  of  the  ttnited  states. 

nature  and  manner  of  packing,  they  alleged  conld  not  he  subjected,  before  enter- 
ing into  public  consumption,  to  the  same  methods  of  investigation  which  legisla- 
tion had  prescribed  for  native  swine  products.  Thus  the  question  debated  in  the 
press  and  legislatures  of  France  and  Germany  looked  to  determining  whether  the 
importation  of  pork  products  from  the  United  States  was  or  was  not,  in  fact,  a 
source  of  danger  to  the  public  health. 

It  now  seemed  no  less  the  duty  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  inves- 
tigate the  question.  A  great  industry,  giving  a  prosperous  export  trade,  had  been 
declared  pernicious  to  health  and  its  ])roducts  debarred  from  use  aijroad.  The 
same  considerations  of  public  health  which  operated  to  bring  about  total  prohibi- 
tion abroad  made  it  necessary  that  the  alleged  perniciousness  should  be  no  less 
searchingly  investigated  at  home. 

As  a  preliminary  step  the  Department  of  State,  in  March,  1881,  prosecuted  an 
examination  of  the  various  phases  of  the  pork  industry  in  the  Western  States, 
from  the  raisins^of  the  hogs  until  their  varied  products  are  ready  for  marketable 
shipment.  This  investigation,  made  by  Mr.  Michael  Scanlan,  Chief  of  the  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  the  Department  of  State,  covered  all  the  possible  causes  which 
might  operate  to  render  the  product  dangerous  to  health.  It  embraced  the  dis- 
eases of  swine,  hog  cholera  receiving  especial  attention.  The  alleged  prevalence 
of  trichinsB  among  the  swine  of  this  country  was  rigidly  inquired  into.  The 
results  of  that  investigation  appeared  to  the  Department  of  State  conclusive  as  to 
the  healthfulness  of  a  staple  product  consumed  without  evil  consequences  by  mil- 
lions of  our  own  citizens.  Not  only  were  the  asserted  ravages  of  hog-cholera  dis- 
proved, but  it  was  shown  that  unusual  precautions  had  been  universally  taken  to 
insure  that  none  but  the  health  est  animals  should  be  slaughtered  for  packing. 
It  was  shown,  moreover,  that  the  existence  of  trichinae  in  the  hog,  although 
detected  by  proper  tests  in  sundry  cases,  was  not  as  widespread  as  among  the 
swine  of  other  countries:  and  that  a  much  greater  immunity  from  trichinosis 
existed  throughout  the  great  pork-consuming  communities  of  the  West  than  in 
the  rural  districts  of  central  Europe,  where  none  but  native  pork  products  entered 
into  consumption. 

The  facts  thus  elicited  warranted  and  constrained  the  Department  of  State  to 
represent  to  the  foreign  governments  that  the  prejudicial  judgment  against  the 
swine  export  of  this  country  was  ex  parte  and  unfounded.  How  diligently  the 
agents  of  this  Department  abroad  have  endeavored  to  overcome  this  a<i verse  pre- 
judgment is  shown  in  the  correspondence  communicated  herewith.  The  result 
has  hitherto  not  been  of  such  a  character  as  this  Government  felt  it  had  good  right 
to  expect. 

In  France  the  discussion  has  passed  through  several  phases.  The  French  Gov- 
ernment showed  an  earnest  desire  to  meet  the  problem  in  a  just  sense.  Ministers, 
legislators,  and  the  most  eminent  men  of  science  there  united  in  declaring  their 
conviction  that  the  use  of  American  pork,  in  any  of  its  exported  forms,  whether 
as  fresh  meat  or  prepared  for  keeping,  was  absolutely  innocuous  to  hea  th.  Not 
a  single  case  of  trichinosis  traceable  to  American  pork  had  been  observed  in  France 
for  many  years.  It  was  demonstrated  that  cooking  destroyed  the  commxinicable 
forms  of  the  parasite  in  the  rare  cases  where  it  was  detected.  Science  asserted 
that  even  the  low  temperature  of  158  F.  sufficed  to  kill  the  trichinip.  But 
the  difficulty  seems  to  have  lain  in  applying  to  imported  pork  the  same  examina- 
tion which  sanitary  regulations  provided  for  the  native  product.  Various  schemes 
of  microscopic  inspection  on  entry  were  devised,  for  the  most  part  admittedly 
partial  and  fallacious,  and  all,  according  to  the  best  judgment  of  this  Govern- 
ment, needless  and  serving  only  to  impede  a  traffic  which  had  been  shown  to 
be  harmless.  At  length,  in  November  last,  the  Government  repealed  the  prohi- 
bition. The  immediate  consequence  was  the  renewed  agitation  of  the  question  in 
the  French  Chambers  and  a  very  decisive  vote  against  the  removal  of  the  prohi- 
bition. The  Government  of  the  Republic  has  therefore,  with  evident  reluctance, 
been  compelled  to  rescind  its  recent  action,  and  after  a  sufficient  interval  to  admit 
of  shipments  which  had  been  made  on  the  faith  of  the  revocation  of  November, 
the  interdiction  is  restored  from  the  20th  instant.  The  correspondence  herewith 
submitted  will  enable  Congress  to  judge  impartially  the  course  of  the  matter  in 
France. 

In  Austria-Hungary  and  Italy  the  prohibition  has  been  maintained.  With  Ger- 
many the  representations  of  this  Government  took  a  different  and  to  some  extent 
an  unusual  direction.  When,  in  February  last,  notwithstanding  the  proofs  adduced 
to  show  that  the  restriction  of  pork  imports  into  the  Empire  was  not  warranted 
by  any  state  of  facts  known  to  prevail  in  the  United  States,  but  was  rather  at 
variance  with  the  ascertained  facts  here,  it  was  announced  that  the  Imperial 
Government  was  abont  to  submit  to  the  Reichstag  measures  of  total  exclusion. 
Reasoning  that  the  emergency  justified  any  and  every  mode  of  appeal  to  the  sense 


SWINE    PKODQCTS    OF    THE    UlSlTEi)    STATES.  543 

of  justice  and  equity  of  the  German  Government  against  a  measure  believed  to  be 
no  less  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  German  people  than  to  our  export  trade, 
the  President  directed  that  the  Imperial  Government  should  be  informed  of  his 
intention  to  appoint  an  impartial  and  competent  commission  to  investigate  the 
asserted  danger  of  American  pork  products  to  health,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining 
and  promulgating  the  exact  facts  in  relation  thereto,  and  that  it  should  be  invited 
to  send  one  or  more  experts  hither  to  make  such  investigation,  either  separ;itely  or 
jointly  with  a  United  States  commission.  The  invitation  was  declined,  the  reason 
briefly  being  that  in  a  matter  concerning  domestic  sanitary  legislation  the  German 
Government  could  not  enter  into  any  arrangement  which  might  imply  an  obliga- 
tion on  its  part  to  accept  and  be  bound  by  a  state  of  facts  existing  outside  of  its 
jurisdiction.  • 

The  President  has  since  appointed  the  commission  then  contemplated.  It  is 
composed  of  a  representative  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Prof. 
Charles  F.  Chandler;  a  representative  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  Mr.  E.  W. 
Blatchford:  two  members  nominated  by  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Mr. 
F.  D.  Curtis,  of  Charleston,  N.  Y.,  and  Prof.  D.  E.  Salmon,  the  whole  under  the 
chairmanship  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture.  In  point  of  scientific  compe- 
tence and  elevated  impartiality  the  formation  of  the  commission  peculiarly  fits  it 
for  the  execution  of  its  responsible  task.  To  it  should  belong  in  great  measure  the 
shaping  of  the  policy  of  this  Government  toward  the  pork  question  in  its  domestic 
or  foreign  aspects. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  prominent  part  which  the  results  reached  by  the  pork 
commission  must  necessarily  play  in  the  further  treatment  of  the  question  by  the 
Executive  or  by  Congress,  the  undersigned  feels  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  advise 
that  the  President  recommend  Congress  to  abstain  from  any  immediate  legislative 
action  until  the  report  of  the  commission,  soon  to  be  presented,  shall  be  before  it. 

In  advance  of  such  report,  and,  indeed,  without  any  knowledge  of  its  probable 
import  or  intimation,  of  the  suggestions  it  may  offer,  the  undersigned  deems  it  his 
duty  to  lay  before  the  President  certain  considerations  prompted  by  the  language 
of  the  resolutions  to  which  he  now  responds. 

The  preamble  to  the  second  resolution  above  quoted  indicates  that  Congress  may 
feel  impelled  to  take  measures  to  resent  the  injustice  which  may  be  shown  to  have 
been  done  by  the  groundless  charge  that  the  swine  products  of  this  country  are 
not  proper  and  wholesome  for  food. 

The  President  will  see  by  the  instructions  of  the  undersigned  to  Mr.  Sargent,  of 
February  16,  1883,  that  there  has  been  and  is  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
Executive  Departments  of  this  Government  to  prevent  or  to  remonstrate  against 
or  in  any  way  to  inter fei'e  with  the  right  of  the  German  Empire  to  exclude  food 
the  use  of  which  would  be  deleterious  to  the  people.  The  question  to  be  carefully, 
frankly,  and  honestly  met  is  whether  the  prepared  meat  products  exported  from 
this  country  are  injurious  to  public  health.  We  believe  they  are  not,  and  have  so 
represented  it.  On  the  contrary,  all  the  facts  which  laborious  and  searching  inves- 
tigations have  hitherto  laid  before  us  constrain  the  belief  that  such  products  are 
promotive  of  the  public  health  in  those'countries  into  which  they  are  imported. 
Diligent  inquiry  has  been  made,  as  the  correspondence  shows,  to  trace  out  the 
cause  of  the  sickness  imputed  to  the  use  of  imported  meats,  and  such  investiga- 
tions show,  we  think,  that  it  is  ia  no  case  attributable  to  the  pork  exported  from 
this  country. 

Should  it  appear  that  the  meat4)roducts  of  this  country  are,  as  we  believe  them 
to  be,  not  deleterious,  but  promotive  of  health,  it  is  believed  that  those  friendly 
nations  which  have  put  forth  decrees  inhibiting  the  importation  of  our  meats 
would  annul  those  decrees.  The  undersigned  is  aware  that  doubtless  in  those 
countries  there  are  producers  of  meats  who  would  be  glad  of  the  continuance  of 
such  inhibition,  because  they  would  profit  by  avoiding  the  competition  which  our 
exports  create,  but  he  has  no  belief  that  they  can  or  would  have  any  controlling 
influence  on  the  Governments  of  those  countries.  If,  however,  in  the  face  of 
clear  proof,  elicited  both  at  home  and  abroad,  that  our  meat  products  are  free  from 
disease  or  communicable  germs  of  disease — proof  which  might  be  established  to 
demonstration  by  actual  inspection,  as  well  as  supported  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
precautions  which  surround  the  raising  and  packing  industries  here — any  nations 
with  which  we  are  on  terms  of  intimacy  and  amity  should,  by  legislation,  dis- 
criminate against  the  trade  of  this  country  rather  than  protect  the  health  of  their 
people,  it  would  then  be  the  province  of  the  Executive  to  call  the  attention  of  such 
nations  to  the  provisions  of  treaties,  with  the  confident  expectation  that  those 
treaties  would  be  respected. 

The  President,  in  his  message,  recommended  that  in  certain  cases,  such  as  when 
a  foreign  nation,  by  onerous  storage  charges,  exorbitant  penalties,  differential 
duties  in  favor  of  a  competing  flag,  or  by  the  misuse  of  some  other  incident  of 


544  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

commerce,  discriminated  against  the  United  States,  there  might,  by  legislation 
analf)goa8  to  sections  2r)02  and  4228  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  be  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent i)Ower  to  adopt,  at  his  discretion,  measures  compensatmg  for  and  counter- 
vailing sTich  misuse  of  the  incidents  of  commerce.  It  may  be  inferred  from  this 
that  the  suggestion  extends  to  measures  relating  to  the  substance  of  commerce 
and  affecting  our  commercial  relations  with  other  nations. 

It  is  submitted  to  the  President  that  such  measures  are  of  an  importance  much 
greater  than  the  administration  of  the  incidents  alluded  to,  and  it  would  therefore 
seem  to  be  proper  that  they  receive  the  direct  consideration  and  determination  of 
Congress  rather  than  that  the  subject  should  be  disposed  of  by  a  reference  to  the 
Executive. 

It  seems,  however,  very  plain  that  our  policy  in  any  event  shoiild  be  to  prove 
that  our  meat  products  are  wholesome.  This  the  absence  of  trichinosis  in  this 
country,  and  particularly  in  our  Army  and  Navy,  where  our  meats  are  constantly 
used,  goes  far  to  demonstrate.  Measures,  however,  might  be  taken  to  ascertain 
to  an  absolute  certainty,  by  such  means  as  a  commission  of  scientists  would  devise, 
that  our  meats  are  or  can  be  rendered  innocuous. 

With  these  observations  the  uulersigned  commits  to  the  President  the  subjoined 
correspondence.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  former  correspondence  communi- 
cated to  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  26th  of  May,  1882,  in  answer  to  a 
resolution  thereof  (House  Ex.  Doc.  No.  209,  Forty-seventh  Congress,  first  session), 
it  is  believed  that  it  presents  a  connected  view  of  the  efforts  of  this  Government 
to  impress  upon  other  countries  the  conviction  it  holds  that  the  pork  products  of 
this  country  are  not  the  means  of  disseminating  disease  and  death  they  are  repre- 
sented to  be.  and  to  maintain  the  discussion  of  the  international  questions  involved 
on  the  plane  of  disproving  by  fact  and  reason  the  sanitary  argument  put  forth 
to  justify  the  exclusion  of  those  products  from  use  as  food  in  foreign  lands. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

Fredk.  T.  Feelinqhuysen. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  SI,  1884, 


LIST  OF  ACCOMPANYING  PAPERS. 

Austria. 

No.  1.— Mr.  Taft  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  26,  November  28,  1882,  with  an 
accompaniment. 
No.  2.- Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Taft,  No.  22,  January  19, 1883. 
No.  3.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Weaver,  No.  102,  January  26, 1883. 

Belgium. 

No.  4.— Mr.  Steuart  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  105.  November  20, 1883. 
No.  5.— Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  22,  February  24,  1883. 
No.  6.— Mr.  Steuart  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  116,  April  12, 1883. 

Denmark. 

No.  7.— Mr.  Ryder  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  206,  April  5, 1883. 

No.  8.— Mr.  Ryder  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  15,  April  28, 1883. 

France. 

No.  9. — Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  January  17, 1882.    (Telegram.) 
No.  10.— Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  107,  January  20,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 
No.  11.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  90,  February  10,  1883. 
No.  12. — Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  130,  February  28,  with  accompa- 
niments. 
No.  13. — Same  to  same.  No.  138,  March  17,  1882,  with  accompaniments. 
No.  14.— Same  to  same,  March  20,  1882.     (Telegram.) 
No.  15.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  March  22,  1882.     (Telegram.) 
No.  16. — Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  March  28, 1883,     (Telegram.) 
No.  17.— Same  to  same,  March  29,  1882.     (Telegram.) 
No.  18,^Same  to  same.  No.  14G,  Mai'ch  31,  188,',  with  an  accompaniment. 


SWINE    TRODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  545 

No.  19.— Mr.  Frelinghnysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  129,  May  10,  1888. 

No.  20.— Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghnysen,  No.  191,  June  27,  1882. 

No.  21.— Mr.  Frelinghnysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  152,  July  28,  1882. 

No.  22.— Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  12,  December  4,  1882,  with  accompani- 
ments. 

No.  23.— Mr.  Frelinghnysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  207,  January  17,  1883. 

No.  24.  —Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  324,  April  4, 1883,  with  an  accom- 
paniment. 

No.  25.— Mr.  Roosevelt  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  99,  April  11, 1883,  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  26.— Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  333,  April  13,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  27.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  267,  April  26,  1883. 

No.  28.— Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  24,  May  17,  1883.  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  29.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  294,  June  22.  1883. 

No.  30.— Mr.  Brulatour  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  371,  July  17,  1883. 

No.  31.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Brulatour.  No.  327,  August  28.  1883, 

No.  32.— Mr.  Roosevelt  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  126,  September  26,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  33.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  364,  October  9,  1883. 

No.  34. — Mr.  Glover  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  51,  October  15,  1883,  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  35. — Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  30,  October  20,  1883,  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  36.— Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  425,  October  21,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  37.— Mr.  Glover  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  252,  October  22, 1883. 

No.  38.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  October  31, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  39. — Same  to  same.  No.  379,  November  13, 1883. 

No.  40. — Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  445,  November  15, 1883. 

No.  41.— Same  to  same.  November  27, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  42. — Same  to  same.  No.  452,  November  29, 1883,  with  accompaniments. 

No.  43,— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  No.  393,  December  7, 1883. 

No.  44. — Same  to  same.  No.  405,  December  19, 1883. 

No.  45. — Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  December  24, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  46.— Same  to  same.  No.  464.  December  26, 1883. 

No.  47.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  December  27, 1883.     (Telegram,) 

No.  48. — Mr.  Morton  to  Air.  Frelmghuysen,  December  28, 1S83.     (Telegram.) 

No.  49. — Same  to  same,  December  28, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  50.— Same  to  same, December  29, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  51.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  December  29, 1883,     (Telegram.) 

No.  52. — Mr.  Roustan  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  January  2, 1884. 

No.  53. — Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton,  January  2, 1884.     (Telegram.) 
^    No.  54. — Same  to  same,  No.  413,  Janiiary  2, 1884. 

No.  5.5.— Same  to  same.  No.  414,  January  2, 1884. 

No.  56.— Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  466,  January  3,  1884,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

Oermany. 

No.  57.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Everett.  No.  301,  February  8,  1882,  with  an  accom- 
paniment. 

No.  58.— Mr,  Everett  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No,  298,  P'ebruary  23, 1882. 

No.  59. — Same  to  same.  No.  308,  March  27, 1882,  with  accompaniments. 

No.  60.— Mr.  Brewer  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  23,  March  30, 1882. 

No.  61.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  No.  74,  November  6,  1882,  with 
accompaniments. 

No.  ()2. — Same  to  same.  No.  77,  November  13, 1882,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  63.— Mr.  Bailey  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  86, November  20.  1882. 

No.  64.— Mr.  1^  relinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  66,  November  28, 1882. 

No.  65.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  85,  December  11,  1882,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  ^iS. — Same  to  same.  No.  87,  December  18, 1882. 

No.  67.— Same  to  same.  No.  90,  January  1, 1883. 

No.  68.— Mr.  Wamer  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  31,  January  10, 1883. 

No.  69.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent.  No.  74.  January  12,1883. 

No.  70.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  96,  January  13,1883. 

S.  Doc,  231,  pt  4 as 


546  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  71. — Mr.  Fox  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  192,  January  15,  1883,  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  72.— Mr.  Warner  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  33,  January  22, 1883,  with  an  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  73.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  February  15, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  74. — Same  to  same,  No.  87,  Febmary  16, 18S3,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  75. — Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  109.  February  17, 1883. 

No.  76.— Same  to  same. No.  Ill,  February  21, 1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  77.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent.  No.  88.  February  21, 1883. 

No.  78.— Mr.  Vogeler  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  77,  March  3,  1883,  with  au  accompani- 
ment. 

No.  79.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  March  8, 1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  80.— Same  to  same,  March  14, 1883.     (Telegram. ) 

No.  81.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  98,  March  14,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  82.— Same  to  same.  No.  99,  March  14, 1883. 

No.  83.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  121,  March  15,1883. 

No.  84. — Same  to  same.  No.  122,  March  19, 1883,  with  accompaniments. 

No.  85. — Mr.  Bailey  to  Mr.  Davis.  No.  103.  April  7,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  86.— Mr.  Frelinghuy.sen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  108,  April  11,1883. 

No.  87.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  135,  April  13, 1883,  with  accom- 
paniments. 

No.  88.— Same  to  same.  No.  187,  April  13,  1883. 

No.  89. — Same  to  same.  No.  145,  April  28,  1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  90. — Mr.  Eisendecher  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  May  2,  l.sSJ. 

No.  91.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  116,'  May  4,  1883. 

No.  92.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  146,  May  4,  1888,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  93.— Same  to  same.  No.  147,  May  5, 1883. 

No.  94.— Same  to  same.  No.  155,  May  19, 1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  95.— Same  to  same,  No.  157,  May  21,  1883. 

No.  96.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  119,  May  23,  1883. 

No.  97.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent.  No.  141,  July  25,  1883. 

No.  98.— Mr.  Eisendecher  to  Mr.  Frelinghuvsen,  July  27,  188  5. 

No.  99.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  156.  October  9,  1883. 

No.  100.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  201,  October  15,  1883. 

No.  101.— Mr.  Smith  to  Mr.  Davis.  No.  104,  October  17,  1883. 

No.  102.— Mr.  Frelinghuvsen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  October  20,  1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  103.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  204,  October  20,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  104. — Same  to  same,  No.  205,  October  22, 1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  105. — Same  to  same.  No.  208,  October  26,  1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  106.— Same  to  same.  No.  213,  November  5,  1883. 

No.  107.— Same  to  same.  No.  214.  November  12,  1883. 

No.  108.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  169,  November  27,  1883. 

No.  109.— Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  318,  December  1,  1883,  with 
accompaniments. 

No.  110.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent,  No.  177,  December  26, 1883. 

Gfreece. 

No.  Ill, — Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  No.  8,  February  10, 1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

No.  112.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Schuyler,  No.  20,  March  9,  1883. 

No.  113.— Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  29,  May  17,  1883. 

No.  114.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Schuyler,  No.  33,  May  28,  1883. 

No.  115.— 51  r.  Schuyler  t)  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  31,  July  25,  1883. 

No.  116.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Schuyler.  No.  5,  September  18,  1883. 

No.  117.— Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  42,  October  19,  1883,  with 
accompaniments. 

No.  118.— Same  to  same.  No.  52,  December  8,  1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  119.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Schuyler,  No.  48,  December  19, 1883. 

The  Netherlands. 

No.  120.— Mr.  Eckstein  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  261,  January  11, 1883,  with  an  accom- 
paniment. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  547 

Spain. 

No.  121.— Mr.  Fairchild  to  Mr.  Blaine,  No.  176,  July  16,  1881,  with  accompani- 
ments. 

No.  123.— Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis,  February  18,  1882.     (Telegram.) 

No.  123. — Same  to  same,  No.  76,  February  14,  1888,  with  an  act  omijauiment. 

No.  124.— Same  to  same,  No.  77,  February  19,  1883,  with  accompaniments. 

No.  125. — Same  to  same.  No.  78,  February  24,  1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  126.— Mr.  Reed  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  173,  February  28,  1883,  with  an 
accompanimeu  t. 

No.  127.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Marston,  No.  41,  March  7,  1883. 

No.  128.— Mr.  Badeau  to  Mr.  Davis,  April  5,  1883.     (Telegram.) 

No.  129.— Same  to  same,  No.  98,  April  5,  1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  130.— Same  to  same.  No.  105,  April  10,  1883. 

No.  131.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Reed.  No.  150,  April  12,  1883. 

No.  132.— Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Badeau,  No.  40,  April  18,  1883. 

No.  133.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  jMr.  Reed,  No.  159,  May  3,  1883. 

No.  134. — Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis.  No.  86,  May  9, 1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  135.— Mr.  Badeau  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  147,  May  25,  1883. 

No.  136. — Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  88,  June  8, 1883,  with  an  accompaniment. 

No.  137.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Barca,  June  14,  1883. 

No.  138.— Mr.  Barca  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  June  20,  1883. 

No.  139.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Barca.  June  29,  1883. 

No.  140.— Mr.  Foster  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  40,  July  23,  1883. 

No.  141. — Same  to  same,  No.  43,  July  23,  1883,  with  accompaniments. 

No.  142.— Mr.  Foster  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  89,  October  23,  1883,  with  an 
accompaniment. 

Stoeden — Norway. 

No.  143.— Mr.  Gade  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  309,  March  3, 1883, 
No.  144.— Same  to  same,  No.  313,  April  12,  1883. 

Svntzerland. 

No.  145.— Mr.  Byers  to  Mr.  Davis,  No,  285,  March  24,  1883. 
No.  146.— Mr.  Mason  to  Mr.  Davis,  No.  146,  September  25,  1883. 

Turkey. 

No.  147. — Mr.  Wallace  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  No.  96,  June  6,  1882,  with  accom- 
paniments. 
No.  148.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Wallace,  No.  68,  June  29,  1883. 

Miscellaneous. 

No.  149. — Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Loring  et  al.,  July  30,  1883. 
No.  150.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Loring  et  al.,  October  3, 1883, 


CORRESPON  DENCE. 

Austria. 
No.  1. 

Mr.  Taft  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 
No.  26.]  United  States  Legation, 

Vienna,  November  "8,  IS 82.  (Received  December  16.) 
Sir:  Inclosed  I  send  an  article,  cut  from  a  leading  journal  here,  evidently  writ- 
ten in  the  interest  of  the  producers  of  meats  in  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire. 
You  will  observe  that  it  is  proposed  to  extend  the  prohibition  heretofore  existing 
against  pork  to  beef,  and  to  all  kinds  of  American  meat.  I  have  called  upon  the 
foreign  office  to  inquire  as  to  the  purposes  of  the  Government  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  but  coTild  get  no  indication  that  the  Government  had  it  under  considera- 
tion at  all.     Yet  there  seems  to  be  an  expectation  that  the  Government  will  adopt 


548  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  snggestions  of  this  article.  Two  gentlemen  of  this  city.  Austrians.  who  are 
importers  of  American  meats,  have  called  npon  me  to  see  what  conld  be  done  to 
prevent  the  carrying  out  of  this  purpose.  They  were  very  much  alarmed,  and 
said  that  if  carried  out  it  would  ruin  their  business  altogether.  1  have  thought  it 
proper  to  call  your  attention  to  the  subject  and  ask  your  instructions. 

In  this  connection  I  should  lie  glad  to  know  what  is  the  present  position  of  the 
French  Government  on  the  same  subject.  »  *  *  l  hope  that  this  Government 
has  no  purpose  to  extend  the  prohibition,  as  has  been  suggested,  but  that,  on  the 
contrary,  it  may  be  induced,  on  a  more  full  consideration  of  the  facts  in  the  case, 
to  rescind  its  order  against  our  pork;  but  it  would  seem  to  reciuire  some  attention 
-at  this  point. 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  doctor,  Kammerer,  who  presented  these  propositions  to 
the  city  council  of  Vienna,  is  the  head  officer  of  the  sanitary  department  of  the 
city.  To  us,  who  have  so  long  lived  upon  American  meats,  without  a  thought  of 
danger,  or  of  any  need  of  inspection,  and  who  have  had  far  more  fears  of  bc-ing 
struck  by  lightning  than  of  being  made  sick  by  eating  American  beef  or  pork,  the 
idea  of  forbidding  the  importation  of  our  pork  or  beef  into  European  markets  on 
sanitary  grounds  .seems  very  absurd;  but  there  is  evidently  a  good  deal  of  pa'ns 
being  taken  to  create  apprehensions  among  the  people  of  danger  from  eating 
American  meats. 

I  am,  etc.,  Alphonso  Taft. 


[Inclosar«  in  No.  88.— Extract  in  the  Vienna  Tagblatt  of  November  6, 1882.— Translation.] 
MEASURES  AGAINST  TRICHINOSIS. 

In  the  Rudolfs  Hospital  a  death  occurred  recently  caused  by  trichinosis,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  city  physician.  Dr.  Kammerer,  submitted  a  memorandum 
to  the  city  council  containing  precautionary  measures  to  be  adopted  against  the 
spreading  of  this  dangerous  disease. 

The  examination  of  the  meat  of  slaughtered  animals  takes  place  at  present,  as  is 
known,  in  the  districts  of  Vienna  by  market  commissaries,  who  go  to  the  respec- 
tive parties  after  havang  been  notified.  This  measure  the  city  physician  finds 
inadequate,  since  at  present  a  reliable  control  over  these  slaughtered  animals  is 
lacking. 

As  the  best  measure  against  the  sale  of  meat  injurious  to  health,  the  city  physi- 
cian points  out  the  extension  of  the  law  requiring  the  killing  of  hogs  to  take  place 
in  public  slaughterhouses  in  Vienna  and  the  suburbs,  since  by  these  means  alone 
a  prompt,  unexceptional,  and  technical  examination  of  the  animals  can  be 
arrived  at. 

Already,  by  the  law  of  March  9, 1866,  published  by  the  governor  of  Lower  Aus- 
tria, a  proper  inspection  of  meat  conducted  in  conformity  with  the  regulations  is 
required,  and  stress  is  laid  upon  the  public  instructions  concerning  trichinosis 
published  by  the  governor  of  Lower  Austria  in  IfiTT,  that  the  exact  microscopical 
examination  will  be  possible  only  when  public  slaughterhouses  shall  exist  every- 
where, and  slaughtering  be  allowed  to  take  place  only  in  such. 

The  city  physician  makes  the  following  suggestions  in  the  interest  of  the  public 
health: 

First.  The  slaughtering  of  hogs  in  the  houses  of  the  respective  tradespeople 
should  be  prohibited,  and  the  slaughterhouse  requirement  should  be  extended,  for 
the  reason  above  alluded  to,  to  the  slaughter  of  hogs. 

Second.  That  means  should  be  adopted  to  establish  this  law  also  in  the  suburbs, 
where,  until  now,  it  does  not  exist  (not  even  for  oxen). 

Third.  For  every  slaughtered  hog  brought  from  the  suburbs  into  Vienna  proofs 
should  be  adduced  that  it  has  been  examined  microscopically. 

Fourth.  For  sausages  and  smoked  meats  imported  from  abroad  proof  should  be 
demanded  on  passing  the  custom-house  that  they  are  free  from  trichinae. 

Fifth.  The  import  of  meat  of  whatever  kind  from  America  (so-called  canned 
meat,  etc.)  should  be  prohibited  without  exception,  on  account  of  unreliable  con- 
trol and  doubtful  origin. 

Fatal  infective  diseases  are  likewise  of  frequent  occurrence  among  American 
cattle,  and  the  so-called  Texas  fever,  a  disease  related  to  the  rinderpest,  has  made 
sad  havoc,  and  since  beef  has  a  higher  value  than  hogs,  and  this  disease  may  lie 
dormant  for  a  long  time  in  the  animal,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  meat  is 
prepared  as  corned  beef. 

Aside  from  this,  Mr.  Mayer,  a  chemist,  has  shown  the  presence  of  lead  in  corned 
beef;  that  is  to  say,  as  much  as  90  milligrams  in  one  box.    To  this  it  must  be  added 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    IGNITED    STATES.  549 

that  even  the  American  newspapers  have  pointed  ont  the  fact  that  not  only  horse 
flesh,  but  also  the  meat  of  diseased  animals,  has  been  used  by  the  people  in  the 
business.  Since  the  preparation  of  canned  meat  does  not  destroy  the  disease,  the 
question  is:  Are  we  bound  to  the  consumption  of  corned  beef,  and  is  the  consump- 
tion of  it  a  pecuniary  advantage? 

These  questions  must  be  answered  in  the  negative.  The  first,  by  the  fact  that 
frequent  diseases  have  resulted  from  eating  tliese  conserves;  the  second,  by  the 
circumstance  that  the  box  weighing  1  kilo  contains  about  700  grains  of  eatable 
meat,  which,  with  1  mark  and  75  pfennige,  is  sold  at  a  higher  price  than  a  domes- 
tic article  of  equal  value.  In  Vienna,  likewise,  these  conserves  are  met  in  the 
market,  and  most  dealers  in  delicacies  sell  the  box  for  1  florin  and  20  kreutzers, 
or  much  dearer  than  a  domestic  article  of  the  same  value.  For  these  reasons  the 
proposition  of  the  city  physician  to  prohibit  the  import  of  American  meats  of  all 
kinds  is  no  doubt  perfectly  justified. 


No.  2. 

Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Taft. 

[Extract.] 
No.  22.]  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  January  19,  1883. 

Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  No.  26,  of  the  28th  of  November  last,  in  regard  to 
the  agitation  now  being  developed  in  Austria- Hungary  in  the  interest  of  the  meat 
producers  in  that  Empire.  You  inclose  an  article  from  the  Tagblatt  newspaper, 
in  which  it  is  proposed  to  extend  the  prohibition  at  present  in  force  against  Ameri- 
can pork  to  all  kinds  of  American  meat  on  the  ground  that  beef  as  well  as  poi-k  is 
liable  to  be  infected  with  trichina?.  You  state  that  on  inquiry  at  the  foreign  office 
you  could  get  no  intimation  that  any  such  measure  was  at  that  time  under  con- 
sideration, but  that  the  opinion  appeared  to  be  general  that  the  Government  would 
adopt  the  suggestion  of  the  newspaper  article. 

In  this  connection  you  inquire  the  present  situation  of  the  pork  question  in 
France.  *  *  *  In  reply  I  regret  to  inform  you  that  the  prohibitory  decree  in 
France  is  still  in  force.  A  bill  to  withdraw  the  decree  and  adopt  certain  micro- 
scopic examinations  in  its  place  was  passed  by  the  French  Chamber,  but  was 
defeated  by  a  small  majority  in  the  Senate,  and  since  that  time  no  other  action 
has  been  taken  by  the  French  Government  in  the  matter.  *  *  *  The  existence 
of  trichinae  in  beef  has  never  before  been  suggested.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  impossi- 
bility, as  the  ox  is  purely  herbivorous,  and  trichinae  are  only  (and  that  rarely) 
communicated  among  carnivorous  and  omnivorous  animals. 
I  am,  etc., 

John  Davis,  Acting  Secretary. 


No.  3. 
Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Weaver, 

[Extract.] 

No.  102.1  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  January  26,  188S. 

Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch.  No.  274,  relating  to 
renewed  attacks  on  American  canned  meats  on  the  ground  that  they  contain  tri- 
chinae. A  recent  death  alleged  to  have  been  caused  by  eating  such  meat  is,  you 
state,  made  occasion  for  the  renewal  of  the  attack. 

In  reply,  I  have  to  say  that  the  only  hog  products  exported  from  this  country  in 
cans  are  such  as  are  believed  to  be  incapable  of  containing  trichinae  in  a  form  that 
could  by  any  possible  chance  be  developed  into  life.  Our  hog  products  exported 
in  cans  are  such  as  lard,  picl^led  feet,  gelatine,  etc.,  all  of  which  have  been  sub- 
jected to  such  degrees  of  heat  in  the  several  processes  required  to  render  them 
merchantable  as  would  destroy  any  germ,  had  any  existed;  but  I  understand  that 
it  has  never  been  claimed  that  trichinae  have  been  found  in  any  of  the  products 


550  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

.iust  named.     Consequently  we  expect  the  fullest  proof  that  the  person  who  died 
in  hospital  had  trichinoeis  from  eating  American  meats.    *    *    * 
1  am,  sir,  etc., 

John  Davis,  Acting  Secretary. 


Belgium. 
No.  4. 

Mr.  Steuart  to  Mr.  Davis, 

[Extract.] 

No.  105.)  Consulate  United  States, 

Antwerp,  November  20,  1882.     (Received  December  2.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  dealers  in  American  meat  on  this 
market  are  very  much  agitated  on  account  of  a  notice  widely  circulated  by  the  Ger- 
man press  to  the  effect  that  Prince  Bismarck  is  preparing  to  offer  a  bill  to  the 
Bundesrath  demanding  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  pork  prod- 
uce into  Germany. 

The  Kreuz  Zeitung,  a  prominent  journal,  says: 

"We  hear  that  the  bill  has  not  yet  been  presented  but  is  under  consideration  by 
the  Prussian  Government.  The  examinations  of  the  German  imperial  health 
office  show  that  there  is  danger  from  the  importation  of  American  pork.  It  is 
proven  that  there  prevails  in  America  a  disease  among  hogs  called  hog  cholera, 
and  that  thousands  of  hogs  die  with  it.  The  owners  of  these  dead  hogs  do  not 
hesitate  to  utilize  them,  and  the  result  is  that  some  of  the  product  of  these  animals 
is  sent  into  Germany  for  consumption." 

*  *  *  *  *  •  ♦ 

The  whole  scheme  is  an  unjustifiable  attack  upon  an  innocent  article  of  Ameri- 
can produce,  and  the  dealers  on  this  side  of  the  water,  the  men  who  have  labored 
to  build  up  this  branch  of  American  trade,  are  earnest  in  their  demand  that  the 
United  States  Government  should  come  to  their  rescue,  and  defeat  the  adoption 
by  Germany  of  such  an  unjust  and  injurious  measure.  With  France  and  Germany 
both  closed  against  American  pork  by  governmental  prohibition,  the  large  trade 
on  this  market  would  be  virtually  ruined,  as  only  Belgium  would  be  left  to  supply. 

As  it  is,  the  trade  has  been  very  much  depressed  fur  more  than  a  year  by  the 
high  prices  ruling  in  America;  and  now,  just  when  great  hopes  for  a  full  revival 
of  business  were  cheering  the  dealers,  comes  this  blow  from  Germany  to  paralyze 
the  market.  The  same  cause  that  made  the  trade  so  dull  greatly  stimulated  the 
raising  of  hogs  in  Germany,  and  it  is  now,  when  the  decline  of  prices  in  America 
revives  trade  and  threatens  to  place  the  meat  on  the  German  market  cheaper  than 
they  can  produce  it,  that  the  cry  of  prohibition  comes  from  a  sanitary  motive. 

Antwerp,  from  being  tbe  most  important  distributing  ]ioint  on  the  Continent 
for  American  produce  and  provisions,  has  a  very  material  interest  in  this  matter, 
and  hence  I  venture  to  call  attention  to  the  danger  that  threatens  this  branch  of 
our  trade.  When  you  consider  that  of  the  very  large  quantity  of  American  meat 
imported  into  Antwerp  Germany  takes  about  80  per  cent,  you  can  readily  see  of 
what  vital  importance  is  the  retention  of  such  a  customer,  and  what  the  result 
would  be  if  this  prohibitory  measure  should  be  carried  out  by  the  German  author- 
ities. The  effect  of  the  rumor  at  present  is  to  stop  all  transactions:  for  as  con- 
tracts have  to  be  made  in  advance,  dealers  are  afraid,  in  the  possibility  of  losing 
Buch  a  customer  as  Germany,  to  touch  the  goods  even  at  a  very  low  price.    *    *    * 

In  conversation  to-day  with  one  of  my  colleagues  from  one  of  the  northern 
countries  of  Europe,  he  said  that  he  considered  the  importation  into  his  country 
from  America  of  petroleum  and  pork  to  have  been  the  greatest  boon  ever  conferred 
upon  the  laboring  class,  and  I  think  the  same  remark  would  apply  truthfully  to 
the  same  class  in  Germany. 

I  am,  etc.,  John  H.  Steuabt,  Con»uL 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  651 

No.  5. 

Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  22.]  Consulate  of  the  United  Statfs, 

Brussels,  February  S4, 1883.    (Received  March  13.) 

Sir:  In  a  report  made  to  the  Department  June  14,  1881,  on  trichinae  spiralis  in 
American  pork,  a  subject  then  very  much  agitating  not  only  the  people  of  Bel- 
gium but  of  this  entire  Continent,  I  gave,  in  connection  with  a  brief  history  of 
this  parasite  and  the  previous  panics  it  had  produced  throughout  Europe,  the 
result  of  my  own  microscopic  examinations  of  seve.  al  lots  of  salted  meats  said  to 
be  imported  from  the  United  States  into  this  country.  In  that  paper  I  not  only 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  cyst  of  the  parasite  was  its  tomb,  but  that  I  believed 
it  did  not  long  survive  in  well-salted  pork,  and  I  now  beg  to  say  that  after  much 
subsequent  study  of  this  subject  I  very  much  doubt  whether  a  single  competent 
microscopist  can  now  be  found  who  will  be  bold  enough  to  assert  that  he  has  dis- 
covered the  encysted  living  animal  in  thoroughly  salted  hams  or  bacon. 

As  the  whole  question  of  the  dangerous  or  harmless  character  of  this  class  of  our 
foreign  exports  is  based  upon  the  truth  or  error  of  this  opinion,  and  as  there  is  now 
an  effort  being  made  in  Germany  to  interdict  its  importation  on  account  of  its 
assumed  unsoundness,  from  my  previous  professional  training  and  habit  of  investi- 
gating vital  phenomena,  I  have  felt  justified  in  expressing  to  the  Department  this, 
as  I  think,  well-founded  opinion,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  lead  to  such  investiga- 
tions by  more  competent  persons  as  will  forever  set  at  rest  this  frequently  recur- 
ring and  damaging  fear  of  mortal  disease  from  eating  American  pork. 

The  most  panic-producing  writers  on  this  subject  generally  admit  that  it  is  from 
eating  raw  or  imperfectly  smoked  or  salted  swine's  flesh  that  the  disease  known  as 
trichinosis  usually  results,  and  they  further  confess  that  when  once  the  little  ani- 
mal is  inclosed  within  the  walls  of  its  envel  iping  cyst  its  active  life  ceases,  and 
that,  in  whatever  numbers  found,  it  henceforth  ceases  to  endanger  either  life  or 
health.  Yet  with  a  rare  inconsistency  many  of  them  claim  that  in  this  quiescent 
state  it  retains  its  vitality  for  a  long  period,  even  extending  through  many  years. 
Of  this  fact  there  can.  of  course,  be  but  simple  conjecture,  seeing  that  no  observer 
can  tell  at  what  exact  time  the  parasite  has  thus  enshrouded  himself.  But  opposed 
to  this  theory  is  that  almost  universal  law  of  animal  life  that  the  longevity  of  the 
animal  generally  bears  a  direct  proportion  to  the  period  required  for  its  matura- 
tion. Now  it  is  claimed  by  most  trichinic  observers  that  the  process  of  generation 
and  birth  of  this  little  animal  invariably  takes  place  in  the  stomach  and  intestinal 
canal,  and  that  within  a  few  days  from  its  bfrth  it  has  so  matured  as  to  penetrate 
the  walls  of  the  intestines  and  rapidly  make  its  way  through  the  various  interven- 
ing structures  to  the  remote  muscular  tissue  of  the  animal  it  infects,  there  to  be 
spe?dily  encysted  and  endowed  with  a  subsequent  dormant  existence  of  several 
years,  during  which  time  its  presence  occasions  little  or  no  inconvenience.  Of 
this  theory  of  the  life  and  movements  of  this  little  worm  I  can  only  say  that  it 
involves  an  almost  unparalleled  exception  to  the  law  generally  regarded  as  deter- 
mining animal  life,  and  ought  not  be  accepted  but  upon  the  most  positive  proof. 

It  may  further  be  stated  that  the  law  governing  parasitic  existence  in  living 
tissue  usually  involves  the  speedy  death  of  the  parasite  after  the  pabulum  upon 
which  it  feeds  has  passed  from  under  the  domain  of  vital  force;  hence,  unless  this 
tiny  worm  constitutes  an  exception  to  this  law,  its  life  must  be  short  after  the 
organic  structure  upon  which  it  feeds  has  ceased  to  live. 

But  however  this  may  be,  the  fact  remains,  according  to  my  observations,  that 
this  parasite  can  not  live  in  a  tissue  saturated  with  chloride  of  sodium,  or  common 
salt.  If  in  this  opinion  I  am  mistaken,  I  can  only  say  that  1  have  failed  to  receive 
authentic  proof  to  the  contrary,  and,  until  otherwise  convinced,  I  feel  it  my  duty 
to  reiterate  the  results  of  my  own  experience  and  observations,  and  that  is  that  I 
have  never  myself  seen  nor  found  a  microscopist  who  would  declare  that  he  had 
observed  tricinaj  in  motion,  or  manifesting  any  other  sign  of  life,  when  found  in 
well  salted  meats.  I  have  myself  been  present  when  officially  appointed  micro- 
scopists,  at  some  of  the  abattoirs  of  this  country,  have  been  engaged  in  examining 
American  pork  for  trichinae,  and  have  been  invited  by  these  gentlemen  to  see  for 
myself  through  their  microscopes  the  peculiar  cell  and  spiral  coil  of  the  animal, 
but  on  carefully  examining  them  I  have  only  observed,  blended  with  the  tissues 
and  minute  salt  crystals,  the  entombed  animal,  evidently  as  destitute  of  life  as  the 
structure  in  which  it  was  embedded. 

If.  then,  salt  really  kills  trichinae,  and  of  it  I  have  scarcely  a  doubt,  it  is  evi- 
dently an  injustice  on  the  part  of  foreign  governments  to  lay  an  embargo  on  our 


552  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

pork  product,  which,  of  all  others,  in  order  to  secure  it  against  decomposition  oft 
a  long  journey  to  foreign  markets,  is  l»etter  salted  than  that  of  any  other  country. 
Seeing,  then,  that  this  question  of  whether  common  salt  is  indeed  an  effectual 
destroyer  of  trichinae  life  is  one  of  such  vital  importance,  not  only  to  our  export 
trade,  but  also  to  the  poor  and  laboring  classes  of  all  countries,  I  can  not  refrain 
from  urgently  suggesting  to  the  Departnoaent  the  propriety  of  an  exhaustive  exami- 
nation of  the  subject,  for  if  it  once  becomes  an  established  scientific  fact  that  salt 
really  does  kill  this  parasite,  and  our  packers  and  shippers  will  but  properly  salt 
their  meat  intended  for  exportation,  foreign  governments  will  no  longer  be  able 
to  justify  their  prohibitive  measures  by  an  appeal  to  the  danger  of  communicating 
mortal  disease  by  the  introduction  of  the  already  too-much  slandered  American 
pork. 

Very  respectfully,  etc.,  Jno.  Wilson, 

United  States  Consul. 


No.  6. 

Mr.  Steuart  to  Mr.  Davis, 

[Extract.] 

No.  116.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Antwerp,  ApHl  12,  1SS3.     (Received  April  27.) 

Sir:  In  the  March  number  of  the  American  Mail  and  Export  Journal  I  read 
with  much  interest  an  article  entitled  the  "  Pork  (luestion  again,"  but  it  contains 
the  following  erroneous  comparison  regarding  Belgium,  to  which  I  wish  to  call 
attention  and  to  correct,  as  it  weakens  the  force  of  the  argument  by  greatly  under- 
ratmg  the  importance  of  Germany  and  France  in  our  foreign  pork  trade. 

The  author  gives  a  table  of  "exports  of  American  pork  products  during  the 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1883,"'  and  adds:  "  It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  that 
the  consumption  of  American  pork  products,  outside  of  lard,  in  Germany  and 
France  is  insignificant,  both  countries  not  consuming  one-half  of  that  of  Belgium 
alone." 

The  mistake  he  makes  is  in  assuming  that  the  total  importation  into  Belgium  is 
consumed  in  Belgium,  whereas  it  is  merely  in  transit,  and  from  75  to  SO  per  cent 
of  the  bacon  and  lard  coming  from  the  United  States  into  Antwerp  is  sold  to  and 
consumed  in  Germany;  and  the  same  comparison  might  have  been  made  in  regard 
to  American  hams  with  France,  as  before  her  prohibition  decree  Antwerp  had  a 
large  trade  with  northern  France  in  that  article,  but  the  consumption  of  Ameri- 
can pork  in  Belgium  is  very  trifling  as  compared  with  Germany  and  France. 

Antwerp  acts  as  a  broker  for  a  great  part  of  Europe,  and  the  large  importations 
find  their  way  here  simply  because  this  is  the  best  market  and  the  best  distributing 
point  on  the  Continent. 

Since  1880  the  imports  of  American  meat  have  fallen  off  greatly  on  account  of 
the  continued  high  prices  ruling  in  America;  but  the  amount  imported  into  Ant- 
werp during  1^82,  as  shown  by  the  table  herewith  inclosed,  had  a  value  of  more 
than  $0,000,000,  and  it  is  this  large  interest  that  makes  the  dealers  here  watch  with 
anxiety  the  action  taken  by  the  European  governments  affecting  this  interest,  and 
also  to  see  what,  if  anything,  is  to  be  done  by  our  Government. 

I  have  called  attention  a  number  of  times,  and  do  again  here,  to  the  fact  that 
American  meat  has  its  value  on  this  market  as  an  article  of  barter  and  not  as  an 
article  of  consumption.  Therefore,  Belgium  being  a  kind  of  transit  depot,  the 
heavy  importation  here  tends  to  increase  and  not- diminish  the  importance  of  GJer- 
many  and  France,  for  they  are  the  recipients  and  consumers.  They  are  very  impor- 
tant to  our  foreign  pork  trade,  and  their  absence  will  be  felt  when  we  again  have 
a  large  surplus  crop  at  home. 

I  hope  to  see  these  arbitrary  prohibition  decrees  kept  in  view,  for  it  is  a  question 
affecting  not  meat  alone,  but  may  be  extended  with  equal  justice  or  injustice  to 
any  other  of  our  products  that  may  stand  in  their  way. 

The  sanitary  plea  is,  of  course,  an  invention  without  reason  and  without  truth, 
*  *  *  and  as  for  France,  in  a  question  of  endangering  the  public  health,  so 
long  as  we  continue  to  import  and  drink  her  so-called  wines  and  brandies  she 
would  have  greatly  the  advantage  of  us  if  all  her  ports  were  thrown  open  to  our 
I>ork  and  if  it  should  be  really  much  worse  than  they  claim  it  to  be. 
I  have,  etc, 

John  H.  Steuart, 

United  States  Consul, 


SWII^E    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


553 


[Inclosure  in  No.  116.] 
Import  of  bacon  and  lard  into  Antwerp,  1882. 


Month. 


Bacon. 


Hams. 


Lard. 


Tierces. 


Cwt. 


Pails. 


January  ... 
February  .. 

March 

April 

May 

Jane 

July 

August 

September- . 

October 

November . . 
December... 

Values 


Boxes. 
13,854 
4,004 
2,045 
1,062 
1,889 
3,289 
1,658 
],342 
1,089 

622 
1,260 

992 


$1,796,374 


Boxes. 
456 
315 
356 
200 
363 
122 
260 
170 


16,653 
1,455 

4,588 
4, 125 
3,920 
6.2;i5 
5,ti45 
1,050 
225 
1,700 
16,552 
6,825 


9,800 
2,335 
2,220 
3,444 
560 
1,800 
5,400 
2,800 
7,200 
11,200 
4,300 
6,140 


$86,230 


$2,896,866 


$384,993 


1,260 
1,000 


60 


$32,442 


Total  value,  $5,196,905. 


Denmark. 

No.  7. 

Mr.  Byder  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  206.]  Consulate  of  the  United  States, 

Copenliagen,  April  5,  1883.     (Received  May  1.) 

Sir:  I  have  herewith  the  honor  to  hand  a  report  on  a  subject  which  is  at  pres- 
ent creating  considerable  excitement  among  the  agricultural  classes  in  this 
country.  I  allude  to  an  imperial  decree  lately  enacted  by  the  German  Empire 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  live  swine,  pork,  and  sausages  from  the  United 
States  of  America  into  the  ports  of  the  German  Empire. 

Fears  seem  to  be  entertained  here  that  the  very  considerable  export  trade  in 
these  articles  which  is  now  carried  on  from  this  country  with  Germany  may,  at 
no  very  remote  period  and  in  consequence  of  tliis  decree,  be  subjected  to  such 
regulations  and  restrictions  as  would  materially  interfere  with  this  trade,  and  that 
for  the  important  agricultural  interests  of  this  country  it  would  be  desirable  that 
Denmark  should  also  issue  a  similar  prohibitory  order  against  the  importation  of 
such  stock  from  the  United  States.  I  do  not,  however,  at  present  anticipate  any 
immediate  danger  of  such  prohibitory  order  being  enforced;  but  should  the  Ger- 
man Government  later  on  deem  it  necessary  to  place  onerous  restrictions  on  the 
trade  from  this  country,  under  the  plea  that  American  swine  and  pork  were  being 
introduced  into  the  Empire  through  this  channel,  great  pressure  would  doubtless 
be  brought  to  hear  so  as  to  compel  the  Danish  Government  to  issue  a  similar 
decree  of  exclusion  in  the  interests  of  their  agricultural  community. 

In  investigating  the  importance  of  this  branch  of  Danish  trade  it  will  be  found 
that  the  export  of  live  swine  is  mainly  directed  toward  Germany.  Inasmuch  as 
while  the  total  export  in  1881  of  hogs  and  pigs  from  this  country  amounted  to 
253,294  head,  of  the  value  of  225  millions  of  kroners,  of  these  no  less  than  237,118 
head,  of  the  value  of  21;Jr  millions  of  kroners,  were  exported  to  the  German  Empire. 

In  the  same  year  979,000  pounds  of  pork  and  hams,  of  the  value  of  396,000  kro- 
ners, and  946,000  pounds  of  beef  and  sausages,  of  the  value  of  269,000  kroners, 
were  likewise  exported  to  the  same  country,  giving  a  total  export  value  of  these 
articles  of  about  21,900,000  kroners.  That  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the 
live  stock  which  is  exported  from  Denmark  to  Hamburg  is  not  intended  for  con- 
sumption in  that  Empire,  but  is  again  reexported  in  a  slaughtered  state  to  Hol- 
land and  to  England,  is  not  to  be  denied;  but  looking  at  the  development  which 
this  trade  has  received  in  the  latter  years  it  is  felt  by  the  commercial  and  agricul- 
tural classes  in  this  country  that  they  can  not  at  present  afford  to  lose  the  market 
of  Hamburg  as  a  middle  link  in  this  trade;  and  that  even  supposing  that  other 
markets  could  be  found  for  theabsorption  of  theirsurplus  stocks  of  live  swine,  this 
would,  in  the  first  instance  at  least,  be  attended  with  considerable  pecuniary  loss. 


554  SWINE    J'KODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

At  the  same  time,  liowevtr,  it  may  be  presumed  that  Germany,  especially  at  a  time 
when  their  supplies  from  the  United  States  are  stopi)ed,  can  not  well  afford  to  \)e 
deprived  also  of  their  supplies  from  this  country,  and  that  constquently  they  may 
not  place  further  restrictions  on  this  trade  than  may  be  thought  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  preventing  of  American  produce  being  clandestinely  introduced  into 
the  Empire  through  neighboring  States.  But  if  every  shipment  of  wine  or  its 
products  has  to  be  accompanied  by  certificates  and  proofs  of  their  origin,  this 
will  entail  considerable  expense,  trouble,  and  loss  of  time. 

Proceeding  next  to  investigate  the  extent  of  the  trade  in  these  articles  between 
the  United  States  and  this  country,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  importation  of  live 
swine,  owing  to  the  heavy  expenses  and  risks  attending  the  long  sea  voyage,  may 
be  classed  as  nil;  whereas  the  trade  in  hog  products  has  gradua  iy  been  on  the 
increase  in  the  latter  years,  the  importation  of  potk  and  hams  in  18:^1  amonntmg 
to  4,175,000  pounds,  of  the  value  of  l,r)G  i.OOO  kroners;  and  of  beef  and  sausages  of 
"^57,000  pounds,  to  the  value  of  98,00J  kroners.  It  will  thus  l>e  seen  that  a  restric- 
tion simply  confined  to  a  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  live  swine  would  not 
have  any  injurious  effects  on  the  commercial  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  this  country;  and  taking  into  consideration  that  the  swine  products  are 
imported  for  home  consumption,  and  not  for  reexport,  thus  tending  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  general  community  by  lessening  the  cost  of  living.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  these  views  will  tend  to  outweigh  with  the  Danish  authorities  anj- pressure 
that  might  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them  from  the  commercial  and  agricultural 
interests  for  the  furtherance  of  any  such  injurious  restrictions. 

The  restrictive  mea.snre  enacted  by  the  German  Empire  under  the  pretense  of 
sanitary  reasons  is  but  a  flimsy  veil,  which  might  easily  be  torn  into  shreds:  it 
has  more  the  appearance  of  a  sop  to  satisfy  the  clamors  of  the  aricultural  classes, 
which  have  no  doubt  been  suffering  frcm  the  bad  harvests  in  the  last  years:  but, 
fortunately,  this  class  of  the  coinmuniry  in  Denmark  has,  from  various  circum- 
stances, certainly  not  been  subjected  to  such  unfavorable  results  as  has  been  the 
case  in  most  of  the  other  European  States,  and  consequently  the  Danish  Govern- 
ment will  be  in  better  position  to  withstand  similar  pressure  from  this  class  of 
their  community. 

1  have,  etc.,  Henky  B,  Ryder, 

United  States  Consul. 


No.  8. 

Mr.  Ryder  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

fExtract.] 

No.  15.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Copenhagen,  April  28,  ISSS.  (Received  May  14.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  refer  you  to  my  dispatch  No,  206.  addressed  to  the  Hon. 
John  Davis,  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  under  date  of  the  5th  instant,  and  to 
report  now  that  the  Danish  Government,  finding  the  regulations  put  in  force  by 
the  German  Government  on  the  importation  of  live  swine  into  the  German  Empire 
of  such  a  character  as  to  materially  interfere  with  the  trade,  have  proposed,  through 
their  minister  at  Berlin,  to  the  German  Government  to  prohibit  the  importation 
of  live  swine  from  the  United  States  of  America  into  the  Kingdom  of  Denmark, 
providing  the  German  Government  would  agree  to  remove  the  restrictions  lately 
placed  by  said  Government  on  the  importation  of  live  swine  from  Denmark  into 
Germany.  I  was  at  first  informed  on  good  authority  that  the  proposition  from 
this  Government  to  Germany  was  a  general  one  with  reference  to  the  importa- 
tion of  pork  produce  from  the  United  States,  but  on  calling  to-day  on  the  foreign 
minister  I  found  this  to  be  a  mistake.  His  excellency  remarked  that  said  propo- 
sition only  had  reference  to  live  swine,  and  that  it  was  very  uncertain  whether  it 
would  lead  to  any  results.  As  no  live  swine  are  imported  from  the  United  States 
of  America  to  this  country,  a  restriction  simply  confined  to  a  prohibition  of  this 
article  would  not  have  any  injurious  effects  on  the  commercial  relations  of  the 
United  States  and  Denmark.     *    *    * 

I  have  written  Mr.  Sargent,  oar  minister  at  Berlin,  about  this  matter. 
I  am,  etc, 

Hemby  B.  Btder,  Charge  ad  interim. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  555 

France, 

No.  9. 

Mr-.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  January  17,  188S. 
Faure,  under  secretary  commerce,  thinks  bill  introduced  in  Chamber  Saturday 
will  result  practically  in  free  admission  American  salted  meats.    He  had  hopes 
early  passage  both  houses. 

MOBTON. 


No.  10. 
Mr,  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 

No.  107.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  January  20,  1S82.     (Received  February  8.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  and  translation  of  a  bill  in  rela- 
tion to  American  salted  meats,  which  was  introduced  in  the  Chamber  on  the  14th 
instant  by  Mr.  Fauve,  deputy  and  under  secretary  of  commerce. 

This  bill  repeals  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  pork,  and 
provides  for  its  introduction  into  France  upon  certain  restrictions  which  will,  I 
believe,  practically  result  in  its  free  admission. 

The  minister  in  presenting  this  bill  explained  the  reasons  which  dictated  its 
action. 

At  the  time  the  decree  was  issued,  anxiety  and  alarm  existed,  microscopic  exami- 
nation could  not  be  resorted  to,  and  prohibition  under  the  circumstances  was  nec- 
essary. But  since  that  time  nearly  all  the  chambers  of  commerce  of  France  have 
protested  against  the  measure,  and  the  Government  has  been  led  to  question  seri- 
ously the  propriety  of  maintaining  it. 

A  careful  examination  elicited  the  fact  that  from  1878  to  1880,  95,000,000  kilo- 
grams of  American  pork  were  consumed  in  France  without  danger,  and  that 
Belgium,  where  the  consumption  is  about  six  times  as  large  as  in  France,  and 
England,  where  it  is  eight  times  as  large,  did  not  suffer  at  all  from  trichinosis. 

It  was  found  besides  that  the  cooking  of  the  meat  afforded  an  additional  protec- 
tion against  trichinosis  to  the  one  already  secured  by  its  process  of  curing. 

Upon  the  evidence  of  these  facts  the  committee  of  public  hygiene  rescinded  its 
former  advice,  and  declared  that,  in  its  opinion,  prohibition  was  unnecessary, 
provided  the  meat  introduced  into  France  was  well  cured.  The  Government, 
therefore,  proposes  the  free  admission  of  American  pork  upon  the  conditions 
stated  in  the  bill. 

It  has  taken  nearly  two  years  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  remonstrances  which 
our  Government  made  from  the  beginning  to  this  unjustifiable  measure,  and 
which  have  been  constantly  pressed  upon  the  French  authorities  by  my  predeces- 
sor and  myself,  were  just  and  well  founded  in  every  respect. 

I  regret  that  the  bill  proposed  still  maintains  the  prohibition  of  sausages  and 
hashed  meat,  the  reasons  for  which  I  do  not  understand.  But,  as  the  bill  is,  if 
its  provisions  are  applied  in  a  liberal  spirit,  as  I  believe  they  will  be,  our  packers- 
will  have  no  reason  to  complain. 

Mr.  Faure  expressed  to  me  the  opinion  that  the  bill  would  pass  both  houses 
within  four  or  five  weeks. 

*  *  •  •  •  •  » 

I  have,  etc, 

li.  P.  Morton. 


556  8WINK    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

[Inclosure  in  No.  107.-  Translation.! 
BILL  ON   IMPORTATION   OF   AMERICAN   PORK. 

The  minister  of  commerce  preseiitetl  yesterday,  in  the  name  of  the  Government, 
the  bill  relating  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  into 
France  of  American  pork.    This  is  the  text  of  this  document: 

Article  1.  The  decree  of  February  18.  1881,  prohibiting  the  Importation  into 
France  of  salt  meats  of  American  production  is  annulled. 

Art.  2.  Salted  pork  of  foreign  production,  accompanied  by  a  certificate  testify- 
ing that  the  meat  has  undergone  a  perfect  preparation,  and  that  it  corresponds 
with  the  type  known  in  commerce  under  the  name  "  fully  ctired,"  can  l)e  imported 
into  France. 

These  certificates  will  be  made  out  in  the  places  of  their  origin  with  prompti- 
tude, and  at  the  cost  of  the  parties  interested,  by  local  experts,  whose  (}ualifica- 
tions  will  be  attested  and  the  signature  authenticated  by  the  consular  agents  of 
the  Republic. 

Art.  3.  At  the  moment  of  the  payment  of  custom-house  dues  in  France  the 
importers  must  prove  that  the  meats  which  they  propose  to  baud  over  for  con- 
sumption are  healthy;  that  they  are  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  that 
the  salting  is  not  defective. 

This  authentication  will  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  importers  by  inspectors 
appointed  by  the  prefects  of  the  frontier  departments. 

Art.  4.  The  present  arrangements  are  not  applicable  to  meats  hashed  and 
uncooked,  such  as  different  kmds  of  sausage  {saucisses,  sauciNsons.  cenwhis,  &c. ), 
nor  to  guts  (boyaux)  intended  for  culinary  preparations,  the  importation  of  which 
into  France  is  absolutely  prohibited. 

Art.  5.  Will  be  punished  by  imprisonment  of  from  two  to  six  months,  and  by 
a  fine  of  from  100  to  300  francs,  those  who  will  have  brought  into  France  uncooked 
and  hashed  pork,  such  as  the  various  kinds  of  sausages  {saucinses,  sa?(c«.s.s(>»j.s. 
cervelas,  &c. ) ,  or  guts  {boyaux)  intended  for  culinary  preparations,  those  who  will 
have  imported  into  France  pork  of  foreign  production  which  would  not  have 
been  subjected  to  the  inspection  imposed  by  the  present  law,  or  which  would  not 
have  been  refused  after  examination. 

In  the  two  above-mentioned  cases  the  imported  meats  will  be,  in  addition,  seized 
or  destroyed. 

The  article  463  of  the  penal  code  is  applicable  in  the  cases  provided  for  in  the 
present  article  (fifth). 


No.  11. 

Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Moi'ton, 

No.  96.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  February  10,  1882. 
Sir:  I  am  gratified  to  learn  from  your  dispatch  No.  107,  of  the  80th  ultimo, 
that  it  is  very  probable  that  the  objectionable  decree  of  the  French  Government 
against  American  pork  will  soon  be  repealed. 
Thanking  you  for  your  full  and  interesting  report  on  the  subject, 
I  am,  etc., 

J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis, 

Acting  Secretary. 


No.  13. 
Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  130.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  February  28,  1882.     (Received  March  18.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch  No.  Ofi,  of  date 
February  10,  conveying  the  gratification  of  the  Department  for  the  information 
that  the  decree  of  the  French  Government  prohibiting  the  importation  of  Ameri- 
can pork  would  probably  soon  be  repealed. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  557 

With  the  defeat  of  the  Gambetta  cabinet,  which  was  pledged  to  the  withdrawal 
of  the  decree,  and  the  reinstallation  of  Mr.  Tirard,  who  originated  the  measures 
of  prohibition  as  minister  of  commerce,  I  regret  to  say  that  the  prospects  of  an 
equitable  and  liberal  settlement  ot  this  long-pending  question  are  not  now  as 
lavorable  as  heretolore. 

The  bill  which  was  drawn  up  by  the  late  minister  of  commerce,  of  which  I  gave 
you  the  substance  in  myNo.  107,  is  still  bet  ore  the  chamber,and  will  not,  Ithink,  be 
withdrawn.  But  it  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  the  committee  to  whichit  was 
referred  will  now  report  it  favorably. 

I  must  state  that  the  renewal  of  the  objection  made  to  the  importation  of  Ameri- 
can pork  is  not  to  be  attributed  solely  to  the  hostile  influence  of  the  minister  of 
commerce,  andof  those  who  have  adverse  private  interests  in  the  matter,  but  mainly 
to  the  publication  in  some  American  papers  of  supposed  fatal  cases  of  trichinosis. 
These  reports,  which  have  been  circulated  unfortunately  by  the  American  Corres- 
pondence, a  New  York  Franco-American  weekly  sheet,  printed  partly  in  French, 
are  copied  by  the  French  papers,  and  its  paragraphs  upon  American  trichinosis 
have  received  rather  a  wide  circulation.  I  inclose  herewith,  for  your  informa- 
tion, two  of  these  pai'agraphs,  which  appeared  in  the  Correspondence  of  January 
28  and  February  1 1 . 

Many  people  have  called  at  the  legation  to  ascertain  if  there  was  any  founda- 
tion for  these  reports.  I  have  not  hesitated  to  declare  that,  in  my  opinion,  they 
were  spurious,  and  that  there  was  nothing  like  an  epidemic  of  trichinosis  existing 
in  the  United  States.  It  might,  however,  be  useful  if  I  could  speak  with  ofi&cial 
authority  from  the  State  Department  in  the  matter. 

I  have,  etc.,  L.  P.  Morton. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  130.— Extract  from  the  American  Correspondence,  January  28, 1883.] 

TRICHINOSIS  IN   THE  UNITED  STATES— EXPERT   INSPECTORS  OUT   OF  THE  QUESTION 

LEGALLY. 

Like  all  Americans,  we  regret  that  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  did  not  instruct  the 
Government  to  allow  salt  provisions  from  the  United  States  to  be  admitted  with- 
out restrictions,  as  we  were  in  hopes  that  they  would,  and  so  expressed  ourselves 
in  our  last  number.  We  are  confident,  at  any  rate,  that  the  French  legislators 
will  continue  to  overlook  the  jiublication  in  papers  opposed  to  free  importation  of 
numerous  cases  of  trichinosis;  more,  in  fact,  than  have  really  occurred.  Reliance 
can  be  placed  upon  our  statement  that  there  were  only  six  cases  last  week,  of  which 
four  were  fatal,  and  but  two  this  week;  which  shows  conclusively  that  trichinosis 
is  a  scarecrow  which  has  been  made  too  much  of. 

We  also  expressed  the  apprehension  that  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  at  Paris  would 
take  offense  at  being  placed  by  the  Government  on  the  same  level  with  American 
corporations,  or  even  with  the  petty  legislatures  of  separate  States,  with  which  it 
is  proposed  to  treat  (and  not  with  the  American  Congress),  for  licensingas  experts 
those  persons  in  America  whose  duty  it  will  be  to  issue  certificates  of  the  whole- 
someness  of  such  provisions  as  they  may  agree  to  admit  into  France.  But  it  would 
appear,  unfortunately,  that  such  appointments  as  experts  are  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  as  we  are  iufoimed  by  a  friend  and  coriespondent  who  is  a 
well-known  juiist  and  was  at  one  time  a  United  States  .iudge. 

I  call  your  attention  to  the  text  of  the  law  as  proposed,  which  will  require  the 
exporter  to  produce  an  inspection  certificate  from  this  side  to  identify  the  sound- 
ness of  the  provisions.  It  will  be  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  com- 
ply with  such  a  requirement,  for  the  simple  rea  on  that  in  this  State  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania, if  not  in  all  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  there  are  no  authorized  legal 
inspectors.  It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  inspection  laws  formerly  existing  in 
this  country,  requiring  the  inspection  of  exports  and  brands  of  the  board  on  casks, 
barrels,  or  packages,  hurt  the  sale  of  the  article  in  the  foreign  market.  It  is  unnec- 
essary to  detail  the  reason,  but  the  abuse  was  so  flagrant  that  in  New  York  the 
constitution  of  the  State  forbid  forever  the  appointment  of  inspectors  or  boards  of 
inspection.  And  so  it  is  in  Pennsylvania.  Whence  is  the  exporter  to  obtain  the 
inspection  certificate  demanded  by  the  French  law?  In  this  country  the  purchaser 
must  look  out  for  himself.  He  has  no  other  protection  than  the  punishment  of 
the  person  who,  knowingly,  sells  putrid  or  unwholesome  food.  It  is  otherwise  in 
France  and  other  foreign  countries,  whose  Governments  deem  it  their  duty  to  add 
to  the  common  law  requirements  and  a  priori  evidence  that  the  article  offered  is 
sound.  It  is  supposed  that  p:  rhaps  an  inspection  in  the  interior  or  the  place  of 
manufactuie — say  i^t  Cincinnati  or  Chicago,  etc.— by  private  parties  would  be  suf- 
ficient.   This  is  a  delusive  idea.    The  French  bill  requires  the  inspection  by  a  com- 


558        8 WINE  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

peteit,  impartial,  antl  disinterested  expert,  authorized  by  the  li  cal  government; 
but  whilst  there  may  be  voluntary  insp  ctors.  they  are  not  the  cla^s  towhirh 
France  looks  for  the  protection  of  the  lives  and  health  of  its  inhabitants.  In  the 
next  place  neither  of  these  centers  is  the  pointof  export.  The  shipment  to  France 
is  made  here  in  vi  ssels  loading  at  this  port.  But  pending  the  tr;insit  from  the  inte- 
rior to  the  shipboard,  on  which  the  packajje  will  leave  this  country,  there  are  so 
many  opportunities  of  fraudulent  marks,  substitution  ;  f  packages,  and  otlier  tricks 
of  trade  that  the  original  certificate,  if  in  all  respec^ts  correct,  would  not  be  proof 
of  the  identity  of  the  article  tinally  consigned  t)  Havre.  Nor  will  the  French  con- 
sular certificate  of  authenticity  of  !-ignatur(>.  etc.,  be  of  any  avail.  The  French 
market  still  regrets  with  sorrow  the  c  rtifiente  of  authenticity  of  the  signature  to 
a  document,  pret*  nding  to  emanate  from  authority,  that  Fremonfs  notorious 
Memphis  and  El  Paso  Railroad  was  a  duly  recognized  and  salabh;  stock  at  thi' 
regular  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  a  paper  by  which  millions  of  French  money 
were  gathered  for  an  unsafe  and  judicially  fraudulent  stock. 

The  only  remedy  for  the  free  export  of  meat  and  provisions  from  here  to  France 
is  the  absolute  and  unconditional  repeal  of  the  existing  ordinance.  The  Chamber 
will  not  permit  a  change  which  can  easily  be  evaded  by  illegitimate  means.  Will 
it  permit  a  trade  in  natural  course?    This  is  the  question. 

As  we  go  to  press  we  find  the  following  dispatch  published  in  all  the  New  York 
papers  of  to-day  (January  37),  with  displayed  headings: 

"FIFTEEN  PERSONS  POISONED — TRICHINOSIS  CAUSED  BT  EATING  RAW  HAM — THREE 

FATAL  CASES. 

"Marshall,  Minn.,  Janwar?/;?';.— Great  excitement  has  been  caused  hereby 
trichina  poisoning  from  eating  raw  ham.  Fifteen  prominent  citizens  are  aVicted 
and  three  have  died.    An  entire  family,  consisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. ,  etc." 

Names  and  details  are  given.  All  which  seems  flatly  to  contradict  those  sanguine 
persons  who.  like  ourselves,  persistently  maintain  that  the  French  Government 
ought  to  withdraw  the  prohibitive  decree.  It  shows,  at  any  rate,  that  the  cases  of 
trichinosis  mentioned  by  us  in  our  last  number  were  not  at  all  exaggerated.  We 
say  again  that  these  are  special  and  particular  cases,  and  that  they  prove  nothing 
in  a  general  way.  It  should  be  noted  that,  in  the  above  instance,  those  who  died 
had  eaten  raw  ham.  In  France  it  is  always  eaten  cooked.  Hence  there  is  no  cause 
for  alarm.  No  uneasiness  need  be  felt  either  about  the  lard  m  cans,  prepared  or 
purchased  in  quantities  by  leading  speculators,  such  as  Messrs.  Armour,  Fowler, 
etc.,  which  they  introduce  in  a  roundabout  way  into  France,  where  it  is  consumed 
without  apprehension  or  suspicion  of  its  American  origin. 


[IncloBure  2  in  No.  190.    Extracts  from  the  American  Correspondence  of  February  11, 1882.] 
SPECULATION  AND  TRICHINOSIS. 

The  movement  to  bring  about  a  withdrawal  of  the  decrees  prohibiting  the  impor- 
tation of  American  provisions  into  Europe,  and  particularly  into  France,  continues 
to  be  carried  on  under  unfavoi-able  circumstances.  As  the  American  Correspond- 
ence has  been  predicting  for  a  year  past,  the  results  bate  hitherto  been  negative. 
Matters  are  even  worse  at  present,  because  speculation  has  thrust  itself  so  deeply 
into  this  question  which  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  the  American  minister,  is  trying  so 
strenuously  to  settle,  be  ause  he  knows  what  privations  the  laboring  classes  in 
Europe  and  what  losses  the  American  cattle  raisers  are  suffering  by  reason  of  the 
prohibitive  decrees.  But  the  large  speculators  do  not  care  much  for  that.  Oper- 
ators, for  a  rise,  have  published  in  certain  papers  that  the  decree  had  been  aoro- 
gated  in  France  by  the  Chamber,  simply  because  a  bill  has  been  introduced  by  the 
Government,  which  will  soon  be  buried  out  of  sight,  if  people  believe,  in  France, 
the  exaggerated  accounts  of  trichinosis  published  in  certain  other  papers  under 
sensational  headings  like  the  following: 

'•THE  POISONED  FAMILY— THE  AGONY  ENDURED  BY  THE  JAEGERS  AT  FOBT 

WAYNE,  IND. 

"  [Official  dispatch  to  the  Evening  Telegram.] 

"FoRT  Wayne.  Felmiarj/  9. — The  News  says,  with  reference  to  the  Jaeger 
family,  five  in  number,  who  are  sulfering  from  trichinal  poisoning:  '  They  suffer 
intensely.    No  immediate  danger  is  anticipated;  but  their  ultimate  recovery  is 


SWITiTE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  559 

doubtful.  The  girl,  aged  15,  and  her  sister,  aged  5,  are  in  a  very  bad  condition. 
No  hopes  are  entertained  of  their  recovery.  The  balance  may  survive.  The  old- 
est child  was  working  in  the  country  and  came  home  to  wait  on  the  family  and 
ate  once  of  the  diseased  meat.     She  has  a  very  mild  form  of  trichinosis.' 

'•  It  will  be  observed  that  this  does  not  refer  to  the  same  case  as  that  of  which 
we  deemed  it  our  duty  to  publish  the  true  particulars,  because  they  had  been  too 
much  magnified  by  some  papers.  These  exaggerations  originate  with  the  bear 
speculators,  who  are  well  aware  that  if  they  should  only  hear  in  France  of  any 
new  cases  of  trichinos  s  in  this  country  they  would  never  venture  to  withdraw 
the  prohibitive  decrees.  For  this  reason  we  desire  to  caution  the  French  public 
and  Government  once  more  not  to  attach  any  credit  to  exaggerated  accounts  like 
the  above." 


No.  13. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  138.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  March  17,  1882.     (Received  March  30. ) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  committee  to  which  the  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  free  introduction  into  France  of  foreign  pork  had  been  referred  has 
made  a  favorable  report,  and  that  the  question  will  come  up  in  the  Chamber  on 
the  2.!d  instant.     All  indications  now  point  to  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

The  Academy  of  Medicine,  to  which  the  Q-overnment  had  submitted  the  mat- 
ter, has  pronounced  itself  against  the  measures  resorted  to  or  contemplated  for 
obstructing  the  importation  of  pork.  I  annex  herewith  a  copy  of  the  report  of 
the  academy,  which  has  been  kindly  furnished  to  me  by  Dr.  William  E.Johnston 

Tlie  Academy  of  Medicine  of  France  is  an  official  body  authorized  to  answer 
the  questions  on  sanitary  measures  propounded  to  it  by  the  Government,  and  its 
decisions,  when  uttered  in  a  clear  and  decided  manner,  as  in  the  present  case, 
have  great  influence  with  the  executive  and  legislative  departments  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

I  have,  etc.,  L.  P.  Morton. 

[Inclosure  1  in  No.  l38.] 
W.  E.  Johnston,  M.  D.,  to  Mr,  Morton. 

Paris,  March  16, 1882. 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  after  a  full 
discussion  of  the  question  of  trichinte  In  connection  with  American  pork  at  the 
National  Academy  of  Medicine  of  Paris,  a  discussion  which  ran  through  several 
sittings,  that  body  has  come  to  a  decision  which  fully  justifies  the  views  your  lega- 
tion has  maintained  on  this  question. 

The  Academy  of  Medicine  of  France  is  an  official  body  authorized  to  answer  in 
an  official  manner  the  questions  on  sanitary  measures  propounded  to  it  by  the 
Government,  and  its  decisions,  when  uttered  in  a  clear  and  decided  manner,  as  in 
the  present  case,  always  meet  with  the  deference  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
to  which  they  are  entitled. 
1  subjoin  the  declaration  voted  by  the  academy, 

I  have,  etc.,  W.  E.  Johnston,  M.  D. 

I 

Report  at  the  National  Academy  of  Medicine  of  France  on  the  question  propounded 
by  the  Government  of  the  necessity  of  an  inspection  of  foreign  pork. 

[Read  by  Dr.  Bouley,  professor  at  Alfort,  reporter  of  the  special  committee,  February  28, 1882.] 

The  academy  taking  into  consideration — 

First.  That  for  a  great  many  years  American  and  German  pork  has  been  freely 
admitted  into  France  without  having  been  submitted  to  any  kind  of  inspection 
as  regards  trichinae; 

Second.  That  notwithstanding  the  very  extended  use  which  has  been  made  of 
this  kind  of  meat,  especially  in  the  army  and  the  large  manufacturing  and  indus- 
trial districts,  the  disease  called  trichinosis,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  case, 
which  was  produced  by  indigenous  pork,  has  not  been  observed  in  any  part  of 


560  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THK    IXITKD    STATES. 

France,  although  at  the  same  time  the  attention  of  phybicians  has  been  frequently 
called  to  that  disease  in  Germany; 

Third.  That  this  immunity  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  France  in  regard  to  trichi- 
nosis is  due  without  any  d(jubt  to  their  culinary  habits,  pork  being  never  eaten  in 
France  without  having  been  submitted  to  such  a  temperature  in  cooking  as  is 
incompatible  with  the  life  of  trichinte; 

Fourth.  That  an  efficacious  microscopic  inspection  would  l>e  with  difficulty 
applied  to  the  enormous  mass  of  90,000,000  of  pounds  of  pork,  which  is  the  annual 
amount  of  importation,  and  that  in  any  cas-'  the  inspection  would  not  prove  to 
be  a  certain  guaranty  of  the  innoxiousness  of  the  pork  as  retrards  tricliiniv,  since 
the  irregularity  of  the  disserainatiou  of  trichin  i-  does  not  ])ermit  the  conclusion 
that  because  they  do  not  exist  in  one  part  they  may  not  exist  in  another — 

Is  of  the  opinion — 

That  it  is  not  necessary  to  submit  imported  pork  to  a  microscopic  inspection  in 
order  to  prevent  trichinosic  infection,  the  culinary  habits  of  the  people  of  France 
being  such  as  to  demonstrate  thus  far  that  precautions  used  in  cooking  are  suf- 
ficient to  preserve  them  from  the  infection;  and  that  it  suffices  to  put  them  on 
their  guard  against  the  possible  danger  of  thf*  use  of  raw  or  incompletely  cooked 
pork  to  point  out  to  them  by  a  special  printed  instruction  these  dangers,  and  to 
distribute  these  instructions  through  the  aid  of  the  Government  agents  to  every 
part  of  France. 

A  minority  report  on  an  unimportant  point  was  read  by  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  was  rejected  by  the  academy. 


No.  14. 
Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelitighuysen, 

[Telegram.] 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  March  30,  188S. 
Pork  bill  comes  before  Chamber  Thursday.    Important  to  have  cable  from  you 
denying  reports  of  prevalence  of  trichinosis  in  United  States. 

MOETON. 


No.  15. 

Mr,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton, 
[Telegram,] 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  March  22,  1882. 
Health  officer  of  Cincinnati  certifies  that  records  of  that  city,  the  center  of 
pork  trade,  do  not  show  a  single  case  of  trichinosis.  Dr.  Ranch,  secretary  health 
board  of  Illinois,  reports  only  11  deaths  from  trichinosis  in  whole  State  in  sixteen 
years,  traced  in  each  case  to  eating  raw  pork.  City  physician  of  Chicago  states 
records  show  only  two  cases  there  in  four  years,  also  due  to  eating  raw  pork.  The 
places  mentioned  are  the  great  pork  producing  and  consuming  districts  of  United 
States,  while  the  whole  country  consumes  more  pork  per  capita  than  any  other 
country. 

Frelinghuysen. 


No.  16. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 
[Telegram] 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris.  March  ?.<?,  1882. 
Pork  bill,  with  microscopic  amendment,  passed  Chambers.    Vote  on  amend- 
ment, 256  ayes,  216  noes. 

Morton. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  561 

No.  17. 

Mr,  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Telegram. —Extract.  ] 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  March  29,  1882. 
The  pork  bill  passed  yesterday  provides  for  inspection  in  Prance  by  experts 
appointed  by  minister  coininerce.  who  shall  have  the  right  to  prescribe  mode  of 
examination.     This  last  clause,  which  whs  introduced  by  amendment,  has  in  view 
the  reestablishment  of  microscopic  examination.    *    *    * 

Morton. 

No.  18. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  146.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  March  31,  1882.     (Received  April  13.) 

Sir:  I  had  the  honor  to  inform  you  on  the  28th  and  29th  instant  by  cable  that 
the  pork  bill  had  passed  the  Chamber  with  an  amendment  aiming  at  the  reestab- 
lishment of  micrographic  examination.  I  transmit  herewith  copies  of  my  tele- 
grams and  a  tran:-lation  of  the  text  of  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  (^^"hamber. 

The  amendment,  introduced  by  the  opponents  of  the  free  admission  into  France 
of  our  pork,  is  contained  in  the  three  last  paragraphs  of  article  3.  It  does  not  pro- 
vide in  terms  for  micrographic  examination,  but  the  debates  show  that  it  is 
intended  to  secure  that  result. 

The  minister  of  commerce,  Mr.  Tirard,  who  agreed  to  it  and  has  secured  its  pas- 
sage, is  well  known  to  be  in  favor  of  this  mode  of  inspection,  and  to  hold  that  it  is 
the  only  one  by  which  any  effective  guaranty  can  be  given.  In  a  conversation 
which  I  had  with  him  the  day  before  the  debate  he  expressed  this  opinion,  and 
remarked  that  there  was  a  strong  prejudice  in  France  against  American  pork; 
that  it  would  find  no  sale,  although  it  might  be  perfectly  sound,  unless  some  kind 
of  inspection  was  required  which  would  satisfy  the  public. 

He  discussed  the  question  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  intimated  that  the  inspec- 
tion, if  re(iuired  by  the  new  law,  could  be  made  easy,  and  would  become  more  and 
more  so  if  all  meats  were  found  to  be  in  a  sound  condition. 

Mr.  A  chard,  of  Bordeaux,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  who  reported  the  bill, 
during  the  debate  read  your  telegram,  a  copy  of  which  I  had  furnished  him,  deny- 
ing the  existence  of  trichinosis  in  the  United  States,  and  made  an  able  argument 
in  favor  of  this  bill,  claiming  that  the  prohibition  was  unjustifiable,  that  our  pork 
was  perfectly  healthy,  and  that  even  if  it  should  be  unhealthy  no  inspection  or 
examination  of  such  quantities  could  be  in  any  way  effective.  His  speech  is  too 
long  to  be  translated,  but  by  referring  to  the  Journal  Officiel  of  the  28th  and  29th, 
which  goes  regularly  to  the  Department,  you  will  find  it  in  full,  with  the  whole 
proceedings. 

It  is  believed  that  the  Senate  will  pass  the  bill  without  change. 
I  have,  etc., 

Levi  P.  Morton. 

[Inclosure  in  No.  146. — Translation.] 
BILL  PASSED  BY  THE  CHAMBER. 

Article  1.  Salted  pork  meats  of  foreign  production  which  correspond  to  the 
type  known  in  commerce  under  the  name  of  '"fully  cured  '  can  be  imported  into 
France  through  places  on  the  frontier  of  land  and  sea,  which  will  be  designated 
by  decree. 

Art.  2.  At  the  moment  of  landing  the  importers  must  prove  that  the  meats 
which  they  intend  to  hand  over  for  consumption  correspond  to  the  aforesaid  type; 
that  they  are  wholesome;  that  they  are  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  that 
the  salting  of  them  is  complete.  This  authentication  will  be  executed  by  special 
experts. 

These  experts  will  be  appointed  by  the  minister  of  commerce,  who  will  possess 
the  right  to  direct  such  manner  of  examination  as  will  appear  to  him  necessary. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  1 36 


562        8WINE  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  UNITED  8TATE8. 

The  cost  of  the  service  of  inspection  will  be  paid  1)y  the  importers  under  condi- 
tions to  be  established  by  rules  of  tlie  public  administration. 

The  custiom-house  service  will  only  allow  the  removal  of  the  meats  on  the  cer- 
tificate of  these  •experts  establishing  ihat  they  consider  the  condition  required  in 
the  first  paragraph  of  the  present  article. 

Art.  3.  The  present  arrangements  are  not  applicable  to  uncooked  chopped  meats, 
such  as  small  and  large  sausages.  Lologna  sausage,  &c..nor  to  guts  intended  for 
culinary  preparations,  the  introduction  of  which  into  France  is  absolutely  pro- 
hibited. 

Art.  4.  Will  be  punished  by  imprisonment  of  from  two  to  six  months  and  by  a 
fine  of  from  100  to  50Cl  francs: 

(1)  Those  who  will  have  introduced  into  France  uncooked  chopped  pork,  sr.ch 
as  large  and  small  sausages,  Bologna  sausage,  &c.,or  guts  intended  for  culinary 
preparations. 

()i)  Those  who  will  have  introduced,  or  attempted  to  introduce,  into  France 
without  submitting  them  to  the  verification  prescribed  by  the  present  law  of  pork 
of  foreign  production. 

In  the  two  above-mentioned  cases  the  imported  meats  will  be,  moreover,  seized 
and  destroyed. 

Article  463  of  the  penal  code  is  applicable  in  the  cases  foreseen  in  the  present 
article. 

Art.  5.  The  decree  of  February  18, 1881,  which  prohibits  the  importation  into 
France  of  salted  pork  of  American  origin,  is  repealed. 


No.  19. 

Mr.  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  129.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  May  JO,  JSSS. 
Sir:  Acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch,  No.  163,  of  the  iJOth  ultimo, 
requesting  authority  to  draw  on  the  Department  for  the  sum  of  235.50  francs  for 
expenses  incurred  by  your  legation  in  translating  and  printingf  the  report  on  Amer- 
ican pork,  I  hereby  authorize  you  to  draw  for  the  above  sum  on  this  Department. 
I  will  thank  you  to  send  with  your  draft  an  account  for  the  amount  thereof,  sup- 
ported by  proper  vouchers. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  20. 
Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuyaen, 

[Extract.] 

No.  191.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

PariH,  June  27, 1882.  (Received  July  18.) 

Sir:  I  regret  to  have  to  inform  the  Department  that  the  pork  bill,  of  which  a 
copy  was  sent  with  my  dispatch,  No.  146,  of  March  31, 1882,  was  defeated  in  the 
Senate  a  few  days  ago. 

This  result  was  quite  unexpected.  The  bill  had  the  unequivocal  support  of  tl  e 
Government  and  of  the  Senate  committee  to  which  it  had  been  referred.  The 
chairman  of  this  committee.  Senator  Wurtz.  the  eminent  chemist  and  dean  of  tV.e 
Academy  of  Medicine,  reported  the  bill  in  the  strongest  language  possible,  show- 
ing by  conclusive  proofs  and  arguments  that  the  trichina?,  wherever  it  existed, 
could  not  resist  the  double  process  of  salting  and  cooking,  and  that  with  a  proper 
inspection  the  introduction  into  France  of  our  fully  cured  pork  could  not  be  at- 
tended with  any  danger  or  inconvenience.  Mr.  Tirard,  the  minister  of  commerce, 
advocated  the  passage  of  the  bill  on  the  same  ground. 

The  opposition,  which  came  mainly  from  the  hog-raising  departments,  con- 
tended that  if  there  were  no  danger  in  allowing  the  free  introduction  of  American 
meats  into  France  the  Government  coxild  remove  the  decree  of  prohibition  with- 
out any  law,  and  succeeded  in  defeating  the  bill  by  a  majority  of  four  votes. 
*****  *  * 

I  have,  etc,  Levi  P.  Morton. 


SWINE    FKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  663 

No.  31. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  153.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  July  2S,  1882. 
Sir:  The  Department  learned  with  regret  from  your  dispatch,  No.  191,  of  the 
37th  ultimo,  that  the  pork  bill  had  been  defeated  in  the  French  Senate. 

Approving  of  your  action  in  having  an  interview  on  the  subject  with  Mr.  Tirard, 
the  minister  of  commerce.  I  need  hardly  add  an  expression  of  my  desire  that  you 
shall  omit  no  proper  opportnnitj'  to  urge  upon  the  French  Government  the  with- 
drawal of  the  objectionable  decree  with  reference  to  American  pork. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fkedk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  22. 

Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  12.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Nantes.  December  4,  1882.     (Received  December  23.)  . 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  report  on  the  subject  of  the  pro- 
hibition of  American  pork  in  France.  I  have  found  certain  evidence,  consisting 
of  official  communications  and  reports  made  by  the  chamber  of  commerce  of  this 
city,  which  represents  a  large  pork  interest,  to  the  minister  of  agriculture  and 
commerce  at  Paris,  which  I  consider  to  be  newly  discovered  and  highly  valuable. 
It  declares  the  inability  of  the  French  pork  manufacturers  to  compete  with  the 
like  industry  of  the  United  States.  It  charges  their  failures  to  the  competition 
from  the  United  States,  and  says  plainly  that  if  the  Administration  does  not  desire 
the  disappearance  of  this  industry  from  France  it  must  aid  the  pork  manufac- 
turers by  such  action  as  will  hinder,  if  not  prevent,  the  (to  them)  detrimental 
importations  from  the  United  States. 

1,  of  course,  can  not  know  that  it  was  in  answer  to  these  appeals  that  the  minis- 
ter issued  the  decree  prohibiting  the  entry  of  American  pork  into  France,  but  it  is 
a  fair  subject  for  argument.  If  this  was  true  it  shows  that  the  decree  was  passed 
more  in  the  interest  of  the  pork  manufacturers  than  for  the  benefit  of  the  public 
health.  I  do  not  say  that  the  evidence  I  have  herewith  presented  proves  this  con- 
clusively, but  it  certainly  tends  that  way.  It  shows  the  interested  appeals  for  aid 
by  the  pork  manufacturers. 

If  this  evidence  shall  be  as  convincing  to  the  Department  as  it  has  been  to  me, 
it  will  open  with  renewed  vigor  the  question  of  reprisals,  and,  looking  to  that  end, 
I  am  preparing  a  report  on  the  falsification  and  adulteration  of  French  wines  and 
liquors,  which  I  had  intended  to  have  included  in  this.  I  will  send  it  as  a  supple- 
ment.' 

MEAT  PRICES  IN  FRANCE. 

The  prices  paid  in  France  for  meats  for  the  table  are  much  higher  than  in  the 
United  States.  In  Nantes,  a  city  out  of  the  current  of  tourists,  the  prices  of 
meats  are  higher  than  in  the  markets  of  either  New  York,  Philadelphia,  or  Wash- 
ington. 

I  furnish  the  market  reports  of  November  10, 34,  and  December  1,  for  beef ,  veal, 
and  mutton  on  foot;  live-stock  market. 

Beef. — Average  weight,  1,300  pounds;  price,  $97.50;  per  pound,  7.5  cents. 

Veal. — Average  weight,  140  pounds;  price,  $14.70;  per  pound,  iO.5  cents. 

Mutton. — Average  weight,  100  pounds;  price,  $9;  per  pound,  9  cents. 

Marche  de  la  place  Talensac — Abattoir. 

Meat  dressed  and  sold  by  the  carcass  or  side:  Cents. 

Beef per  pound-.  13  to  16 

Veal. -do.     .  14  to  17 

Mutton do...  14  to  83 

Pork  .- do  .  lOtolS 

'It  comes  immediately  after  this  report. 


564  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Retail  butchers  sitops. 

Beef:  Cents. 

Sonp  joint per  pound..  20 

Boiling  piece do     ..  30 

Roasting  piece do 20  to  27 

Steak do....  23  to  50 

Veal do  ..     20  to  27 

Mutton do...  22  to  30 

Ham: 

French -..do 35  to  38 

English do  . ..  38  to  50 

Bacon do 30  to  35 

The  business  of  meat  dealer,  butcher,  etc.,  is  one  of  the  best  in  France,  and  it  is 
said  that  a  reasonably  sharp  and  saving  butcher  expects  to  jKtire  at  the  end  of  ten 
years  or  less,  with  a  fortune  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  thousand  trancs.  This 
of  course  has  to  be  paid  by  the  consumer  in  the  high  prices  charged. 

These  prices  prevent  the  use  of  meat  among  the  common  and  laboring  classes 
as  a  regular  article  of  diet,  as  known  and  practiced  in  the  United  States. 

This  state  of  things  might  be  corrected  by  the  competition  from  importation, 
but  France,  as  is  well  known,  has  seen  fit  to  prevent  competition  so  far  as  Ameri- 
can pork  is  concerned  by  prohibiting  its  admission  into  the  country  on  any  terms; 
this  on  the  alleged  score  of  its  alleged  unhealthiness. 

PBOHIBITION  OF  AMERICAN  PORK, 

In  this  communication  I  propose  to  show  some  of  the  influences  brought  to  bear 
to  obtain  and  continue  the  decree  of  prohibition,  and  believe  it  will  have  an  impor- 
tant bearing  upon  the  action  of  the  United  States  in  respect  thereof.  The  integ- 
rity of  the  French  Government  in  pas-iner  the  decree  is  nowise  questioned,  but 
the  evidence  will  show,  I  think,  that  there  were  influences  brought  to  bear  upon 
it  and  its  representatives  other  than  those  interested  for  the  i)ublif  health:  influ- 
ences in  favor  of  the  French  hog;  influences  of  self-interest  endeavoring  to  procure 
])rohibition,  either  directly  by  a  decree  or  by  a  tariff  making  importation  imjiossi- 
ble,  and  thus  to  save  from  ruin  a  French  industry  which  acknowledges  itself 
unable  to  support  itsc'lf  without  State  aid,  or  to  successfully  compete  with  a  .'imi- 
lar  industry  from  the  United  States.  The  evidence  will  show  that  this,  even  more 
than  the  health  of  the  public,  was  presented  and  used  to  obtain  the  decree. 

PORK  AS  EATEN  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES  AND   FRANCE. 

Some  preliminary  propositions  concerning  the  latter,  the  health  question,  I  desire 
to  present,  not  discuss.    They  must  be  admitted:  they  can  not  be  denied. 

1.  American  pork  is  no  more  liable  or  likely  to  contain  trichinte  than  that  of 
any  other  country.  The  parasite  is  introduced  into  the  live  hog  through  his  stom- 
ach, and  with  or  by  means  of  his  food. 

The  opjiortunity  for  its  introduction  is  quite  as  good  in  Europe  as  in  America. 
A  hog  wi;l  be  a  hog,  wherever  he  is  raised.  He  does  not  receive  in  France  that 
care  and  attention  as  in  either  his  food  or  cleanliness  which  will  make  him  the 
superior  of  the  American  hog.  The  number  of  hogs  in  the  United  States  can  not 
be  much  under  50,0;)0,00().  The  principal  portion  of  the  pork  produced  therefrom 
is  consumed  at  home,  pork  being  one  of  the  standard  articles  of  diet  of  the  people, 
and  no  <  ases  of  trichinosis  are  known  in  the  entire  country. 

American  i)ork  is.  in  the  United  States,  a  cheap,  healthful,  and  satisfactory  food 
for  the  people. 

If  the'eame  pork  is  not  or  is  reported  to  be  not  equally  healthful  in  France,  the 
cause  must  be  either  the  prejudice  of  the  people  or  their  manner  of  cooking  or 
eating  the  ]iork. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  curing  and  preparation  of  pork  for  foreign  markets  in  the 
great  pork-packing  establishments  of  the  West  is  carried  on  with  a  care  and  atten- 
tion not  exceeded  in  the  world,  and  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  on  the  score 
of  cleanliness  or  healthfulness. 

The  mass  of  the  people  in  the  United  States  bestow  gre  iter  attention  at  greater 
expense  and  are  more  fastidious  as  to  the  kind  and  quality  of  their  food  than  the 
same  class  in  Europe. 

Much  food  here  used  would  be  rejected  in  the  United  States. 

2.  The  science  and  experience  of  all  countries  teach  that  the  only  danger  from 
trichlbee  in  any  pork  arises  from  the  savage  and  barbaroos  practice  of  eating  it 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  565 

raw;  that  it  is  quite  as  safe  as  other  meat  when  eaten  as  is  other  meat  and  as 
becomes  civilized  beings:  that  exposure  to  lieat  of  (iO  or  70'  (/.  less  than  necessary 
for  proper  cooking  is  amplj'  sufficient  to  destroy  all  vitality  in  the  trichina?  and 
render  the  pork  innocuous. 

The  French  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce  declared  this  and  recom- 
mended it  in  his  circular  of  February  14, 1881 — four  days  before  the  decree  of  pro- 
hibition. It  is  reenforced  by  the  latest  French  authority — report  of  the  director 
of  the  municipal  laboratory  of  Paris  for  18S3,  page  443,  analysis  of  food  and  drinks. 
Uncooked  and  uncleaned  pork  stand  together.  A  person  uncivilized  enough  to  eat 
pork  raw  is  in  or  may  be  in  danger  from  trichinae.  One  who  eats  it  uncleaned  is 
in  danger  from  the  bristles. 

Uncooked  and  unclean  pork  are  equally  unhealthy,  and  equally  disgusting; 
trichinae  and  bristles  equally  dangerous  when  the  pork  be  eaten  raw  or  dirty. 

I  have  but  little  patience  with  a  people  who  require  the  prohibition  of  all  of  a 
certain  kind  of  meat  in  order  to  preserve  themselves  from  maladies  arising  from 
eating  it  raw. 

The  civilized  world  will  agree  that  there  is  squeamishness  and  caprice  in  the 
policy  of  a  government  which  prevents  its  people  from  eating  American  pork, 
and  yet  permits  its  capital  city  of  Paris  to  make  a  record  of  "meat  con-umed" 
during  the  past  two  years  "as  follows:  1880,  9,012  horses,  307  asses,  32  mules;  1881, 
9,378  horses,  349  asses,  31  mules. 

HOW  PROHIBITION  WAS  SECURED. 

I  now  proceed  with  the  evidence,  heretofore  mentioned,  of  the  interested  influ- 
ences brought  to  bear  to  secure  the  decree  of  prohibition. 

1.  I  find  extending  through  the  business  community  a  general  and  widespread 
dislike  and  opposition  to  the  American  tariff,  so  far  as  it  may  affect  any  article 
exported  Irom  France,  and  a  disposition  to  retaliate. 

The  report  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes  for  1879,  page  14,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  sardines,  says: 

"  This  industry  demands  that  when  the  Americans  strike  our  products  with  a 
duty  of  5U  per  cent  ad  valorem,  and  go  with  their  salmon  and  other  preserved  fish 
to  compete  with  our  products,  even  to  Australia,  we  should  strike  their  products 
with  an  equal  duty  on  their  entry  into  France. " 

The  subject  of  the  American  tariff  is  fully  considered  in  .a  communication  set 
out  at  length  in  the  report  of  the  same  chamber  for  1878. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  meeting  called  to  secure  the  influence  of  the  same 
chamber  in  favor  of  the  commercial  treaty  between  France  and  the  United  States, 
well  known  in  our  country  by  the  connection  of  M.  Leon  Chotteau  therewith. 
The  conclusion  was  against  the  treaty,  because  in  the  proposed  tariff  certain  arti- 
cles were  to  be  admitted  into  France  at  a  less  rate  than  into  the  United  States, 
notably  silks,  wines,  brandies  (spirits).  They  declare  this  inequality  to  be  shock- 
ing and  offensive  (I'inegalite  la  plus  choquante  organisee  an  prejudice  du  travail 
frangais),  and  conclude  with  the  hope  they  will  never  (jamais)  find  an  assembly 
which  will  impose  it  on  the  country. 

2.  This  feeling  of  dislike  and  opposition  is  intensified  by  the  situation  in  regard 
to  American  pork.     Here  is  shown  the  willingness  to  retaliate. 

The  failure  of  the  French  pork  trade  because  of  the  competition  of  the  United 
States  and  the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  state  or  legislative  interposition  and  aid 
dates  as  early  as  1877,  four  years  before  the  decree. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes  in  its  report  for  that  year  (p.  18,  part  1) 
complains  to  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce  that,  as  to  the  bacon  and 
pork  for  the  navy,  American  pork  received  too  much  consideration  and  favor,  and 
the  home  product  not  enough. 

In  the  report  proper  (Appendix,  pp.  18,  19)  the  pork  industry  is  described  as  in 
a  situation  "  deplorable." 

"  The  American  bacon  and  lard  are  imported  on  such  conditions  as  render  com- 
petition on  the  part  of  our  merchants  nearly  impossible. " 

The  subject  is  continued  in  the  report  of  the  chamber  for  next  year,  1879: 

•*  We  have  been  repeatedly  approached  during  the  year  1879  by  the  pork  and 
bacon  merchants  with  complaints  relative  to  the  fatal  conseiiuences  produced 
upon  that  industry  by  the  insufficiency  of  the  customs  duty  imposed  upon  Ameri- 
can pork. 

"  We  have  transmitted  these  complaints  to  the  minister  of  commerce,  insisting 
that  they  should  be  taken  into  serious  consideration.  Afterwards  we  addressed 
ourselves  directly  to  the  president  of  the  tariff  commission  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies. 


566 


8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


"The  following  is  the  letter  written  to  him  by  ns  on  Noveinl>er  6,  1879.  This 
letter  reviews  and  completes  the  observations  we  had  submitted  to  the  minister  of 
commerce  July  18:  \ 

"  [Tho  letter.] 

"  Nantes.  November  6,  1879. 

"  Monsieur  le  President:  The  attention  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
Nantes  has  been  brought  frequently  during  several  years  to  the  prejudice  which 
has  resulted  to  our  pork  manufacturers  from  the  tariff  to  which  foreign  importa- 
tions of  the  same  industry  are  subjected  in  France. 

'•The  origin  of  the  crisis  which  has  brought  about  the  successive  disappearance 
of  our  establishments  goes  back  to  the  decree  of  October  ").  1834. 

"That  decree  provided  for  the  admission  in  France  of  American  pork  on  pay- 
ment of  a  duty  of  50  centimes  per  100  kilograms  (220  pounds),  though  the  French 
pork  had  to  bear  a  duty  of  5  francs  per  100  kilograms  for  the  tax  on  the  salt  em- 
ployed in  its  preparation.    *    *    * 

**  This  state  of  things  subsisted  for  a  long  time  in  spite  of  the  protestations  reit- 
erated from  the  French  pork  manufacturers;  and  the  anomaly  of  which  they  com- 
plained was  never  ended  only  by  grace  of  the  law  of  March  24,  1874,  by  which  the 
duty  on  foreign  pork  was  raised  to  4.60  francs  (92  cents).  Unhappily  the  allevia- 
tion which  should  have  been  procured  for  our  merchants  by  this  return  to  a  more 
equitable  tariff  was  only  momentary,  and  the  situation  has  returned  to  its  evil 
state. 

"  The  causes  to  which  to  attribute  the  present  decadence  of  the  pork  industry 
are  many,  but  we  l^elieve  they  are  all  founded  on  the  competition  with  the  pork 
made  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  By  the  favor  of  nearly  absolute  freedom  enjoyed  by  them  during  twenty  years 
the  importations  have  developed  into  proportions  more  and  more  grand,  and  when 
the  tariff  of  4.60  francs  was  established  it  had  become  impossible  to  divert  this 
invasion  of  our  market  unless  by  more  energetic  means. 

'*  The  stoppage  produced  by  the  law  of  March  21,  1874,  was  only  momentary,  as 
will  be  shown  by  the  following  table  of  the  importation  of  salt  pork  and  lard  from 
the  United  States. 

"Our  figures  are  extracted  from  the  tables  of  general  commerce  of  France;  they 
represent  the  quantities  consumed  (special  commerce). 


Description. 

1872. 

1874. 

1876. 

1878. 

Salt  pork 

Oreaseand  lard. 

kilograms.. 

do.... 

10.229,397 
19,162,711 

4,079,1.'» 
10,676,563 

5,289,960 
16,865,569 

28,102,290 
34,725,635 

Total 

29,392,108 

14,755,701 

22,135,559 

62,827,925 

•'  This  considerable  progression  in  the  importation  of  American  bacon  and  lard 
sufficed  to  give  birth  to  a  crisis  in  our  similar  industry,  but  the  conditions  follow- 
ing which  were  developed  and  the  particular  circumstances,  of  which  we  will  say 
a  tew  words,  have  greatly  aggravated  the  effects. 

"  The  tariff  of  4.60  francs  which  was  laid  upon  American  pork  upon  its  entry 
into  France  represents  scarcely,  as  we  have  said  above,  the  tax  on  salt  paid  by  our 
pork  merchants  (manufacturers),  who  found  themselves  in  reality  without  any 
protection  against  the  foreign  competition. 

"  Now,  to  give  the  principal  reason  for  the  situation,  it  will  suffice  to  compare 
the  price  of  sale  in  oar  own  markets  of  the  American  products  with  the  price  (net 
cost)  of  French  bacon  and  lard: 

[Abstract  taken  June  30, 1878.] 

Francs. 

American  pork,  price  current  at  Havre 104.00 

Pickled  pork  made  at  Nantes 136. 19 

Loss '. 31.19 

American  lard,  at  Havre 99.00 

Lard  made  at  Nantes 139.00 

Loss _ 40.00 

"  We  reproduce  here  these  fi.i^nres.  Monsieur  le  President,  extracting  them  from 
a  letter  which  was  addressed  to  Monsieur  le  Ministre  last  18th  July,  and  of  which 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UlSTITED    STATES.  567 

we  remit  you  a  cop}':  they  will  suffice  to  explain  the  substitution  of  the  foreign 
for  national  products  in  the  domestic  consumption  of  France. 

"  Still,  the  superior  quality  of  French  bacon  and  lard,  and  particularly  those  of 
our  region,  will  be  in  the  nature  of  a  counterbalance,  to  a  certain  measure  at  least, 
to  the  bait  of  cheapness  of  similar  products  from  America. 

"  Our  products  were  in  great  demand  by  the  merchant  marine;  they  made  an 
object  of  regular  exportation  to  the  French  colonies,  and  until  lately  many  of  our 
neighboring  countries  addressed  themselves  to  our  manufactories. 

"Actually  the  outlets  to  our  trade  are  in  a  great  part  closed.  The  merchant 
marine  has  been  itself  subjected  to  a  crisis  of  extreme  rigor,  and,  like  everything 
e.se,  Is  condemned  to  the  strictest  economy.  Our  colonies,  because  of  the  tariff 
system  which  detaches  them  from  their  metropolis,  import  the  American  pork 
direct  from  that  country,  or  else  purchase  under  the  name  of  French  pork  that 
which  has  nothing  about  it  French  but  the  brand. 

"As  to  the  other  foreign  countries  it  is,  if  possible,  worse  yet.  Alarmed  by  the 
cases  of  trichinosis  which  had  been  pointed  out  to  them,  either  in  America  or  in 
the  countries  importing  American  pork,  Italy,  Portugal,  and  Greece  have  pro- 
hibited the  entry  of  American  pork,  in  any  of  its  preparations,  into  their  respec- 
tive countries. 

"  We  communicate  to  you  the  text  of  the  decision  of  those  Governments  on  this 
subject. 

"  We  will  remark.  Monsieur  le  President,  that  Italy  and  Portugal  have  not 
stopped  with  the  exclusion  of  American  pork,  but  have  at  the  same  stroke  excluded 
French  pork,  though  it  has  never  had  a  single  case  of  the  terrible  malady  from 
which  the  country  is  so  willing  and  has  such  good  right  to  preserve  itself. 

"As  far  as  concerns  tireece,  the  proofs  demanded  touching  the  origin  of  all  other 
than  American  pork,  and  the  suspicion  in  that  country,  which  only  imports  these 
meats  for  their  own  consumption,  renders  the  importations  of  our  manufacturers 
extremely  difficult. 

"  It  follows  from  this  aggregation  of  circumstances.  Monsieur  le  President,  that 
our  pork  manufacturers  see  themselves  in  competition  with  the  supply  of  Ameri- 
can products,  which  is  here  made  the  more  considerable,  as  the  other  markets 
commence  to  refuse  the  suspected  meats. 

"  The  French  market  escapes  us  at  the  same  time  as  foreign  markets. 

"  Then,  unless  the  Government  and  our  parliamentary  assemblies  do  not  wish 
to  aid  in  the  disappearance  of  an  industry  as  considerable  as  that  of  which  we 
speak,  it  is  indispensable  that  it  and  they  should  come  to  its  aid  by  an  alteration 
of  the  customs  duties. 

"  It  belongs,  therefore,  to  the  commission  of  which  you  are  the  president  to 
appreciate  the  observations  which  to  you  have  been  presented  by  the  delegates 
from  this  industry,  and  which  tend  to  the  elevation  of  the  customs  duty  to  So 
francs  (f7)  per  100  kilograms  upon  American  pork  and  lard."    *    *    * 

"  [Contimiation  of  report,  p.  43.] 

"  It  is  possible  that  the  distrust  excited  by  the  American  meats  may  be  impressed 
with  a  certain  exaggeration,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  facilities  of  intro- 
duction accorded  by  us  to  their  preparations  injure  our  manufactures  to  a  sensi- 
ble degree  in  our  domestic  markets,  and  stop  their  exportation  to  foreign  markets. 

"  These  things  constitute  for  the  pork  industry  of  France  an  exceptional  situa- 
tion, and,  as  we  have  written  to  the  minister  of  commerce,  October  31,  it  is 
regrettable  that  an  industry,  of  which  the  interests  are  attached  so  intimately  to 
agriculture  and  the  public  health,  should  see  itself  sacrificed  to  the  profit  of  a 
commerce  in  suspected  products,  and  rejected  for  that  reason  by  the  neighboring 
countries." 

Another  part  of  the  same  report  for  1879,  speaking  directly  to  the  minister  of 
commerce,  etc.  (Appendix,  p.  19),  says  on  the  subject  of  "  salt  pork  for  the  navy 
and  merchant  marine: " 

"  We  can  only  repeat  here  what  we  said  last  year  on  the  subject  of  this  industry. 
The  commercial  outlets  are  nearly  closed  in  France  because  of  the  competition  of 
the  United  States  and  by  the  distress  of  the  merchant  marine. 

"  It  will  be  vatn  for  us  to  expect  a  foreign  demand  for  an  article  which  has 
failed  in  France.  Our  colonies  are  provisioned  directly  by  the  United  States,  and 
the  European  markets  refuse  in  great  part  to  receive  any  salt  pork  in  fear  that  it 
may  be  infected  with  trichinae.  America  therefore  causes  our  manufacturers'  a 
direct  loss  in  substituting  her  products  for  our  own  in  France  and  the  French 
colonies,  and  an  indirect  loss  in  making  them  victims  of  the  suspicion  of  which 
American  pork  is  the  object  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  other  countries.     *    *    * 

"  When  the  last  of  our  manufacturers  of  salt  pork  shall  have  closed  their  doors, 


568  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

the  administration  will  have  lost  the  possibility  of  recourse  to  a  cooperation  of 
which  the  last  war  demonstrated  the  utility." 

In  the  following  year,  IHsu.  the  subject  is  again  taken  up  by  the  chamber  of 
commerce;  and  here  let  me  remark  that  the  report  of  the  chamber  consists  of 
two  distinct  parts— one  a  report  to  its  members  and  the  public  of  its  doings  during 
the  past  year;  the  other,  a  report  to  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce, 
being  a  resume  of  the  past  and  recommendations  for  the  coming  year. 

"  [Report  for  1880,  p.  37.  j 

•'We  have  renewed  to  the  tariflf  commission  of  the  Senate  the  observations 
which  we  submitted  to  the  (""hiimber  of  Deputies,  in  the  interests  of  the  French 
pork  manufacturers,  the  industry  of  whom  is  more  and  more  menaced  by  the 
development  of  American  pork. 

"  [The  letter.] 

"  Nantes,  November  18, 1880. 

"Monsieur  le  PrIcsident:  The  6th  of  November,  last  year,  we  wrote  to  Monsieur 
le  President  of  the  tariff  commission  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  to  call  his  atten- 
tion to  the  deplorable  situation  of  the  pork  industrj'. 

"  We  have  the  honor  to  transmit  the  text  of  that  letter,  which  is  inserted  in  the 
works  of  our  chamber  of  commerce  for  1879,  p,  39. 

••  We  can  not,  Monsieur  le  President,  but  maintain  the  observations  which  we 
have  suggested  concerning  the  decadence  of  an  industry  heretofore  considerable  in 
our  region.  This  industry  is  menaced  with  complete  annihilation  by  the  compe- 
tition of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"In  effect,  the  introduction  into  Prance  of  the  American  salt  pro^asions  under 
the  duty  of  4.60  francs  has  a  continually  increasing  importance. 

"From  4,000,00U  kilograms,  fij^ures  of  1874,  it  has  attained  those  of  28.000.000 
kilograms  in  1878,  and  the  table  of  •  commerce  general  of  France "  acknowledges 
for  the  year  1879  an  importation  of  31 ,784,91 3  kilograms  of  salt  bacon  from  America. 
These  figures  are  of  the  'commerce  special,'  and  consequently  represent  the  salt 
provisions  for  consumption. 

"It  belongs  to  the  Parliament  to  fix  the  limits  of  the  protection,  which  is  the 
legitimate  right  of  the  French  manufacturers,  but  it  is  important  to  remember 
that  the  actual  duty  of  4.60  francs  which  is  imposed  on  the  salt  pork  from  America 
makes  no  protection  for  our  manufacturers. 

' '  This  tax  is  paid  on  French  salt  pork  as  well  as  on  that  coming  from  America, 
and  represents  the  impost  on  the  salt  employed  in  the  preparation  of  the  French 
meats. 

"Referring  again  to  our  letter  of  November  6, 1879,  etc." 

"  [CJontinuation  of  report  (to  minister),  Appendix  p.  16.] 
"SALT   PROVISIONS  FOR  THE  ARMY   AND  NAVT. 

"  The  situation  of  our  salt-pork  industry  is  in  nowise  ameliorated.  In  the  French 
market  our  salt  pork  is  subjected  to  the  competition  with  similar  products  from 
America,  and  is  rejected  in  other  countries,  which,  refusing  to  receive  the  Ameri- 
can bacon  infected  with  trichinae,  refuse  ours  also,  for  the  reason  that  they  can 
not  distinguish  by  the  eye  the  suspected  meats  freely  introduced  into  France, 
whether  for  consumption  or  reexportation." 

The  foregoing  action  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  and  the  French  pork  manu- 
facturers seems  to  have  been  legitimate,  and.  so  far  as  appears,  not  a  subject  of 
complaint.  It  consisted  of  a  declaration  of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  an 
admission  of  their  inability  to  compete  with  the  United  States,  and  an  appeal  for 
state  aid  in  form  of  a  protective  tariff  increasing  the  jjresent  by  800  per  cent, 
which  would  be,  and  was  intended  doubtless  to  lie,  eciuivalent  to  prohibition. 

While  trichinae  were  mentioned  in  those  appeals,  it  is  only  incidentally,  not  as 
a  reason  for  prohibition;  no  cases  cited,  and  it  is  not  pressed  upon  the  attention 
of  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce. 

The  manifestos  were  addressed  both  to  the  minister  and  to  the  tariff  commis- 
sion, the  latter  having  then  under  its  consideration  a  complete  revision  of  the 
French  tariff,  which  culminated  in  the  law  and  decree  of  May  8, 1881. 

The  commission  and  both  chambers  remained  deaf  to  all  these  appeals,  decided 
in  favor  ot  cheap  food  for  the  people,  made  no  change  in  the  duties  on  American 
pork,  and  refused  the  desired  aid  to  the  French  pork  manufacturers. 

The  minister  then  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  the  result  was  the  two  decrees 
of  February  14  and  18, 1881,  the  latter  being  the  decree  of  prohibition. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  569 

What  relation  there  may  have  been  between  the  appeals  of  the  French  pork 
mantifacturers,  and  what  influence  the  demand  for  aid  to  prop  up  and  save  from 
ruin  and  disappearance  a  French  industry  may  have  had  upon  the  passing  of  the 
decree  of  prohibition  I  have  no  knowledge,  but  two  things  seem  certain:  ( I )  That 
these  appeals  for  aid  were  made  or  communicated  to  the  minister;  (2)  that  the 
decree  passed  gave  to  the  French  pork  manufacturers  the  desired  state  aid  in  a 
manner  equally  if  not  more  effective  than  that  of  prohibitory  tariff,  which  had 
been  refused. 

The  circular  of  February  14, 1881,  and  the  decree  of  prohibition  four  days  after, 
February  18,  are  doubtless  well  known  to  the  Department  and  need  not  be  herein 
set  forth,  but  as  pieces  of  evidence  they  are  valuable,  for  considered  together  and 
unexplained  they  are  anomalous,  if  not  contradictory. 

The  decree  of  prohibition  having  been  passed,  and  the  end  of  the  French  pork 
manufacturers  attained  to  even  a  higher  degree  than  they  had  asked  in  these  com- 
munications, their  only  care  now  was  to  guard  and  protect  the  decree  and  its 
operations,  the  former  from  rescission,  the  latter  from  infraction. 

I  continue  my  translation  of  evidence  from  the  same  chamber  of  commerce, 
written  just  after  the  passage  of  the  decree: 

' '  Opening  our  eyes  to  the  dangers  to  the  public  health  by  the  circulation  of 
meats  containing  trichinae,  the  Government  is  interdicting  their  introduction  into 
our  country,  yet  the  interdiction  provides  for  no  inspection  of  English  meats. 
There  is  much  to  fear  that  the  American  products  will  continue  to  be  imported, 
at  least  in  a  certain  preparation,  under  the  denomination  of  English  products. 

"  It  belongs  to  the  administration  to  baffle  and  thwart  these  frauds." 

Then  follows  in  the  same  old  vein  an  appeal  to  obtain  for  the  Nantes  pork 
manufacturers  the  contracts  for  supplying  the  army  and  navy  with  salt  pork  and 
bacon. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1881,  the  chamber  of  commerce,  recounting  the  affairs 
of  the  year  to  its  members  and  to  the  public,  reports  the  following  concerning 
my  subject  (p.  103,  report  1881): 

"A  decree  dated  February  18,  1881,  rendered  on  the  proposition  of  Monsieur 
Tirard,  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  has  prohibited  the  importation 
into  France  of  salt  pork  coming  from  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  This  interdiction  was  moved  because  of  the  malady  known  under  the  name  of 
trichinosis,  with  which  the  meats  of  that  country  were  attacked  or  suspected. 

"The  measure  in  question  became  attenuated  in  the  practice  by  the  creation  of 
special  laboratories  charged  with  the  examination  and  verification  of  salt  provi- 
sions presented  on  our  frontier. 

"Finally,  to  complete  and  generalize,  within  the  necessary  limits,  the  institu- 
tion of  these  laboratories.  Monsieur  le  Ministre  of  commerce  has  presented, 
November  26,  1881,  a  project  for  a  law  providing  for  microscopic  inspection. 

"Monsieur  Tirard  having  been  replaced  as  minister  of  commerce  by  Monsieur 
Rouvier,  this  projected  law  has  been  withdrawn  by  the  Government.  On  that 
occasion  we  submitted  to  the  minister  the  following  observations: 

•'  Nantes,  Deceviber  3, 1881. 

"Monsieur  le  Ministre:  In  the  course  of  the  session  of  November  21  last, 
Monsieur  le  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  communicated  to  his  colleagues 
the  text  ot  a  decree  by  the  terms  of  which  '  was  retired  the  project  of  a  law  rela- 
tive to  the  establishment  of  a  service  of  inspection  of  pork  coming  from  foreign 
countries.  *  *  *  presented  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  November  5,  1881,  by 
the  minister  of  commerce  and  of  finance.'  The  public  has  interpreted  the  act  as  a 
prelude  to  the  abrogation  of  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  which  interdicted  in 
all  France  the  importation  of  pork  (salted)  coming  from  the  United  States  of 
America.  ^ 

"  The  projected  service  of  inspection  has  the  double  purpose  to  guard  the  public 
health  against  the  consumption  of  unhealthy  meats  and  at  the  same  time  to  give 
satisfaction  to  certain  commercial  interests  to  which  the  absolute  prohibition  of 
American  pork  causes  prejudice. 

"  We  regret.  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  that  the  greatest  part — too  much  the  great- 
est part — was  made  by  or  on  behalf  of  that  commercial  interest  aforesaid;  for,  as 
we  have  endeavored  to  show  you,  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  "responded  also 
to  serious  and  commendable  interests. 

"  Before  the  prohibition  of  salt  pork  from  America  was  pronounced  in  France  it 
had  already  been  prohibited  in  many  Euroi)ean  countries,  notably  in  Germany, 
Italy,  Spain,  and  Turkey. 

"At  the  same  time  that  they  interdicted  American  pork  they  interdicted  also 
French  pork,  not  because  it  was  considered  as  unhealthy  (that  was  never  sus- 
pected), but  because  France,  receiving  pork  from  America,  to  change  the  barrels 


570  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

or  the  marks  was  easy,  and  safSced  to  make  an  error  as  to  the  true  place  of  its 
manufacture  when  sought  to  be  importetl  into  these  countries. 

*'  To  preserve  themselves  surely  from  American  pork  they  felt  themselves  obliged 
to  interdict  also  French  pork. 

"The  pork  manufacturers;  of  oar  neighborhood  have,  then,  demanded  of  us, 
Monsieur  le  Miuistre,  to  represent  to  the  Government  the  grievous  situation  in 
which  they  are  placed.  Competition  at  home  with  American  pork  exempt  from 
the  duties  on  salt — they  scarcely  pay  that  much  customs  duty— and  chased  from 
the  foreign  markets  by  the  fear  which  is  inspired  by  these  same  preparations,  our 
people  lose  their  opportunity  in  the  toreign  markets,  while  the  salt  provisions 
imported  from  the  United  States  to  France  are  there  consumed,  which  crushes  the 
price  of  the  French  products. 

'•  In  this  juncture  our  fabricants  must  cease  their  work,  and  the  closing  of  their 
manufactories  will  cause,  or  has  caused,  in  this  region  much  dithculty  among  our 
agricidtural  population.  These  things  were  known  to  and  appreciated  by  your 
honorable  predecessor. 

**  It  appears  to  us  desirable,  Alonsieur  le  Ministre,  before  giving  aid  to  the  de- 
mands of,  or  in  the  interest  of,  the  American  pork  m mufacturers  and  importers, 
that  the  Q-overnment  render  to  itself  an  account  of  the  conditions  in  which  one  of 
our  national  industries  contests  and  competes  for  the  furnishing  of  food  for  our 
country. 

"  These  conditions  are  truly  painful.  Then,  when  all  the  French  products,  and 
particularly  all  provisions  imported  to  the  United  States  of  America  are  subjected 
to  an  exaggerated  and  excessive  customs  duty,  is  it  a  good  time  to  enlarge  the 
French  market  in  favor  of  analogous  products  which  come  from  that  country? 

"  Some  persons  have  invoked  the  interest  of  the  consumer  as  a  justification  for 
the  propose  1  anomaly.  Certainly  no  one  would  dream  of  proposing  anything 
against  the  interest  of  the  consumer,  but  will  it  be  well  served  by  giving  encour- 
agement to  some  exotic  prei)arations  that  the  most  part  of  the  countries  of  Europe 
hold  in  suspicion  and  the  low  price  of  which  is  definitely  explained  by  their  infe- 
rior quality? 

"  We  estimate  and  hope  that  such  matters  will  not  induce  the  Administration 
to  resign  itself  to  the  principle  of  laissez  faire.  and  that  it  will  preserve  our  nation 
by  means  of  its  attentive  control  against  the  allurements  of  cheapness  of  an  arti- 
cle dangerous  to  the  public  health.  In  the  present  case  the  Government  in  accom- 
plishing this  role  will  hinder  a  little,  without  doubt,  the  commerce  in  American 
provisions,  but  the  measure  which  it  will  take  can  never  be  equivalent  to  the 
excess  of  protection  in  America,  and  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  pretended 
reprisal  which  some  people  say  the  United  States  may  contemplate  against  our 
commerce. 

'•  We  come  now  to  demand  of  you,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  not  to  welcome  or 
receive  the  attempts  that  have  been  or  will  1^  made  to  obtain  the  abrogation  of 
the  decree  of  the  IHth  of  February.  1881. 

"  The  decree  is,  perhaps,  susceptible  of  attenuations,  and  the  projected  law  was 
prepared  by  your  honorable  predecessor  to  that  end.  Whatever  measures  may  be 
taken  by  which  its  disposition  will  be  replaced,  the  Government  will  take  account 
of  the  different  national  interests  involved. 

"  Those  of  the  public  health  are  here  in  accord  with  those  of  the  French  manu- 
facturers and  of  the  numerous  workmen  thus  engaged,  and  also  the  interest  of  the 
agricultural  classes. 

**  These  will  not  be  sacrificed,  we  have  confidence,  neither  on  the  complaint  of 
certain  importers  of  foreign  provisions  nor  from  the  chimerical  fear  of  reprisals, 
nor  yet  from  illusory  hopes  of  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  the  United  States." 

In  the  same  report,  speaking  directly  to  the  minister,  the  chamber  says  (pp. 
11,12): 

"  That  the  pork  industry  has  not  recovered  from  the  situation  regrettable,  in 
whiph  it  has  been  placed  for  a  long  time  by  circumstances  of  divers  natures.  This 
situation  would  have  been  more  unfavorable  yet  if  the  importation  of  American 
salt  provisions  had  not  been  hindered  or  prevented  by  the  measures  of  wise  pre- 
caution to  which  the  administration  has  had  recourse  for  the  preservation  of  the 
public  health." 

This  ends  the  quotations,  running  through  five  years  of  reports,  and  ending  only 
with  that  of  last  year,  published  last  August. 

To  show  the  importance  of  the  subject-matter.  I  have  tabulated  the  importa- 
tions of  American  pork  and  lard  from  1872  to  1881 — now,  thanks  to  the  decree  of 
prohibition,  1  suppose,  entirely  ceased. 

From  1872  to  1878  I  have  to  depend  upon  the  statements  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce,  pages  15, 16,  of  this  report. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


571 


i  have  no  means  of  verifying  this.  The  returns  from  1879  to  1881  may  possibly 
contain  some  fresh  meat.  Tiie  tableau  general  of  commerce  does  not  give  them 
separate,  but  the  j-.mount  of  tresh  meat  imported  into  France  from  the  United 
States  is  very  little. 


Years. 

Pork. 

Lard. 

Value. 

1872  to  1878 

Kilograms. 

47,680,886 
32,.-)W,184 
34,720,231 
17,699,249 

Kilograms. 
81,430,477 
37,229,101 
42,105,990 
37,290,559 

Francs. 
180,204,304 

1879 

77, 888, 074 

1880 

83,194,067 

1881 

65, 870, 780 

Total                      

132,694,540 

198,056,130 

407,057,225 

Eighty  one  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  represents  the  pork  and  lard  commerce 
of  the  United  States  with  France  during  the  period  above  mentioned.  The  loss  to 
the  United  States  of  this  amount  of  French  commerce  is  the  effect  and  result  of 
the  decree  of  prohibition  of  February  18,  1881. 

Thus  is  formulated  in  dollars  and  cents  the  complaint  of  the  United  States 
against  France  by  reason  of  that  decree. 

The  difference  in  price  in  favor  of  American  pork  and  lard  for  the  same  period 
is  stated,  pa^e  16,  by  the  Nantes  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  31.69  francs  per  100 
kilograms  of  pork  and  48  francs  per  100  kilograms  of  lard,  so  that — 


Amoants. 

Francs. 

Dollars. 

132,fi!H.,540  kilograms  of  pork,  at  31.69  francs. .  

198,056,130  kilograms  of  lard,  at  40  francs 

42,050,899 
79,222,462 

8,410,179 
15,844,490 

Total 

121,573,351 

24,254,689 

These  figures  show  at  a  glance  the  difference  in  price  between  the  American 
pork  and  lard  during  the  period  mentioned  and  the  same  amount  of  French  pork. 
American  pork  and  lard  has  undersold  French  pork  and  lard  during  that  time  by 
the  amount  aforesaid,  and  thus  is  formulated  in  francs  (and  dollars)  the  complaint 
of  the  French  pork  manufacturers. 

This  closes  my  evidence  on  this  branch.  It  has  been  somewhat  voluminous,  but 
I  have  remembered  and  have  acted  upon  the  rule  of  evidence  which  prohibits  the 
introduction  of  a  portion  only,  but  requires  the  presentation  of  the  entire  docu- 
ment, so  that  no  one  can  complain  of  unfairness  in  my  having  kept  back  any  por- 
tion unfavorable  to  my  side  of  the  case. 

These  reports  cover  five  years  or  more  of  time.  There  are  many  repetitions,  but 
they  are  repetitions  and  reiterations  of  the  objectionable  argument,  and  prove 
beyond  cavil  the  position  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  to  have  been  inimical  to 
the  United  States  on  the  ground  of  self-interest,  and  that  they  souglit  to  prevail 
upon  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce  to  secure  the  intervention  of  the 
Government  in  their  behalf,  which  was  finally  done  by  his  decree  of  prohibition, 
and  with  which  they  were  satisfied. 

A  summary  of  their  po  ition  was  as  follows:  The  French  pork  manufacturers 
were  in  a  failing  condition,  threatened  to  close  their  doors  and  suspend  business; 
that  the  prime  cause  of  their  failure  was  their  inability  to  compete,  either  in 
France  or  her  colonies,  with  American  pork  manufacturers,  who  could  undersell 
them  at  from  oO  to  40  francs  per  100  kilograms;  that  the  situation  has  become 
"deplorable,"  and  unless  they  re;  eived  aid  or  protection  from  the  Government 
which  should  hinder  or  prevent  (entraver)  the  importation  of  pork  and  lard  from 
the  United  States,  their  establishments  must  close,  their  workmen  be  discharged, 
and  their  industry  disappear. 

Whether  these  representations  thus  reiterated  indiiced  the  minister  to  whom 
they  were  addressed  to  issue  a  decree  of  prohibition,  I  suppose  not  to  be  suscep- 
tible of  proof. 

It  is  significant,  however,  and  suggestive,  that  while  the  aid  and  protection  of  a 
high  tariff  should  not  have  been  granted  by  the  Parliament,  which  would  thtis 


572  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

seoni  to  have  acted  in  the  interest  of  the  consumers  rather  than  in  tlio  interest  of 
tlie  pork  niannfacturers.  the  same  benefits  should  have  been  granted  to  the  latter 
much  more  ettectively  by  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce  by  his  decree 
of  proliibition,  though  he  based  it  upon  ditlerent  ground. 

The  benefits  thus  granted  were  thankfully  accepted  by  the  pork  manufacturers, 
and  they  became  at  once  the  most  ardent  advocates  of  the  decree  and  the  most 
strenuous  opponents  of  its  repeal,  strengthening  the  minister  in  adhering  to  the 
decree,  and  advising  him  not  to  yield  to  intimidation  by  the  United  States  imder 
any  (to  them)  apprehended  threat  of  reprisal,  nor  yet  that  he  should  be  beguiled 
by  any  illusory  hopes  of  a  commercial  treaty. 

The  right  of  the  French  Government  to  pass  the  decree  of  prohibition  of  Ameri- 
can pork  and  lard,  and  the  remedy  of  the  United  States  against  it,  are  questioned 
beyond  the  province  of  a  consul  to  discuss,  and  1  shall  make  no  attempt. 

The  chamber  of  commerce  suggests  the  ix)ssibility  of  reprisals  as  a  remedy. 
It  is  not  unknown  to  me  that  a  retaliation  has  been  proposed  by  a  prohibition  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  of  French  wines  and  li(iuors,  and  reports  have  been 
made  touching  their  healthfulness,  looking  toward  a  prohibition  on  the  same 
ground  as  the  prohibition  of  American  pork  from  France.  If  1  were  a  statesman, 
as  I  am  not,  I  should  not  seek  for  any  such  articles  as  would  afford  the  excuse  of 
nnhealthfulness  to  justify  the  prohibition,  but  would  choose  one  without  any 
such  cause,  and  prohibit  its  importation,  calling  it  a  reprisal,  and  placing  it 
squarely  on  the  ground  of  retaliation  for  the  unjust  prohibition  of  an  equally 
healthful  article  of  food  from  the  United  States  into  France. 

But  as  French  wines  and  liquors  have  been  so  mentioned,  and  might  with  great 
propriety  be  chosen  as  proper  subject  for  reprisals.  I  submit  the  annexed  report 
as  to  their  effect  upon  the  public  health  and  morale  in  France. 

I  content  myself  with  reporting  such  facts  as  I  may  be  able  to  gather,  without 
attempting  any  elaboration  of  argument,  leaving  that  entirely  to  the  Department, 
but  endeavoring  to  place  in  its  possession  the  material  necessary  to  enable  it  to 
arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

Thomas  Wilson,  Consul. 


ADULTERATION  OF  FRENCH  WINES  AND  LIQUORS. 
[Oontlimation  of  Consnl  Wilson's  report  on  American  pork  versus  French  wines  and  liquors.] 

Second  part. 

That  the  unjust  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  pork  into  France, 
made,  as  it  was,  under  the  plea  of  public  health,  but  in  effect  protecting  French 
pork  manufacturers,  continued,  as  it  has  been,  when  every  explanation  and  proof 
as  to  healthfulness  and  cleanliness  has  leen  made  public,  might  be  followed  by  a 
policy  of  reprisal  by  the  United  States  Government  against  some  article  of  French 
manufacture,  should  not  be  unexpected." 

The  French  have  themselves  suggested  this  possibility.  (Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, Nantes,  1881.) 

This  portion  of  this  report  is  intended  to  deal  with  this  question  in  its  relation 
to  French  wines  and  liquors  to  show  that  they  have  been  adulterated,  have  been 
made  deleterious,  if  not  poisonous,  and  as  such  exported  to  foreign  countries,  the 
United  States  among  the  rest:  and  if  the  policy  of  reprisal  shon  d  be  adopted  that 
French  wines  and  litiuors,  as  at  present  manufactured,  would  be  a  i)roper  sub.ect. 

The  evil  effects  of  adulterated  wines  and  liquors  in  France  might  be  ct^mpared 
with  those  charged  by  France  to  trichinosis  in  American  pork.  The  magnitude 
of  the  one  and  the  insignificance  of  the  other  may  be  shown  at  a  glance,  and  will 
be  apparent  on  a  moment's  consideration. 

Take  the  crimes  perpetrated,  the  punishments  inflicted,  the  deaths  caused,  the 
su  cides  committed,  the  insanity  produced  (quite  as  grave  effects  as  can  be  attrib- 
uted to  any  cause)  by  the  consumption  and  use  of  wines  and  liquors  in  France 
only;  waive  the  amount  of  unhappiness  and  misery  caused,  the  degradation  pro- 
duced, the  blasted  hopes,  the  ruined  families,  because  they  can  not  be  calculated; 
take  only  those  susceptible  of  being  taken  from  the  statistics  of  crime  and  com- 
pare these  with  the  entire  number  of  cases  of  sickness  or  death  arising  from 
trichinosis  caused  from  the  consumption  and  use  of  American  pork,  and  the  dif- 
ference becomes  apparent  at  a  glance. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  573 

CRIMES   OF  DRUNKENNESS  IN  FRANCE. 

Einl  effects  in  France  only  arising  from  the  ivnproper  use  of  wines  and  liquor s^ 
compiled  from  the  latest  official  reports  taken  for  ISSO,  or  the  yearly  average. 


Year, 


Num- 
ber. 


1.  Crimes  committed  while  under  the  influence,  waived  because  the  statistics 

are  not  specific - 

8.  Accidental  deaths  

3.  MisdemeaTiors  combined  with  and  aggravated  thereby;  disorderly  street 

rows  in  the  night:  fl^chts -- --- 

4.  Simple  cases  of  excessive  drunkenness;  yearly  average  convictions  since  .. 

6.  Suicides  arising  from  excessive  use;  yearly  average  since 

6.  Insanity  from  alcoholism  (I  have  not  the  exact  figures,  but  it  is  14  out  of 

every  100  cases  yearly),  average  cases 


1880 

1880 
1873 

1875 


205 


104 


449 


785 
423 


455 


These  are  the  figures  at  the  minimum,  and  from  them  it  will  be  apparent  at  a 
glance  that  there  are  a  greater  number  of  cases  in  France  in  one  hour,  possibly  in 
one  minute,  than  there  are  of  trichinosis  in  a  year.  The  wider  the  comparison  is 
extended  the  greater  and  more  apparent  becomes  the  difference.  So  that  if  the 
policy  of  reprisal  shall  be  adopted  by  the  United  States  and  placed,  as  was  the 
prohibition  of  pork  in  France,  on  the  score  of  public  health,  the  choice  of  wines 
and  liquors  as  its  subject  would  seem  to  be  justified  to  such  extent  as  that  France 
could  be  estopped  from  making  any  complaint. 

HOW  WINES  AND  LIQUORS  ARE  ADULTERATED. 

The  successful  adulteration  of  wines  and  liquors  requires  both  the  professional 
learning  of  the  chemist  and  the  technical  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  wine 
merchant. 

Prohibited  by  law.  rejected  by  the  public  when  known,  it  will  only  be  performed 
in  secret  and  as  one  of  the  mysteries  of  the  laboratory. 

To  discover  and  detect  it  in  particular  or  specific  cases  reqiTires  professional 
knowledge  of  a  high  order,  the  possession  of  that  sharpened,  educated,  or,  rather, 
experienced  taste  which  is  almost  equivalent  to  a  sixth  sense,  and  to  these  must 
be  added  the  authority  of  the  law  by  which  private  premises  may  be  invaded  and 
private  property  examined. 

Few  persons  in  France  combine  these  (qualifications,  and  I  make  no  pretensions 
to  be  one  of  them.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  private  or  secret  information,  nor 
to  make  specific  or  part'cular  examinations. 

Everybody  knows,  or  says,  that  the  wines  and  liquors  of  France  are  adulterated, 
and  they  deprecate  it,  but  the  consumption  and  use  of  the  adiilterated  article  goes 
on  much  the  same  as  if  no  adulteration  existed.  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  some 
information  from  statistics  lurnisshed  by  French  authorities,  and  so  not  to  be  con- 
troverted, showing  the  extent  to  which  this  adulteration  is  carried,  and  in  some 
slight  degree  its  effect  upon  the  people.  It  would  be  aside  from  my  purpose  to 
make,  or  allow  to  be  made,  any  comparison  of  French  liquors  with  those  of  the 
United  States,  or  to  assert  that  ours  are  better  than  theirs.  Our  liquors  in  our 
own  country  are  our  own  affairs.  Not  until  we  seek  to  introduce  them  into  France 
will  she  have  a  right  to  complain  of  their  quality  or  examine  as  to  their  purity. 
Because  of  this  condition  as  against  France  I  exercise  this  right  and  make  this 
report. 

Other  consuls  have  made  reports  on  the  same  subject,  and  one  of  the  leading 
journals  in  France  in  that  interest,  the  Revue  des  Vins  et  Liqueurs,  in  its  last 
number,  has  made  these  reports  a  subject  of  criticism  in  a  long  article  entitled 
"The  hog  and  the  vine."  In  this  article  the  questions  put  by  the  Department  in 
its  confidential  dispatch  to  its  consuls  in  France  were  quoted  at  length,  and  the 
whole  subject  of  adulteration  and  reprisals  argued  from  the  standpoint  of  a  French 
wine  merchant. 

Some  of  its  admissions  concerning  adulteration  and  falsification  of  wines  and 
liquors,  coming  with  its  authoritj',  are  valuable  contributions  to  the  side  of  its 
opponents.  The  editor  advises  naturally  enough  against  reprisals  by  the  United 
States.     He  says: 

"  These  reprisals  are  of  doubtful  taste,  and  it  is  never  prudent  to  enter  on  this 


574  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

path.  What,  for  instance,  would  the  United  States  say.  if,  to  their  prohibition 
against  wines.  France  replied  by  establishing  an  inspector  against  tinned  meats, 
against  grain  cargoes  No.  2,  or  cotton,  products  which  the  French  and  foreign 
trade,  rightly  or  wrongly,  accuse,  more  or  less  justly,  of  l^eing  adulterated  by  the 
American  shippers. 

'•  Were  it  not  better,  since  the  cause  our  friends  sustain  in  demanding  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  prohibitory  inspection  is  a  just  one.  to  convince  the  French  Govern- 
ment of  its  error,  raise  a  movement  of  public  opinion,  and,  lastly,  have  recourse 
uo  the  regular  means  which  their  genius  as  a  practical  people  maj'  suggest  to 
them?" 

Of  course,  the  policy  of  reprisal  is  not  to  be  lightly  entered  upon,  nor  until  the 
attempt  "to  convince  the  French  Government  of  its  error"  be  made  and  ex- 
hausted. This  attempt  has  been  continued  for  now  nearly  two  years  without 
any  perceptible  effect.  How  long  would  the  Revue  des  Vins  have  it  continue? 
And  when  all  efforts  have  failed  must  it  not  end  in  reprisals  as  the  means  of 
redress?  This  tias  been  admitted  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes,  and 
now  again  by  the  Revue  des  Vins. 

If  the  Revue  objects  to  wines  and  liquors  being  chosen  as  the  subject  of  reprisals, 
it  and  its  friends  of  that  interest  might  act  on  its  own  advice:  "  Raise  a  movement 
of  (French)  public  opinion  and  convince  their  own  Government  of  its  error," 
secure  the  abolition  of  the  pork  prohibition,  and  thus  prevent  reprisals  from  either 
side. 

The  report  of  the  consul  at  La  Rochelle  is  noticed  as  follows,  and  it  shows  in 
some  degree  the  offensiveness  of  the  entire  criticism: 

"Alone,  the  diatril  e  of  the  consul  at  La  Rochelle  seems  at  first  sight  worthy  of 
consideration,  but  we  are  obliged  to  challenge  him  on  account  of  reasonable  sus- 
picion, for  we  believe  we  know  him  to  be  a  native  of  Maine  and  conseciueutly 
a  bigoted  teetotaller." 

" Diatribe"  is  a  hard  word  to  apply  to  a  report  made  by  a  United  States  consul 
to  his  Government,  but  "let  the  galied  jade  wince." 

The  consul  at  La  Rochelle  need.s  no  det  ense  at  my  hands.  He  is  well  able  to  defend 
himself.  Besides,  tliat  charge  will  do  him  no  harm  at  his  home  and  where  he  is 
known,  and  there  none  can  be  made  which  will  do  him  harm. 

I  have  cited  this  to  enable  me  to  discount  any  similar  opposition  which  this 
report  may  meet  by  saying  in  advance  that  I  am  in  favor  of  temperance,  that  I 
am  opposed  to  intemperance,  and  that  1  think  it  a  dreadful  evil— a  crime  .lastly 
punishable  by  law  in  France,  entailing  misery  on  its  victims,  unhappiness  on 
their  families  and  friends,  tilling  the  prisons,  almshouses,  and  lunatic  asylums, 
begetting  a  large  portion  of  the  necessity  and  the  expense  of  criminal  procedure 
in  the  state,  and  to  be  attacked  and  suppressed  by  any  legitimate  means  which 
promise  success. 

Is  the  Revue  des  Vins  opposed  to  this?  Does  it  favor  intemperance?  Holding 
this  belief,  yet  I  am  not  a  bigot,  and  am  willing  to  agree  that  the  wines  of  France, 
in  their  purity,  are  healthful,  palatal^le,  and  agreeable,  and  that  the  southern 
portion  of  France,  where  there  is  more  wine  raised,  either  actually  or  proportion- 
ally, than  in  any  country  in  the  world,  is.  without  any  temperance  society,  one  of 
the  most  temperate,  having  in  proportion  to  its  inhabitant*  fewer  cases  of  drunk- 
enness, of  crime,  of  accidental  death,  of  suicide,  or  insanity,  from  the  use  of  spir- 
ituous or  alcoholic  liquors  than  almost  any  other.  If  I  were  writing  an  article  on 
temperance  I  would  elaborate  and  prove  this  statement.  I  make  this  concession 
to  the  Revue  des  Vins,  and  close  it  by  making  my  charge,  i.  e.,  that  the  great 
curse  and  blight,  and  the  one  to  be  prevented,  arises  in  France  from  the  adultera- 
tion of  wines  and  liquors  otherwise  pure  and  the  manufacture  and  doctoring  of 
those  inherently  bad.  Will  not  the  Revue  des  Vins  and  the  wine  interest  aid  in 
its  prevention?    And,  if  so,  are  we  not  in  accord? 

A  fre^iuent  response  made  to  this  charge,  especially  by  French  manufacturers 
to  American  importers  or  purchasers,  is  that  if.  the  buyer  will  deal  with  only 
the  best  houses  and  is  willing  to  pay  for  the  best  wines  and  liquors,  he  can  always 
secure  that  which  is  pure  atid  will  run  no  risk  of  getting  adulterated  or  poisonous 
compounds.  But  this  begs  the  whole  question,  for  what  should  be  required  and 
enforced  is  that  the  wine  merchant  shall  not  be  permitted  to  either  make  or  sell 
those  poisonous  compounds,  not  even  to  those  who  from  ignorance  or  cupidity 
might  desire  the  cheaper  article;  that  the  drinker  shall  not  be  permitted  to  pur- 
chase, even  though  he  may  desire,  poi.sonous  compounds  under  the  name  of  wine 
and  liquors  because  he  can  get  them  at  a  low  price.  Least  of  all  should  the  seller 
be  allowed  to  sell  them  as  pure.  If  there  is  demand  for  the  adulterated,  poi- 
soned, or  diluted  liquors,  let  them  be  sold  -as  such,  and  not  represented  and  sold 
as  pure. 


8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  575 

A  butcher  will  not  be  allowed  to  sell  tainted  meat,  nor  a  baker  bread  made  of 
alum,  though  they  otter  them  never  so  cheap. 

THE  FAILURE  OF  THE  AVINE   CROP  IN  FRANCE. 

France  is  the  greatest  wine-producing  country  in  the  world.  The  total  produc- 
tion and  commerce  in  wine  for  1882  amounted  to  2,056,692,491  francs.  One  hun- 
dred years  ago  she  produced  25,000,000  hectoliters.  This  increased  in  regular 
gradations  until  it  culminated  in  1875  in  83,632,891  hectoliters.  The  average  crop 
from  1870  to  1875  was  58,000,000  hectoliters. 

In  1879  commenced  seriously  the  ravages  of  the  national  plague— the  phylloxera. 
Without  study  one  can  not  appreciate  the  extent  of  the  ravages,  nor  the  great 
damage  this  inflicted  on  France.  In  1879-80  it  utterly  destroyed  1,2.50,000  acres 
of  full  bearing  vines.  It  seriously  damaged  about  1,250,000  acres  more.  It  reduced 
the  wine  crop  to  25,000,000  hectoliters  in  1879,  being  a  loss  of  about  800,000,000 
gallons,  to  say  nothing  of  eaux-de-vie,  cognac,  etc. 

In  1880  the  wine  crop  reached  29,000,000  hectoliters,  in  1881  to  about  38,000.000 
hectoliters,  and  in  the  past  year,  1882,  the  same,  38,000,000,  being  less  than  half  a 
crop  for  the  past  four  years,  and  entailing  a  yearly  loss  averaging  25,000,000 
hectoliters. 

However  interesting,  it  would  be  foreign  to  this  report  to  follow  the  various 
means  taken  for  the  extermination  of  this  insect;  to  tell  of  the  Government 
commission,  of  the  scientific  examinations,  of  the  syndicates  formed  among  the 
owners,  or  of  the  methods  adopted. 

Isohited  efforts  were  vain.  General  and  united  action  was  the  only  hope  for 
relief.  The  result  shows  such  improvement  that  we  may  hope  the  devastation  has 
been  stopped  and  the  devastator  conquered. 

In  her  calamity  France  has  had  the  sympathy  of  all  peoples,  from  none  more 
than  the  United  States,  and  in  her  efforts  for  redemption  she  has  their  encourage- 
ment. Had  this  failure  happened  to  the  grain  crop,  even  for  a  single  year,  what 
distress  and  ruin  would  it  not  have  caused?  When  continued  for  four  successive 
harvests  it  would  have  produced  a  famine  at  which  the  world  would  have  stood 
aghast.  From  snch  failures  of  its  great  crops  of  wheat,  or  corn,  or  cotton  the 
United  States  would  not  recover  in  a  decade  of  years. 

EFFECTS  OP  THE   FAILURE   OF  THE   VINE   IN   FRANCE. 

On  the  winegrowers  sad  enough,  doubtless,  for  they  could  neither  raise  their 
nsnal  crop  of  grapes  nor  could  they  use  the  ground  occupied  by  the  vines  to  plant 
anything  else;  and  their  efforts  for  the  extermination  of  the  insect  must  have  been 
very  expensive.  Great  excitement  it  doubtless  caused;  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  Government  and  of  the  world.  Yet  this  immense  failure  of  from  five  hun- 
dred to  eight  hundred  millions  of  gallons,  continued  year  after  year,  has  had  no 
perceptible  effect  on  the  quantity  of  wine  drunk,  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be 
obtained,  nor  the  price  to  be  ])aid  for  it. 

The  consumption  of  wine  has  maintained  itself  at  about  its  average,  diminished 
some  years  and  increased  others,  but  not  more  change  than  before  the  failure  of 
1879. 

In  Paris  the  average  consumption  of  wine  for  each  inhabitant  amounted  in  1877 
to  212  liters;  and  in  1876,  it  was  230;  and  in  1878,  224  liters. 

In  the  country  it  was,  for  1870,  140  liters;  1877,  128;  1878,  124;  1879,  116  liters. 

In  the  eight  largest  (octroi)  cities  of  France  the  consumption  of  wine  has  dimin- 
ished but  3^  per  cent,  while  the  consumption  of  alcohol  has  increased  31  per  cent. 

The  average  price  of  wine  exported  wa^  as  follows  for  1879  and  1881: 

1879,  Bordeaux  wine,  in  barrels,  per  hectoliter,  115  to  130  francs:  in  bottles,  per 
hectoliter,  150  francs;  all  other  wines,  in  barrels,  50  francs:  in  bottles,  225  fralncs. 

1881,  Bordeaux  wine,  in  barrels,  per  hectoliter,  140  to  145  francs:  in  bottles,  165 
francs;  all  others,  in  barrels,  55  francs;  in  bottles,  225  francs. 

This  shows  the  slight  increase  of  from  $1  to  $3  per  22  gallons,  certainly  not 
famine  prices. 

The  exportations  have  maintained  themselves  about  as  has  the  consumption; 
fallen  off  slightly  in  some  kinds,  but  increased  in  others. 

The  statistics  will  vary  in  the  calculations  of  different  persons,  for  the  entries 
are  varied  under  so  many  items;  wine,  Bordeaux  and  other,  in  barrels,  in  bottles; 
eaux-de-vie,  cognac,  etc.,  all  spirituous  liquors  under  different  names,  and  the 
statistics  consequently  susceptible  of  infinite  variety. 


576  swinp:  products  of  the  united  states. 

The  exportation  in  francs  shows  an  increase  thus: 

Wine:  Francs. 

1876 216,200,000 

1877 225,  .500. 000 

1878 207.100,000 

1879 2fi4,900.000 

1880 254,600,000 

1881 264.200,000 

Of  wines  and  liquors,  total  export: 

1877 285.800.000 

1881 332,300,000 

The  exportation,  in  quantity,  is  thus: 

Of  Bordeaux  wine:  Hectoliters. 

1878 1,037,430 

1881 1,165,575 

Increase.. 128,145 

Of  other  wines: 

1878 1,707,974 

1881 1,360,055 

Decre-ase 347,919 

Many  of  these  statistics  are  given  with  accuracy  and  particularly  in  the  tables 
appended  to  this  report,  and  which  I  have  taken  from  the  tableau  general  of  com- 
merce for  the  respective  years. 

Here  the  round  numbers  were  sufficient  for  my  pur]  ose.  which  was  to  show  a 
decrease  neither  in  consumption  nor  exportation,  nor  that  increase  in  price  which 
usually  follows  failure  of  crops  for  even  one  year,  but  which,  if  continued  for 
three  or  four,  results  in  famine.  How  have  the  wine  merchants  of  France  been 
able  to  keep  the  supply  eiiual  to  the  demand? 

How  has  this  great  feat  been  accomplished?  The  recuperative  power  of  France 
aftei  one  years  war  with  Germany,  and  her  ability  to  make  the  most  out  of  the 
least,  were  at  once  the  wonder  and  the  admiration  of  the  world,  but  in  the  case 
of  failure  of  the  wine  crop  she  has  shown  unexpected  recuperative  power,  and  tlie 
ability  to  continue  it  for  an  indefinite  period. 

How  has  she  been  able  to  accomplish  it?  To  solve  this  economic  problem  which 
80  worried  tlxj  Israelites  during  the  last  years  of  their  sojourn  in  Etrypt.  to  learn 
this  secret  of  making  something  out  of  nothing  and  be  ab'e  to  follow  iheir  illus- 
trious example  in  case  the  United  States  should  be  unfortunate  enough  to  lose  its 
crops  for  continuous  harvests,  vdll  surely  be  worth  while. 

How  has  this  been  accomplished? 

An.swer.  They  have  imported  in  large  quantities  the  cheap,  heavy  wines  of  Spain 
and  Italy.  They  have  imported  raisins  from  Greece  and  Turkey,  soaked  them 
and  expressed  the  juice,  and  to  these  bases  they  add  alcohol,  coloring  matter,  and 
water  in  all  imaginable  proportions,  kinds,  (juantities,  and  degrees,  and  thus  they 
manufacture  what  they  call  wine,  sell  for  wine,  and  export  to  the  United  States 
for  wine. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  the  above  question  has  been  asked. 

In  the  Journal  Officiel.  the  same  paper,  and  on  the  same  day  in  which  was 
published  the  decree  of  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce  against  Ameri- 
can pork.  February  18.  1881,  appear  the  debates  in  the  .senate  of  France  on  the 
subject  of  the  new  tariff. 

The  president  of  the  tariff  commigsion.  Monsieur  Pouyer-Quertier,  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  set  forth  the  true  condition  of  France  and  appealed  to  his  col- 
leagues to  meet  the  tariff  question  fairly.    He  said,  page  133: 

'■  I  have  seen  on  the  cjuays  of  Bordeaux,  and  I  believe  I  can  see  the  same  to-day, 
a  (juantity  of  wines  of  Spain  which  had  come  to  the  borders  of  the  Garonne.  I 
asked  of  the  Bordelais  if  perchance  these  wines,  worth  only  80  to  85  francs  per 
hectoliter,  had  not  come  to  Bordeaux  to  breathe  the  air  of  Garonne  and  be  trans- 
formed into  Medoc. 

'•  These,  perhaps,  are  the  wines  which  come  to-day  from  Spain,  and  which  after 
a  certain  cure  are  again  exported. 

'•This  represents  a  certain  benefit,  for  we  must  admit  that  this  wine  contains 
alcohol  to  15  degrees,  and  that  with  one  barrel  of  it  and  one  of  the  water  of  the 
Garonne  they  make  two  barrels  of  wine." 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


577 


The  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  who  had  that  day  signed  the  pro- 
hibition against  American  pork,  replied: 

"  I  remark  to  the  Hon.  M.  Pouyer-Quertier  that  it  is  a  singular  fashion  to  defend 
the  industries  of  a  great  country  like  France  to  come  here  and  tell  apropos  of  our 
wines  of  tlje  melanges  which  are  made  with  the  water,  the  mixing  *  *  *  (pro- 
testations from  divers  benches)  [Several  senators:  "All  the  world  answer  it.'"] 
[Monsieur  le  ministre,  continuing:]  *  *  *  and  to  come  here,  to  thus  discredit, 
in  this  tribune,  the  French  products  destined  for  foreign  countries.  In  truth,  it 
is  a  singular  fashion  for  him  to  proceed  fmore  interruptions).  You  understand 
that  since  two  or  three  years,  either  from  phylloxera,  from  frost,  or  from  drop- 
ping of  the  fruit,  we  have  descended  from  an  annual  production  of  00,000,000 
hectoliters  to  28,000,000.  It  is  incontestable  that  we  have  not  produced  the  same 
quantity  of  wine,  and  although  we  may  add  water,  it  is  still  necessary  to  seek  in 
foreign  countries  that  which  we  have  lost.  We  introduce  the  wines  because  they 
are  necessary  to  our  people.  In  1876.  and  before,  we  imported  no  wines,  because 
our  harvest  was  abundant  and  we  had  no  need  of  them." 

This  is  enough  for  my  purpose.  I  need  follow  him  no  further.  It  is  a  con- 
fession of  my  charge,  made  by  the  highest  authority  in  the  state,  and  it  was  in 
answer  to  the  direct  question. 

INCREASE-  OF   WINE  IMPORTATIONS. 

For  specific  information  I  refer  to  the  tables  in  the  appendix.    I  only  give  here 
general  results. 
We  have  seen  that  in  1876,  and  before,  no  wine  was  imported. 


Year. 

Wine  only. 

Wine  and  liquor, 
total  importa- 
tions. 

1877 - 

Francs. 
34,800,000 
64,400,000 
136,700,000 
320,900,000 
375, 700, 000 

Francs. 
54,506,000 

1878           .          .                           .                   

88, 279, 000 

1879 

1.55, 760, 000 

1880                              ...                .          .                       

359,791,000 

1881 

410, 004. 000 

Total  increase  in  all  kinds  of  wines  and  liquors  since  1878,  6,342,510  hectoliters 
and  ;:515,807,121  francs.  Increase  in  vin  ordinaire  alone  since  1878,  6,179,028  hecto- 
liters and  296,312,280  francs. 

The  total  importations  of  vin  ordinaire  in  casks — I  do  not  speak  of  bottled  wine; 
it  woiild  not  be  used  for  adulteration  or  manufacture — for  the  vear  1881  amounted 
to  7,700.000  hectoliters,  valued  at  346,516,000  francs.  Of  this,  2,274,208  hectoliters 
came  from  Snain  and  Italy,  valued  at  336,271,447  francs,  being  an  increase  over 
1878  of  5.731, 0"00  hectoliters  and  262,000,000  francs. 

In  the  meantime  the  exports  of  wine  from  France  to  Spain  and  Italy  decreased 
3,000  hectoliters. 

By  what  might  be  called  a  remarkable  coincidence  this  great  increase  in  impor- 
tation arrived  principally  at  the  ijort  of  Bordeaux.  In  1881  the  importations  of 
wine  and  spirits  at  that  port  amounted  to  2,942.272  hectoliters,  at  97,028,137  francs, 
which  had  been  an  increase  over  1878  of  2,785,000  hectoliters  and  87,404,958  francs. 

The  exportations  from  Bordeaux  did  not  keep  pace  with  this  enormous  increase 
in  importation.  The  wine  exported  was,  in  1878, 1.151,000  hectoliters,  at  92,000,000 
francs;  in  1881,  1.173,000  he;^-toliters.  at  135,000,000  francs;  being  an  increase  of 
only  22,000  hectoliters,  but  of  42,000.000  francs. 

Of  spirits  there  was  a  decrease  of  23,000  hectoliters  and  an  increase  of  5,000,- 
000  francs,  the  aggregate  being  a  decrease  of  1,300  hectoliters,  but  an  increase  of 
47,000,000  francs. 

In  1881  the  importation  of  raisins  (dry)  amounted  to  68,000,000  kilograms,  at 
a  value  of  37,500,000  francs,  of  which  Greece  and  Turkey  furnished  58,500.000 
kilograms. 

Raisins,  mashed  or  bruised,  in  casks,  amounted  the  same  year  to  481,000  liters, 
at  64.000  francs. 

The  wine  produced  from  raisins  in  France  in  1881  is  stated  at  2,430,000  hecto- 
liters. 

These  facts  explain  how  the  deficit  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  wine  crop  has 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 37 


578  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

been  made  up.    Thus  the  tableau  general  of  the  commerce  (special)  of  France  for 
18«1,  the  last  one  issued,  shows: 


Description. 


Hectoliters. 


Francs. 


Importation  of  wine 

Exportation  of  wine 

*'Marchandise9  ^trangdresnScessaires  ^laconsommation  francaise". 


7,883,807 
2,.572,1!« 


363,923,855 
253, 815, 7W 


5,266.711 


111,107,794 


France  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  wine-exporting  country,  but  this  table 
shows  that  she  is  a  larger  importer  than  exporter:  that  the  balance  of  trade  against 
her  on  wine  is  no  less  than  137,000,000  gallons,  valued  at  111,000,000  francs. 

The  importation  of  wine  from  Spain  and  Italy  amounted  in  18"<1  to  7,700,000  hec- 
toliters. It  would  not  be  fair  to  say  this  was  all  u.-ed,  or  to  be  used,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  French  wine — •'  to  breathe  the  air  of  the  Garonne  and  be  transformed 
into  Medoc."  For  though  the  bottled  wine,  amounting  to  34.1.000  quarts  or  liters, 
has  been  excluded,  yet  it  would  include  the  sherry  and  Malai^a  wine  in  casks. 
But  it  would  be  fair  to  say  that  the  increased  importation  was  for  that  purpose. 

This  increase  from  1878  to  1881  of  vin  ordinaire  only,  in  casks,  amounted  to 
6,170,028  hectoliters:  wines  made  from  raisins.  2.43t).0i)0  hectoliters:  total,  8.<i09.0-28 
hectoliters.  According  to  Pouyer-Quertier  they  add  an  e  lual  qunntity  of  water, 
8,609,021  hectoliters,  making  17,218,036  hectoliters,  or  about  460,00J.O00  gallons 
added  during  the  year  1881  to  the  wine  crop  of  France  by  manufacturing  process. 

The  foregoing  statistics  do  not  prove,  1  admit,  all  this  imported  wine  to  have 
been  "  manufactured"  into  French  wine,  but  I  have  said  this  transformation  was 
one  of  the  secrets  of  the  laboratory,  and  not  to  be  discovered  by  ordinary  means. 
What  wine  merchant  from  France,  or  anywhere  else,  would  furnish  information, 
much  less  proof,  that  his  French  wine  had  been  by  himself  or  bj'  anyone  else 
manufactured,  doctored,  or  diluted  from  Spanish,  Italian,  or  raisin  winei:' 

One  who  demands  specific  proof  of  this  shows  that  he  does  not  desire  nor  intend 
to  be  convinced. 

I  have  shown  enough  to  raise  a  presumption  of  its  wholesale  manufacture. 

I  have  shown  (1)  the  failure  of  the  crop  sufficient  to  produce  a  famine;  (2)  no 
diminution  in  either  consumption  or  exportation;  (3)  no  corresponding  increase  in 
price;  (4)  an  immense  increase  in  importation  of  the  (known  to  be)  heavy  wines 
of  Spain  and  Italj-,  and  (5)  the  entire  making  of  the  crop  of  raisin  wine,  the  two 
latter  being  in  sufficient  quantities  in  the  aggregate  to  make  good  the  deficit; 
(6)  that  the  charge  of  this  wholesa'e  manufacture  was  made  publicly  in  the  Senate 
of  France,  and  several  senators  shouted  in  support  of  it  that  '•  all  the  world  knew 
it  to  be  so;"  (7)  the  minister  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  replying  to  the  senator, 
did  not  deny  the  charge,  but  upbraided  the  senator  for  making  it,  and  said  if  it 
was  true  it  had  its  .iustification. 

These  are.  I  think,  enough  to  create  the  presumption  and  put  the  onus  on  the 
wine  merchants. 

The  adulteration  of  wine  naturally  belongs  to  "ways  that  are  dark  and  tricks 
that  are  vain,"  and  it  is  not  possible  that  the  proof  can  be  obtained  and  made 
clear,  as  in  many  other  offenses  against  the  law. 

Reco^niziug  this  fact,  the  law  of  France,  C.  P.,  article  423,  makes  the  mere  hav- 
ing, with  intent  to  sell,  any  adulterated  or  falsified  food,  medicine,  or  drink,  an 
offense  equal  to  that  of  the  adulteration  or  falsification. 

I  have  said  that  the  criticism  of  the  consular  reports  of  the  Revue  des  Vins  con- 
tained some  important  admis.sions  bearing  on  this  subject.  In  reading  this,  forget 
not  that  they  come  from  the  highest  representative  of  the  wine  interest  in  France, 
and  are  contained  in  its  reply  to  similar  charges  made  by  other  consuls.  It  says, 
November,  1882,  page  881:  "It  is  certain  that  there  is  made  in  France  a  consider- 
able (quantity  of  adulterated  wines,  although  the  last  crop  yielded  38,000,000 
hectoliters. 

"One  estimates  the  production  of  raisin  wines  at  2,400,000  hectoliters.  That  a 
portion  of  this  goes  to  the  United  States  is  possible,  even  probable,  though  in  our 
opinion  the  proportion  is  very  small. 

"It  is  purely  a  (luestion  of  price.  As  to  brandies,  we  do  not  deny  that  it  is 
possible  there  are  brandies  shipped  that  have  very  little  connection  with  the  wine 
from  which  they  are  supposed  to  proceed." 

On  page  668  it  gives  the  wine  product  of  1881  at  38,000,000  hectoliters,  and  then 
says:  "  This  is  only  wine  from  grapes,  but  beyond  this  genuine  wine  growers  have 
made  2,000,000  hectoliters  of  artificial  wine  by  pouring  sugared  water  on  the 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  579 

residue."  Here  let  me  repeat  a  story  told  bj' the  news^iapers  apropos.  A  wine 
grower  sold  three-fourths  of  his  crop  and  then  filled  up  the  casks  with  sweetened 
water.  His  neighbor  twitted  him  that  the  melange  was  not  wine.  "  Why  not?  " 
demanded  he,  "  il  tache  le  linge" — "  it  will  stain  the  tablecloth," 

It  seems  to  be  considered  as  wine  through  all  its  dilutions  and  ablutions  while 
it  will  continue  "  tacher  le  linge." 

The  Revue,  same  page,  gives  thus  the  total  production  of  wine  for  1881,  as 
follows: 

Francs. 

Natural  wine.  38,000.000  hectoliters,  valued  at 1,540,000,000 

Production  of  wine  from  sugar  and  water... 80,000,000 

Production  of  wine  from  dry  grapes 48,000.000 

Importations - 192,629,749 

Total -  1,860,639,749 

FALSIFICATION   OF   FRENCH   WINES  FOR   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

One  of  the  consuls  of  France  in  the  United  States,  I  believe  at  San  Francisco, 
sent  a  report  to  his  Government  concerning  the  falsification  of  French  wines 
imported  into  the  United  States.  This  report  was  deemed  of  sufficient  importance 
to  be  made  the  basis  of  communications  between  the  ministers  of  foreign  affairs 
and  of  commerce,  and  by  the  latter  to  the  chambers  of  commerce  at  Rheims  and 
Bordeaux.  The  two  former  I  have  not  seen,  but  the  latter  is  published  in  the 
Revue  des  Vins: 

Ministry  of  Commerce, 

Paris,  August  29,  1882. 

Monsieur  le  Pr^ident:  It  appears  from  a  communication  which  has  been 
made  to  me  through  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  that  the  imports  of  champagne 
wines  into  the  United  States  from  123. .574  baskets  during  the  first  six  months  of 
1881  have  fallen  to  104.755  during  the  corresponding  six  months  of  the  current  year, 
8  diminution  of  28,219.  This  result,  according  to  American  papers,  is  due  not  only 
to  the  competition  of  California  wines,  but  is  also  due  to  the  bad  quality  of  the 
articles  imported  into  the  United  States  by  our  manufacturers  of  champagne, 
who,  after  having  made  a  mark  appreciated  by  the  public,  only  send  wines  of  an 
inferior  qtiality. 

Under  these  circumstances  consumers  fall  back  on  imitations,  which  are  not 
much  worse  than  the  imported  article,  and  cost  less. 

The  same  remarks  would  apply,  though  in  a  less  degree,  to  the  wines  of  all 
growths. 

As  to  the  California  wines,  it  is  considered  that  the  white  wines  especially  are 
improving  in  quality. 

The  red  wines,  notwithstanding  the  peculiar  taste  due  to  the  soil  or  the  process 
of  manufacture,  are  preferred  bj'  many  to  the  Bordeaux  wines,  called  cargo  wines, 
which  are  of  middling  quality  and  relatively  high  price.     *    *    * 

The  Minister  of  Commerce, 

Pierre  Legrand. 

I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  quarrel  which  grew  out  of  this  communication  in 
Rheims,  nor  yet  with  the  champagne  wines  to  which  it  refers,  but  as  to  Bordeaux 
the  Revue  explains,  page  670: 

"  The  part  of  the  circular  relative  to  Bordeaux  wines  is  partly  (well)  founded, 
as  cargo  wines  can  no  longer  be  shipped  at  same  prices  as  before  for  similar  quali- 
ties, owing  to  bad  crops  and  the  phylloxera,  which  would  have\io  sense  if  refer- 
ring to  champagne  wines." 

The  Belgian  Government  has  taken  substantially  the  same  view  I  have  tried  to 
present,  and  has  attempted  in  some  degree  to  provide  a  remedy  by  a  bill  intro- 
duced on  March  24,  1882,  by  the  minister  of  finance,  under  the  title  of  "Excise 
duties  on  the  fabrications  of  wines  from  dried  fruits. "  It  was  a  blow  aimed  at  all 
manufactured  wines. 

Monsieur  Girard,  director  of  the  Laboratoire  Municipal  at  Paris,  of  which  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  further  on,  commenting  on  this  subject  of  adultera- 
tion of  wines,  says  in  his  report  for  1881,  just  published,  p.  40: 

"Fraud  alone,  fraud  on  a  vast  scale,  furnishes  the  key  to  this  enigma.  It  is  by 
the  illicit  operations  that  certain  manufacturers  (or  dealers)  come  to  make  their 
fortune  at  the  expense  of  the  public  health,  at  the  expense  of  the  interest  of  the* 
State  and  its  cities,  at  the  expense  of  the  agricultural  and  commercial  prosperity 
of  France." 


580  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

THE  MANUFACTURE   OF   WINE— ITS   FALSIFICATION    AND  ADULTERATION. 

Wine,  properly  defined,  is  that  alcoholic  liquor  which  results  from  the  fermen- 
tation of  the  juice  of  fresh  grapes. 

Falsification  or  adulteration  is  the  addition  of  any  substance  which  changes  the 
composition  of  the  natural  wine. 

A  French  chemist  once  said: 

"Wine  is  a  mixtureof  alcohol  and  sugar  andwater;  but,"  added  he,  "mixing 
alcohol  and  sugar  and  water  will  not  make  wme." 

He  who  supposes  that  the  juice  of  the  grape  is  wine,  or  that  by  letting  it  fer- 
ment it  will  always  make  wine,  is  much  mistaken.  As  well  might  he  say  that  to 
open  the  throttle-valve  of  a  locomotive  a  given  distance  it  would  make  the  run 
between  two  cities  or  stations  by  itself. 

Both  the  grapes  and  wines  have  their  maladies  and  their  peculiarities,  which 
sometimes  are  intricate  and  unmanageable,  and  need  the  utmost  care  and  atten- 
tion. 

After  the  juice  has  been  expressed,  and  in  the  cask,  the  most  difficult  and  deli- 
cate portion  of  the  task  begins. 

To  make  good  and  palatable  wine,  keeping  it  pure  and  healthful,  and  to  do  this 
continuously,  without  loss,  is  as  much  a  trade  or  profession  as  any.  To  do  it  well 
requires  aptitude,  study,  and  patient,  intelligent  labor,  long  continued. 

The  palate  must  be  educated  to  the  same  degree  of  fineness  as  is  required  by  a 
singer  of  his  voice  or  by  a  musician  of  his  ear. 

I  give  all  credit  to  the  honest  wine  makers. 

What  I  condemn  are  the  wine  falsificators — those  who  make  unhealthy  and 
impure  wine  by  unlawful  and  improper  means. 

Wine  has  been  falsified  and  adulterated  in  all  ages,  but  until  twenty  years  ago 
it  was  done  so  clumsily  that  its  detection  was  easy.  Most  wine  dealers  would 
detect  it  by  its  taste,  or,  if  not,  at  the  expense  of  a  piece  of  cream  of  tartar. 

All  this  has  been  changed.  Now  the  falsificators  profit  by  and  make  use  of  all 
the  progress  of  modern  chemistry,  and  the  art  of  making  wine  without  the  juice 
of  the  grape  has  attained  such  a  degree  of  perfection  and  skill  that  experts,  epi- 
cures, and  chemists  alike  are  baffled  and  hesitate  before  pronouncing. 

Monsieur  Girard,  director  of  the  Laboratoire  Municipal  at  Paris,  probably  the 
foremost  authority  in  Europe,  or  the  world,  who  denounces  adulteration,  in  his 
last  report  (for  1881),  p.  93,  follows  the  same  line  I  have  pursued  concerning  the 
importation  of  Spanish  and  Italian  wines,  and  gives  a  table,  such  as  mine,  show- 
ing the  progression  from  1875  to  the  first  nine  months  of  1881,  and  then  says: 

"  These  wines,  rich  in  alcohol  and  extracts,  are  mixed  with  inferior,  in  an  opera- 
tion called  coupage. 

"  The  coupage  practiced  by  honest  dealers  who  sell  their  wines  for  what  they 
are  is  perfectly  lawful,  for  their  aim  is  to  ameliorate  and  render  proper  for  con- 
sumption those  wines  which  can  not  be  easily  utilized  as  they  are. 

"  Unhappily,  the  greater  part  of  the  heavy  wines  of  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  south 
of  France  serve  for  a  coupage  in  which  wate^  takes  a  large  place;  this  operation 
takes  the  name  of  mouillage,  and  is  the  plague  of  the  commerce  in  wines. 

"  The  syndicate  of  wholesale  wine  and  li(iuor  merchants  of  France  has  energet- 
ically demanded  its  repression.  (Session  of  June  16,  1881,  p.  6R.)  Generally  the 
mouillage  is  not  made  alone.  Those  who  practice  it  almost  always  find  them- 
selves compelled  to  go  further  in  their  fraudulent  operations.  The  water  is  clear; 
when  they  add  too  much  to  the  wine  it  weakens  the  color  so  that  it  is  perceptible, 
which,  in  its  turn,  must  be  corrected  by  the  addition  of  heavy  wines  or  some  of 
the  many  coloring  matters  used  for  that  purpose. 

"  After  attempting  to  pass  a  large  quantity  of  water  under  the  name  of  wine 
they  add  to  the  mouillage  the  alcohol,  of  an  inferior  quality,  of  potatoes  or  beets, 
which  contains  alcohol  amylique,  which  produces  a  drunkenness  far  worse  than 
that  produced  by  the  alcohol  of  wine.  These,  with  all  their  ramifications,  are  not 
the  only  falsifications:  the  body,  the  aroma,  the  bou(iuet  of  the  finest  qualities  of 
grand  wines  are  imitated  on  a  large  scale  by  scientific  processes.    *    *    * 

"The  ethers,  ananthique,  pelargonique.  etc.,  of  the  wine  are  counterfeited  by 
the  mixing  of  other  ethers  and  essences  which  are  prepared  artificially. 

"  The  report  of  the  '  Commissione  Superieure  de  TExposition  de  Vienne.'  vol.  1, 
p.  289,  tells  of  the  institute  at  Closterneuberg,  Austria,  where  they  make  the  ex- 
tracts or  ethers  senanthiques  which  reproduce  the  bouquets  of  the  most  renowned 
»  wines. 

"  The  fabrication  of  piquettes  (poor  sour  wine)  from  dried  fruits  or  raisins  has 
still  more  complicated  the  problem;  these  piquettes,  cut  with  one-half  or  two- 
thirds  of  red  wine  from  the  south  of  France  or  Spain,  whipped  and  filtered,  con- 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  581 

stitnte  the  heavy  merchantable  wine  which  can  be  mixed  with  light  wines,  or, 
more  frequently,  with  water.  The  piquette  has  completed  the  means  of  aciion  for 
the  falsiticator ;  it  i^i  ves  him  the  extracts,  tartaric  acid,  tannin,  glycerin,  etc. ,  which 
before  he  had  not  been  able  to  procure. 

'•  Each  day  the  chemist  is  met  by  new  difficulties:  he  is  obliged  to  labor  without 
cessation  to  perfect  his  methods  to  combat  those  who  dishonor  science  by  using 
her  to  perpetrate  frauds. " 

I  have  said  that  1  had  introduced  enough  proof  to  raise  a  presumption  of  a 
wholesale  adulteration  of  wine  in  France  and  to  put  the  onus  of  explanation  on 
her  wine  merchants  and  distillers. 

This  last  piece  of  testimony  confirms  and  makes  positive  the  charge  y  gainst 
them.  All  that  now  remains  to  establish  their  guilt  and  complete  this  trial  is  to 
catch  them  in  the  act,  which  1  now  propose  to  do. 

CONVICTIONS   FOR  ADULTERATIONS. 

The  offense  proven,  the  law  of  France  is  very  stringent  against  all  deceit,  fraud, 
adulteration,  or  misrepresentation  as  to  anything  sold.  Article  423,  Code  Penal, 
provides:  Whoever  shall  cheat  or  deceive  a  iiuyer  as  to  the  title,  etc..  or  as  to  the 
nature,  etc.,  or  (by  false  weights  or  measures)  as  to  the  quantities  of  anything  sold 
shall  be  punished,  etc.  Law  of  Mai-ch  2?.  1855:  Whoever  falsities  or  adulterates 
provisions  or  medicines,  or  sells  or  attempts  to  sell  what  has  been  falsified  or 
adulterated  shall  be  punished,  etc.  The  fine  is  to  be  not  less  than  50  francs,  the 
imprisonment  from  three  months  to  one  year.  If  the  adulteration  consists  of  any- 
thing unhealthy,  the  fine  shall  not  be  less  than  150  francs  and  the  imprisonment  may 
be  two  years.  For  second  offense,  double  maximum  punishment.  The  articles  sold 
are  to  be  confiscated,  and,  if  not  unhealthy,  given  to  the  bureau  of  charity;  if 
unhealthy,  destroyed,  all  false  weights  and  measures  to  be  broken.  (Law  of  May 
5,  1855.)     The  former  laws  are  made  applicable  to  all  drinks. 

What  has  been  the  operation  of  this  law?  There  have  been  convicted  as  follows: 
Yearly  average  of  convictions: 

1851  to  1855 6,780 

1856  to  1860 8,442 

1861  to  1865 4,695 

1866  to  1870 3,014 

1871  to  1875- 3,209 

1876  to  1880 .3,398 

These  have  not  all  been  condemned  for  adulteration  of  wines  and  liquors,  nor 
yet  for  drinks,  for  it  includes  the  adulteration  and  falsification  of  food  and 
medicines,  as  well  as  drink. 

The  adulteration  of  these  articles  is  determined  by  analysis,  and  each  department 
has  its  conseil  of  hygiene,  which  has  control  thereof.  When  a  case  is  reported  by 
the  conseil  or  any  of  the  inspectors,  after  analysis,  the  prosecuting  officer  of  the 
Republic  takes  it  before  the  court.  Consequently  the  action  is  spasmodic,  being 
determined  by  each  department  for  itself. 

The  departKaent  of  Loire  Inferieure  became  interested  in  the  matter  of  adultera- 
tion of  wine  and  liquors  through  the  action  of  some  of  its  influential  citizens, 
more  especially  the  doctors  of  medicine,  who  reported  many  cases  of  sickness 
which  presented  curious  and  unaccountable  phases,  from  causes  apparentlj^  undis- 
coverable,  until  their  attention  was  attracted  to  the  quality  of  the  wine  used  at 
table  and  for  daily  drinks. 

This  interest  culminated  in  a  general  inspection,  in  1876,  of  the  restaurants  and 
other  places  where  wines  and  liquors  were  sold.  This  inspection  was  principally 
for  wines  colored  with  fuchsine,  it  being  known  or  determined  that  no  combina- 
tion of  that  article  but  was  poisonous.  The  result  of  that  inspection  was  as 
follows: 

Number  of  establishments  inspected 300 

Number  of  establishments  seized 60 

Number  of  hectoliters  confiscated 3, 307 

All  being  wine  fuchsine. 

This  wholesale  confiscation  satisfied  the  people  and  the  authorities  and  fright- 
ened the  wine  dealers,  so  that  no  steps  have  been  taken  in  that  direction  in  a  public 
or  general  way  since. 

These  wines  were  largely  wines  coming  from  Spain.  Some  of  them  were  mixed 
with  French  wines,  but  they  point  with  creditable  pride  to  the  fact  that  but  one 
case  was  of  Bordeaux  wine.     If  this  practice  prevailed  in  Spain  to  the  extent  indi- 


582  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

cated  in  the  year  1876,  when  the  harvest  of  wine  was  good  and  before  there  was 
any  extensive  importation  of  wine  from  Spain,  what  may  we  not  expect  it  to  be 
now.  after  four  years  of  failure,  when  the  imports  have  increased,  as  heretofore 
shown,  and  when  Bordeaux  has  so  changed  as  now  to  be  the  great  receiving  depot 
"of  Spanish  wine,  where  it  comes  "'to  breathe  the  air  of  the  Garonne  and  be 
transformed  into  Medoc?" 

What  may  have  been  the  action  in  other  cities,  except  Paris,!  have  no  means 
of  finding  out. 

ANALYZATION  OF  FOODS  AND  LIQUORS  IN  PARIS. 

In  Paris  there  has  been  established  the  Laboratoire  Municipal,  a  city  laboratory, 
which  has  been  in  operation  since  March,  1881.  It  opei-ates  only  for  Paris.  It 
receives  and  analyzes  any  article  of  food,  medicine,  or  drink,  requiring  pay  in 
certain  cases,  and  without  in  certain  others.  As  this  establishment  has  met  much 
approval,  it  has  been  recommended  by  several  consuls  for  adopt.on  in  the  United 
States,  in  which  I  heartily  join.    I  may  be  pardoned  for  a  short  description: 

Personnel. 

Francs. 

1  chief,  salary 6,0€0 

1  subchief 4,500 

1  chemist,  first  class 2.400 

3  aids,  second  class 5.400 

8  experts,  inspectors  first  class 19,200 

8  experts,  inspectors  second  class 14,400 

3  laborers 4,500 

Material  used 20,000 

Expense  for  one  year 76,400 

Receipts. 

The  paid  analyses  were 6,200 

Fees  paid  into  court  in  cases  of  conviction 10,815 

Total 17,015 

There  were  received  6,251  vsamples  (in  1881),  from  which  were  made  87,506  trials 
or  analysts.  The  cost  of  each  sample  was  10  francs.  The  cost  of  each  analysis 
was  1.6'J  francs.  The  money  received  (as  above)  reduced  these  costs,  respectively, 
to  7.48  and  1.25  francs. 

The  operations  of  the  bureau  are  purely  scientific  and  advisory.  It  institutes  no 
prosecutions.  It  makes  its  examinations  and  reports  the  results  to  those  author- 
ized by  law  to  act.  It  in.spects  premises  and  analyzes  samples  therein  found  or 
which  may  be  brought  to  it  by  private  persons  or  by  the  police. 

The  operations  for  the  ten  months  of  1881  were  as  follows: 

Number  of  inspections  made. 

Markets  - .. 3,869 

Restaurants,  wine  and  liquor  merchants,  creameries  and  milk  shops 10, 698 

Salt-meat  shops 522 

Bakers,  pie  and  cake  shops 830 

Groceries  and  fruit  stands 4,461 

Breweries  and  cafes 4,275 

Total  visits 24,655 

Saviples  presented  for  analysis. 

By  the  public: 

Paid  for 378 

Gratis 3,958 

By  the  police  and  inspectors 2,181 

Total : 6,517 


SWIISTE   PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UT^ITED    STATES. 


583 


Of  the  above  24,65o  visits  the  inspectors  made  394  destructions  of  articles  mani- 
festly damaged  and  unfit  for  use. 

Result  of  the  analyses  of  ten  months,  18S1, 


Good. 

Pass- 
able. 

Bad. 

Description. 

But  not 
poison. 

Poison. 

Total. 

Wine         

357 
22 
48 
6 
40 
18 

318 
30 
45 
55 
39 
45 
37 
38 
85 

394 

1,093 
31 
10 
10 
33 
11 
177 
12 
13 
10 

7 
13 

7 
24 
10 
63 

1,709 
26 
29 
30 
53 

•     203 
1 
1 
9 
9 
63 

3,361 

80 

88 

Cider           .               

55 

134 

Water 

92 

543 
29 
11 
21 

1,037 
71 

69 

86 

25 

71 

Salt,  pepper,  spices 

82 

7 

38 

140 

51 

Chocolate 

83 

45 

1207 

140 

Divers  .-. . 

36 

700 

Total 

1,565 

1,523 

2,608 

563 

6,258 

^Principally  articles  of  perfumery. 

Proportion  of  samples  found  ''bad"  out  of  each  100  analyzed. 

Per  cent. 

Wine 59.17 

Milk 50.66 

All --.. 50.43 

The  manner  of  procedure  would  be  foreign  to  this  report,  however  interesting 
it  might  be,  and  would  extend  it  beyond  bounds.  I  have  given  the  foregoing  in 
detail  that  the  workings  of  the  laboratory  in  its  cost  and  its  effects  upon  the  public 
health  maj'  be  appreciated.   The  operations  for  1832  will  be  given  with  less  detail. 

I  am  not  able  to  give  either  the  number  of  prosecutions,  convictions,  conjBsca- 
tions,  or  destructions  for  1881. 

Operations  for  1882. 
Aggregate  of  samples  analyzed 11,  OOO 

Of  wine  only  (December,  estimated) : 

Good 888 

Passable _ 1,603 

Bad: 

Not  poison 3,208 

Poison 413 

2,621 

Total 5,112 

Proportion  bad,  50  per  cent. 

Operations  for  six  months,  from  June  to  December,  1882. 

Establishments  visited 20,756 

Captures  made  ... ,. 3,211 

Destructions  performed 989 

Result  of  analyses  of  all  samples: 

Good '. 1,290 

Passable 1,510 

Bad: 

Not  poison 2,309 

Poison 977 

3,286 

Total  analyses  for  six  mouths 6,086 

Proportion  bad,  54  per  cent. 


584 


SWrNK    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


The  Laboratoire  Municipal  is  not  charged  with  the  prosecution  of  the  offenders 
it  discovers.  It  only  reports  them  t)  the  prosecuting  officers  of  the  law.  It  con- 
sequently has  no  record  of  convictions:  bat  in  a  private  interview  the  director 
announced  that  they  had  reported  during  1SS2  to  the  procureur  de  la  Republiiiue 
4,000  cases,  of  which  prosecutions  had  been  instituted  against  about  2,000  offend- 
ers, of  whom  only  two  were  acquitted. 

It  may  pot  be  fair  to  say  that  50  per  cent  of  all  wine  in  commerce  is  bad  because 
that  per  cent  proved  bad  on  analysis,  for  it  is  probably  only  the  suspected  wines 
which  are  sent  for  analj'sis. 

The  truth  is  bad  enough  without  evaggeration.  and  it  is  enough  that  there 
should  have  been  sold  or  offered  for  sale  in  Paris  in  the  past  year,  to  2,(3'21  unsus- 
pecting people,  wine  that  was  bad,  and  of  which  in  413  instances  it  was  dangerous 
to  health. 

But  I  venture  to  say  that  the  greater  proportion  of  these  samples  of  suspected 
wines  is  of  the  class  of  cheap  wines  to  be  found  in  every-day  use  at  the  restaurants 
and  cafes  and  among  the  people.  So  that,  as  there  is  more  cheap  wine  than  high- 
priced,  if  there  were  a  compulsory  analysis  of  all  the  wines  in  use,  the  proportion 
of  "bad"  as  above  given  might  be  maintained. 

I  do  not  even  suggest,  though  I  have  no  means  of  knowing,  that  the  high-priced 
wines  would  not  stand  the  analysis.  I  think,  at  least  hope,  they  would.  The 
wine  maker  and  wine  merchant  are  interested  in  preserving  them  in  their  purity. 
When  red  wines  of  1881  can  be  sold  by  the  lot  of  20  casks  at  5.500  francs  per  cask, 
and  white  wines  same  year  at  4,000  francs,  as  was  done  at  Bordeaux  this  season, 
the  dealer  can  not  afford  to  have  them  tampered  with. 

If  purchasers  should  find  themselves  deceived  but  once,  they  would  reject  it 
entirely. 

EFFECTS   OF  CONSUMPTION   OF   WINES   AND   LIQUORS. 

The  following  table  gives  (by  sections)  the  average  yearly  consumption  (1)  of 
wine,  (2)  of  alcohol,  (3)  of  the  proportion  of  cases  of  dr'ankenness  in  each  section 
of  France: 


Section  of  France. 

Average 
yearly  con- 
sumption 
of  wine  for 
each  in- 
habitant, 
1873.  a 

Average     propor- 
yearly  con-  ^fon  ^^ 
sumption  :  -'""  ^f 
of  alcohol  i  X^unk: 
for  each  in-'  ™^\ 
habitant. 6  ^^^^^^ 

1.  North  wine  district 

Liters. 
87 
14 
12ti 
118 
ItiS 
1(38 
190 

Liters. 
5.61 
4.40 
2.40 
1.53 
.87 
1.07 
1.19 

34 

29 

10 

9 

5 

6.  Southeast  wine  district   

9 

7.  South  wine  district . . 

4 

Average  for  all  France  ........... ..... 

119 

2.84 

100 

oDr.  Lunier.  Production  and  Consumption  of  Alcoholic  Liquors  in  France,  1877,  page  94. 
6  Report  of  minister  of  justice.  1826  to  1880. 

I  call  attention  to  the  differences  in  the  foregoing  table  between  the  districts 
which  grow  wine  and  those  which  do  not. 
Drunkenness  in  public  was  not  punished  as  an  offense  until  the  law  of  1873.* 

Convictions: 

18T3 59,347 

1874 86,418 

1875 98,482 

1876..  91,560 

1877 84,893 

1878 71,973 

1879 65,989 

1880 60,714 

Total  for  eight  years 619,375 

Average  annual 77,422 

Drunk  and  disorderly,  1880 25,785 

1  Report  of  minister  of  justice,  1826  to  1880. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  585 

The  minister  of  justice,  in  his  report  for  1826  to  1880,  devotes  a  chapter  or  sec- 
tion to  drunkenness,  one  to  accidental  deaths  and  one  to  suicides,  with  a  refer- 
ence to  insanity,  and  the  deductions  from  the  one  to  the  other  as  cause  and  effect  are 
as  follows: 

While  the  number  of  cases  of  drunkenness  has  decreased  from  98,000  in  1875  to 
00,000  in  1880.  a  falling  off  of  nearly  40  per  cent,  yet  the  number  of  cases  of  suicides 
from  alcoholism  has  increased  since  1836  488  per  cent,  nearly  quadruple,  while 
suicides  from  mental  alienation  have  increased  only  188  per  cent. 

Accidental  deaths  have  remained  at  the  same  per  cent. 

Insanity  from  alcoholism  has  increased  from  7  per  cent  (7  cases  out  of  each  100) 
to  14  per  cent,  and,  strange  to  relate,  suicides  from  crossed  love  have  been  reduced 
from  11  to  4  per  cent. 

Whether  this  increase  in  the  evil  effects  of  intemperance  is  attributable  to  the 
use  of  drugs  in  the  wines  and  liquors  or  to  a  change  in  the  habit  of  drinking,  is  a 
subject  for  the  examination  of  the  political  economist  and  the  labors  of  the  philan- 
thropist. It  may  have  been  the  result  of  both.  It  is  quite  enough  for  my  purpose 
that  adulteration  shall  have  contributed  its  share. 

CONCLUSION. 

It  will  not  be  supposed  that  I  have  made  the  examinations  and  expended  the 
time  and  labor  necessary  for  the  preparation  of  this  without  having  some  opinions. 

On  the  subject  of  reprisals,  however,  I  offer  none.  I  have  endeavored  only  to 
procure  the  evidence  and  present  the  facts,  leaving  the  decision  thereof  entirely  to 
those  having  proper  authority. 

On  the  subject  of  adulteration  of  wines  and  liquors,  I  would  recommend  the 
establishment  of  a  chemical  laboratory  at  New  York,  or  any  chief  city  of  impor- 
tation of  wines  and  liquors,  similar  to  that  in  Paris. 

Analyze  all  wines  and  liquors  by  proper  tests;  provide  as  a  system  of  rewards 
and  punishments  a  graduation  of  duties,  lower  for  pure  wines,  higher  for  passable, 
and  confiscation  for  all  others:  those  poisonous  to  be  destroyed,  and  those  not 
poisonous  to  be  rectified  if  possible  and  sold,  and  the  proceeds  divided  as  in  other 
cases  of  confiscated  goods. 

Let  the  laboratory  be  used  by  the  people  gratuitoiisly  for  the  testing  of  all  arti- 
cles of  food,  drink  or  medicine,  suspected  to  be  adulterated.  While  the  United 
States  Government  might  not  desire  to  attempt  any  punishment  for  the  adulter- 
ation, preferring  to  leave  that  for  the  State  governments,  yet  I  believe  the  knowl- 
edge that  such  tests  could  be  accurately  made  would  be  such  a  satisfaction  to  the 
consumer  and  such  a  terror  to  the  adulterator,  thus  acting  as  a  preventive  of 
crime,  that  it  would  be  a  good  investment  and  more  than  justify  the  expenditure. 
It  would  also  act  as  an  incentive  to  the  State  government,  by  showing  to  what 
extent  the  evil  existed. 

Thomas  Wilson,  Consul. 

United  States  Consulate, 

Nantes,  January  10,  18S3. 


Appendix  I. 

The  wine  product  of  France. 

Hectoliters. 

1788 , 25,000,000 

1840. -.- 45,486 

1850' 45,266 

1860 - 39,558,450 

1870 - 53,587,942 

1875 ---  83,683.391 

1877 -- - 56,405,363 

1878 - 48,720,553 

1879-^ 25,769,532 

1880^ -- 29,677,472 

The  average  product — 

From  1866  to  1870 55.562,046 

From  1871  to  1875 58,032,074 

From  1876  to  1880 ..-.  40,483,937 

1 1854  and  1855  were  failures,  producing  only  ten  and  fifteen  million  hectoliters. 
*  Failures. 


586 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Average  anmial  product  of  Europe. 

Hectoliters. 

France 51,359,353 

Italy. 29.000.000 

Spain 16.000,000 

Portugal. 4.000,000 

Anstria-Hungary 22,640.000 

Germany 6,501,000 

Swit-erland 900,000 

Russia  and  Turkey,  Europe 2,134,000 

Greece „  1,260,675 

Roumania 661,874 

Total 134,456,901 

Duty  paid  on  icine  in  France. 

Francs. 

1860 176.414,128 

1870 223,693,103 

1875 386.026,000 

1877 399,061,800 

1878 411.583,000 

1879 421,786,748 


Appendix  II. 

Exportations  of  all  the  wines  and  liquors  from  France  during  the  years  before  and 
since  the  failure  of  the  wine  crop  from  phylloxera,  commencing  in  1879. 


1878. 

1879. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Vin  ordinaire: 

From  Qironde  

All  other  places   

Gixonde 

Others 

casks.. 

do  ... 

bottles.. 

do.... 

946.342 

1,476,674 

91,138 

211,300 

76,721,347 
56,873,597 
13,715,688 
47,-542,595 

1,334,199 

1,350,689 

103,635 

204,401 

122,225.017 
67,984,447 
15,545,295 
45,990,257 

Total 

2,745,454 

182,234 

70,787 

421 

4.360 

27.56Jt 

17,389 

194,853,227 

43,519.992 

16,31.5,«I7 

94.741 

610.442 

3,a59,713 

1,182.455 

3,001,924 

218.  n9 

66,948 

433 

4.966 

Sl,3o9 

18,300 

251,745,016 

Eanx  de  vie: 

Du  vin 

Du  vin 

Cherries 

casks.. 

— bottles.. 

68,354,981 

21,056,059 

97,231 

Molasses 

695,373 

Others 

4,390,274 

Spirits -    

1,228,076 

Grand  total . 

260,436,567 
285,800,719 

347,564,010 

For  year  preceding 

276,445,419 

1880. 

1881. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Vin  ordinaire: 

From  Gironde 

All  other  places 

Gironde 

Others 

casks. 

do.... 

...bottles.. 
do.... 

1,083,393 

1,057,436 

106.b:«' 

248,927 

112,960,915 
53,871,786 
17,395.093 
56,008,652 

1,060,917 

1,138,531 

104,6.58 

221,524 

116,705.168 
63,619,194 
17,368,58a 
49,843,954 

Total 

239,436,445 

48,070,334 

18,48.5.984 

106,335 

609,322 

4,794,990 

1,336.143 

2,425,630 

153.938 
61.8.35 
573 
4,583 
36,039 
15,729 

246,435,899 

Eanz  de  vie: 

Du  vin 

Du  vin 

Cherries 

Molasses 

casks.. 

...bottles.. 

160,393 
60,654 
425 
41,353 
34.249 
17.815 

42,908,567 

18,139.475 

128,  n4 

733,173 

Others 

6,04.5,509 

Spirits 

1,101,058 

Grand  total 

328,338,108 
363,522,3™ 

314,482,455 

For  year  preceding . 

328,338,108 

SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


587 


Appendix  III, 

Total  importations  of  all  icines  and  liquors  into  France  during  the  years  hefore  and 
since  the  failure  of  the  tcine  crop  from  phylloxera,  commencing  1879. 


1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

Commerce  special. 

Commerce  special. 

Commerce  special. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Vin  ordinaire: 

1,531,337 

50,304,145 

2,828,418 
2,263 

106,447 
983 

777 

265 

69,349 

29,020 

98,860 
1,870 

107,479,899 
271,495 

12,773,644 
177, 703 

88,668 

59.809 

9,708,987 

3,903,059 

8,403,110 
511,383 

7.093,368 

297,917,248 

Vins  de  liqueurs: 

78,656 
709 

374 

233 
59,263 
15,263 

57,985 
1,760 

8,652,210 
120,569 

41.990 

52.360 

8,296,896 

1,526,331 

4,928.804 
528,093 

123,885 
930 

7,903 

182 

63.802 

39,942 

148,416 
3,357 

15,485,661 

In  bottles       

183,864 

Eaux  de  vie  (alcohol, 
pure): 
Ofwine       . 

964,095 

41,991 

Of  molasses 

Of  all  others 

Spirits  of  all  sorts  (al- 

9,579,413 
3,994,235 

13,615,362 

707,373 

Total  of  wines  and 
liquors  of  all  sorts 
including    beer, 
cider,  and    vine- 

88,279,035 
54,506,231 

155,760,934 

88,379,035 

359,791,742 

155,760,934 

Annual  increase  inim- 

33,772,804 

67,481,899 

204,030,808 

1881. 

Increase  in  importations 
from  1878  to  1881,  four 
years. 

Commerce  special. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Vin  ordinaire: 

7,700,365 
3,452 

133,881 
1,129 

6,194 
373 
63,530 
16,846 
157,389 
3,483 

346,516,425 
446,144 

16,735,162 
225,854 

755,669 

83,8a5 

10,004,827 

1,682,328 

13,369,549 

744,897 

6,179,028 

53,235 

420 

6,830 

141 

3,367 

1,583 

99,304 

732 

296,312,280 

(1) 

Vins  de  liqueurs: 

8,083,925 
105,285 

Eaux  de  vie  (alcohol,  pure): 

713,679 

31,575 

1,707,931 

Of  all  others 

155,997 

Spirits  of  all  sorts  (alcohol,  pure) 

8, 480, 745 

Liqueurs 

216, 804 

Total  of  wines  and  liquors  of  all  sorts, 

410,004,337 
a59,791,742 

For  preceding  year 

Annual  increase  in  importations 

50,213,595 

Total  increase  in  importation  of  all  wi 
Increase  in  vin  ordhudre  in  casks  only  ... 

nes  and  liquo 

6,342,510 

6,179,028 

163,483 

315, 807, 121 

396,312,280 

19,494,841 

I  Vin  ordinaire  "in  bottles"  was  overlooked  until  after  the  additions  were  made. 


688 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Appendix  IV. 

Importation  from  Spain  and  Italy ,  fthouring  how  the  deficit  in  France  since  1879, 
caused  by  the  phylloxera^  has  been  made  iiji. 


1878.                      j                      1879. 

1880. 

From— 

Commerce  special.       1       Commerce  special. 

Commerce  special. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs,     t  Hectoliters.  1      Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Spain 

Italy 

l.»47.6U 
194. 782 

48.290,310          2,289,716        92,521,064 
7.577.811              540,113  j      21,993,077 

6,112,387 
1,604.303 

221.n(»5.555 
69.221,537 

1881. 

Increase  from  1878  to  188L 

From— 

Commerce  special 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Spain 

5,n7,938 
1,550.288 

284.210.637 
72,0(50,810 

4,370.294 
1,361,486 

107.920,327 

Italy 

64, 482, 999 

Increase  in    importations  from  the  two 
countries  in  the  four  years  rrom  1878  to 
1881   

5,731,780 

2C2,402,328 

Exportations  to  Spain  and  Italy,  showing  no  such  corresponding  increase. 


1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

To- 

Commerce  special. 

Commerce  special. 

Commerce  special. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Spain 

4,025 
14,884 

597,225 
1,114,162 

4,301 
3,705 

638,856 
603,115 

4,794 
8,538 

713,870 

Italy  

583,322 

1881. 

Change,  pit 

To- 

Commerce  special. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Spain 

3,672 
11,607 

593,811 
1,629,593 

-    353 
'-2,757 

-    3,914 

Italy 

+515,431 

Decrease  in  exportations  to  the  two  coun- 

-3,110 

(')  Though  the  price  increased,  the  amount  of  wine  decreased. 

Importation  ofimne  and  spirits  at  Bordeaux,  illustrating  hoic  they  made  good  tlie 
deficit  caused  by  the  phylloxera  in  1S79  and  subsequent  years. 


Description. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

Hectoliters. 

Fn^ncs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Wine 

41,781 
114,855 

1,448,750 
8,166,429 

285,930 
106,285 

11,663.349 
11,152,279 

895,443 
178,045 

34,045.820 

Spirits 

13,386,766 

Description. 

1881. 

Increase  from  1878  to  1881. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Wine 

1,262.313 
1,679,959 

60,351,947 
48,676,190 

1,220,532 
1,565,104 

48.99.5,197 

Spirits 

38,499,761 

Increase  in  importations  of  wine  and  spir- 
its at  Bordeaux  alone  during  these  four 
vears .  .    

2,785.636 

87,404,958 

SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


589 


Exportation  at  Bordeaux, 


1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

Description. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Wine 

1,151,270 
117,200 

92,521,882 
15,903,875 

1,442,424 
81,601 

ias,915,100 
25,213,518 

1,145,667 
154,135 

132,088,158 

22,931,963 

Description. 

1881. 

Increase  from  1878  to  1881. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Hectoliters. 

Francs. 

Wine       

1,173.  .515 
96,4.53 

135,184,790 
21,104,812 

22,245 
—  23,555 

43, 662, 908 

Spirits 

5,200,937 

—  1,310 

47,863,845 

Wines  and  liquors  in  entrepdt  (bonded  warehouse) ,  from  January  1, 1878,  to  Decem- 
ber SI,  1881,  both  at  Bordeaux  and  in  all  France. 


December  31, 1877. 

December  31, 1881. 

Bordeaux. 

All  France. 

Bordeaux. 

All  France. 

Wines: 

Ordinaire        

Hectoliters. 
2,425 
2,402 

Hectoliters. 

14,683 

5,811 

192 

9,429 

11,304 

3,889 

157 

76 

Hectoliters. 

12,828 

2,838 

279 

1,433 

349 

2,063 

32 

Hectoliters. 
55  585 

4,761 
936 

Eaux  de  Vie:  de  Vine 

1,730 
184 

1,485 
45 

11, 194 

All  others . 

6,455 

14,931 

146 

Liqueurs.  . 

404 

No.  23. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton, 


No.  207.] 


Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  17,  1883. 
Sir:  Your  No.  270  of  the  15th  ultimo  transmits  a  letter  addressed  to  you  by  the 
Paris  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  your  acknowledgment  thereof. 

It  is  courteous  and  at  the  same  time  natural  that  the  distinguished  commercial 
body  in  question,  which  so  largely  controls  public  and  legislative  opinion  in  France 
on  matters  of  trade,  should  be  pleased  to  express  its  pleasure  at  any  proposal  on 
our  part  to  reduce  the  rates  of  import  duties.  It  would  be  well  when  a  similar 
occasion  occurs  to  express  a  hope  that  a  reciprocal  feeling  might  be  shown  in 
France  to  the  few  exports  from  this  country  thither  as  compared  with  the  many 
France  sends  to  us.  and  that  commerce  and  legislation  alike  may  unite  in  rebuk- 
ing the  blind  prejudice  which  seeks  to  close  a  large  foreign  market  to  our  most 
important  products. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  24. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  324.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  April  4,  1883.     (Received  April  18.) 

Sir:  I  availed  myself  of  an  occasion  during  a  recent  personal  interview  with 
Mr.  Challeuiel  Lacour,  the  new  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  to  call  his  attention  to 
the  subject  of  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  into  France  of  American 
salted  meats,  and  subsequently  addressed  a  communication  to  him  on  the  subject, 
a  copy  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith. 

In  relation  to  this  subject  I  have  had  different  interviews  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Paris,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  and  Havre,^ 


590  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

who  take  a  special  interest  in  the  importation  of  American  meats,  and  propose  to 
make  joint  representations  to  the  minister  of  commerce  and  to  originate  a  system 
of  petitions  among  the  working  classes  of  France,  urging  the  repeal  of  the  decree. 
This  move,  if  properlj'  directed,  will  be.  it  is  hoped,  elective.  I  have  been,  how- 
ever, so  often  disappointed  that  I  will  ndt  venture  to  count  upon  the  success  of 
the  present  movement,  though  it  is  well  calculated  to  reach  the  end  desired.  I 
may  add  that  at  the  conference  the  protection  of  industrial  property,  which  was 
presided  over  bj'  the  minister  of  commerce,  and  attended  by  the  director  of  exte- 
rior commerce.  I  insisted  with  both  these  gentlemen  upon  the  necessity  of  the 
abrogation  of  the  decree. 

I  have,  etc.,  Levi  P.  Morton. 


rinclosure  In  No.  324.] 

Mr.  Morton  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  March  24,  1S8S. 

Sir:  I  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  your  excellency  to  communications 
which  I  have  had  the  honor  of  addressing  \o  your  predecessors,  Mr.  St.  Hilaire 
and  Mr.  Gambetta.  with  reference  to  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
American  salted  meats  into  France. 

This  decree  has  now  been  in  force  for  more  than  two  years,  while  similar  prod- 
ucts from  all  other  countries  have  been  freely  admitted  in  France. 

An  examination  of  the  subject  will,  I  trust,  not  only  satisfy  your  excellency,  but 
also  your  honorable  collea;jrue,  the  minister  of  commerce,  that  the  decree  was 
issued  under  a  misapprehension  of  the  facts  bearing  upon  the  question,  and  that 
there  are  no  valid  reasons  why  this  exceptional  measure,  only  applicable  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  shotild  be  abrogated. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  yields  to  none  in  its  desire  to  protect  the 
public  health,  and  claims  that  the  searching  and  careful  investigation  conducted 
by  a  most  competent  officer  detailed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Department  of  State 
clearly  established  the  unfounded  and  erroneous  character  of  the  statements 
regarding  the  alleged  unwholesome  qualities  of  American  hog  products,  upon 
which  tlie  issue  of  the  prohibitory  decree  was  based.  The  result  of  the  examina- 
tion was  presented  to  Mr.  St.  Hilaire  bv  mv  predecessor,  General  Noyes,  on  the 
23d  of  June,  1881. 

1  beg  leave  also  to  refer  to  the  report  of  the  National  Academy  of  Medicine  of 
France  on  the  question  propounded  by  the  Government  regarding  the  necessity  of 
an  inspection  of  foreign  pork,  and  which,  after  referring  to  the  tree  admission  of 
American  and  German  pork  for  many  years,  without  inspection,  and  its  extended 
use  in  the  manufacturing  and  industrial  districts  of  France,  states  that  the  dis- 
ease called  trichinosis,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  case,  has  not  been  observed 
in  any  part  of  France. 

I  can  but  believe  that  your  excellency's  Government  will,  after  a  consideration 
of  all  the  evidence  now  before  it,  cheerfully  place  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  same  footing  as  all  other  friendly  nations  by  the  revocation  of  the 
decree. 

I  avail,  etc., 

L.  P.  Morton. 


No.  25. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  99.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Bordeaux,  April  11,  18S3.     (Received  April  25.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy  and  translation  of  a  petition 
from  the  dealers  in  American  lard  and  pork,  at  Bordeaux,  to  the  minister  of  com- 
merce at  Paris,  France. 
I  am,  etc., 

Geo.  W.  Roosevelt, 
United  States  Consul. 


SWIJSE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  591 

[Inclosure  in  No.  99.— Translation.] 
#  PETITION   OF   DEALERS   TO   THE  MINISTER  OF  COMMERCE. 

Bordeaux,  Ajjril  4, 1883. 

Sir:  We,  the  undersigned,  dealers  in  American  lard  and  pork  at  Bordeaux,  have 
the  honor  to  f  olicit  from  your  kindness,  Mr.  Minister,  the  fulfillment  of  the  prom- 
ises which  have  been  so  often  lavished  upon  us,  by  your  claiming  the  recall  of  the 
decree  of.February  1^,  1881. 

The  solution  of  this  (juestion  can  no  longer  be  delayed;  light  is  made,  and  our 
ports  should  be  open  to  the  free  importation  of  those  meats,  indispensable  to  the 
nutrition  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  the  want  of  which  has  alreadj'  caused  so  griev- 
ous a  rise  in  the  price  of  the  food  of  workmen. 

The  spontaneous  and  disinterested  step  which  has  just  been  taken  toward  you, 
Mr.  Minister,  by  Messrs.  the  president  and  delegates  of  the  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce of  Pa'is,  Marseilles.  Bordeaux,  and  Havre  was  to  give  us  the  hope  that  the 
just  claim  made  in  such  pressing  terms  by  the  most  considerable  personalities  of 
the  French  commerce  would  have  immediately  brought  forth  the  mere  and  simple 
recall  of  the  prohibitive  decree,  and  that  you  would  thus  have  put  an  end  to  a 
state  of  things  so  fatal  to  the  commercial  and  industrial  welfare  of  our  country. 

But  if  you  think  of  righting  those  just  c'aims,  we  learn  with  surprise  that  you 
are  going  to  study  a  bill  which  would  consist  in  submitting  the  salt  meats,  upon 
their  entering  France,  to  a  system  of  refrigei-ation,  against  the  adoption  of  which 
we  hasten  to  protest  with  great  energy. 

We  know  that  since  several  years  a  patent  has  been  taken  for  the  preservation 
of  meat  by  freezing;  that  the  proprietors  of  that  patent  have  been  in  search  of  the 
means  of  making  use  of  it,  but  without  any  apparent  success;  but  now  they  wish 
to  find  for  it  a  lucrative  use  and  easy  profits  by  having  it  adopted  by  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  application  of  that  system  would  be  disastrous  and  would  completely 
impede  that  trade.  Indeed,  Mr.  Minister,  the  errcessive  handling  that  the  meat 
would  have  to  go  through  before  being  submitted  to  the  freezing,  the  unpacking 
of  the  cases,  the  hooking  to  the  ladders  for  being  more  easily  placed  in  the  cellars, 
the  repacking,  etc.,  would  cause  such  expense,  such  waste,  and  such  a  deprecia- 
tion of  the  qualitj'  that  it  would  be  folly  on  the  part  of  honest  merchants  to  expose 
themselves  to  such  risks. 

To  those  annoyances,  more  than  sufficient  to  cause  such  a  scheme  to  be  rejected, 
we  must  add  that  it  seems  to  us  impossible  that  the  meats  submitted  to  the 
action  of  freezing  and  jjassing  to  a  high  temperature  could  be  preserved,  and  we 
maintain  that  statement  in  spite  of  the  experiment  of  the  laboratory  made  on  one 
single  ham.  That  trade  should  then  be  exposed  to  so  many  uncertain  and 
unknown  chances  that  there  would  be  no  safety  in  practicing  it.  Of  all  the  pro- 
posed means,  refrigeration  is  the  one  which  we  repel  with  most  energy;  but  if  the 
greatest  part  of  the  others  present  almost  as  grave  inconveniences,  one  only  has 
given  proof  of  what  it  is  worth,  that  is  free  circulation,  which  for  the  last  twenty 
years  never  gave  rise  to  the  least  c'aim  nor  caused  one  single  accident. 

The  return  to  common  right  is  then  the  solution  which  we  claim  of  your  justice, 
Mr.  Minister,  as  a  redress  for  the  harm  done  by  the  decree  of  February  18,  and 
we  claim  it  not  only  in  the  name  of  our  trade,  but  in  the  name  of  public  welfare. 

That  deplorable  measure  has,  indeed,  Mr.  Minister,  had  for  its  effect  to  provoke 
in  the  American  press  violent  and  unjust  attacks  against  all  French  products  of 
food  which  France  exports  to  the  United  States,  which  attacks,  if  they  were  per- 
petuated, would  end  in  throwing  discredit  on  those  products  and  in  driving  them 
from  that  important  market. 

Besides,  the  retaliation,  of  which  the  United  States  Government  did  not  cease  to 
threaten  French  commerce,  has  just  received  a  commencement  of  execution,  and 
the  rise  of  the  duties  of  entry  which  strikes  our  wines  is  such  as  will  considerablj' 
reduce  the  exportation  of  them. 

Now,  we  who  had  always  foreseen  such  consequences  to  the  decree  of  February 
18,  and  that,  in  spite  of  interested  denials,  we  do  not  hesitate  in  asserting  that 
refrigeration  will  never  be  considered  a  reparative  measure,  since  it  will  have  all 
the  effects  of  prohibition,  but  rather  an  indirect  means  of  perpetuating  the  same, 
and  that  our  Government  will  not  succeed  by  such  a  process  in  forcing  down  the 
barriers  which  the  new  tariff  has  just  raised  against  our  products. 

We  well  know  the  interest  that  you  have  in  the  national  trade,  and  feel  con- 
vinced that  you  will  take  in  due  consideration  the  observations  which  we  have  the 
uonor  to  present  to  you,  and  that  you  will  kindly  admit  our  request. 

We  beg  you,  etc. 

[Signatures  of  fifty-five  dealers  in  American  pork  and  lard.] 


592  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES, 

No.  26. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  833.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  April  13,  JSSJ.     (Received  April  -.T).) 

Sir:  Acting  nnder  the  strange  delusion  which  still  exists  in  official  circles.  7iot- 
withstanding  the  overwheiming  evidence  to  the  contrary,  that  American  p;  rk  is 
subject  to  trichinosis,  the  French  department  of  commerce  is  contemplating  the 
organization  of  a  system  of  curative  measures  to  guard  against  the  supposed  infec- 
tion by  submitting  all  our  salted  meats  to  a  freezing  process  upon  their  entry  into 
France.  Whether  this  new  device  would  or  would  not  destroy  trichinosis  where 
it  happens  to  exist  it  has  dissatisfied  all  the  French  importers  auu  dealers  in 
American  hog  produce,  who  consider  it  as  calculated  to  greatly  injure  the  meat, 
and  have  protested  in  strong  language  against  its  application.  You  will  find  here- 
with a  copy  and  translation  of  the  petition  they  have  addressed  in  this  respect  to 
the  minister  of  commerce. 

One  of  the  leaders  in  this  movement  informs  me  that  all  interested  in  this  busi- 
ness prefer  simple  prohibition  to  the  apparent  facilities  offered  by  the  application 
of  the  freezing  process.  It  is  the  intenton  of  the  F.  ench  dealers  to  push  this 
matter  as  strongly  as  possible  and  to  bring  it  before  a  cabinet  meeting. 

I  again,  a  few  days  ago,  called  the  attention  of  Mr.  Challemel  Lacour  to  this 
subject,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  although  he  is  personally  in  favor  of  the  repeal 
of  the  decree  of  prohibition,  and  has  urged  it,  he  does  not  believe  that  his  col- 
league will  favor,  at  present,  its  abrogation.  His  reasons  are  that  other  countries 
have  taken  similar  measures  of  prohibition,  and  the  French  scientists  are  divided 
upon  the  (juestion  of  the  danger  which  may  result  from  the  consumption  of 
American  meats. 

I  did  not  conceal  from  Mr.  Chalemel  Lacour  the  fact  that  the  continuance  of 
this  long-standing  prohibition  had  already  created  much  feeling  at  home,  and 
that  our  people  could  not  understand  why  such  discrimination  should  be  made 
against  them,  when  the  highest  French  scientific  authorities  had  emphatically 
declared  that  the  measure  was  groundless,  and  my  apprehension  that  Congress 
would  take  some  retaliatory  action  unless  the  decree  was  abrogated. 

Mr.  Challemel  Lacour  said  he  would  again  call  the  attention  of  his  colleague  to 
the  matter. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  decree  was  rendered  under  the  pressure  of  certain  French 
packers  who  are  still  interested  in  its  maintenance.     By  a  strange  coincidence, 
these  very  men.  who  are  also  producers  of  sardines  and  other  canned  articles,  have 
been  specially  favored  by  our  new  tariff.    *    *    * 
I  have,  etc., 

Levi  P.  Morton. 


[Inclosure  In  No.  333.— Translation.] 

PETITION  ADDRESSED  TO  THE  MINISTER  OF  COMMERCE   BY  FRENCH   IMPORTERS  OF 
AMERICAN   HOa  PRODUCTS. 

Bordeaux,  April  4,  1S83. 
To  the  Minister  of  Commerce,  Paris: 

Monsieur  le  Mixistre:  We,  the  undersigned,  merchants  in  American  salted 
meats  and  lard  at  Bordeaux,  have  the  honor  to  solicit  your  favor.  Monsieur  le 
Ministre.  for  the  fulfillment  of  ihe  promises  which  have  1  een  so  often  made  to  us 
in  claiming  the  abolition  of  the  decree  of  the  18th  of  February,  18^1. 

The  solution  of  this  question  can  l.e  no  longer  delayed,  light  has  been  brought 
to  bear  on  it,  and  our  port  should  be  opened  to  the  free  importation  of  these  pro- 
visions, indispensable  to  the  nourishment  of  the  poor  classes,  and  the  absence  of 
which  has  already  caused  an  increase  of  price,  so  hard  for  the  nourishment  of 
workmen. 

The  spontaneous  and  disinterested  petition  which  has  just  been  made  to  you, 
M.  le  Ministre,  by  the  presidents  and  delegates  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of 
Paris.  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  and  Havre,  iead  me  to  hope  that  the  just  claim^, 
made  in  such  pressing  terms  by  the  most  important  personages  of  French  trade, 
should  have  immediately  brought  about  the  withdrawal  purely  and  simply  of  the 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  593 

prohibitive  decree,  and  that  you  would  have  thus  put  an  end  to  a  state  of  things  so 
fatal  to  the  industrial  and  commercial  interests  of  the  country. 

But,  if  you  contemplate  acceding  to  these  just  demands,  we  learn  with  surprise 
that  you  nre  about  to  consider  a  project  which  will  consist  in  submitting  salted  pro- 
visions on  their  entry  into  France  to  a  system  of  refrigeration,  against  the  adoption 
of  which  we  jn-otest  with  the  utmost  energy. 

We  know  that  for  several  years  past  a  patent  has  been  taken  out  for  the  preser- 
vation of  provisions  by  freezing,  that  the  owners  of  this  patent  have  been  seeking 
means  to  utilize  it,  but  apparently  without  success,  since  at  present  they  rush  to 
find  for  it  a  luci'ative  employment  and  easy  profits  in  having  it  adopted  by  the 
Government. 

The  application  of  this  system  would  be  disastrous,  and  would  completely  damage 
the  trade;  in  fact,  M.  le  Ministre,  the  numerous  manipulations  which  the  pro- 
visions would  undergo  in  order  to  be  submitted  to  the  influence  of  the  cold,  the 
unpacking  of  the  barrels,  the  hanging  on  the  ladders  intended  to  facilitate  the 
storage,  the  repacking,  etc.,  would  give  rise  to  such  expenditure,  such  damage 
and  depreciation  of  quality  that  it  would  be  foolish  on  the  part  of  serious  business 
men  to  expose  themselves  to  such  risks. 

To  these  inconveniences,  which  are  more  than  sufficient  to  cause  the  rejection  of 
such  a  project,  we  should  add  that  it  appears  to  us  impossible  that  provisions  sub- 
mitted to  the  action  of  the  cold  and  to  a  high  temperature  can  be  preserved,  and  we 
maintain  this  statement  notwithstanding  the  laboratory  experiments  on  a  single 
hain.  This  trade  would  then  be  exposed  to  so  many  risks  and  hazards  that  there 
would  be  no  security  to  engage  in  it. 

Of  all  the  means  proposed,  refrigeration  is  that  which  we  most  energetically 
reject:  but  if  the  greater  part  of  the  others  present  inconveniences  almost  as  seri- 
ous, one  only  has  been  put  to  the  test,  that  is,  the  free  circulation,  which  for 
twenty  years  has  never  given  rise  to  a  single  complaint  or  caused  a  single  accident. 

The  return  then  to  the  common  right  is  then  the  solution  which  we  solicit  from 
your  justice,  M.  le  Ministre,  as  compensation  for  the  harm  done  by  the  decree  of 
the  18th  of  February,  and  we  claim  it  not  only  in  the  name  of  our  trade  but  in  the 
name  of  public  interest. 

In  fact,  M,  le  Ministre,  this  unfortunate  measure  has  had  the  effect  of  provoking 
in  the  American  press  violent  and  unjust  attacks  against  alimentary  produce 
exported  by  France  to  the  United  States,  attacks  which,  if  continued,  would  end 
by  throwing  disfavor  on  such  produce  and  driving  it  from  this  vast  market. 

Moreover,  the  reprisals  with  which  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  not 
ceased  to  menace  the  French  trade  have  received  commeocement  of  execution  in 
the  rise  of  the  entry  duties  imposed  on  our  wines,  which  is  of  a  nature  to  consid- 
erably reduce  the  sale. 

We,  then,  who  have  always  foreseen  such  consequences  from  the  decree  of  the  18th 
of  February,  and  that  in  spite  of  interested  denials,  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that 
refrigeration  can  never  be  considered  as  a  compensating  measure  (since  it  will 
have  all  the  effects  of  prohibition),  but  rather  as  an  indirect  means  calculated  to 
perpetuate  it,  and  that  our  Government  can  never  succeed  by  such  a  proceeding 
in  overcoming  the  obstacles  which  the  new  tariff  has  just  raised  against  our 
produce. 

We  know  sufficiently  well  all  the  interest  you  take  in  the  national  trade  to  be 
convinced  that  you  will  take  into  consideration  the  remarks  which  we  have  the 
honor  to  place  br  fore  you,  and  that  you  will  favorably  receive  our  petition. 
We  beg  you,  etc., 

[Signatures.] 


No.  27. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Martin. 

No.  267.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  ApiHl  26,  1883. 
Sik:  Your  dispatch  No.  333,  of  the  13th  instant,  inclosing  a  copy  of  a  petition 
addressed  to  the  minister  of  commerce  by  French  importers  and  dealers  in  Ameri- 
can pork,  has  been  read  with  interest  as  a  valuable  indication  of  the  tendency  of 
sound  opinion  in  France  on  the  question. 

I  am,  etc. ,  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt4 38 


594  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  28. 

Mr.  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis. 

[Extract.! 

No.  24.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Nantes,  May  17,  ISSS.     (Received  May  31.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  here\vith  newspaper  slips  containing  two  com- 
mnnications  continuing  the  history  of  the  agitation  concerning  the  decree  for  the 
prohibition  against  American  pork  and  the  interest  of  the  city  of  Nantes  therein. 

The  first,  dated  March  21,  1H83,  is  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes  to 
the  minister  of  commerce  at  Paris,  and  seems  to  be  a  reply  to  the  communication 
of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Paris,  Havre,  Marseilles,  and  Bordeaux,  of  which 
the  Department  has  doubtless  received  information. 

The  second,  dated  April  16,  1883,  is  intended  as  a  reply  in  anticipation  to  my 
report  No.  12,  December  5, 1882,  the  quoted  notice  of  which  api)eared  in  the  news- 
papers of  the  city.  These  communications  are  suflBciently  important  as  giving  the 
Department  all  the  steps  taken  to  justify  their  transmission,  but  scarcely  suflB- 
cient  to  justify  their  translation  or  transmission  in  written  form.  If  I  should  be 
mistaken  in  the  latter  supposition  I  will  take  pleasure  in  correcting  it  and  sending 
the  translations. 

I  am  unacquainted  with  the  Congressional  documents  referred  to  in  the  latter 
communication,  and  should  be  pleased  to  have  them  furnished.    I  shall  attempt 
no  reply  to  any  of  these  or  similar  communications  without  instructions  to  that 
effect  from  the  Department.    »    »    * 
I  have,  etc., 

Thomas  Wilson. 


[Inolosare  in  No.  21.— Abstract  of  tbe  newspai>er  cuttings  sent  by  Consul  Wilson.] 
AMERICAN  SALTED  MEATS. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes  addressed  to  the  minister  of  commerce, 
tinder  date  of  March  21,  1883,  a  letter,  of  which  the  following  is  the  substance: 

We  have  been  informed  that  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Bordeaux  and  Havre 
have  taken  steps  to  obtain  from  you  the  abrogation  of  the  decree  of  the  18th  Feb- 
ruary, 1881,  which  prohibits  the  introduction  into  France  of  American  lard,  and 
that  you  approved  of  these  steps. 

Since  the  French  Government,  with  the  view  to  protect  the  people,  adopted 
measures  to  prevent  frightful  and  incurable  disease  arising  from  infected  salt 
meats,  it  api)ears  that  nothing  has  been  done  to  remedy  this. 

Before  France  had  prohibited  the  importat'on  of  American  salted  meats  the 
greater  part  of  Europe  had  already  done  so.  Further  tlian  this,  they  had  pro- 
hibited French  salted  meats,  not  that  they  were  susjiecied  of  the  infection  of  tri- 
chinae, but  because  France  had  continued  to  receive  American  pork,  and  it  was 
diflScuIt  to  recognize  the  same  from  the  foreign.  Conseiuently  we  have  suffered 
because  our  exports  have  become  impossible. 

It  seems  to  us  the  time  is  badly  chosen  to  abrogate  the  decree,  for  Germany  has 
just  prohibited  American  pork.  England  and  Germany  were  the  only  countries 
which  had  not  prohil)ited  it. 

We  therefore  pray  you.  Mr.  Minister,  to  maintain  the  edict  of  the  18th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1881,  for  the  interest  of  public  health,  particularly  of  the  workingmen. 

[Signatures.] 

Here,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  substance  of  the  memorandum  remitted  to  the 
minister  of  commerce  by  the  delegates  of  the  chambers  of  commerce  of  Paris, 
Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  and  Havre  the  lOth  of  March,  1883: 

We  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you  as  delegates  the  following  observations 
concerning  the  harm  caused  to  the  merchant  marine,  commerce,  and  public  food 
by  the  prohibition  of  American  salted  meats  by  decree  of  18th  February,  1881. 

During  past  years  the  commerce  of  American  salted  meats  procured  annually 
50,000  tons  of  freight  for  our  merchant  marine,  representing  about  40,000,000  kilo- 
grams of  meat  and  a  value  of  50.000,000  francs. 

Prohibition  causes  us  to  lose  annually  under  form  of  freights,  duties,  transpor- 
tations, etc.,  the  sum  of  lo.OOO.OOO  francs,  a  difference  of  about  30  per  cent  between 
the  price  paid  in  the  United  States  and  the  consumer. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  595 

We  will  not  enter  upon  the  appreciation  of  the  scientific  discussions  which  pre- 
ceded and  followed  the  prohibitive  decree  of  the  ISth  February,  since  they  seem  to 
have  been  definitely' decided  by  the  consulting  committee  of  public  hygiene  in  its 
sittings  of  the  4th  August.  1879,  Gth  September,  18tS0.  and  4th  January,  1.^83.  which 
resulted  contrary  to  pi'ohibition,  and  rejected  microscopic  inspections,  from  the 
fact  that  the  habitual  cooking  of  food  in  our  country  prevents  all  danger. 

After  a  complete  study  of  the  question  the  Academy  of  Medicine  in  Paris  formed 
identical  conclusions,  and  proA^es  equally  that — 

First.  Trichinosis  is  a  well-known  malady,  and  its  symptoms  can  not  be  con- 
founded with  any  other. 

Second.  That  in  spite  of  all  the  researches  made  by  the  medical  corps,  whether 
in  autopsies  or  otherwise,  not  a  single  case  has  ever  been  proved  in  France. 

The  academy  also  pronounced  against  microscopic  inspection. 

The  question  remains,  then,  is  it  a  protective  or  sanitary  measure?  In  examin- 
ing the  votes  which  were  given  in  the  deliberating  assemblies  it  is  remarked  that 
the  protectionists  voted  for  the  prohibition  and  the  free  traders  against  it. 

You  are  not  ignorant,  Mr.  Minister,  that  prohibition  was  applied  following  the 
excitement  caused  in  the  political  world  by  the  clever  and  energetically  conducted 
campaign  by  the  salters  of  meats,  a  campaign  sustained  by  the  agricultural  .jour- 
nals and  the  Society  of  Agriculturists  of  France.  This  society  is  composed  in 
a  greater  part  by  large  proprietors,  eager  to  defend  the  interests  they  represent, 
without  considering  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  interests  of  public  nutriment. 

We  may  add  that  while  the  direct  importation  of  American  pork  is  prohibited, 
this  same  pork  comes  into  French  terriiory  under  the  name  of  Belgian  or  German 
pork  and  is  consumed  without  a  single  examinsition. 

It  is  no  less  true  that  last  year  there  was  received  at  the  market  of  La  Villette 
3(5,000  hogs  from  Germany,  more  or  less  infected  with  trichinte,  which  was  deliv- 
ered lor  consumption  without  previous  examination.  At  the  same  time  all  scien- 
tific men  agree  in  declaring  that  fresh  pork  in  which  trichinie  are  alive  is  much 
more  dangerous  than  salt  pork.  In  fact,  it  is  only  fresh  pork  which  is  dangerous. 
If  the  use  of  it  did  not  cause  sickness,  it  was  simply  on  account  of  our  habit  of 
cooking. 

Besides,  the  habitual  consumers  of  American  pork  have  never  been  frightened. 
It  is  difficult  to  make  them  believe  that  what  they  have  eaten  with  impunity  for 
twenty  years  can  be  unwholesome. 

The  same  motives  which  have  impelled  France  induced  Germany  to  prohibit 
American  pork.  The  raising  of  pork  in  Germany  has  increased  so  much  that  it 
seeks  foreign  consumers.  As  we  stated  above,  3(5,000  hogs  were  sold  at  the  single 
market  of  La  Villette  in  1882. 

The  point  is,  Mr.  Minister,  that  prohibition  of  American  pork  touches  the  eco- 
nomic interests  in  a  serious  manner.  Prohibition,  in  depriving  the  working  classes 
from  cheap  food,  causes  them  to  demand  higher  wages,  and  harmony  between  pro- 
l)r!etor  and  workmen  is  disturbed,  and  it  is  vexatious  to  state  that  this  comes  at  a 
time  when  foreign  industry  is  making  great  efforts  to  supplant  our  manufactures. 

A.mericjins  consider  these  prohibitory  measures  vexatious.  A  reduction  of  duties 
on  French  i^roducts  in  the  United  States  is  extremely  desirable  for  us,  but  so  long 
as  this  jjrohibition  lasts  there  will  be  no  reduction,  and  perhaps  retaliation  may 
be  expected. 

To  sum  up,  we  re;juest  that  the  trade  of  American  hog  products  should  remain 
free,  as  it  was  before  February  18, 1881,  for  we  consider  it  is  the  only  way  in  which 
our  commerce  will  reL^ain  its  activity  and  our  working  class  cheap  food. 

To  attain  this  double  object  it  will  be  sufficient,  first,  to  withdraw  the  project 
of  the  law  laid  down  at  the  Chamber  of  Deputies;  second,  to  annul  purely  and 
simply  the  decree  of  prohibition. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nantes  received  a  petition,  which  is  submitted  to 
the  minister  of  commerce,  the  substance  of  which  is  as  follows: 

Nantes,  April  16, 1883. 

Some  days  ago  we  read  in  La  Geronde,  a  Bordeaux  paper,  that  the  prohibition 
of  American  trichina  pork  would  result  in  rendering  the  relations  between  pro- 
prietors ;,nd  workmen  difficult  to  sustain. 

At  this  astonishing  revelation  we  were  contented  to  smile,  thinking  the  cause 
must  be  a  very  bad  one  to  have  to  resort  to  such  arguments,  the  more  so  when  we 
read  from  Mr.  Baillet's  essay  on  the  inspection  of  meats  (M.  Baillet  is  veterinary 
in  chief  of  the  city  of  Bordeaux): 

"American  salt  meats  will  never  fill  an  important  place  in  consumption  beyond 
the  wants  of  the  marine.  Experience  has  already  decided  on  this  point.  In  our 
port  we  have  seen  some  attempts  to  popularize  these  meats  among  the  work  people 
of  Bordeaux,  bat  without  success." 


596  SWrNE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

We  will  add  that  since  the  decree  of  interdiction  our  farmers  have  raised  hogs 
in  snch  quantity  that  French  salt  meats  are  less  in  price  than  American,  taking  as 
basis  the  Antwerp  market  price. 

The  declaration  of  the  United  States  consul  at  Nantes  that  "interested  influences 
acted  to  bring  about  the  prohibition  of  importation  of  American  pork  "  can  not  be 
admitted.  We  would  ask  if  the  same  influences  acttd  in  other  States  of  Europe, 
such  as  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  Greece,  Hungary,  Austria,  and  Germany,  who  have 
equally  prohil>ited  the  same.  The  Hon.  Mr.  Tirard.  in  his  speech  of  24th  May, 
lf?81,  stated  that  England  refused  to  receive  American  trichina  pork,  which  they 
wished  him  to  ship  to  France. 

We  can  understand  why  the  consul  should  ignore  the  sanitary  edicts  by  differ- 
ent Governments  of  Euroi  e.  He  probably  knows  of  the  numerous  cases  of  trichi- 
nosis which  the  American  pa^jers  are  full  of. 

We  equally  think  that  he  must  have  heard  of  the  report  of  Mr.  Clipperton, 
English  consul  at  Philadelpiiia,  in  which  he  states  that  700,(X)0  hogs  died  of  trichi- 
nosis in  IB^sO  in  the  United  States,  which  is  less  than  in  isTi),  when  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois declai  ed  that  1,391,000  hogs  died  of  the  same  epidemic.  The  Commissioner  of 
Agfriculture,  in  his  report  for  1878,  states:  ''In  less  than  half  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  the  annual  loss  on  hogs  alone  is  $10,094,400,  which  is  occasioned  by 
a  malady  which  is  not  understood  by  farmers  or  hog  raiserf^.  I  have  thought  the 
subject  of  so  much  imjjortance  that  it  is  worthy  of  s mious  study.  The  health  of 
our  citizens  demands  the  tinishing  of  this  study,  lor  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that 
herds  of  h'gs  are  transported  to  the  nearest  market  or  killed  by  their  owners  for 
8hi))ment  a-;  soon  as  the  malady  appears  among  them." 

We  understand  that  the  consul  has  no  knowledge  of  what  passed  at  the  cham- 
ber of  commerce  at  Havre  on  oth  May,  1881.  "At  Havre  the  proportion  of  fi  to  S 
per  cent,  which  it  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  service  of  inspection  of  the 
microscopic  engineers,  attains  to-day  to  15  to  20  per  cent.  The  Havre  merchants, 
to  simplify  and  hasten  the  reexportation  of  their  products,  agreed  with  the  mer- 
chants of  Antwerp  to  allow  a  reduction  of  50  percent  on  meats  recognized  affected 
with  trichinip." 

But  we  can  not  suppose  that  the  consul  has  heard  of  the  report  of  Dr.  Detmers 
on  trichinae.  Report  printed  with  100,000  copies  by  order  of  "Congress— 60,000  of 
which  for  use  of  members  of  Congress,  35,000  for  use  of  Senators,  and  15,000  for 
the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture. 

After  numerous  accounts  of  accidents  occasioned  by  trichinae  in  America,  the 
remedy  proposed  by  Dr.  Detm»  rs,  officially  charged  by  the  American  Government 
to  study  the  tjuestion,  is:  "A  complete  destruction  of  hogs  in  the  region  where  the 
malady  prevails  is  the  only  efficacious  remedy.  In  each  "place  where  i)ork  is  raised 
a  competent  inspector  should  be  placed,  with  the  necessary  authority  to  put  into 
strict  execution  all  the  measnres  ordered  by  him.  Every  proprietor  should  be 
obliged  by  law,  under  severe  penalties,  to  notify  within  twelve  hours  to  the  inspec- 
tor of  every  case  of  trichinosis  among  his  herds,  or  if  he  know  of  any  existing  in 
other  herds.  Every  sick  hog  should  be  killed  and  burned,  and  objects  whic-h  have 
been  in  contact  with  them  should  al-o  be  destro3'ed.  All  importations  of  foreign 
pork  should  be  severely  forbidden,  unless  it  is  proved  that  there  is  no  contagion 
among  them.  All  other  remedies  are  good  for  nothing,  and  the  country  would 
be  in  cont  nual  danger." 

Such  is  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Detmers,  appointed  by  Congress  to  make  investi- 
gations on  trichioaer 


No.  29. 

Ilr,  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton, 

No.  294.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  June  22,  188S. 

SlE:  Your  No.  324,  of  the  4th  instant,  in  relation  tq  the  French  prohibition  of 
the  pork  products  of  the  United  States  from  importation  into  France,  has  been 
received.    Your  note  to  Mr.  Challemel-Lacour  is  approved. 

When  the  question  of  prohibitory  measures  against  imports  of  American  pork 
was  lately  under  discussion  in  the  German  Reichstag  the  President  extended  to 
the  German  Government  an  invitation  to  send  a  commission  of  experts  to  the 
United  States  to  investigate  on  the  spot  the  operations  of  hog  raising,  slaughter- 
ing, and  packing,  and  so  satisfy  itself  that  the  conclusions  reached  by  this  Gov- 
ernment, after  a  searching  investigation,  are  sound.  The  German  Government 
did  not,  however,  find  it  practicable  to  act  in  season  upon  this  suggestion. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  597 

I  send  you  for  yonr  information  a  copy  of  the  instruction  sent  to  Mr,  Sargent, 
conveying  this  information.'  It  might  perhaps  be  embarrassing  to  extend  a  like 
formal  invitation  at  this  late  day  to  the  French  Government,  but  you  are  at 
liberty  to  mention  the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Challemel-Lacour  as  an  additional 
illustration  of  the  conviction  felt  by  this  Government  that  the  charges  of  unsound- 
ness and  deleteriousness  brought  against  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States 
are  without  adecjuate  foundation,  and  of  the  confidence  with  which  we  court  the 
fullest  investigation  of  the  facts.  You  may  say  to  the  minister  tliat  it  is  probable 
that  the  President  will,  during  the  present  year,  designate  a  commission  of  the 
most  eminent  scientific  men  of  this  country  to  examine  into  the  matter  and  make 
a  searching  and  impartial  report.  If  Mr.  Challemel-Lacour  should  express  a 
desire  to  have  a  French  representative  appointed  on  such  commission,  or  to  send 
a  French  expert  to  act  in  concert  therewith,  you  will  say  to  him  that  such  coop- 
eration would  be  gladly  welcomed. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fbed'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  30. 

Mr.  Brulatour  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  371. J  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  July  17,  1883.     (Received  August  2.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  your  dispatch  No.  294,  of  the  22d  of  June,  in  relation  to  the 
commission  of  experts  which  the  President  will  probably  appoint  during  the 
present  year  to  investigate  on  the  spot  the  operations  of  hog  raising,  slaughtering, 
and  packing,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  I  acquainted  Mr.  Challemel-Lacour 
with  the  intention  of  the  President,  and  took  occasion  to  say  that  should  the 
French  Government  desire  to  appoint  a  French  examiner  to  act  in  cooperation 
with  this  commission  such  cooperation  would  be  gladly  welcomed. 

Mr.  Challemel  Lacour  seemed  rather  pleased  with  the  idea  of  putting  this  mat- 
ter in  the  hands  of  experts  well  qualified  to  report  tuliy  and  impartially,  and  said 
he  would  mention  the  subject  to  his  colleague,  the  minister  of  commerce,  and 
inform  me  of  his  decision. 

I  have,  etc.,  E.  J.  Buulatoub. 


No.  31. 

Mr.  Davis  to  Mr,  Brulatour. 

No.  337.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  August  28,  188S. 
Sir:  Referring  to  dispatch  No.  48  of  your  legation,  of  the  6th  of  October,  1881, 
I  have  to  request  you  to  send  to  Mr.  Schuyler,  the  American  minister  at  Athens, 
six  copies  of  the  French  translation  of  tlie  pamphlet  on  American  pork  issued 
by  this  Department.  You  may  also  send  six  copies  of  the  translation  to  this 
Department,  if  you  have  them  to  spare, 
lam,  etc., 

John  Davis,  Acting  Secretary, 


No.  32. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  126.}  United  States  Consulate, 

Bordeaux,  September  26, 1883.     (Received  October  15.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  copy  and  translatation  of  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  minister  of  public  works  (M.  Raynal)  at  Paris,  France,  by  the 
merchants  of  Bordeaux  dealing  exclusively  in  American  salt  pork  and  lard. 
I  am,  etc. , 

Geo.  W.  Roosevelt. 

'  See  Instruction  No.  87,  February  16, 1882,  to  the  United  States  minister  at  Berlin. 


598 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


[Inclosare  in  No.  126.— Translation.] 
Bordeaux  dealers  in  American  pork  to  the  minister  of  public  works. 

SYNDICATE  OF  THE  TRADE    IN    AMERICAN    LARD    AND    SALT    PORK,  BORDEAUX— A 
STATEMENT  RELATIVE  TO   AMERICAN  SALT  PORK. 

American  salt  pork  is  freely  admitted  in  England,  Belgium,  Holland,  Sweden. 
Norway,  and  Switzerland;  in  Spain  it  is  subjected,  as  is  German  pork,  to  inspec- 
tion by  experts. 

With  the  exception  of  Germany,  those  European  nations  which  liave  interdicted 
the  use  of  Amorican  salt  porlc  consumed  very  little  of  that  article;  Anstria-Hnn- 
gary,  for  instance,  has  never  imported  it  directly. 

Germany,  therefore,  is  the  only  country  in  which  American  pork  was  consumed 
that  has  followed  the  example  of  France,  and  we  assert  that  in  that  country,  as  in 
others,  the  health  question  was  but  a  pretext  to  favor  the  fanners.  The  articles 
which  appeared  in  the  liberal  German  newspapers  leave  no  doubt  of  this.  It  has. 
moreover,  been  fre(iuently  shown  by  official  documents  (as  evidence  of  which  we 
refer  to  Mr.  Wurtz's  report  to  the  Senate)  that  all  the  cases  of  trichinosis  known 
to  have  occurred  in  Germany  were  due  to  the  eating  of  fresh  pork,  while  not  one 
was  caused  by  eating  American  salt  i)ork. 

There  is  conse  juently  great  cause  to  regret  the  adoption  of  a  measure  which  is 
still  kept  in  force  without  sufficient  reason  and  which  deprives  the  laboring  classes 
of  a  cheap  article  of  food  for  which  no  substitute  has  as  yet  been  found.  The 
managers  of  large  industrial  or  mining  establishments  have  made  serious  com- 
plaints on  this  subject,  which  have  found  an  echo  in  the  commission  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies. 

In  France  out  pork  butchers  sell  the  greater  part  of  their  pork  fresh  and  salt 
those  parts  only  that  are  sold  at  a  higher  price,  as.  for  instance,  hams,  breasts, 
and  fatbacks.  In  America  the  salters  salt  all  the  parts  of  the  animal.  Now,  the 
shoulders  and  the  strips  with  lean,  which  are  excellent  thoiigh  cheap  ineces,  and 
which,  for  the  latter  reason,  are  not  salted  by  French  butchers,  formed  the  greater 
part  of  our  imports— that  is  to  say,  from  J{2,0(J0,000  to  ;5:{.000.000  kilograms;  the 
other  cuts  amounted  to  scarcely  8.000.000  kilograms.  The  latter— that  is,  hams, 
breasts,  and  fatbacks — were  sold  by  the  butchers  at  high  prices  as  French  pro- 
ductions. 

Shoulders  and  strips  containing  lean  were,  on  the  contrary,  bought  by  grocers, 
who,  being  accustomed  to  smaller  profits,  sold  them  to  the  poorer  classes,  among 
which  they  were  in  great  demand,  owing  to  their  cheapness  and  good  quality. 

In  order  properly  to  appreciate  the  consequences  of  the  decreffe  of  February  IH, 
it  is  not  sufficient  to  compare  the  prices  of  pork  before  and  after  that  date.  Com- 
parison should  also  be  made  between  those  prices  and  those  at  which  grocers  sold 
a  kind  of  pork  which  is  no  longer  to  be  procured  in  the  French  market.  More- 
over, as  Mr.  Achard's  report  contains  precise  data  with  regard  to  the  average  rates 
which  prevailed  previou.'^ly  to  the  prohibition,  there  is  no  need  of  referring  to 
that.  It  appears  to  us  that  it  will  be  more  interesting  to  compare  the  prices  at 
which  French  and  American  salt  pork  is  now  sold. 


AMERICAN  SALT  PORK. 

[Prices  at  which  it  could  be  sold  at  wholesale  in 
French  ports,  with  the  dnty  paid,  per  100  kilo- 
gi-ams.] 

Francs. 

Shoulders 80  to   82 

Strips  with  lean 90  to   92 

Breasts 115  to  120 

Chines 120  to  135 

Hams 145  to  160 


FRENCH  SALT  PORK. 

[Wholesale  prices  per  100  kilograms  at  Paris, 
Lyons,  and  Bordeaux.] 

Francs. 
No  equivalent. 
No  equivalent. 

Breasts 135  to  150 

Chines 140  to  160 

Hams 200  to  220 


If  we  compare  the  above  prices  with  the  retail  prices,  we  shall  see  what  enor- 
mous profits  the  pork  butcher  makes  in  dealing  with  the  customer,  owing  to  the 
monopoly  which  has  caused  the  adoption  of  the  prohibitory  measure. 

If,  moreover,  we  consult  the  table  given  below,  the  figures  of  which  are  taken 
from  the  market  reports  of  Bordeaux  and  Paris,  we  observe  that  producers  now 
receive  lower  prices  for  their  swine  than  they  did  prior  to  1881. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  599 

Average  price  per  100  Jeilograms,  net  weight. 


Third  quar- 
ter, 1880. 

Fourth  quar 
ter,  1880. 

First  quar- 
ter. 1881. 

First  quar- 
ter. 1883. 

Third  quar- 
ter, 1883. 

B'lrileaux       

130  to  140 

128. 50  to  136 

137  to  142. 50 

149  to  183 

104  to  114. 50 
123  to  143 

104  .50  to  114 

Pari.s.  Villetto 

127  to  156. 50 

Extraordinary  ra  this  consequence  of  prohibition  may  at  first  sight  appear,  it  is 
explained  by  the  com])etition  of  the  neighboring  nations.  Germany,  whose  hogs 
are  by  no  means  free  from  disease,  sent  40.000  of  them  to  the  Paris  market  in  1883. 
Spain  also  sends  her  swine  to  our  city.  Austria-Hungary  sends  us  its  salt  bacon, 
and  other  neighboring  nations  send  us  salt  pork  which  is  probably  American.  We 
say  probably  because  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  determine  the  real  origin  of  any 
piece  of  pork. 

The  pork  butchers  are  therefore  the  only  ones  who  now  have  no  competition  to 
contend  against,  and  who,  owing  to  the  exceptional  state  of  things  which  has  been 
caused  by  the  decree  of  February  18,  are  growing  rich  at  the  expense  of  both  pro- 
ducers and  consumers.  At  the  time  when  the  decree  was  promulgated  they  did 
not  foresee  the  results  which  have  inured  so  greatly  to  their  benefit,  for,  on  the 
very  day  followini^  its  promulgation,  they  all  protested  against  the  very  measure 
which  they  now,  with  the  same  unanimity,  ask  to  have  kept  in  force.  To  cite  but 
one  fact  in  support  of  the  assertion,  we  refer  to  a  petition  sent  from  Lyons,  the 
signers  of  which,  who  had,  it  appears,  engaged  in  an  unfortunate  speculation, 
requested  the  Government  to  adopt  still  more  stringent  measures,  inasmuch  as 
such  measures  would  have  afforded  them  relief  by  enabling  them  to  dispose  of  the 
stock  of  goods  which  they  had  on  hand  at  a  large  profit. 

Now  that  the  wholesome  character  of  American  pork  is  no  longer  seriously  dis- 
puted, even  by  our  adversaries,  there  remain,  in  behalf  of  prohibition,  none  but 
the  reasons  put  forward  by  protectionists.  We  have  faith  in  the  liberalism  of  the 
Government,  and  feel  confident  that  it  will  treat  those  superannuated  theories  as 
they  deserve;  and  since  the  fears  no  longer  exist  which,  as  we  are  assured,  alone 
called  forth  the  decree  of  prohibition,  we  trust  that  the  days  of  prohibition  are 
now  numbered. 

We  ask,  together  with  the  merchants  of  Havre  and  Marseilles,  for  the  revoca- 
tion, pure  and  simple,  of  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881;  yet,  in  order  to  satisfy 
everybody,  we  should  be  perfectly  willing  to  have  pork  subjected  to  sanitary 
inspection  on  its  arrival,  with  a  view  to  furnishing  evidence  of  its  good  condition. 

We  do,  however,  object  to  the  other  methods  proposed,  such  as  microscopic 
examination  or  refrigeration.  These  we  consider  as  being  impracticable  and  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  give  rise  to  obstacles  which  would  be  equivalent  to  prohibition. 

[Signatures.] 

Bordeaux,  Septembers,  1S83. 


No.  33. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  364.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  October  9,  1883. 

Sir:  With  reference  to  previous  correspondence  on  the  subject,  I  have  to  inform 
you  that  in  view  of  the  action  taken  by  Germany  and  several  other  foreign  povi-ers 
in  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  pork  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  an 
unhealthful  article  of  food,  this  Government  has  now  taken  measures  for  such  a 
thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  as  will,  it  is  thought,  leave  no  doubt  what- 
ever as  to  the  facts. 

To  this  end  the  President  has  designated  a  commission,  which  he  has  charged 
with  the  duty  of  making  a  searching  and  impartial  examination  of  all  the  condi- 
tions of  hog  raising  and  packing  industries  of  the  United  States.  The  chairman 
of  the  commis-ion  is  Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 
whose  ofi&cial  duties  for  several  years  past  have  made  him  very  familiar  with  the 
subject  now  submitted  to  the  commission  for  formal  investigation. 

The  other  members  of  the  commission  are: 

First.  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler,  an  eminent  scientist  of  New  York,  who  was  unan- 


600  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

imously  selected  by  the  chamber  of  commerce  of  that  city  on  account  of  his 
peculiar  competency  for  the  position; 

Second.  Eliphalet  W.  Blatchford,  esq.,  who  was  nominated  by  the  Board  of 
Trade  of  Chicago  as  an  intelligent  gentleman  of  the  very  highest  social  and  busi- 
ness standing,  who  "is  in  no  way  personally  interested  in  the  business  to  be  inves- 
tigated and  is  possessed  of  those  characteristics  which  it  is  lielieved  will  enable 
him  fully,  ably,  and  fairly  to  cooperate  with  the  members  of  the  commission  in 
placing  these  most  important  interests  in  their  true  position  before  the  Govern- 
ment and  through  it  before  the  commercial  world; " 

Third.  F.  D.  Curtis,  esq.,  of  Charlton,  N.  Y.,  recommended  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  as  a  gentleman  who  has  given  long  and  diligent  study  to  the  indus- 
try: and 

Fourth.  Prof.  D.  E.  Salmon,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  nominated  by  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture,  and  well  known  as  one  of  the  most  learned  and  skillful 
veterinary  surgeons  in  the  United  States. 

This  commission  will  be  organized  at  an  early  day,  and  the  results  of  its  inves- 
tigation will  be  submitted  to  Congress  as  soon  as  practicable. 

It  appears  from  Mr.  Brulatour"s  dispatch  No.  371,  of  the  17th  of  June  last,  that 
when  he  informed  the  French  foreign  ofiBce  of  the  Presidents  intention  to  appoint 
this  commission,  Mr.  Challemel  Lacour  seemed  pleased  with  the  proposal,  and 
promised  to  mention  the  subject  to  his  colleague,  the  minister  of  commerce,  and 
inform  the  legation  of  the  result.  The  Department  not  having  as  yet  been  advised 
as  to  the  decision  reached  by  the  French  Government  in  regard  to  the  matter,  I 
will  thank  you  to  lose  no  time  in  informing  the  foreign  office  of  the  action  which 
the  President  has  now  taken  in  reference  to  the  subject. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fbeds.  T.  Feelinqhuysen, 


No.  84. 
Mr.  Olover  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  51.]  United  States  Consui^ate, 

Havre,  October  15,  1883.     (Received  November  2.) 
Sir:  In  a  speech  delivered  at  a  banquet  in  this  city  last  evening  Minister  Ferry 
made  the  following  remarks  in  regard  to  American  salt  meats,  which  I  translate 
and  forward  for  your  information. 

I  am,  etc.,  John  B.  Glover, 

United  States  Consul, 


[Inclosnre  in  No.  51.— Extract  from  Minister  Perry's  speech.— Translation.] 

There  is,  nevertheless,  one  of  your  claims  of  which  I  must  immediately  say  a 
word,  for  it  is  a  question  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  interests  of  this  illus- 
trious city,  so  well  presented  a  moutent  ago  in  the  speech  of  your  honorable  dep- 
uty, Mr.  Penlevey.    It  is  of  American  salted  meats. 

On  this  question  you  preach  to  one  converted.  I  partake  of  your  sentiment  on 
the  liberty  of  the  commerce  of  salted  meats,  but  I  think  also  that  it  is  proper  to 
take  account  of  the  opinion  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  public  on  the  question  of 
healthfulness,  to  which  science  is  searching  to  give  a  solution.  At  this  moment, 
while  I  am  speaking,  the  question  is  being  studied  by  the  most  important  of  Gov- 
ernment bodies,  the  health  committee. 

Let  it  only  give  a  guaranty  covering  the  responsibility  of  the  Government 
keejjer  of  the  public  health,  and  the  solution  will  be  nigh.  For  myself  I  will  do 
all  I  can.  I  assure  you,  and  I  hope  that  in  the  near  future  the  question  will  be 
resolved  in  a  democratic  and  liberal  sense,  not  only  for  commerce,  but  also  for  the 
population  it  sustains. 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  601 

No.  35. 

Mr,  Wilson  to  Mr.  Davis. 
[Extract.] 

No.  30.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Nantes,  October  SO,  1SS3.  (Received  November  9.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  slips  from  newspapers  published  in  Nantes, 
which  I  transmit  for  your  information,  concerning  the  public  feeling  in  this  local- 
ity anent  the  subject  of  the  prohibition  of  American  pork.  This  feeling,  as  1  have 
heretofore  shovpn  (dispatch  No.  12),  had  its  foundation  in  interested  motives,  those 
looking  to  the  protection  of  the  pork  manufacturers  of  this  vicinity;  and  doubt- 
less these  motives  continue  their  influence.  *  *  * 
I  have,  etc., 

Thomas  Wilson,  Consul. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  30.— Extracts  from  newspapers  published  at  Nantes.— Translation.] 
MUNICIPAL  BOARD   OP  NANTES. 

Mr.  Normand,  in  behalf  of  the  salters  of  our  city,  moved  that  the  Government 
should  be  requested  to  maintain  the  decree  prohibiting  the  in)portation  of  Amer- 
ican bacon. 

On  a  racent  occasion,  and  with  a  certain  solemnity,  said  Mi:.  Normand,  the 
revocation  of  this  decree  was  asked  for  by  the  merchants  of  Havre. 

It  is  important  that  we  take  measures  to  protect  the  health  of  all  our  people,  and 
that  we  act  in  behalf  of  our  manufacturers  and  farmers,  who  would  be  seriously 
injured  if  the  Government  were  to  abate  the  stringency  of  the  measures  which 
have  been  adopted. 

Mr.  Normand  did  not  propose  to  address  the  deputies  and  senators  of  the  depart- 
ment, doubtless  lest  it  should  then  be  necessary  likewise  to  thank  them  collect- 
ively,. He  reiuested  the  mayor  to  prepare'a  letter  to  the  iBinister  of  commerce 
askjiug  for  the  maintenance  of  the  present  state  of  things. 

The  board  requested  the  mayor  to  convey  the  expression  of  its  wishes  to  the 
ministers. 

AMERICAN  SALT  PORK. 

In  a  previous  number  we  said:  "  In  our  opinion  these  serious  questions  call  for 
serious  examination  and  discussion,  and  require  that  all  the  documents  be  laid 
before  the  parties  interested." 

We  consequently  now  publish  a  translation  of  an  important  report,  made  by  the 
British  consul  at  Philadelphia,  which  has  been  very  little  read  in  our  country. 

THE    CONTROVERSY  WITH    REGARD    TO    HOa    CHOLERA — IMPORTANT    CORRESPOND- 
ENCE—CONSUL CLIPPERTON'S  DEFENSE — REPLY  OF  THE  COMMITTEE. 

The  following  correspondence  relative  to  the  reports  made  on  hog  cholera  in  the 
West  requires  no  explanation.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Messrs.  Orr,  Fowler  & 
Sinclair  called  recently  on  Consul  Clipperton  in  relation  to  his  report  to  his  Gov- 
ernment, in  which  he  stated  that  700,000  hogs  had  died  of  hog  cholera  in  the  State 
of  Illinois.  On  their  return  these  gentlemen  prepared  a  report,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  full  in  the  Bulletin,  and  requested  Secretary  Blaine  to  take  the  matter 
in  hand.  Consul  Clipperton  subsequently  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the 
committee: 

March  10, 1881. 
Messrs.  Orr,  Fowler  &  Co., 

Special  Coviviitfee  of  the  Neto  TorJc  Stock  Exchange. 

Gentlemen:  According  to  my  promise  to  acijuaint  you  with  the  result  of  my 
latest  investigations  relative  to  the  hog  disease  in  the  State  of  Illinois  in  the  year 
1880.  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  all  the  statistics  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
for  the  year  1880  have  not  yet  been  jiublished.  If  you  will  refer,  however,  to  vol- 
ume 16  of  the  reports  of  the  Illinois  agricultural  department  (for  1878) ,  pages  377 


602  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

and  378,  nnder  the  heading  "Hog  cholera."  you  will  find  that  the  number  of  hogs 
was  3,334,U,0,  and  that  the  number  of  those  whit-h  died  of  disease  was  474,758;  that 
is  to  say,  14  per  cent  of  the  whole.  The  loss  in  money  is  estimated  at  Sl,438,5!?9. 
In  volume  17  (for  1879),  page  3H3.  the  number  of  hogs  destroyed  by  cholera  from 
May  1,  1878.  to  May  1,  1879,  is  stated  to  have  reached  the  enormous  figure  of 
1,391,422  head,  and  the  weight  is  stated  to  have  been  139,8Si3,508  i^ouuds.  being  an 
average  of  100  pounds  per  head.  In  a  single  county  (Wan-en)  r)y,.*)44  hogs  d  ed. 
On  pages  344  and  54')  the  number  of  hogs  lost  up  to  May  1,  1880,  is  estimated  at 
182,577. 

These  statistics  do  not  include  the  young  pigs,  the  census  having  been  taken  in 
April,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  are  bom  alter  that  date,  among  which  there 
must  have  been  more  or  less  mortality  from  hog  cholera. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  without  having  been  able,  thus 
far,  to  give  the  exact  figures,  has  expressed  the  opinion  tbat  the  nuiuber  of  hogs 
that  died  in  Illinois  in  1880  was  not  less  than  300.000. 

This  information  was  recently  communicated  to  me  by  letter.  Taking  these 
figures  into  consideration,  and  bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  swine  plague  or 
hog  cholera  must  liave  its  fluctuations,  it  is  very  probable  that,  if  the  amount  of 
the  present  mortality  could  be  made  known,  the  total  number  would  differ  little 
from  that  stated,  i.  e.,  700,0i>0  head. 

There  is  certainly  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  figures  1,391,422  for  the 
year  ending  May  1,  1879,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Illinois  Agricultural 
Department,  and  those  announced  by  Mr.  Fowler  for  18^0.  i.  e.,  700.0  JO  head. 

Allow  me  to  call  your  attention  to  the  concessions  which  you  were  disposed  to 
make  at  the  close  of  our  long  but  interesting  mterview  on  Monday  last.  Those 
concessions  were:  First,  that  the  consular  report  to  my  Government  did  not  con- 
cern the  State  of  Ohio;  second,  that  the  report  made  by  me  to  my  Government 
was  not  a  special  report,  but  formed  part  of  the  monthly  sanitary  report  which 
all  consular  officers  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  are  required  to  furnish:  third,  that 
hog  cholera  exists  and  has  existed  for  years  in  all  the  States  in  which  hog-raising 
is  carried  on  on  a  large  scale;  fourth,  that  trichinosis  is  a  disease  which  affects  the 
human  system,  and  that  it  is  cau.sed  by  the  use  of  unwholesome  or  raw  pork.  The 
patience  and  intelligence  shown  by  you  in  the  di-cussion  of  this  subject,  together 
with  your  affable  manners,  have  merited  our  most  sincere  respect,  and  I  take  tins 
opportunity  to  express  my  regret  that  the  committees  of  other  cities,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  daily  ptfpers  of  this  country,  have  not  shown  the  same  moderation 
relative  to  this  matter. 

Now,  gentlemen,  allow  me  to  quote  from  a  report  received  this  morning  from 
Chicago:  "It  now  appears  that  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  not  that  of  Ohio,  is  the 
one  in  which  700.000  hogs  died  in  1880.  and  my  opinion  is  that  the  parties  inter- 
ested are  disposed  to  let  the  question  rest,  and  that  they  will  not  ask  for  an  investi- 
gation. Should  it  be  decide  I  to  hold  one,  the  result  might  be  (juite  different  from 
the  statements  of  the  boards  of  trade  of  New  York.  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Chi- 
cago, Indianapolis,  Cleveland,  etc.  I  think  I  know  that  several  members  of  the 
Chicago  committee  have  made  a  trip  to  Springfield,  the  capital  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  it  is  likely  that  the  stiitistics  which  they  have  seen  there  have  edified 
them  as  to  the  mortality  among  swine  in  that  State." 

The  reasons  that  induced  you  to  publish  the  decisions  which  condemned  the 
consular  reports  vn.ll  doubtle.s8  lead  you  to  publish  this  letter. 

1  further  beg  leave  to  quote  certam  passages  from  official  reports  concerning 
agricultural  matters  in  the  United  States. 

Does  the  swine  plague,  otherwise  known  as  hog  cholera,  exist  in  this  country? 

The  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  in  his  report  for  187!S.  says: 

"For  less  than  one  half  the  territory  of  the  United  States  they  show  annual 
losses  amounting  to  $10,091,483  in  swine  alone,  and  for  all  other  classes  of  domisti- 
cated  animals  the  losses  are  given  for  the  same  counties  at  $G,5Gl,94o,  making  a 
grand  total  of  $16,653,428. 

"These  figures  indicate  that  the  losses  of  farm  animals  throughout  the  United 
State-  annually  aggregate  the  sum  of  $30,000,000  or  more.  As  at  least  two- thirds 
of  this  amount  seemed  to  be  sustained  in  the  loss  of  swine  from  affections  which 
appeared  to  be  but  little  tinderstood  by  the  farmer  and  stock  raiser,  I  regarded 
the  subject  of  sufficient  imi)ortance  to  call  for  an  appropriation  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  a  scientific  investigation  into  the  causes  of  many  of  the  more  malig- 
nant, infections,  and  contagious  diseases  of  domesticated  animals,  but  more  espe- 
cially of  those  incident  to  swine.    *    *    * 

"  In  addition  to  the  saving  of  so  vast  an  amount  of  property  the  health  of  our 
people  demands  the  completion  of  this  work,  as  it  is  a  noteworthy  but  lamentable 
fact  that  many  herds  of  hogs  are  shipped  to  the  nearest  market,  or  are  slaughtered 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  603 

by  the  owner  for  marketable  purposes,  as  soon  as  disease  makes  its  appearance 
among  them."     (Pages  34  and  25,  report  for  1878. ) 

Is  the  disease  known  as  hog  cholera  contagions? 

Dr.  Detmers.  in  his  report  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1878,  says: 

"  The  contagion  or  the  infectious  principle  is  and  has  been  disseminated  through 
the  whole  country  in  a  wholesale  manner,  as  I  shall  show  immediately.  During 
the  first  month  of  my  presence  in  Champaign  I  stopped  at  the  Doane  House,  a 
hotel  belonging  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  and  constituting  also 
the  railroad  depot.  Every  night  carloads  of  diseased  hogs,  destined  for  Chicago, 
passed  my  window.  Only  a  very  short  time  ago,  on  one  of  the  last  days  of  Octo- 
ber, a  farmer,  J.  T.  M.,  living  near  Tolono,  sold  07  hogs  (some,  if  not  all  of  them, 
diseased,  and  a  few  of  them  already  in  a  dying  condition)  for  2  cents  a  pound,  to 
be  shipped  ta  Chicago.  1  could  cite  numerous  instances,  but  I  think  it  not  neces- 
sary, because  these  facts  are  known  to  everyone  where  the  swine  plague  is  pre- 
vailing. Besides,  in  nearly  every  little  town  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  cases 
of  swine  plague  are  of  frequent  occurrence  is  a  rendering  establishment  to  which 
dead  hogs  are  brought.  These  establishments  pay  1  cent  a  pound,  and  the  farmers 
haul  their  dead  hogs  sometimes  10  or  15  miles,  in  open  wagons,  past  farms,  barns, 
and  hog  lots,  and  disseminate  thereby  the  germs  of  the  disease  through  the  whole 
country.  The  transportation  of  dead  hogs  by  wagon,  I  admit,  might  be  stopped 
by  State  laws,  but  the  latter  prove  usually  to  be  ineffective  where  railroad  com- 
panies (interstate  and  international  traffic)  are  concemed," 

In  his  entire  report  Dr.  Detmers  shows  that  the  swine  plague  or  hog  cholera  is 
a  contagious  and  infectious  disease;  that  it  is  easily  communicated  by  one  animal 
to  another,  either  by  direct  inoculation  or  by  the  introduction  of  the  infectious 
principle  into  the  digestive  organs  in  the  form  of  food  or  drink:  that  a  very  small 
quantity  of  the  virus  or  infectious  principle  is  sufficient  to  cause  the  disease;  that 
the  infection  may  be  transmitted  to  other  species  of  domestic  animals;  that  so 
harmless  a  ]i(iuid  as  milk  will  produce  the  disease  with  as  much  certainty  as  direct 
inoculation  from  a  dead  or  diseased  hog,  and  that  the  contagion  is  transmitted 
from  herd  to  herd  and  from  farm  to  farm.  (Special  report  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  No.  22,  for  1878.) 

AJr.  Robert  Hodson,  a  storekeeper  in  Oquawka,  made  the  following  statement: 

"I  have  a  farm  on  the  banks  of  Henderson  River,  and  last  year  kept  quite  a 
herd  of  hogs.  One  morning  1  found  lodged  at  my  hog  lot,  which  joins  the  river, 
a  dead  hog,  which  had  come  downstream,  and  had  probably  been  thrown  in  some 
distance  above.  My  hogs  discovered  it  earlier  than  I  and  were  feeding  on  the 
carcass  when  I  came.  Ten  days  later  they  commenced  to  die.  My  loss  amounted 
to  fully  $1,500." 

Mr.  Millers  whole  herd  consisted  of  2^10  head,  and  237  died;  only  3  survived 
or  remained  exempted.  At  that  time  no  other  case  of  swine  plague  existed  in  the 
whole  neighborhood,  and,  according  to  the  best  information  I  could  obtain,  there 
was  none  within  20  miles.  Soon,  however,  the  disease  commenced  to  spread 
from  Mr.  Miller's  herd  to  those  of  his  neighbors,  first  to  the  herd  of  his  neighbor 
toward  the  north  (the  prevailing  wind  was  from  the  south),  then  all  around,  and 
finally  over  the  whole  township  and  beyond.  In  November,  1878,  Mr.  Miller, 
when  he  had  only  3  hogs  left,  bought  again  32  head.  These,  too,  very  soon  became 
infected,  and  commenced  to  die  at  the  rate  of  one,  two,  and  three  a  day. 

Pat  Mvirphy  lives  H  miles  south  of  Gap  Grove.  Up  to  January  2  he  had  lost  5 
hogs  out  of  a  herd  of  10  head;  7  had  been  sick,  but  2  had  recovered.  *  *  * 
Those  of  his  next  neighbor  south,  Mr.  Hadeler,  became  affected  next.  Mr. 
Hade] er  lost  100  head  and  saved  9.    *    *    * 

A  radical  extermination  is  the  only  thing  that  will  be  effective,  unless  it  can  be 
proved  that  a  spontaneous  development  i.s  taking  place  or  can  take  place  within 
the  borders  of  the  United  States.  Fortunately  the  low  temperature  of  the  winters 
in  our  principal  pork-producing  States  facilitates  a  stamping  out,  if  undertaken 
at  the  proper  time  in  the  winter  and  in  the  spring,  because  a  low  temperature 
(irost),  and  especially  snow,  interrupt  very  essentially  the  propagation  of  the  dis- 
ease germs  and  the  spreading  of  the  disease,  and  although  not  absolutely  destroy- 
ing or  killing  the  bacilli  and  their  germs,  cause  a  great  many  of  them  to  perish  or 
to  be  in  a  dormant  state  for  some  time.  Besides  that  the  number  of  hogs  and  pigs 
in  existence  from  the  1st  of  January  to  the  1st  of  April  is  a  comparatively  small 
one,  because  most  of  the  hogs  have  been  shipped  and  butchered  and  the  young 
pigs  have  not  been  born.  But  the  measures  of  extermination  or  stamping  out 
must  be  thorough.     *     *     * 

Although  not  called  upon  to  propose  any  law  or  legislation,  I  consider  it  my 
duty  to  lay  before  you  a  plan  which,  if  executed,  will  lead  to  a  prompt  and  effect- 
ive suppression  and  the  final  extinction  of  that  terrible  plague  which  costs  the 


604  SWINE   PBODU0T8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

country  every  year  many  millions  of  dollars  and  undermines  the  prosperity  not 
only  of  individual  farmei-s  bat  of  whole  States.    (Special  report  No.  22,  p.  45.) 

CAN   HOG  CHOLERA  AFFECT  THE  HUMAN   SYSTEM? 

Dr.  Detmers  says:  "  It  may  also  not  be  out  of  place  to  relate  a  case  that  occurred 
last  summer  in  Knox  County,  111.  A  well-to-do  and  highly  respectable  family, 
residing  near  Yates  City,  lost,  in  last  July,  three  children,  aged,  respectively,  18, 
5  or  (5,  and  2^  or  3  years,  of  a  disease  diagnosed  by  the  attending  physicians  as 
diphtheria.  The  two  remaining  children  of  the  same  family  also  became  ailected, 
but  recovered.  Five  physicians  were  in  attendance  and  made  a  careful  research 
as  to  the  possible  cause  or  causes  and  could  find  but  one  thing  which  might  be 
construed  as  such.  The  family  used  ice  which  had  been  taken  from  a  creek  into 
which,  above,  some  hogs  (hogs  that  had  died  of  swiiif  plague)  had  been  thrown 
just  before  the  water  of  the  creek  became  frozen.  My  informants  are  a  highly 
respected  physician  in  Biggsville,  Dr.  Maxwell,  and  a  near  relative  of  the  afflicted 
family.  Mr.  John  McKee,  who  has  a  drug  store  in  the  same  place."  (Special 
report  No.  22,  p.  45, ) 

In  conclusion,  although  by  no  means  ignorant  of  the  result,  it  is  unnecessary  for 
me  to  follow  up  the  question  of  trichinosis  any  further;  all  who  read  the  news- 
papers know  that  serious  cases  occur  in  the  various  sections  of  this  country  and  in 
Europe.  It  is  moreover  not  for  me  to  mention  in  this  connection  the  cwijAaints 
tchich  every  innv  and  tlun  come  frovi  European  ports  imtJi  regard  to  the  inferior 
quality  and  bad  condition  of  tlie  salt  pork  shipped  thither,  which  cause  it  to  l>e 
rejected  by  foreign  inspectors,  occasion  serious  losses  to  importers,  and  bring 
American  pork  exports  into  discredit;  nor  is  it  for  me  to  expatiate  upon  the  causes 
of  the  difference  of  opinion  between  the  chamber  of  commerce  of  this  city  and 
the  United  States  consul  at  Brussels  with  regard  to  the  certificates  of  inspection 
issued  by  the  Government. 

I  am,  etc.,  R.  C.  Ci-ipperton, 

Consul  of  H.  B.  M. 

MUNICIPAL  BOARD  OP  NANTES,   SESSION  OF  OCTOBER  18,  1883. 

Mr.  Normand  remarked  that  the  importation  of  American  salt  pork  had  been 
prohibited  by  a  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  trichinosis 
in  America.  Mr.  Tirard,  he  said,  had  issued  that  decree  after  a  careful  investiga- 
tion, and  Germany,  Turkey,  Italy,  etc.,  had  followed  the  example  of  France.  Mr. 
Normand  said  that  the  minister  of  commerce,  during  a  visit  recently  made  by  him 
to  Havre,  appeared  to  have  lent  too  attentive  an  ear  to  the  complaints  of  the  mer- 
chants of  that  city,  and  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  the  Government  would 
revoke  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881.  Mr.  Normand  therefore  moved  that  the 
municipal  board  should  adopt  the  follovdng  resolution: 

"Whereas  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881.  prohibited  the  importation  of  salt 
pork  from  America,  because  it  had  been  found  that  such  pork  contained  trichinae 
and  that  it  could  not  be  eaten  without  endangering  public  health;  and 

"  Whereas  American  pork  is  still  trichinous,  which  is  the  best  answer  that  can 
be  made  to  the  merchants  of  Havre  who  are  urging  the  Government  to  rescind 
the  aforesaid  decree  at  the  risk  of  introducing  trichinosis  into  France,  which 
malady  is  fretjuently  fatal  to  mankind,  and  may  cause  the  destruction  of  all  the 
swine  in  the  country:  Therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  this  municipal  board  request  the  Government  of  the  French 
Republic  rigorously  to  maintain  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  and  to  disregard 
the  wishes  of  the  merchants  of  Havre." 

Mr.  Lechat  thought  that  the  importation  of  American  salt  pork  was  prohibited 
only  when  it  was  found  to  be  trichinous,  but  that  it  was  an  error  to  suppose  that 
the  importation  of  all  salt  pork  from  America  was  indiscriminately  prohibited. 
He  said  that  the  proper  thing  for  the  Government  to  do  was  to  cause  the  pork 
brought  from  America  to  be  carefully  examined,  otherwise  the  French  people 
would  be  deprived  of  an  important  article  of  food.  Meat,  he  said,  was  already 
sold  at  very  high  prices;  the  rise  in  the  price  of  beef,  for  instance,  had  been  nearly 
15  per  cent  during  the  past  year. 

Mr.  Lechat  added  that  great  strictness  was  necessary  in  the  case  of  trichinous 
pork,  for  deception  was  easy.  The  Americans,  said  he,  put  choice  pieces  of  meat 
at  the  top  of  the  barrel  and  the  diseased  pieces  beneath.  Inspection  is  difficult, 
and  it  should  be  carefully  performed.  The  Government  had  stated  in  reply  to 
Mr.  Penlevey,  the  gentleman  who  pleaded  the  cause  of  trichinous  pork  at  Havre, 
that  the  governmental  board  of  health  should  ezaminine  the  question.    The  min- 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  605 

ister  of  commerce  had  said  nothing  more,  and  intentions  should  not  be  attributed 
to  him  which  he  perhaps  never  entertained. 

Mr.  Lechat  therefore  thought  that  nothing  more  than  a  rigid  inspection  should 
be  asked  for. 

Mr.  Normand  said  that  he  simply  asked  for  the  maintenance  of  the  decree  of 
February  18,  1881.     The  prohibition  thereby  established,  he  said,  was  absolute. 

Mr.  Normand"s  motion  was  unanimously  adopted. 

His  honor  the  mayor  said  that  he  would  transmit  the  resolution  which  had 
been  adopted  to  the  Government,  but  that  he  had  already  transmitted  a  similar 
re(iuest  from  the  merchants  of  Nantes,  to  which  Mr.  Ferry  had  replied  by  declar- 
ng  that  he  would  make  no  change  in  the  decree  without  a  thorough  examination. 


No.  36. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  425.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  October  21,  1883.     (Received  November  3.) 

Sir:  Having  had  recent  conversations  with  the  President,  the  iiresident  of  the 
council,  and  other  members  of  the  cabinet  with  reference  to  the  decree  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  American  salted  meats,  I  deemed  the  present  a  fitting  time  to 
address  another  dispatch  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  restating  the  reasons 
why  my  Government  had  expected  for  a  long  time  the  withdrawal  of  this  decree, 
and  asking  the  early  and  earnest  consideration  of  the  question  by  the  French  Gov- 
ernment. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  a  copy  of  my  communication,  which  I  hope  will 
meet  the  approval  of  the  Department. 

I  have,  etc.,  Levi  P.  Morton. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  425.] 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Challemel  Lacour. 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  October  20,  1S8S. 

Sir:  I  beg  leave  to  call  again  your  excellency's  attention  to  the  subject-matter  of 
my  note  of  March  23,  1883,  representing  the  injustice  of  the  long-standing  decree 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  salted  meats. 

The  conversations  I  have  had  the  honor  to  hold  with  your  excellency  and  other 
members  of  the  cabinet  in  relation  to  the  decree,  had  led  me  to  believe  that  it 
would  have  been  repealed  long  ago.  I  regret  to  say  that  it  is  still  in  force,  and  I 
must  add  that  I  fail  to  see  upon  what  ground  a  measure  so  prejudicial  to  the 
true  interests  of  two  great  countries  so  friendly  allied  as  France  and  the  United 
States  are,  is  so  persistently  retained. 

The  present  minister  of  commerce  believes  it  uncalled  for.  His  predecessor 
openly  advocated  its  repeal  in  the  Senate;  the  constitutional  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  president  of  the  council,  has  publicly  declared  that  he  disapproves  of  it; 
your  excellency  opposed  it  in  the  Senate  chamber.  The  House  of  Deputies  ex- 
pressed itself  unequivocally  in  favor  of  its  repeal,  and  the  Senate,  while  declining 
by  a  bare  majority  to  interfere  in  the  matter,  left  the  Government  free  to  take  its 
own  course.  The  Academy  of  Medicine  of  France  has  declared  it  unnecessary;  the 
board  of  public  hygiene  has  made  the  same  authoritative  declaration,  and  the 
great  chemist,  Mr.  Wurtz,  who  is  paramount  authority  for  the  whole  scientific 
world,  has  demonstrated  in  unanswerable  language  its  absolute  inutility.  ' 

A  moment's  consideration  will,  I  trust,  satisfy  your  excellency  that,  on  the 
ground  of  public  health,  it  would  be  much  more  justifiable  to  exclude  French 
wines  from  America  than  it  is  to  prohibit  American  meats  in  France.  The  French 
scientific  authorities  do  not  contend  that  the  consumption  of  American  meats  is 
dangerous,  while  they  do  contend  that  some  French  wines  are  adulterated  to  an 
extent  prejudicial  to  public  health. 

On  the  one  side  there  is  the  evidence  of  the  most  competent  of  your  learned 
institutions  in  such  matters  that  American  salted  meats  are  inoffensive;  on  the 
other  there  is  the  evidence  of  your  own  officials  that  French  wines  are  manipulated 
in  Buch  a  manner  as  to  make  them  unhealthy. 


606  SWOTE   PRODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Yet.  notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  weight  of  such  facts,  and  in  spite  of  the 
repeated  complaints  of  the  French  chambers  of  commerce  and  of  the  earnt  st  rep- 
resentations of  the  United  States,  this  obnoxious  decree  has  remained  standing  lor 
nearly  three  years  and  has  hail  the  mischievous  tendency  of  alienating  from  France 
the  powerful  conii>erciaI  interests  of  our  Western  States.  Your  excellency  can 
not  be  unaware  that  the  growing  dissatisfaction  caused  by  this  extraordinary  dis- 
crimination, only  applicable  to  the  United  States  of  all  the  countries  with  which 
France  is  in  friendly  relations,  against  one  of  the  most  important  products  of  the 
United  States,  is  likely  to  give  rise  to  discussion  in  the  Congress  about  to  convene 
at  Washington  which  might  result  in  measures  which  would  seriously  affect 
Franco- American  commerce  in  some  of  its  most  important  branches. 

If  I  call  your  excellency's  attention  to  these  facts,  it  is  by  no  means  with  the 
intention  of  threatening  the  French  Government  with  retaliatory  measures,  which, 
80  far  as  I  am  informed,  are  not  contemplated  by  my  Government,  but  simply  to 
show  that  the  interests  which  are  provoked  to  take  such  a  course  could  find 
snbstantial  reasons  to  support  the  posit  on. 

Believing  that  the  French  Government  would  satisfy  itself  that  the  decree  was 
issued  under  a  misapprehension  and  cheerfully  abrogate  it,  neither  the  Govern- 
ment nor  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  the  constantly 
increasing  pressure  of  public  opinion,  has  taken  any  action  with  reference  thereto, 

I  can  not  doubt  that  your  excellency  will,  upon  a  review  of  the  evidence  in  your 
possession,  concur  with  me  in  the  opinion  that  the  results  of  the  searching  inves- 
tigations conducted  by  competent  officers  of  both  countries  have  clearly  estab- 
lished the  unfounded  and  erroneous  character  of  the  statements  regarding  the 
alleged  unwholesome  quality  of  American  hog  products  upon  which  the  issue  of 
the  prohibitory  decree  was  based, 

I  avail,  etc.,  L.  P.  Mouton. 


No.  37. 

Mr.  Glover  to  Mr.  Davis. 

[Extract.] 

No.  62.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Havre,  October  2^,  1SS3.     (Received  November  9. ) 

Sir:  Our  commercial  relations  with  France  and  Germany  are  likely  to  be  very 
fully  discussed  during  the  next  session  of  Congress.  The  edict  promulgated  by 
Mr.  Tirard  in  1881,  which  prohibited  the  importation  of  American  salt  meats  into 
this  country,  demands,  and  will,  I  doubt  not,  receive,  the  most  carefiil  considera- 
tion by  that  body.  In  my  judgment  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  (juestions 
that  will  come  before  the  ensuing  session.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  President 
Arthur,  as  well  as  the  Department  of  State,  is  making  active  efforts  to  have  the 
qiiestion  settled  on  a  just  basis.  A  favorable  report  from  the  committee  recently 
appointed  by  the  President  to  investigate  the  subject  will  go  very  far  toward 
removing  the  unjust  discrimination  against  one  of  our  chief  products. 

The  edict  was  based  on  false  premises,  and  of  course  nothing  but  injustice 
could  result  from  its  promulgation,  both  to  the  producer  and  the  consumer.  The 
plea  that  the  health  of  the  French  people  was  endangered  by  the  importation  of 
American  pork  is  absolutely  without  justification,  as  has  been  demonstrated  and 
unanimously  declared  by  the  most  competent  body  of  scientists  in  France. 

The  French  people,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  are  in  favor  of  its  (the  edict's) 
entire  abolition.  The  laborers  especially  are  opposed  to  the  prohibition,  as  it 
deprives  them  of  a  cheap  and  wholesome  article  of  food.  I  have  never  yet  spoken 
to  an  intelligent  Frenchman  on  the  subject  who  believes  that  such  an  order  was 
just  or.  necessary.  *  *  «  The  chamber  of  commerce  of  this  city  has  shown 
conclusively  that  the  edict  is  unjust  to  the  working  people  and  also  detrimental 
to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  country.  So,  also,  has  the  same  been  shown 
by  the  chambers  of  commerce  of  Bordeaux  and  other  cities.  Mr.  Jules  Ferry, 
president  of  the  council,  takes  a  liberal  view  of  the  matter,  and  it  is  believed  that 
he  will  insist  on  a  radical  modification  of  the  order.  In  his  great  speech  delivered 
in  this  city  on  the  14th  instant  he  declared  that  he  was  in  accord  with  the  people 
of  Havre  on  this  subject. 

Some  time  ago  I  respectfully  asked  permission  to  import  a  few  A.merican  hams 
for  the  use  of  my  own  family,  but  the  request  was  as  respectfully  refused.    *    *    * 

Probably  thirty  millions  of  our  people  eat  American  pork  every  day  in  the  year, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  607 

besides  several  millions  of  Englishmen.    There  has  never  been  but  one  well-attested 
case  of  trichinosis  in  France,  and  that  from  the  product  of  a  French  hog.    *   *   * 
I  am,  etc., 

John  B.  Glover, 
United  States  Consul. 


No.  38. 

Mr,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

[Telegram.] 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  October  31,  1883. 
If  hopeful  prospect  of  repealing  French  restrictions  on  pork  is  evident,  you  may 
delay  communicating  three-sixty-four.    Keep  Department  advised,  as  events  will 
determine  President's  reference  to  French  action  in  message. 

Frelinghuysen. 


No.  39. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  379.]  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  November  13,  1883. 
Sir:  I  inclose  for  your  infoitnation  a  copy  of  Mr.  Schuyler's  dispatch,  dated  the 
19th  ultimo,  and  its  accompaniment,  respecting  the  prohibition  by  the  Hellenic 
Government  of  pork  products  coming  from  America,  adding,  what  will  be  par- 
ticularly noted  by  yon,  that  Greece  offers  no  reason  for  this  action  save  the  pre- 
cedent established  by  France. 

1  am,  etc.,  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 


No.  40. 
Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  445.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  November  16,  1883.     (Received  December  1.) 

Sir:  1  called  yesterday  on  the  president  of  the  council,  who,  in  the  absence  of 
Mr.  Challemel  Lacour,  has  charge  of  the  foreign  ofBce,  to  inquire  if  the  Govern- 
ment had  come  to  a  conclusion  as  to  the  time  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  decree  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  of  American  salted  meats.  Mr.  Jules  Ferry  opened  the 
subject  pleasantly,  by  saying  that  he  knew  the  object  of  my  visit,  but  that,  unfor- 
tunately, he  was  yet  unable  to  give  me  a  satisfactory  answer,  as  the  execution  of 
his  purpose  had  been  interfered  with  by  the  extraordinary  epidemic  of  trichinosis 
which  had  lately  appeared  in  Germany. 

"  The  unusual  and  alarming  character  of  this  epidemic,"  said  he,  "  is  such  that 
the  committee  of  public  hygiene  has  felt  bound  to  devote  to  its  examination  more 
than  it  expected  at  first.  I  am  satisfied,"  he  continued,  "  that  the  consumption 
of  American  meats  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  epidemic,  but  as  we  can  not  cancel 
our  prohibitory  measures  without  encountering  a  strong  opposition,  we  must  be 
prepared  to  meet  all  the  objections  which  might  be  made  to  our  action." 

I  stated  very  frankly  to  him  that  the  reason  of  my  anxiety  for  a  prompt  solution 
of  this  so  long  pending  difficulty  was  a  telegram  which  I  had  received  from  you, 
aslving  for  definite  information  on  the  subject  which  might  be  used  by  the  Presi- 
dent in  his  forthcoming  message.  I  explained  again  the  reasons  which  made  it 
important  to  reach  a  satisfactory  solution  before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  when 
the  subject  would  ncrdoubt  come  up  for  discussion,  the  necessity  for  which  I  was 
very  anxious  to  avoid,  and  I  urged  him  to  press  the  solution  of  the  question.  He 
promised  to  do  so  in  emphatic  terms.  "In  the  meantime,"  he  added,  "  you  can 
state  to  your  Government  that  the  French  Government  is  animated  by  a  strong 
desire  to  give  to  this  question  a  most  liberal  solution  and  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment."  I  inquired:  "May  I  expect  action  before  meeting  of  Congress?"  He 
said:  "Yes." 

I  have,  etc.,  Levi  P.  Morton. 


608  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  41. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Telegram.] 

Paris,  November  S7,  188S. 
Mr.  Morton  Informs  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  that  a  decree  has  to-day  been  signed,  and 
will  be  published  November  2s  in  the  oflBcial  journal,  canceling  the  prohibition  of 
American  pork,  and  that  he  will  inform  the  minister  in  Greece  of  the  fact. 


No.  42. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Extract.] 

No  452.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  November  29, 1S83.     (Received  December  13.) 

Sir:  Ab  I  had  the  honor  of  informing  you  by  my  telegram  of  yesterday,  the  offi- 
cial journal  of  this  morning  publishes  a  decree  repealing  that  of  February  18, 1881, 
by  which  the  importation  of  American  pork  was  prohibited  in  France. 

'  The  French  packers  were  so  much  interested  and  so  persistent  in  obstructing 
this  long-expected  measure  that  I  feared  the  withdrawal  of  the  prohibition  might 
be  coupled  with  some  kind  of  inspection  which  would  practically  restrict  its  efifect, 
but  the  decree  removes  the  prohibition  without  any  conditions.  A  circular  of  the 
minister  of  commerce,  addiessed  to  the  prefects,  informs  them  of  the  decision 
taken,  and  simply  advises  them  to  see  that  the  pork  offered  to  the  public  is  fully 
cured  and  to  recommend  to  those  making  use  of  such  meats  that  they  should  be 
well  cooked,  as  it  is  scientifically  and  experimentally  established,  says  the  minister, 
that  thorough  cooking  and  salting  destroys  trichinosis  when  it  exists. 

Thus  the  position  taken  in  this  matter  by  the  legation  and  maintained  in  repeated 
communications,  written  and  verbal,  is  at  last  officially  admitted  as  correct  by  the 
French  Government. 

In  view  of  the  information  conveyed  in  your  dispatch  No.  379,  of  November  13, 
I  informed  Mr.  Schuyler  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  decree.    *    *    * 

I  deem  it  proper  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  express  my  high  appreciation 
of  the  valuable  assistance  rendered  and  cordial  cooperation  of  Mr.  Vignaud  in  the 
long-pending  negotiations,  as  in  all  other  matters,  now  so  satisfactorily  terminated 
by  the  withdrawal  pure  and  simple  of  the  prohibitory  decree  at  a  time  when  the 
current  of  public  sentiment  elsewhere  in  Europe'  appears  to  be  running  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction. 

I  inclose  herewith  copy  and  translation  of  both  the  decree  and  the  circular. 
I  have,  etc., 

Levi  P.  Morton, 

[Inclosare  1  in  No.  452.— Translation.] 
DECREE  OF  NOVEMBER  27,  1883. 

The  President  of  the  French  Republic,  uj)on  the  report  of  the  minister  of  com- 
merce, considering  the  comformable  opinion  of  the  consultative  committee  of  pub- 
lic health  of  France,  dated  the  26th  November,  1883,  decrees: 

Article  1.  Is,  and  shall  remain,  annulled,  the  decree  dated  the  18th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1881,  which  prohibits  on  the  territory  of  the  French  Republic  the  importation 
of  salted  pork  of  American  origin. 

Art.  2.  The  minister  of  commerce  and  the  minister  of  finance  are  instructed, 
each  so  far  as  it  may  concern  him,  to  exrcute  the  present  decree,  which  shall  be 
inserted  in  the  Journal  Ot^ciel  and  published  in  the  Bulletin -des  Lois. 

Done  at  Paris  the  27th  November,  1683. 

Jules  Gr£vy. 

By  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

The  minister  of  commerce: 

Ch.  Herisson. 

The  minister  of  finance: 

P.  TiBARD. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    TUSTITED    STATES.  609 

[Inclosure  3  in  No.  453.  —Translation.] 
CIRCULAR  FROM  THE  MINISTER   OF  COMMERCE. 

Paris,  November  S7, 1883. 

Monsieur  le  PRfiFET:  A  decree  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  the  27th  of 
November  has  just  annulled  the  decree  of  the  18th  February,  1881,  which  prohibits 
on  the  entire  territory  of  the  French  Republic  the  importation  of  salted  pork  com- 
inj?  from  the  United  States. 

This  decree,  which  has  for  object  to  restore  to  consumption  a  much  esteemed 
article  of  food  among  the  working  classes,  will  not  efficaciously  attain  the  end  in 
view  unless  all  reiiuisite  precautions  for  the  preservation  of  public  health  are  taken 
in  the  use  of  this  meat. 

The  consultative  committee  of  public  hygiene  of  France,  to  whom  I  referred  the 
question,  undertook  a  minute  examination  of  the  subject,  from  which  it  results 
that  preserved  pork  loses  all  serious  danger  of  infestation  of  trichinosis,  if  it  is 
salted  with  care,  and  if  the  brine  in  which  it  is  deposited  is  of  good  preparation. 
You  should  therefore  recommend  to  the  municipal  authorities,  who  have  more 
especially  in  their  attributions  the  supervision  of  articles  of  food,  to  examine  with 
the  greatest  care  whether  these  conditions  are  entirely  carried  out  as  far  as  con- 
cerns salted  pork  put  up  for  sale  in  their  commune,  and  not  to  hesitate  to  seize 
and  destroy  that  which,  from  an  imperfect  degree  of  saltness,  may  appear  to  them 
unfit  for  consumption. 

The  committee  has  ascertained  besides,  both  scientifically  and  by  experimental 
means,  that  trichinosis,  when  it  exists  in  pork,  is  entirely  destroyed  by  complete 
cooking,  and  that  all  danger  will  disappear  for  the  consumer  if.  conformably  to 
our  well-known  culinary  habits,  this  meat  is  not  eaten  raw  or  rarely  cooked. 

You  will  please,  therefore,  bring  this  important  particular  to  the  knowledge  of 
those  under  your  jurisdiction  by  all  the  means  of  publicity  at  your  disposal. 

I  beg  you  will  acknowledge  receipt  of  the  present  circular  and  give  your  careful 
attention  to  the  execution  of  the  directions  contained  therein. 
Receive,  etc.. 

The  minister  of  commerce: 

Ch.  Herisson. 

No.  43. 

Mr,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  393.]  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  December  7,  1883. 
Sir:  With  reference  to  your  dispatch  No.  445,  of  the  15th  ultimo,  reporting 
your  conversation  with  Mr.  Jules  Ferry  in  relation  to  the  revocation  of  the  decree 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  pork,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  the 
Department  is  mucli  pleased  with  the  friendly  tone  of  the  remarks  made  by  Mr. 
Ferry  on  the  occasion  in  question. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  44. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  405.]  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  December  19,  1883. 

Sir:  With  reference  to  your  dispatch  No.  453,  of  the  28th  ultimo,  containing 
your  full  and  interesting  account  of  the  revocation  of  the  decree  of  February  18, 
1881,  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  pork  into  France,  I  have  to  request 
you  to  convey  to  the  foreign  office  an  expression  of  the  very  great  satisfaction 
which  the  liberal  and  enlightened  course  of  the  French  authorities  in  reference 
to  this  matter,  based  upon  thorough  scientific  investigations,  has  afforded  this 
Government. 

Adding  that  I  have  read  with  much  pleasure  your  statement  in  reference  to  the 
valuable  services  which  Mr.  Vignaud  has  rendered  to  your  legation  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  American  pork  question, 

I  am,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4—39 


610  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  45. 

Mr,  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  December  -H,  ISSS. 
In  consequence  of  resolution  voted  Saturday  by  Chamber  of  Deputies  requesting 
Government  to  suspend  the  free  importaCion  of  American  pork  until  a  bill  which 
has  been  introduced  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  inspection  shall  have  been  acted 
upon,  it  is  feared  by  minister  that  repeal  of  decree  will  be  compelled.  The  cabinet 
council,  however,  has  not  yet  arrived  at  a  decision. 

Morton. 


No.  46. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  464.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  December  S6,  1883.     (Received  January  10,  1884.) 

Sir:  The  action  of  those  opposed  to  the  free  admission  of  American  pork  has 
produced  such  a  result  that  all  the  efforts  made  by  this  legation  during  many 
months  to  obtain  an  entirely  satisfactory  settlement  of  this  vexed  question  are 
likely  to  prove  fruitless. 

About  two  weeks  ago  Mr.  Gaudin,  a  deputy  from  Nantes  (the  center  of  the 
French  pork-packing  business),  introduced  in  the  house  a  bill  providing  for  a 
system  of  inspection  of  all  salted  pork  coming  from  abroad.  This  bill,  which  is 
substantially. the  same  as  the  one  voted  by  the  Chamber  last  year  but  defeated  in 
in  the  Senate,  and  of  which  I  sent  a  translation  to  the  Department  with  my  No. 
146,  of  March  31,  1882,  was  referred  to  a  committee,  where  it  was  expected  to 
remain  without  being  acted  upon  by  the  committee. 

A  few  days  ago.  quite  unexpectedly,  Mr.  Paul  Bert,  formerly  a  member  of  Mr. 
Gambetta's  cabinet,  and  a  scientist  of  note,  asked  the  Government  in  the  Chamber 
to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  decree  of  November  27.  again  admitting  the  free 
importation  of  American  pork,  until  the  Chamber  should  have  acted  upon  the  bill 
introduced  by  Mr.  Gaudin.  Mr.  Paul  Bert  grounded  his  request  on  motives  of 
public  health;  he  described  in  vivid  terms  the  fearful  consequences  of  an  epidemic 
of  trichinosis  and  asserted  that  he  knew  from  his  own  personal  experiments,  as 
well  as  by  those  made  by  others,  that  trichiuie  did  not  exist  in  French  pork  and 
did  exist  in  foreign  pork. 

Mr.  Herisson,  the  minister  of  commerce,  replied  to  Mr.  Paul  Bert  that  the  Gov- 
ernment could  not  comply  with  his  request;  that  its  action  in  the  matter  had  been 
duly  considered,  and  that  he  and  his  colleagues  were  satisfied  that  the  tree  imi)or- 
tation  of  American  pork  would  not  be  attended  with  any  danger  to  the  public 
health. 

This  plain  and  unequivocal  answer  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Paul  Bert,  who  moved 
to  interpellate  the  Government  on  the  question.  The  interpellation  was  granted, 
and  it  came  before  the  House  on  Saturday  last,  the  22d  instant. 

Mr.  Paul  Bert  repeated  his  request  to  suspend  the  opei'ation  of  the  decree  can- 
celing the  one  prohibiting  American  pork  until  some  definite  action  be  taken  by 
the  Chamber,  and  submitted  the  following  order  of  the  day: 

"The  Chamber,  considering  that  it  is  proper  to  delay  the  admission  of  Ameri- 
can pork  until  after  the  debate  upon  the  bill  now  pending,  passes  to  the  order  of 
the  day." 

Mr.  Herisson  declared  that  he  was  obliged  to  oppose  this  order  of  the  day;  that, 
as  stated  before,  the  Government  had  acted  only  after  mature  deliberation,  and 
upon  the  advice  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine;  that  not  a  single  case  of  trichinosis 
had  been  detected  either  in  England,  in  Belgium,  or  in  Switzerland,  where  Ameri- 
can pork  is  freely  introduced,  or  in  France  when  free  importation  was  the  rule; 
that  the  epidemic  of  trichinosis  which  recently  appeared  in  Germany  was  known 
to  have  been  caused  by  German  pork,  and  that  conseiiuently  there  was  no  good 
reason  to  recall  a  measure  which  was  satisfactory  to  so  many  people  and  open  to 
so  little  objection. 

Mr.  Paul  Bert  said  that  the  facts  stated  bj-  the  minister  were  not  as  conclusive 
as  he  supposed  they  were;  that  trichinosis  was  not  easily  detected;  that  its  diag- 


SWINE    PKODUOTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  611 

nosis  was  exactly  the  same  as  typhoid  fever,  and  that  it  was  very  likei.7  that  many 
people  had  died  of  it  without  the  cause  beinj^:  made  known;  and  that,  contrary  to 
an  opinion  generally  shared,  salt  did  not  kill  the  trichinsie,  nor  did  the  cooking 
except  when  the  boiling  of  the  meat  is  carried  to  70  C.  In  short,  he  believed  the 
danger  arising  from  the  free  admission  of  foreign  pork  was  very  great,  and  he 
thought  it  would  be  very  unwise  not  to  regulate  in  some  way  its  importation  into 
France. 

Finally,  after  a  long  debate,  in  which  the  same  arguments  were  asserted  and 
reasserted  in  many  shapes,  the  (luestion  came  to  a  vote,  and  the  order  of  the  day, 
proposed  by  Mr.  Paul  Bert,  was  carried  by  r372  votes  against  15o. 

It  is  but  simple  justice  to  state  that  Mr.  Herisson  earnestly  opposed  every  effort 
of  Mr.  Paul  Bert  and  of  his  associates  in  behalf  of  the  French  hog  raisers  and 
packers.  It  is  admitted  openly  that  public  health  has  little  bearing  upon  the  sub- 
ject in  its  present  stage;  it  is  simply  now  a  question  of  protection. 

******* 

I  have,  etc., 

Levi  P.  Morton. 

[Postscript.] 

Paris,  December  38,  1883, 

To  comply  with  the  vote  of  the  Chamber  it  was  decided  yesterday  in  cabinet 
council  to  prohibit  the  free  importation  of  American  pork  until  parliamentary 
action  is  taken  in  the  matter.  In  the  meantime  American  pork  will  be  admitted 
at  the  ports  of  Havre,  Bordeaux,  and  Nantes,  where  an  examination  of  the  meat 
will  take  place  under  the  control  and  at  the  expense  of  the  chambers  of  commerce 
of  those  places. 

This  measure  is  satisfactory  to  the  French  importers,  but  the  protectionists  will 
probably  oppose  it,  as  many  of  the  members  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  are 
interested  in  making  the  inspection  as  easy  as  possil)le.  It  is  to  be  feared,  there- 
fore, that  the  propriety  of  this  measure  will  be  questioned  in  the  Chamber. 

The  department  of  commerce  contemplates  the  introduction  of  a  new  bill  pro- 
viding for  a  system  of  inspection. 

******* 

The  National  of  last  night,  speaking  of  this  bill  (the  one  recently  introduced 
into  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  empowering  the  President  to  prohibit  the  impor- 
tation of  articles  injurious  to  public  health  from  countries  which  on  the  same 
ground  prohibit  American  products),  says  it  was  at  first  directed  against  Germany 
only;  but  that,  "in  consequence  of  the  recent  vote  of  the  Chamber  postponing  the 
removal  of  the  restriction  on  American  pork,  France  will  now  have  to  take  her 
place  by  the  side  of  Germany,  and  be  equally  made  the  victim  of  these  reprisals. 
Owing  to  the  order  of  the  day  of  Mr.  Paial  Bert,  French  products  are  going  to  be 
driven  out  from  America.  It  belongs  to  the  Government  to  take  steps  as  early  as 
possible  to  prevent  an  eventuality  which  would  be  so  damaging  to  French  commerce. " 

L.  P.  M. 


No.  47. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

[Telegram.] 

Washington,  December  27,  1883. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  Informs  Mr.  Morton  that  he  is  in  receipt  of  complaints  of 
great  injury  to  large  commercial  interests  of  the  United  States  through  the 
vacillating  action  of  the  French  authorities;  that  Mr.  Morton's  diligence  in  the 
matter  of  prohibitory  decrees  is  appreciated,  and  it  is  not  doubted  that  he  will 
continue  his  energetic  action  to  secure  its  permanent  repeal. 


No.  48. 

Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 
[Telegram.] 

Paris,  December  28, 1883. 
Pork  again  prohibited  until  the  Chamber  passes  upon  the  bill  to  inaugurate  a 
system  of  inspection.     Meantime  it  will  be  admitted  to  the  ports  of  Havre,  Bor- 
deaux, and  Nantes,  subject  to  inspection  under  the  direction  of  the  chambers  of 
commerce  of  those  cities. 

Morton. 


612  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  49. 

Mr,  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

Paris,  Deceviber  S8,  1883. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  decrees  of  27th  November,  which  will  be  published 
to-morrow,  limits  the  time  for  the  admission  of  American  pork  products  to  the 
:iUth  January  at  the  ports  of  Havre,  Bordeaux,  and  Marseilles  instead  of  Nantes. 

Telegram  of  yesterday  received  tliis  morning. 

Morton. 


No.  50. 

Mr,  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Telegram.] 

Paris,  December  g9, 188S. 
It  was  stated  in  Chamber  that  Dr.  Detmers,  who  was  charged  by  American  Gov- 
ernment to  investigate  trichinosis  question,  advised  in  his  official  report  that  all 
the  hogs  of  the  district  where  trichinae  had  made  their  appearance  should  be 
destroyed.    Important  to  be  fully  informed. 

Morton. 


No.  51. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton, 

[Telegram.] 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  December  20,  1S,^3. 
Detmers  stated,  incorrectly,  in  1878-79,  in  report  on  swine  plague,  not  trichinae, 
that  disease  was  very  prevalent  in  West,  and  hogs  laboring  under  it  were  care- 
lessly sent  to  market.  He  has  since,  in  newspapers,  e.xpressed  erroneous  views  on 
swine  disease  generally  in  the  West.  Curtis,  a  thorough  exjiert,  who  is  investi- 
gating trichinosis,  rei)orts  to  Agricultural  Department  that  there  is  very  little 
disease  of  any  kind;  that  Detmers  is  mistaken;  that  great  care  is  taken  by  breeders 
and  packers  to  send  healthy  pork  to  market.  Commissioner  Agriculture  entirely 
accepts  Curtis's  statement.  At  a  meeting  Swine  Breeders' Association  unanimonsly 
stated  no  disease  whatever  had  occurred  among  swine  in  Illinois,  Michigan,  Indi- 
ana, Wisconsin,  and  Ohio,  whence  members  were  present. 

Frelinqhuysen. 


No.  52. 

Mr,  Roustan  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Translation.] 

Legation  of  France, 
Washington,  January  S,  1884.     (Received  January  3.) 
'Mi.  Secretary  op  State: 

As  you  are  aware  the  President  of  the  French  Republic,  by  a  decree  bearing  date 
of  the  27th  of  Novemljer  last,  and  issued  at  the  suggestion  of  the  minister  of  com- 
merce, revoked  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  which  prohibited  the  importation 
of  salt  pork  from  the  United  States. 

In  adopting  this  measure  the  Q-overnment  of  the  Republic  was  influenced  by 
various  considerations,  and  especially  wished  to  furnish  evidence  of  its  sincere 
desire  to  promote  as  far  as  possible  the  development  of  commercial  relations 
between  the  two  countries. 

However,  in  compliance  with  a  wish  exj)ressed  by  the  Champer  of  Deputies  in 
consequence  of  an  interi^ellation  which  took  place  during  the  session  of  December 
22,  the  French  Government  has  been  obliged  to  suspend  for  the  present  the  execu- 
tion of  the  decree  of  November  27. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  613 

In  informing  me  of  this  fact,  the  president  of  the  council  adds  that  a  bill  has 
been  introduced  in  the  Chamber  which  is  designed  to  regulate  the  importation  of 
salt  ])ork  from  the  United  States,  and  that  the  Government  will  hasten  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  bill  as  much  as  possible.  The  meat  in  question  will,  as  a  tempo- 
rary measure,  be  permitted  to  enter  the  porta  of  Havre,  Bordeaux,  and  Marseilles 
until  January  ^0,  1884,  although  previously  to  being  sold  it  will  be  subjected  to 
an  examination. 

I  hasten,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  to  bring  the  foregoing  information  to  your 
notice. 

Accept,  etc.,  Th.  Roust  an. 


No.  53. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton, 

[Telegram.] 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  2,  1884. 
Represent  that  decree  published  29th  only  allows  three  weeks,  till  20th  January, 
for  importation  American  pork  at  three  ports  named.  As  we  have  only  occasional 
steam  communication  with  Bordeaux  and  Marseilles  and  none  with  Nantes,  first 
named  as  a  port,  it  is  probable  that  bona  fide  shipments  for  France  may  have  been 
made  by  sailing  vessels.  You  will  ask  that  the  time  be  extended  to  February  1  for 
all  vessels,  and  that  in  case  sailing  vessels  show  legitimate  shipments  made  before 
December  29,  entry  be  granted,  subject  to  any  reasonable  inspection. 

Frelinghuysen. 


No.  54. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  413.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  January  S,  I884. 
Sir:  For  your  information  I  send  herewith  copies  of  telegrams  received  from 
Chicago  on  the  recent  vote  in  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies  reinstating  prohi- 
bition of  importation  of  American  hog  products: 

Chicago,  December  S6, 1883. 
Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington: 
The  recent  vote  in  French  Chamber  of  Deputies  reinstating  prohibition  of  impor- 
tation of  American  hog  products  is,  as  you  are  aware,  a  serious  blow  to  the  provision 
interests  of  the  whole  country  as  well  as  those  of  the  farmers  of  the  Northwest. 

Understanding  that  the  French  Government  is  favorable  to  the  withdrawal  of 
the  prohibitory  decree,  and  believing  that  Congress  when  reassembled  will  define 
a  retaliatory  policy,  we  ask  that  you  will  instruct  our  minister  to  France  to  work 
with  utmost  energy  to  bring  about  repeal  of  decree,  intimating,  if  you  think  proper, 
that  such  action  by  Congress  is  probable.  This  we  know  would  be  of  greatest 
value  and  would  undoubtedly  produce  most  favorable  results. 

Armour  &  Co. 

Chicago,  December  27, 1883. 
Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington: 
I  earnestly  urge  your  special  attention  to  the  dispatch  sent  you  by  Armour  & 
Co.,  of  this  city,  regarding  the  French  prohibition  of  hog  products.    If  continued, 
it  will  be  a  serious  blow  to  American  capital  and  a  heavy  loss  to  our  manufacturing 
and  farming  interests. 
Prompt  action  seems  to  me  necessary. 

R.  W.  Dunham,  M.  C. 

lam,  etc., 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


614  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  55. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Morton. 

No.  414.]  Department  of  State, 

Washiutjfon,  January ;?,  1SS4. 
Sir:  The  following  telegram  was  sent  to  Messrs.  Armour  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  11., 
December  27,1  H«3: 

' '  Your  telegram  received.   Further  instructions  have  been  telegraphed  Mr.  .Mor- 
ton, who  has  been  diligent  and  energetic  in  matter  of  repeal  of  ilecree." 
I  am,  etc., 

Fbedk.  T.  Frblinqhuysen. 


No.  m. 
Mr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  466.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  January  S,  I884.   ( Received  January  1 8. ) 

Sir:  On  the  26th  ultimo  (dispatch  404),  I  informed  the  Department  of  the  reso- 
lution voted  by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  a  few  days  before,  expressing  the  desire 
that  the  free  admission  of  American  pork  be  again  suspended,  and  of  the  action 
the  Government  felt  compelled  to  take  in  con8e(iueiue  of  this  vote. 

When  my  dispatch  was  forwarded  (Friday,  the  28th)  I  had  not  seen  the  text  of 
the  new  prohibitory  decree,  which  was  only  issued  on  the  following  day,  but  my 
telegram  of  the  same  evening,  of  which  a  copy  is  herewith  inclosed,  gave  you  its 
substance.  I  have  the  honor  of  sending  to-day  a  copy  and  translation  of  the 
decree  and  of  a  report  of  the  minister  of  commerce  to  the  President  exi)laining 
his  motives. 

At  the  President's  reception  on  New  Year's  Day  I  had  occasion  of  recurring 
again  to  this  subject  with  the  president  of  the  council  and  the  minister  of  com- 
merce, and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  both  seem  as  desirous  as  I  am  of  securing  the 
permanent  removal  of  any  obstruction  to  the  importation  into  France  of  American 
pork.  I  remarked  to  Mr.  Ferry  that  I  had  not  failed  to  inform  you  of  his  sincere 
desire  to  comply  with  my  requests  in  the  matter,  and  that  I  was  in  receipt  of  a 
dispatch  expressing  your  appreciation  of  his  friendly  language  and  course,  and 
instructing  me  to  convey  to  him  the  satisfaction  felt  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  with  his  action,  which  I  intended  to  do  in  a  more  formal  manner. 
"This  action  of  ours,"  said  Mr.  Ferry,  " is  not  over;  we  do  not  intend  to  leave  the 
matter  as  it  now  stands;  we  are  collecting  facts  and  scientific  opinions  which  are 
of  such  weight  that  they  can  not  fail  to  impress  favorably  the  Chamber.''  Mr. 
Herisson  confirmed  this  statement. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  there  exists  in  the  public  mind  a  strong  prejudice 
against  American  pork — a  prejudice  which  has  been  unfortunately  to  some  extent 
created  or  aggravated  by  certain  American  newspaper  articles  of  which  the  French 
protectionists  adroitly  took  advantage.  It  was  in  reference  to  a  statement  made 
upon  the  authority  of  an  American  scientist  that  I  telegraphed  you  to  ascertain 
the  correctness  of  those  attributed  to  Dr.  Detmers.  Your  answer  f  nrnished  me 
with  valuable  information,  the  insertion  of  which  I  procured  in  all  the  leading 
French  as  well  as  in  other  papers. 

Your  cipher  dispatch  of  the  2ith  ultimo,  expressing  your  satisfa'^tion  with  mj' 
diligence  in  the  matter  and  the  hope  that  energetic  efforts  would  be  continued  to 
secure  the  permanent  repeal  of  the  prohibition,  was  duly  received.  I  highly  appre- 
ciate the  expression  of  ai)proval,  and  .shall  spare  no  exertion  to  second  your  efforts 
in  this  matter  so  important  to  our  commerce. 

I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  copies  of  a  note  addressed  to  Mr.  Ferry, 
on  the  2d  instant,  of  the  telegframs  above  mentioned,  and  of  the  one  given  to  the 
press. 

I  have,  etc..  Levi  P.  Morton. 

[Xncloenre  1  in  No.  466.— Decree  published  in  Joamal  Officiel.— Translation.] 

DECREE. 

The  President  of  the  French  Republic,  upon  the  report  of  the  minister  of  com- 
merce, decrees: 
Article  1.  The  execution  of  the  decree  of  November  27, 1883,  is  adjourned;  is 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  615 

in  consequence  suspended  until  such  time  as  provision  is  made  by  a  law  upon  the 
introduction  of  pork  into  France,  the  importation  of  the  said  salted  meat  coming 
from  the  United  States  of  America. 

Art.  2.  Nevertheless,  for  contracts  already  made,  this  meat  can  be  admitted 
exceptionally  until  the  20th  of  January,  1^:^84,  by  the  ports  of  Havre,  Bordeaux, 
and  Marseilles,  and  upon  the  condition  that  it  shall  be  stated  that  it  answers  to 
the  description  known  in  commerce  under  the  name  of  "fully  cured;"  that  it 
is  healthy,  that  it  is  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  that  the  curing  is 
complete. 

This  statement  shall  be  made  by  experts  specially  appointed  by  the  prefects. 

The  importers  must  declai'e  before  any  discliari^e  that  they  consent  to  pay  the 
costs  that  the  inspection  of  the  experts  may  entail. 

The  maximum  of  the  tariff  of  these  costs  shall  be  fixed  by  the  chambers  of 
commerce. 

Art.  3.  The  ministers  of  commerce  and  finance  are  charged,  each  one  in  so  far 
as  he  may  be  concerned,  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree. 

Done  at  Paris,  December  28,  1883. 

Jules  Gr^vy. 


By  the  President  of  the  Republic. 
The  minister  of  commerce: 


Ch.  Herisson. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  466.— Translation.] 
Mr.  Herisson's  report  to  the  President  of  the  Republic, 

Monsieur  le  President:  On  the  27th  November  last  I  had  the  honor  to  submit 
for  your  signature  a  decree  repealing  that  of  the  18th  February,  1881,  which  pro- 
hibited on  the  territory  of  the  Re]*ublic  the  importation  of  salted  pork  coming 
from  the  United  States.  This  measure  was  grounded  upon  the  opinion  of  the 
Academy  of  Medicine  and  upon  the  decision  of  the  consultative  committee  of  pub- 
lic health  of  France,  specially  appointed  to  deliberate  upon  the  matter. 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies,  at  its  sitting  on  the  22d  December,  evinced  the  desire 
that  the  execution  of  the  decree  of  the  27th  November  should  be  postponed  until 
the  discussion  of  a  proposed  law,  of  which  it  has  already  had  notice. 

The  object  of  the  decree  annexed  herewith  is  to  satisfy  this  desire  in  suspending 
the  importation  of  American  pork. 

In  order,  however,  to  avoid  confusion  in  commercial  transactions,  I  have  the 
honor  to  submit  likewise  for  your  high  approbation  a  temporary  measure  with  the 
view  of  conciliating  the  various  interests  involved. 

It  is  as  well  to  recall  in  this  connection  that  when  the  decree  of  the  18th  of  Feb- 
ruary. 1881 .  had  for  the  first  time  edicted  the  formal  prohibition  of  American  pork, 
the  importation  of  the  said  meat  was  none  the  less,  in  consequence  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  operations  engaged,  authorized  until  May  20  of  the  same  year,  under 
the  reserve  of  a  microscopical  e?ramination. 

The  measure  which  I  propose  to  you  has  been  inspired  by  this  precedent. 

The  meat  can  exceptionally  enter  France  until  January  20  next  by  the  three  ports 
of  Havre.  Bordeaux,  and  Marseilles,  and  under  certain  conditions  to  prove  its 
harmlessness. 

This  very  short  period  is  proof  that  the  measure  of  favor  can  only  be  really 
applied  to  goods  at  the  present  time  in  transit  or  for  which  engagements  have 
been  made. 

With  reference  to  the  guaranties  required  for  the  public  health,  I  thought  I 
could  do  no  better  to  do  away  with  all  fears  than  reproduce  textually  in  the  decree 
those  which  appear  in  the  proposed  law  voted  by  the  Chamber  on  the  28tli 
March,  1882,  and  which  has  just  been  taken  up  again  and  supported  before  the 
same  assembly  by  those  of  its  members  who  have  evinced  the  least  desire  for  free 
importation. 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  meat  answers  to  the  description  known  in  com- 
merce under  the  name  of  "fully  cured;"  that  it  is  healthy,  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation,  and  that  the  curing  is  complete. 

The  statements  should  be  made  by  expert  agents,  appointed  by  the  prefects,  and 
the  importers  should  declare,  before  any  discharge,  that  they  consent  to  pay  the 
cost  that  may  be  incurred  by  the  inspection. 

If  the  advantages  of  the  decree,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  propose  to  you, 


616  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

appear  to  you  ot  such  a  nature  as  to  advise  its  adoption,  I  beg  you,-M.  le  Presi- 
dent, to  be  so  good  as  to  affix  your  signature  thereto. 

Receive,  M.  le  President,  the  assurance  of  my  profound  respect. 

The  minister  of  commerce: 

Ch.  Herissom. 


[Inclosnre  3  in  No.  466.] 

Mr.  Morion  to  Mr.  Ferry, 

Leqation  op  the  United  States, 

Paris,  January  2,  1884* 

Sir:  It  was  an  agreeable  duty  for  me  to  inform  my  Grovemment  of  the  friendly 
manner  in  which  you  had  received  my  earnest  representations  with  regard  to  the 
long-standing  prohibition  of  American  pork,  and  of  your  liberal  action  in  procur- 
ing the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  decree  of  the  18th  February,  1881. 

At  the  New  Year's  reception,  at  the  Elysee,  I  intimated  to  you  that  I  was  in 
receipt  of  a  dispatch  from  Mr.  Frelinghu.ysen,  in  which  he  reijnested  me  to 
express  to  you  his  appreciation  of  your  course  in  the  matter,  which  I  now  take 
pleasure  in  doing  more  fully  than  I  could  yesterday. 

'•  I  have  to  request  you,"  says  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  "to  convey  to  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  the  expression  of  the  very  great  satisfaction  which  the  liberal  and 
enlightened  course  of  the  French  authorities  in  reference  to  this  matter,  based 
upon  thorough  scientific  investigation,  has  afforded  this  Government.'" 

It  is  the  hope  of  my  Government,  and  my  own,  that  this  liberal  action  of  your 
excellency  will  be  continued,  and  that  you  will  be  able  to  bring  about  a  perma- 
nent and  "satisfactory  settlement  of  this  question,  which  has  been  so  unexpectedly 
and  80  unfortunately  reopened  by  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Paul  Bert. 
I  avail,  etc., 

L.  P.  Morton. 


[Inclosnre  4  in  No.  46tt— Extract  from  the  Paris  Momins  News.] 

We  have  received  the  following  dispatch: 

"  Washington,  December  SO,  188S, 

"The  Secretary  of  State  has  telegraphed  to  the  American  minister  at  Paris  that 
a  competent  expert,  Mr.  Curtis,  appointed  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  to 
make  an  investigation  as  to  trichinosis,  reports  officially  that  no  disease  exists 
among  American  hogs." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  of  Western  Swine  Breeders  it  was  unanimously 
resolved  that  in  the  five  great  producing  States— Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
and  Wisconsin — no  disease  whatever  existed  among  swine. 

The  discrimination  of  t'he  French  authorities  against  American  pork  is,  there- 
fore, made  directly  in  the  face  of  the  evidence.  A  competent  expert,  appointed 
by  the  United  States  Government,  reports  that  the  disease,  against  which  the  pro- 
hibitive French  legislation  was  directed,  does  not  exist.  As  the  object  of  such 
legislation  is  not  to  prohibit  the  pork  itself,  there  appears  to  be,  under  the  circum- 
stances, no  good  reason  for  its  continued  existence. 


Germany. 

No.  57. 

Mr,  Davis  to  Mr.  Everett. 

No.  801.]  Departjient  of  Statu, 

Washington,  February  8,  18SS. 
Sir:  I  inclose  herewith  for  your  infonnation  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Messrs. 
William  Archdeacon  &  Co.,  of  Indianapolis.  Ind.,  stating  that  they  have  been 
advised  that  the  German  authorities  have  prohibited  the  imjwrtation  of  100  bar- 
rels of  pigs"  tongues  shipped  by  them  to  Altona,  Germany,  and  also  that  a  general 
prohibition  has  been  issued  by.  the  Government  of  Germany  against  American 
pork. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  617 

I  will  thank  you  to  lose  no  time  in  calling  the  attention  of  the  German  foreign 
office  to  the  case  of  William  Archdeacon  &  Co..  with  a  view  to  securing  for  them 
such  relief  as  the  facts  may  be  found  to  make  necessary. 

I  have,  furthermore,  to  instruct  you  to  report  to  this  Department  at  your  earliest 
convenience  all  the  information  you  may  be  able  to  obtain  as  to  any  recent  action 
by  the  German  Government  in  reference  to  the  importation  of  American  pork 
into  Germany  and  all  the  facts  which  may  tend  to  throw  any  light  upon  the 
subject. 

1  am,  etc.,  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis, 

Acting  Secretary, 


[Inclosure  in  No.  301.] 

Messrs,  Williavi  Archdeacon  &  Co.  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

Indianapolis,  February  5,  1882. 
Dear  Sir:  We  received  an  order  early  in  December  from  Altona,  Germany,  for 
100  barrels  of  pigs'  tongues,  and  shipped  same  early  in  January.    We  are  now  m 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  the  bank  in  Hamburg  saying  "that  American  pork  has 
been  prohibited  in  Germany,"  and  our  goods  will  not  be  allowed  to  land  there. 

The  shippers  and  shipping  agents  from  whom  we  have  sought  information  deny 
that  such  is  the  case,  and  our  goods  in  the  me;intime  lie, there. 
If  you  can  give  us  any  information  on  the  subject,  you  will  confer  a  favor  on 
Yours,  respectfully, 

Wm.  Archdeacon  &  Co. 


No.  58. 

Mr.  Everett  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  308.]  Leoation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  February  23,  1882.     (Received  March  18.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  your  instruction  No.  301,  of  the  8th 
instant,  received  this  day,  inclosing  a  complaint  of  Messrs.  William  Archdeacon 
&  Co.,  to  the  Department  of  State,  that  the  importation  of  American  pork  had 
been  prohibited  in  Germany,  and  that  they  are  thus  prevented  from  bringing  into 
Germany  100  barrels  of  pigs'  tongues,  which  they  have  shipped  to  Altona,  and 
directing  me  to  call  the  attention  of  the  foreign  otlice  to  the  matter. 

In  reply  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  this  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
pork  is  not  new,  but  dates  back  to  June,  18S0.  On  the  29th  of  June,  1880,  Mr. 
White  informed  the  Department  by  telegram,  as  also  in  dispatch  No.  136,  of  the 
prohibition  by  imperial  decree  of  the  2oth  June,  1880,  of  the  admission  of  all 
kinds  of  pork,  except  hams  and  sides  of  bacon,  and  inclosing  a  copy,  with  trans- 
lation, of  the  decree.  Mr.  W^hite  at  the  same  time  stated  that  in  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Von  Hoffmann  he  had  ascertained  that  the  reason  of  the  prohibition  was 
that  trichinae  could  not  easily  be  detected  except  in  these  two  forms  of  pork. 

From  the  special  mention  of  hams  and  bacon  in  the  decree  I  have  no  doubt  that 
tongues  are  included  in  the  category  of  forbidden  forms  of  pigs'  flesh,  but  I  will, 
in  accordance  with  your  instructions,  address  the  foreign  ofi&ce  on  the  subject, 
and  ascertain  whether  there  is  any  special  exemption  for  pigs'  tongues,  and,  in 
case  there  is  not,  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  pass  this  one  shipment  of  Messrs. 
Archdeacon  &  Co. ,  after  a  rigid  inspection  to  insure  the  pigs'  tongues  being  in  a 
fit  condition  for  food. 

I  would  also  state  in  this  connection  that  in  December,  1880,  Messrs.  Armour  & 
Co.,  of  Cliicago,  the  largest  pork  packers  in  the  world,  addressed  a  similar  com- 
plaint to  this  legation  that  they  were  debarred  by  the  above-mentioned  decree 
from  exporting  their  canned  brawn  to  Germany,  and  they  claimed  that  this  par- 
ticular preparation  of  pork  was  safe  from  the  danger  of  trichina?,  as  it  had  been 
subjected  to  a  temperature  of  250  F.,  a  certiticate  of  which  could  be  sent  with 
each  shipment.  They  were  advised,  in  reply,  to  lay  their  case  before  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  which  would  then  instruct  the  legation  to  intervene  in  the  matter 
if  it  should  be  thought  best.  I  trust  that  I  shall  not  be  exceeding  my  instructions 
if  I  include  Messrs.  Armour  &  Co.'s  grievances  with  those  of  Messrs.  Archdeacon 
«&  Co.  in  my  note  to  the  foreign  office. 

I  have,  etc.,  ,  H.  Sidney  Everett. 


618  SWINE    PB0DU0T8   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No,  59. 

Mr.  Everett  to  Mr,  Frelinghiiysen, 

No.  308.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  27,  1SS2.  (Received  April  13.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  your  Instriiction  No.  301,  of  the  8th  ultimo,  and  my  reply  to 
the  same  of  the  23d  ultimo,  I  have  the  honor  now  to  inclose  the  correspondence 
between  this  legation  and  the  foreign  office  on  the  subject  of  the  importation  of 
pork  products,  by  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  German  Government  refnses  to 
modify  its  prohibitive  decree  of  the  2.'»th  June.  188U,  so  as  to  allow  the  consign- 
ment of  pigs'  tongues  from  William  Archdeacon  &  Co.  and  the  brawn  of  Messrs. 
Armour  &  Co..  of  Chicago,  to  euter  Germany. 

I  have,  etc.,  H.  Sidney  Everett. 


[Inclosnre  1  in  No.  308.] 

Mr.  Everett  to  Count  Hatzfeldt. 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  February  !?4,  1882. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  ad  interim  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
has  the  honor,  under  instructions  from  his  Government,  to  call  the  attention  of 
his  excellency  Count  Hatzfeldt,  provisional  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs, 
to  the  subject  of  the  prohibition  of  importations  of  the  flesh  of  pigs  into  Germany 
under  the  imperial  decree  of  the  2r)th  June,  1880,  and  to  respectfully  inquire 
whether  this  decree  is  still  in  force,  and  if  so,  whether  it  would  include  the  tongues 
of  pigs  alone,  which  are  exported  from  America  packed  in  barrels.  A  large  quan- 
tity of  this  article  has  been  sent  out  to  Germany  by  the  firm  of  Archdeacon  &  Co., 
of  Indiana,  United  States  of  America,  but  is  now  waiting  at  Altona  on  account  of 
the  refusal  of  the  customs  officials  to  allow  it  to  pass,  and  the  undersigned  would 
respectfully  ask  if  the  consignment  in  question  can  not  be  allowed  to  enter  after  a 
proper  inspection  to  make  sure  of  its  being  in  a  suitable  condition  for  food. 

The  undersigned,  in  this  connection,  would  also  ask  whether  such  preparations 
of  pork  as  are  known  as  "brawn,"  in  soldered  tin  cans,  which  have  been  subjected 
to  a  temperature  of  2.')0  F.,  would  be  allowed  to  enter  Germany  if  they  were 
accompanied  by  an  official  certificate  that  they  have  been  subjected  to  this  heat, 
which,  it  is  believed  by  chemists,  removes  all  danger  from  the  germs  of  trichina?. 

The  undersigned,  while  respectfully  requesting  an  early  reply,  as  the  goods 
referred  to  are  now  at  Altona  awaiting  the  decision  of  the  German  Government, 
avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to  his  excellency  the  assurances  of  his 
most  distinguished  consideration. 

H.  Sidney  Everett. 


[Inclosure  21n  No.  308.— Translation.) 
Mr.  Busch  to  Mr.  Everett. 

Foreign  Office,  Berlin,  March  22,  1882. 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  inform  Mr.  H.  Sidney  Everett,  charge  d'affaires 
of  the  United  Slates  of  America,  in  reply  to  the  esteemed  note  of  the  24th  ultimo, 
concerning  a  consignment  of  American  pork  which  has  been  detained  at  Altona, 
that  the  prohibition  of  June  25,  1880,  is  still  in  force  and  is  especially  applicable 
to  prepared  pigs"  tongues. 

After  a  careful  examination  in  the  proper  quarter  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  it  has 
not  been  considered  feasible  to  make  an  e.'k;ception  to  the  existing  prohibition  in 
favor  of  the  large  consignment  of  pigs'  tongues  and  the  preparation  known  as 
••brawn ''  referred  to  in  the  esteemed  note. 

The  undersigned  avails,  etc.,  BCSCH. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  619 

No.  60. 
Mr.  Breioer  to  Mr.  Davis. 

[Extract.] 

No.  23.]  United  States  Consulate-Gkneral, 

Berlin,  March  30,  18S2.  (Received  April  19.) 
Sik:  I  have  the  honor  of  again  calling  your  attention  to  the  agitation  which  is 
going  on  in  Germany  tonching  American  meats  and  the  importation  of  the  same 
into  this  country.  On  the  18th  of  March  last  an  editorial  article  appeared  in  the 
North  German  Gazette  (Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung),  which  clearly  shows 
the  means  which  are  being  used  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  the  people  here  against 
the  use  of  American  meats.  "■  *  *  So  much  has  heretofore  been  written  upon 
this  subject  that  I  deem  it  useless  to  further  comment.  We  have  caused  the 
editorial  referred  to  to  be  translated,  and  hfewith  inclose  the  translation. 
I  am,  etc., 

M.  S.  Brewer, 
Consul-  General, 


[luclosuro  in  No.  33.— Extract  from  the  Nortli  German  Gazette  of  March  18, 1883.— Translation.] 

American  competition  in  meat,  etc.,  which  is  of  late  more  and  more  felt  by  Ger- 
man cattle  breeders  and  dealers,  makes  a  close  examination  of  the  extent  which 
imports  of  American  meats  have  assumed  and  are  capable  of  assuming  of  interest 
and  importance.  While  hitherto  only  lard,  ham,  bacon,  and  salt  meats  of  all  kinds 
were  exported  from  America,  recently  exports  to  France  and  England  of  not  only 
fresh  meat,  but  also  of  live  stock,  have  been  made,  and  the  enterprise  has  met 
with  considerable  success.  As  appears  from  an  American  journal,  The  Farmer, 
a  union  of  marine  insurance  companies,  "The  Cattle  Lloyds,"  has  been  formed, 
with  the  aim,  by  especial  arrangements  and  provisions  respecting  the  treatment 
and  ieeding  of  catile  while  being  transported,  of  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  risks 
and  losses  in  exporting  cattle. 

According  to  the  Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States,  the  exports  of  meat 
from  July  1,  18?!),  to  July  1,  1880,  were  as  follows: 

Value. 

Bacon  and  ham,  759,773,109  pounds $50,987,623 

Fresh  beef,  8-1,717,194  pounds 7,441,918 

Salt  meats,  45,237,472  pounds  ...: , 2,881.047 

Lard,  374.979,286  pounds... 27,920,367 

Fresh  mutton,  2,335,858  pounds 176,218 

Pork,  95,949,780  pounds 5,930,253 

Live  stock: 

Neat  cattle,  182,756  head 13,344,195 

Hogs,  83,434head 421,089 

Sheep,  209,137  head ..        892,647 

In  1880  the  imports  of  American  meat  into  Germany  were  as  follows: 

Meat,  fresh  and  iirepared,  ham,  bacon,  and  sausage,  to  the  value  of  $4,963,014; 
and  lard  to  the  vaUie  of  $11,1G0,050. 

Now,  if  the  steady  increase  of  the  importation  of  American  meat  into  Germany 
continues,  and  notwithstanding  the  duties,  which  are  altogether  too  low,  it 
assumes,  as  the  above  figures  go  to  prove,  such  an  extent,  it  will  be  but  a  natural 
consequence  that  American  meat  products  will  drive  the  German  out  of  the 
market. 

The  United  States  commercial  a2;ent  at  Geestemunde  reported  to  his  Govern- 
ment that  owing  to  the  importation  of  American  provisions  many  butchers  and 
meat  dealers  at  Bremen  and  Hamburg  were  compelled  to  aliandon  that  line  of 
business,  they  being  unable  to  stand  the  American  competition;  that  American 
articles  had  totally  destroyed  the  meat  export  trade  at  the  German  seaports,  once 
so  flourishing;  that  German  vessels  running  between  German  and  American  ports 
took  in  supplies  of  beef,  pork,  and  other  provisions  in  America  sufficient  to  last 
for  the  trip  to  Germany  and  back. 


620  SWINE    PB0DUCT8   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Of  mnch  more  serious  consequence,  however,  than  the  mere  rapid  increase  of 
American  meat  importations  into  Germany  is  the  fact  that  the  (luahty  of  such 
imj)ortations  must,  unfortunately,  frequently  be  pronounced  detrimental  to  health. 
This  fact,  in  many  cases  admitted  even  by  the  American  papers,  such  as  the  Lan- 
cet, Grocer,  Herald,  Davenport  Daily  Gazette,  was  most  thoroughly  discussed  by 
one  of  the  leading  authorities  in  veterinary  science,  Professor  Dr.  Roloff,  privy 
8;initary  counselor  and  director  of  the  Royal  Veterinary  School,  who,  in  the 
sitting  of  the  German  Society  for  Public  Hygiene,  on  the  Kith  of  May,  1881,  deliv- 
ered an  address  on  "American  canned  meat."  The  speaker  showed  that  the  con- 
sumption of  American  provisions  in  many  cases  was  very  dangerous;  that  diseases 
of  animals  were  communicable  to  men,  and  therefore  the  meat  of  diseased  ani- 
mals must  be  considered  as  unfit  for  use  or  consumption;  that  in  America  the 
official  inspection  of  animals  is  not  provided  for.  and  it  can  at  best  in  but  few 
cases  be  ascertained  whether  the  meat  is  taken  from  diseased  animals  or  not. 
Therefore  the  consumption  of  American  meats  would,  at  any  rate,  be  connected 
with  more  danger  than  the  consumption  of  domestic  meats,  since  a  strict  inspec- 
tion of  animals  to  be  used  for  food  is  made  in  Germany. 

As  api>ears  from  statistics  of  the  United  States,  from  the  Ist  of  July,  1876,  to 
July  1,  1877,  about  23,000,000  pounds  of  meats,  and  in  each  of  the  following  years 
about  25,000.000  pounds  were  exported  from  the  United  States,  5,000,000  pounds 
of  which  went  to  Germany. 

Mr.  Kohler,  a  veterinary  surgeon  at  Hamburg,  has  found,  among  55,800  hams 
and  22,700  sides  of  pork,  1  per  cent  infected  with  tii(hiniT>,  while  others  found 
even  4  per  cent  of  meats  imported  from  America  infected  with  trichinae.  Dr. 
Billings,  a  young  physician  in  America,  found  154  among  2,700  hogs  in  America  to 
be  Infected  with  trichinae.  Trichinosis,  however,  is  not  the  only  disease  to  be 
found,  as  many  other  cattle  diseases  exist  in  America,  which  are  equally  if  not 
even  more  dangerous.  Besides  inflammation  of  the  milt  and  "'wild  fire,"  another 
disease,  the  "  yard  fever  "  (Hoffleher),  had  made  its  ap])earance  in  so  malignant  a 
form  that  in  the  State  of  Illinois  alone  1,000,000  hogs  died  cjf  it  within  one  year: 
and  it  may  safely  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  meat  of  these  animals  was  canned. 
Among  American  neat  cattle  malignant  epidemic  diseases  are  by  no  means  on  the 
decrease.  The  Texas  '*  fever,"  a  disease  resembling  the  riiulerpest,  has  been  espe- 
cially severe.  No  doubt  can  be  had  but  that  much  of  the  flesh  of  cattle  affected 
with  such  diseases  has  been  used  for  corned  beef.  Mr.  Meier,  a  chemist,  has  found 
lead  in  canned  corned  beef  in  large  quantities. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  transportation  of  cattle  from  Texas.  Kansas,  and 
Colorado,  some  1.500  miles,  to  Chicago,  where  the  meat  is  preserved,  gives  rise  to 
many  diseases,  so  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  animals  from  which  the  canned 
corned  beef  is  made  may  fairly  be  snppo.sed  to  be  disease!.  Moreover,  even  Ameri- 
can papers  have  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  not  only  horse  meat  but  also  the 
meatof  diseased  animals  is  regularlyput  upon  the  market.  Canning  meat  assuredly 
does  not  destroy  such  diseased  matter  as  may  be  contained  in  the  meat,  as  many 
cases  of  sickness  have  ensued  after  the  consumption  of  such  canned  mat.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  these  objections,  it  is  a  question  whether  this  corned  beef  is  of  any  advan- 
tage financially,  or  rather  economically.  A  2-pound  can  contains  about  700  grams 
of  eatable  meat  and  costs  1.75  marks,  which  is  much  more  than  what  domestic 
meat  of  the  same  kind  costs. 

The  above  important  facts  of  so  great  public  interest  being  established,  doubts 
may  be  raised  as  to  whether  the  ordinance  of  June  25, 1881,  prohibiting  the  importa- 
tion into  Germany  of  chopped,  minced,  or  otherwise  prepared  American  pork  is 
sufficient  protection.  Like  apprehensions  have  induced  Austria-Hungary  to  pro- 
hibit the  importation  of  American  meats  and  prepared  meats  of  any  kind  whatever. 
The  minister  of  foreign  affairs  at  Vienna,  in  reply  to  a  protest  raised  by  the  Ameri- 
can minister  against  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  meats,  stated 
that  the  intent  of  the  provisions  of  article  5  of  the  treaty  of  commerce  and  naviga- 
tion, concluded  August  27,  1820.  could  not  possibly  go  so  far  as  to  prohibit  the  con- 
tracting parties  from  taking  such  measures  as  necessity  should  demand  for  the 
protection  of  their  sanitary  interests. 

The  sanitary  congress,  which  met  at  Amsterdam  in  1879,  has  unanimonsly  pro- 
nounced the  opinion  that  the  importation  into  Europe  of  American  pork  of  all 
kinds  should  be  prohibited. 


SWINE    PBODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  621 

No.  61. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 

No,  74.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  November  G,  ISSS.     (Received  November  25.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  there  is  renewed  agitation  in  Germany  against 
the  introduction  of  American  pork,  and  I  am  informed  that  a  bill  has  been  pre- 
pared, with  the  Emperor's  approval,  to  be  submitted  at  the  forthcoming  session  of 
the  Reichstag,  as  a  Government  measure,  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  all  Ameri- 
can pork,  including  hams  and  live  animals.  Heretofore  adverse  action  has  only 
extended  to  sausages  and  chopped  meat.  This  was  excluded  on  the  ground  that 
it  contained  trichinte,  and  from  its  nature,  being  hashed,  these  could  not  be 
detected  in  it.  These  articles  of  tiade  were  excluded  on  the  ground  that  the  pub- 
lic health  required  it  and  could  not  be  otherwise  guarded.  *  *  *  American 
pork  enters  into  competition  with  the  domestic  article,  and  very  largely,  and  is 
afforded  much  cheaper  than  the  domestic  article  can  be.  *  *  *  The  proposed 
law  does  not,  as  I  am  informed,  proceed  upon  the  theory  that  American  pork  is 
put  in  disguised  forms,  in  which  ordinary  care  would  not  detect  disease,  but 
assumes  that  all  American  pork  and  swine  are  dangerous  from  disease,  and  the 
task  of  discrimination  among  them  is  useless  trouble.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  learn  up  to  this  time,  American  lard  is  not  among  the  prohibited  articles, 
although  it  embraces  a  large  item  in  our  exports  to  this  country.  Wiiether  it  will 
finally  be  excluded  depends  in  some  measxire  upon  the  power  of  the  interests 
adversely  affected  by  it.    *    *    * 

This  exclusion  of  a  great  article  of  American  product  comes  just  at  a  time  when 
trade  reports  show  an  unexampled  export  of  German  manufactured  articles  to  the 
United  States. 

American  competition  is  a  sore  point  in  Germany,  and  qualifies  to  some  extent 
the  views  entertained  here  of  America.  Although  we  are  large  customers  of  the 
mass  of  German  products,  many  of  ours,  including  some  manufactures,  as  well 
as  wheat,  etc.,  bear  hard  on  certain  interests  here,  and  caiTse  a  clamor  for  special 
relief.  This  can  not  always  be  granted  without  an  appearance  of  unfriendly  dis- 
crimination against  a  friendly  power.    *    *    * 

Of  course  this  bill  is  now  only  proposed.  There  are  interests  here  opposed  to  its 
enactment.  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Stettin  are  largely  concerned  in  the  commercial 
aspects  of  the  matter.  They  will  be  injured  by  the  stoppage  of  the  carrying  trade 
in  American  porlc.  Merchants  dealing  in  this  article  in  its  various  forms  will 
object.  Some  of  the  newspapers  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  would  be 
reasons  to  regret  the  adoption  of  such  a  measure  in  that  it  would  render  meat 
dearer  to  the  mass  of  people  and  restrict  the  consumption  of  meat  by  the  poor.  1 
inclose  an  article  from  the  Tageblattof  the  Jid  instant,  in  which  this  view  is  taken, 
and  wherein  the  cheapness  of  American  pork  in  comparison  to  that  raised  here  is 
given  as  a  reason  why  the  poor  should  have  a  chance  to  buy  it.  It  also  believes 
it  yet  unproven  that  the  American  article  is  so  unwholesome  as  to  justify  its 
exclusion.  I  shall  keep  watch  of  this  matter  and  further  report  to  you  its  progress. 
I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent, 


[Inclosnre  1  in  No.  74.— Extract  from  the  National  Zeitung  of  November  8, 1882.— Translation.] 

We  are  informed  that  with  the  Emperor's  approval  the  draft  of  a  bill  looking  to 
the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  swine,  pork,  and  sausages  has  been 
laid  before  the  Bundesrath.  The  reasons  given  for  this  measure  are  the  frequent 
cases  of  trichinosis,  as  well  as  the  prevalence  among  the  pigs  of  an  epidemic  dis- 
ease which  is  alike  dangerous  to  man  and  beast,  and  it  is  for  these  reasons  that 
the  Imperial  Government  deems  it  expedient  to  prohibit  their  importation  in  the 
future. 


[Inclosnre  2  in  No.  74. —Extract  from  the  Berlin  Tageblatt  of  November  3,1882.— Translation.] 

Should  this  prohibition  go  into  effect  we  should  have  cause  to  regret  it,  for  the 
reason  that  it  would  result  in  making  meat  deai'er  to  the  mass  of  people,  or  even 
restrict  them  in  its  consumption.  American  meat  undoubtedly  is,  and  always 
was,  cheaper  than  the  domestic  article,  and  the  claim  that  it  is  unwholesome  is 
not  sufficiently  proven  to  justify  its  exclusion  from  our  market. 


022 


SWINE    PBODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    tJTATES. 


No.  62. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 

No.  77.]  Legation  of  the  Unmted  States, 

Berlin,  November  13,  iss:.'.  (Received  Deceiuljer  4.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor,  refemng  to  my  dispatch  of  November  6,  being  No.  74, 
referring  to  the  exclusion  of  American  hogs,  pork,  and  lard  from  Germany,  to 
now  inclose  two  very  exhaustive  articles  from  Berlin  Tribune  of  the  10th  and  1  Ith 
instant,  with  careful  translations.  The  articles  present  very  fairly  the  effects 
which  the  proposed  exclusion  would  have  upon  the  trade  of  Germany  and  npon 
the  sabsistence  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  prove  by  irrefutable  facts  that  tlie  clamor 
against  these  jirodnctions  is  born  of  prejudice.  *  *  *  The  articles  are  written 
in  admirable  temper,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  have  weight  in  showing  to  the  Ger- 
man statesmen  and  public  the  truth  in  a  matter  so  important  to  the  interests  of 
both  countries. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sauqekt. 


[Inclosare  In  No  77.— Extract  from  the  Berlin  Tribune  of  November  10  and  11, 1882.] 
THE  PROHIBITION  ACT. 


I. 

An  imperial  decree  was  lately  laid  before  the  imperial  Diet  (Bundesrath)  regard- 
ing the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  pigs,  pork,  and  sausages  from  the  Uniteil 
States.  As  regards  American  sausages,  they  were  excluded  from  importation 
some  time  ago.  This  prohibition  seems  justifiable  on  the  ground  that  the  nature 
of  this  article  of  food  renders  an  inspection  difficult:  whereas  it  is  very  easy  in  the 
case  of  pigs  and  pork.  It  would  be  hard  to  conceive  why  our  meat  supply  Irom 
this  quarter  should  encounter  such  op))osition,  if  we  ignored  the  fact  that  a  more 
or  less  artificial  agitation  against  the  importation  of  American  meat  had  been  set 
on  foot  long  ago.  It  is  only  too  apparent  that  this  agitation  is  more  in  the  inter- 
est of  our  cattle  breeders  than  of  our  poorer  classes.  Our  farmers  fail  to  under- 
stand that  the  development  of  our  industries  entails  a  constantly  increasing 
demand  for  food  from  foreign  sources  to  supply  the  people  engaged  in  them. 
From  a  grain-exporting  country  we  have  finally  bi^come  a  gi-ain-importing  country, 
and  we  are  likewise  obliged  to  import  a  constantly  increasing  quantity  of  meat, 
the  home  supply  having  become  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  our  growing 
population.  This  applies  to  all  Europe,  but  more  especially  to  Germany.  Althou.ii;h 
the  actual  number  of  live  stock  has  gi'eatlj'  increased  in  the  last  fifty  years,  the 
relative  number  has  materially  diminished.  In  1830  there  were  in  Europe  70^ 
million  beeves,  164  million  sheep,  and  42i  million  swine:  in  18?5  there  were  88^ 
million  beeves,  191  million  sheep,  and  43A^  million  swine,  the  latter  number,  as  will 
be  seen,  having  remained  almost  unchanged.  The  relative  number  of  live  stock, 
on  the  other  hand,  gave  to  every  1,000  inhabitants  in  Europe — 


Beeves. 

Sheep. 

Swine. 

1«30 

328 
310 

7M 

682 

197 

1&50 - 

15tt 

Still  more  remarkable  is  the  disparity  between  the  increase  of  the  population 
and  the  increase  of  live  stock  in  Germany.  Whereas  the  population  in  the  Ger- 
man Empire  in  1860  was  37.7  millions,  and  in  1870,  40.8  millions  (about  10  per  cent 
increase),  the  number  of  live  stock  has  increased  only  as  follows: 


Beeves. 

Sheep. 

Swine. 

I860 

14,990,194 
15, 776,702 

28,016,769 
24,994,406 

6,462,572 

1«73 

7,124,088 

SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  623 

According  to  these  statistical  results  our  importation  of  cattle  and  animal  prod- 
ucts will  have  to  be  increased  year  after  year.  The  annual  statistics  lor  the 
German  Empire  show  that  there  were,  for  instance,  in  the  year  1861.  548,7;{7  pigs 
imported;  in  1880.  almost  twice  that  number,  i.  e..  1,104,;121.  The  past  year  this 
luimber  was  still  further  increased  by  the  importation  of  sucking  pigs  to  1,272,816, 
whereas  the  exportation  amounted  to  804,867  head. 

It  can,  therefore,  no  more  be  a  (luestion  whether  or  not  we  are  to  import  meat 
products,  but  from  which  source  we  can  draw  the  best  and  cheapest  article. 
Whereas  formerly  Russia  and  Austria-Hungary  supplied  the  German  markets 
with  cattle,  America,  which  is  sending  its  enormous  meat  products  to  all  Europe, 
has  now  also  entered  the  lists  with  these  States  in  Germany.  For  several  years 
already  a  re.^ular  line  of  ships  hus  been  organized  for  the  transportation  of  live 
stock  to  England.  As  yet  Germany  is  supplied  principally  with  salted  and  corned 
beef,  lard,  and  pork  only.  The  United  States  are,  by  reason  of  their  enormous 
wealth  in  cattle,  peculiarly  adapted  to  supply  Europe  with  meat,  to  give  us  from 
their  superabundance  what  we  lack.  In  a  comjiaratively  short  time  the  exporta- 
tion of  fresh  meat  in  ships  supplied  with  refrigerators  has  assumed  astounding  pro- 
portions. In  1875-76  the  export  of  fresh  and  salted  meats  amounted  to  36.V  million 
pounds,  valued  at  $3,000,000;  from  1878-7!>.  54.000.000  pounds  of  fresh  meat,  valued 
at  §4,(^00.000,  and  of  salted  meat  87.000.000  pounds,  valued  at  .S2,300,000.  Accord- 
ing to  official  statistics  there  were  in  1878  in  the  United  States: 

Total  for  every  1,000  inhabitants: 

Beeves. 80,523,400... 653 

Sheep,  35,740,500.. 764 

Swine,  32,262,500 690 

With  ttiis  natural  wealth  is  combined  the  advantage  of  a  very  good  quality. 
The  manner  of  fattening  cattle  in  the  extensive  fields  of  ripening  corn  on  which 
the  cattle  are  driven  makes  it  possible  tor  the  Western  farmer  to  raise  cattle  and 
render  the  meat  of  a  quality  which  can  not  be  attained  in  any  other  manner.  In 
this  manner  the  cheapness  of  the  meat  is  explained.  According  to  Neumann  and 
Spallart,  the  best  quality  of  beef  brought  11  to  12  cents  per  pound  in  New  York. 
The  exportation  of  pork  products  (meat,  hams,  pork,  and  lard)  has  been  the  most 
extensive.  In  1879  itreached  the  following  enormous  figures:  1.081,893,818  pounds, 
estimated  at  $77,350,947,  but  in  1880  these  figures  were  exceeded  by  1,826,157,380 
pounds,  valued  at  $10(.),7!J9,414. 

It  is  only  too  apparent  that  the  importations  of  such  quantities  of  meat  for  the 
European  m;ii  kets  will  tend  to  lower  the  price  and  bring  it  within  the  reach  of 
the  poor  classes.  Under  all  circumstances  the  supply  of  the  European  markets 
with  American  meat  has  become  a  real  blessing  to  our  poor  people,  whose  stand- 
ard of  life  has  been  materially  im])roved.  When  in  February  of  last  year  the 
French  Governmtnt  prohibited  the  importation  of  American  salted  pork,  the  price 
of  meat  rose  in  the  following  month  in  the  seaports  25  per  cent;  so  also  poultry 
and  other  animal  food  (8,>e  official  report  of  Consul  Bridgeland,  in  Havre,  July, 
1881).     It  is  now  proposed  to  decree  a  similar  prohibition  in  the  German  Empire. 

If,  therefore,  we  oppose  this  measure  we  do  so  solely  because  the  prohibition  of 
the  kind  proposed  will  rob  the  poorer  classes  of  the  means  of  procuring  cheap  and 
wholesome  nourishment  and  sink-  them  to  a  lower  grade  of  subsistence.  Lard,  for 
instance,  has  become  an  important  and  extensively  used  article  of  food  only 
through  the  x\merican  import,  whereas  German  lard  was  formerly  and  is  still  a 
luxury.  In  1870  American  lard  cost  70  marks  per  100  kilograms  (200  pounds); 
German  lard  160  marks.  At  present  the  comparative  prices  of  lard  are  125  marks 
and  145  marks  per  100  kilograms.  In  1881  and  the  first  half  of  1882  Westphalian 
and  Oldenburg  hams  cost  1.05  to  1.10  pfennige  per  pound;  American  hams,  60  to 
64  pfennige.  At  present  German  hams  cost  1.05  to  1.10  pfennige;  American,  63  to 
63 .i  pfennige  per  pound. 

None  the  less  these  advantages  would  not  weigh  with  us  if  it  could  be  proven 
that  the  imported  American  meats,  as  far  as  the  pork  production  is  concerned,  are 
injurious  to  health.  In  that  case  we  would  urge  the  exclusion  of  American  meats 
as  strenuously  as  we  would  in  the  case  of  Russian  and  Austro-Hungarian  produce. 
But  we  could  not,  after  a  careful  inquiry  into  the  matter,  discover  that  it  was 
based  on  anything  more  than  an  unfounded  prejudice  and  a  superficial  knowledge 
in  the  premises,  premising,  however,  that  the  agrarian  interests  formed  no  part  of 
the  question.  In  a  second  article  we  shall  enter  more  into  the  details  of  this 
question. 

II. 

At  the  time  the  abolition  of  the  duty  on  lard  was  discussed  in  the  Reichstag  the 
director  of  the  ministry,  the  present  secretary  of  state,  Burchard,  declared  that 


624  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

"trichinae  can  not  be  detected  in  lard,  but  lard  can  be  made  from  pigs  infected 
with  diseases,  and  any  one  who  has  given  the  subject  any  atttmtion  knows  that  a 
disease  prevails  or  prevailed  to  a  large  extent  among  the  pigs  in  America  which 
was  called  the  hog  cholera.  Fears  were  openly  expressed  and  evidence  has  been 
obtained  to  show  that  these  fears  were  well  grounded;  that  a  large  number  of 
the.se  pigs  were  killed  and  used  in' the  manufacture  of  lard."  We  do  not  know 
whether  the  Govemmpnt  has  since  obtained  more  plausible  reasons  to  justify  the 
proposed  prohibition,  but  the  reasons  as  given  in  the  above  explanation  are  alto- 
gether inadequate. 

As  far  as  the  report  of  the  employment  of  infected  and  dead  pigs  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  lard  is  concerned,  it  may  be  well  to  state  that  at  the  first  appearance  of  the 
report,  in  February  of  last  year,  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange,  foreseeing 
the  danger  which  threatened  the  export  trade,  made  representations  to  the  United 
States  Government,  which  immediately  ordered  an  investigation  in  the  premises. 
At  the  instance  of  the  then  Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Blaine,  Mr.  Michael  Scanlan, 
chief  of  the  statistical  bureau,  maile  a  most  searching  investigation  into  the 
matter  at  Chicago  and  Cincinnati,  the  centers  of  these  industries,  the  result  of 
which  was  published  in  the  spring  of  that  year  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "'American 
pork;  result  of  an  investigation  made  under  authority  of  the  Department  of  State 
of  the  United  States."'  Mr.  Scanlan  had  received  strict  injunctions  to  subject 
every  phase  of  the  pork  industry,  from  the  rearing  of  pigs  to  the  manufacture  of 
the  pork  products  for  consumption,  to  a  most  minute  investigation.  Accom- 
panied by  a  stenographer  and  experts,  he  visited  the  principal  breeders  of  pigs, 
traders,  and  exporters,  packing  houses,  cattle  yards,  abattoirs,  and  shippers,  insti- 
tuted meetings  of  those  engaged  in  the  trade,  subjected  them  to  cross-examination; 
in  short,  he  fulfilled  his  mission  so  thoroughly  that  we  lay  down  his  report  to  Mr. 
Blaine  (in  which  all  the  material  was  inclosed  for  his  consideration)  with  the 
fullest  conviction  that  here  a  thoroughly  competent  man  has  done  all  that  could 
be  done  in  the  matter. 

Mr.  Scanlan  first  went  to  Elinois  to  investigate  the  extent  of  the  "hog  cholera." 
Nobody  made  a  secret  of  the  fact  that  this  disease  infected  the  hogs  for  several 
years  and  caused  sad  havoc.  The  department  of  agriculture  of  that  State  pub- 
lished the  following  exhibit  of  the  losses.  (The  first  figures  show  the  percentage 
of  the  hogs  that  died  of  the  disease;  the  second,  proportional  weight.) 


Year. 

Per  cent. 

Pounds. 

1876 

17 

13 

14 

6 

7 

103 

1877 

104 

1878 

108 

18T9 

98 

1880 - 

104 

According  to  ofiBcial  statistics  there  were  in  the  State  of  Illinois  for  several 
years  past  o,i;>3,557  swine,  of  which  227,259  died.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
percentage  of  loss  during  the  la^stfive  years  decreased  from  17  to  7  per  cent,  it  was 
ascertained  that,  on  the  other  hand,  all  cases  of  death  were  attributed  to  hog 
cholera,  even  if  death  had  ensued  from  other  causes.  A  classification  of  the 
causes  of  death  was  not  made— not  even  in  the  case  of  death  by  acci<lent.  It  was 
further  ascertained  that  in  the  above  statistics  no  difference  was  made  between 
pigs  and  hogs.  The  name  "pig"  is  applied  to  the  sucking  pig  until  it  is  six 
months  old;  it  is  only  after  this  age  that  it  becomes  marketable  and  is  then  called 
"hog."  In  Europe  this  distinction,  as  made  repeatedly  by  Mr.  Scanlan,  is 
unknown:  hence  the  groundless  and  exaggerated  fears.  The  living  weight  of  hogs 
marketed  is  between  230  and  2()0  pounds,  whereas  the  average  weight  of  the  pigs 
that  have  died  is  103  pounds,  which  is  conclusive  evidence  that  the  hog  cholera 
carries  off  the  sucking  pigs.  "  But  the  presence  or  absence  of  this  disease  exer- 
cises, as  has  been  proven,  no  influence  whatever  upon  the  quality  of  the  hogs 
sent  to  market,  or  upon  the  quality  of  the  meat  obtained  from  them,  because  it  is 
utterly  impossible  to  dispose  of  a  hog  that  died  by  disease  or  accident  for  pur- 
poses of  consumption." 

We  have  no  time  to  enter  into  the  details  of  the  minute  description  of  the  breed- 
ing, fattening  (in  the  open  air  in  cornfields,  and  a  continual  supply  of  pure  water), 
or  the  transportation.  Anybody  at  all  acquainted  with  the  subject  knows  that 
it  is  impossible  to  conduct  the  whole  business  in  a  more  rational  manner.    On  the 


SWLNE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UlflTED   STATES.  625 

arrival  of  a  shipment  of  pigs  at  the  cattle  yards  "  the  dead  hogs  (for  in  spite  of  all 
precautionary  measures  deaths  in  the  cars,  through  suffocation,  exhaustion,  and 
want  of  water,  will  occur)  are  taken  in  charge  by  the  officials  of  a  company, 
which,  by  a  concession,  has  the  sole  right  to  confiscate  all  dead  animals  within 
the  cattle  yards.  This  company  fixes  such  price  as  it  deems  proper  to  be  paid  to 
the  owner  of  such  pigs— a  price  so  advantageous  to  the  company  that  that  alone 
would  be  a  guaranty  for  the  watchfulness  of  its  employees.  It  is  not  probable 
that  a  dead  pig  would  escape  the  vigilance  of  these  interested  parties."  In 
Chicago  the  Union  Rendering  Company  is  established,  having  its  establishment  at 
Globe  Station,  near  Chicago,  where  the  confiscated  dead  hogs  are  boiled  down 
into  tallow  and  grease  (white  and  brown  grease);  the  offal  is  used  for  manuring 
purposes.    The  grease  is  sold  to  soap  factories. 

There  are  houses  in  Chicago  which,  owing  to  excellent  machinery  and  other 
technical  arrangements,  can  kill  and  prepare  4,000  swine  daily.  The  Anglo- 
American  Packing  and  Provision  Company  has  packed  in  the  two  seasons,  from 
March  1,  1880,  to  March  1,  18S1,  1,1(36,377  hogs;  Armour  &  Co.,  in  Chicago, 
1,210,092  head.  In  all  there  were  packed  in  that  city  5,6^3,569  head.'  This  is  an 
exceptionally  extensive  industry.  To  assume  that  an  industry  which  is  carried  on 
with  such  painstaking  cleanliness  and  such  order  and  regularity  would  expose  its 
interest  to  the  danger  of  ruining  the  entire  product  by  introducing  diseased  swine 
would  indicate  a  total  ignorance  of  the  principles  underlying  its  prosperity.  The 
American  speculates,  but  he  does  not  adulterate,  for  he  well  knows  that  he  would 
ruin  his  trade  forever.  '•  To  mix  and  to  fix  "  is  better  understood  in  Europe  than 
in  America. 

Regarding  the  trichinae,  the  report  affirms  that  the  inhabitants  of  America  are 
the  greatest  pork-consuming  people  in  the  world,  and  that  the  people  in  the  rural 
districts  eat  it  two  or  three  times  a  day  without  the  slightest  fear  of  trichinae. 
Of  course  only  the  most  thoroughly  boiled  meat  is  eaten.  In  fact,  our  habit  of 
eating  meat  in  a  raw  state  is  looked  upon  in  France,  England,  and  America  as 
barbarous.  Of  40,000  deaths  in  Chicago  only  two  were  traced  to  trichinae,  and  in 
Cincinnati  none  have  died  through  this  cause  for  a  number  of  years.  The  report 
assumes  the  percentage  of  American  swine  infected  with  trichinae,  owing  to  the 
su  peri  ority  in  breedin  g  and  f  attenin  g,  to  be  much  smaller  than  the  swine  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  An  obligatory  inspection  of  swine  can  not  be  introduced  in  a 
city  where  daily  16,000  to  18,00u  hogs  are  slaughtered.  An  inspector  of  meat  can 
inspect  at  the  highest  only  30  pigs  per  day,  nor  so  many  thoroughly.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  thoroughness  of  this  official  investigation  unless  we  would 
doubt  the  integrity  of  Mr.  Scanlan  and  the  honesty  of  purpose  of  the  United  States 
Government.  This  our  Government  will  certainly  not  do.  We  may,  therefore, 
inquire,  Are  they  cognizant  of  this  investigation?  Have  they,  nevertheless,  other 
reasons  for  decreeing  this  prohibition?  On  reading  the  remarks  made  by  Mr. 
Burchard  we  are  almost  compelled  to  assume  that  he  was  specially  ignorant  of 
the  true  state  of  affairs  and  that  his  assertions  were  based  solely  on  hearsay.  Of 
course,  since  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Delbriick,  we  are  accustomed  to  see  every 
new  economic  measure  proposed  by  the  Government  end  in  a  miserable  failure, 
and  on  the  whole  it  is  not  worth  the  while  to  devote  any  serious  consideration  to 
such  general  and  superficial  remarks  as  were  made  in  the  debate  in  the  Reichstag 
on  the  7th  June  by  the  opponents  to  Mr.  Booth's  bill. 

While  on  the  one  hand  a  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  pork  would 
deprive  the  population  of  a  cheap  and  nutritious  article  of  food  and  destroy  the 
pork  and  beef  trade  in  the  German  seaports,  the  question  arises  on  the  other 
whether  it  is  wise,  from  a  con)mercial  point  of  view,  to  introduce  a  prohibitive 
policy  toward  a  country  which  is  purchasing  a  constantly  increasing  portion  of 
our  manufactured  wares.  The  United  States  have  paid  for  257,000,000  marks' 
worth  of  German  wares  between  the  months  of  October  1,  1881.  to  September  30, 
1882;  that  is  to  say,  for  about  56.000,000  marks  more  than  in  1880-81,  Will  we 
then  insist  in  forcing  them  to  adopt  measures  of  reprisal  in  which  we  would 
certainly  be  the  losers,  because  our  exporting  interests  in  America  are  greater? 
We  fail  to  see  in  any  quarter  any  cogent  reason  for  the  introduction  of  a  prohib- 
itory measure,  for  we  can  scarcely  believe  that  the  agrarian  interests  should  alone 
be  the  motive  for  such  a  measure,  for  there  are  too  many  weighty  and  general 
interests  involved  in  the  question. 

'  We  have  in  Germany  a  large  packing-house  of  this  kind — J.  D.  Koopmann, 
Hamburg— which  packs  130,000-140,000  German  pigs  yearly,  exclusively  for 
London. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 iO 


626  SWLNE   PBODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  63. 
Mr,  Bailey  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  86.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Hamburg,  November  SO,  1882.     (Received  Decembers.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  a  translation  of  the  leading  editorial 
in  the  Hamburg  Handelsblatt  of  November  10,  1883,  together  with  the  original. 

The  Handelsblatt  is  the  chief  commercial  paper  of  Hamburg,  and  the  article  is 
from  the  well-known  pen  of  its  efficient  and  impartial  editor,  Mr.  Franz  Rosatzin. 

For  some  time  past  there  has  been  much  discussion  throughout  Germany,  and 
especially  at  the  centers  of  commercial  business,  concerning  the  importation  of 
pork  and  hams  from  the  United  States. 

As  is  well  known,  the  people  here  do  not  eat  as  much  meat  of  any  kind  as  in 
America,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  high  prices  demanded  for  such  articles. 

The  newspapers  throughout  the  Empire  have  from  time  to  time  calied  the  atten- 
tion of  their  readers  to  the  great  danger  (as  they  regarded  it)  to  health  and  life  in 
eating  American  pork  and  hams.  Many  educated  and  intellij^ent  men  h.ive  also 
promulgated  the  same  notions,  and  now,  go  where- you  may  and  converse  with 
whom  you  please,  you  will  g:enerally  find  a  widespread  prejudice  against  this 
American  article  of  consumption  on  account  of  the  suspected  trichinie. 

Of  coarse,  there  is  no  real  foundation  for  all  this  fear  and  talk,  but  that  it  largely 
exists  is  indisputable. 

It  is  also  well  known  here  to  some,  but  not  to  the  masses,  that  American  pork 
and  hams  are  imported  and  afterwards  branded  and  sold  as  domestic  meats,  thereby 
enabling  sales  to  be  made  at  higher  prices. 

I  have  yet  to  learn  of  any  deleterious  effects  or  fatal  cases  arising  from  eating 
our  pork  and  hams,  but  every  American  in  Europe  knows  perfectly  well  the  almost 
universal  bias  that  exists  here  against  all  American  productions,  and  our  exports 
to  Germany  would  be  almost  stayed  were  we  not  able  to  successfully  compete  in 
prices  and  superiority  of  article  and  manufactures. 

If  the  proposed  legislation  is  enacted  and  the  gate  is  shut  against  our  pork,  hams, 
and  lard,  I  may  venture  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  Germany  will  soon  real- 
ize the  enhanced  cost  of  living  and  that  the  race  is  not  essentiaUy  healthier  and 
stronger  for  such  exclusion.  ^ 

1  am,  etc.,  J.  M.  Bailey, 

United  States  Consul. 

No.  64. 
Mr,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr,  Sargent, 

[Extract] 
No.  66.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Novemher  28,  1882. 
Sir:  Your  dispatch  No.  74,  of  the  6tb  instant,  in  which  you  communicate  to  the 
Department  the  fact  that  you  have  received  information  to  the  effect  that  there  is 
renewed  agitation  in  Germany  against  the  introduction  of  Amftrican  pork  and  that 
a  bill  has  been  prepared  for  submission  to  the  Reichstag  prohibiting  the  importa- 
tion of  this  important  article  of  our  foreign  commerce,  has  been  received. 

Thanking  you  for  so  promptly  calling  the  attention  of  this  Department  to  the 
matter,  1  have  to  request  you  to  lose  no  suitable  opportunity  to  oppose  the  measure 
and  to  show  that  it  is  groundless  and  unjust.    *    *    * 
I  am,  etc., 

FBEDK.  T.  FaEUNGHUYSBN. 


No.  66. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  85.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  December  11, 1882.     (Received  December  29.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  the  following  is  the  draft  of  the  ordinance 
that  has  been  presented  to  the  German  Federal  Council  for  the  prohibition  of  the 
importation  of  American  pork  products,  viz: 

"  1.  The  importation  from  America  (the  United  States)  of  pigs,  pork,  bacon,  and 
eausages  of  all  kinds  is  forbidden  until  further  notice. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  627 

"2.  The  imperial  chancellor  is  empowered  to  permit  exceptions  to  this  prohibi- 
tive rnle,  subject  to  the  necessary  measures  of  control. 

"3.  The  restrictive  ordinance  of  the  2')tb.  June,  1880,  with  respect  to  the  impor- 
tation of  pork  and  sausages  from  America,  is  abolished. 

"  4.  The  present  ordinance  comes  into  force  thirty  days  after  its  promulgation." 

Commenting  on  the  above,  the  Berlin  cori-espondent  of  the  London  Times,  usu- 
ally well  informed  and  impartial,  but  in  this  case  evidently  *  *  *  catching  at 
superficial  appearances,  has  the  following,  under  date  of  November  30,  1882. 

"  The  prohibitive  ordinance  of  June,  1880,  above  referred  to,  only  applied  to  the 
importation  of  minced  pork  and  sausages,  but  not  to  hams,  etc.,  it  being  sup- 
posed that  microscopic  examination  of  the  latter  would  secure  the  exclusion  of 
unwholesome  consignments.  But  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  exercise  a  rig- 
orous surveillance  in  this  respect,  and  as  it  is  known  that  American  pigs  suffer 
much  more  than  the  Gierman  from  trichinosis,  as  well  as  from  the  infectious  dis- 
ease called  hog  cholera,  the  German  Government  feels  compelled  to  take  effective 
measures  against  the  introduction  of  the  dreaded  germs.  It  is  urged  that  the 
commercial  and  financial  importance  of  the  measure  is  not  considerable.  Live 
pigs  are  not  imported  into  Germany  from  America  in  very  large  numbers,  and  of 
hams,  pork,  etc.,  only  about  3  per  cent  of  the  total  national  consumption;  so  that 
the  difference  could  easily  be  made  up  by  native  breeders,  or  be  derived  from  other 
states,  such  as  Russia." 

The  correspondent  accepts,  as  in  good  faith,  and  apparently  without  personal 
examination,  statements  to  the  prejudice  of  American  pork  as  compared  with  the 
German  article,  which  are  totally  unfounded,  as  also  that  the  trade  interests 
involved  are  very  slight. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  very  strong  memorial,  in  admirable  temper,  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Bundesrath  at  the  time  this  correspondent  sent  liis  dispatch  by  a 
committee  appointed  by  a  meeting  of  merchants  at  Hamburg  interested  in  the 
American  pork  trade.  This  memorial,  a  copy  and  translation  of  which  I  inclose, 
shows  by  facts  and  irrefutable  logic  that  the  pretense  that  American  pork  s 
peculiarly  diseased  is  the  result  of  misinformation,  and  that  the  German  trade 
interests  in  this  article  are  very  great. 

The  basis  of  this  memorial  is  the  report  on  this  whole  subject,  made  in  May, 
1881,  to  the  State  Department.  I  do  not  know  how  fully  this  report  was  cir- 
culated in  Germany,  but  its  conclusive  statements  are  used  with  great  effect  in 
this  memorial,  and  are  proffered  by  the  latter  to  the  minds  it  is  most  necessary  to 
influence. 

The  memorial  alleges  that  the  principal  daiiger  from  pork  consumption  is  from 
the  use  of  native  pork,  which  can  not  be  subjected  to  the  inspection  which  can  be 
applied  to  the  imported  article,  and  points  out  as  a  fact  that  notorious  recent  cases 
of  infection  have  arisen  from  the  use  of  German  pork.  It  has  been  conveniently 
assumed  heretofore  that  pork  in  which  trichinae  were  found  was  American,  the 
proof  of  its  being  American  being  that  it  contained  trichina\  The  singular  fact 
is  stated  that  German  pork  is  sold  by  the  producers  at  higher  prices  than  the 
imported  article,  the  producers  then  buying  the  cheaper  American  article  for 
their  personal  use. 

The  effect  on  the  poorer  classes  by  depriving  them  of  a  food  necessary  for  their 
physical  and  mental  development  is  well  pointed  out,  and  the  loss  of  revenue  is 
shown,  amounting  to  2,271,480  marks,  which  must  be  supplied  by  taxation  on 
other  objects. 

It  is  also  shown  that  the  loss  to  German  shipping  interests  will  be  enormous, 
and  the  loss  so  occasioned  will,  in  great  measure,  accrue  to  England,  Holland,  and 
Belgium. 

1  am  more  than  ever  satisfied  that  there  is  no  real  foundation  *  *  *  in  fact 
*  *  *  for  the  assumption  that  sanitary  reasons  reciuire  this  measure  of  exclu- 
sion. Such  documents  as  that  I  transmit  are  conclusive  to  any  unbiased  judg- 
ment. The  facts  are  too  well  supported,  the  arguments  are  too  logical,  and  the 
illustrations  too  persuasive  to  leave  a  doubt.  There  is  the  pressure  of  the  pork 
raisers  in  Germany  back  of  the  measure  of  the  landed  interest  that  is  taxed  by 
the  tariff  on  many  articles  of  consumption,  and  demands  a  monopoly  in  this 
market,  an  artificial  scarcity,  that  their  goods  may  be  enhanced  in  price. 

******* 

Singularly  just  at  this  moment  the  German  press  discusses  the  message  of  the 
President  to  reduce  our  import  duties,  by  which  it  expects  a  large  increase  of  Ger- 
man exportation  to  America.  That  justice  requires  careful  *  *  *  considera- 
tion of  American  claims  has  not  apparently  occurred  to  them,  at  least  not  in  con- 
nection with  this  sweeping  exclusion  of  American  pork  products. 
I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


628  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

[Incloenre  in  No.  86.— Translation.] 
MEMORIAL.  OF  HAMBURG  MERCHANTS  TO  THE  BUNDESRATH. 

Hamburg,  November  SI,  ISSS. 

The  undersigned,  citizens  and  merchants  of  this  city,  respectfully  beg  leave  to 
make  the  following  representations  to  the  honorable  Bundesrath  for  its  considera- 
tion: 

It  having  come  to  our  knowledge  through  rejmtable  journals  that  it  wa.s  ])ro- 
posed  to  finally  prohibit  all  iinportHtion.s  of  American  pigs  and  pork  into  the  dis- 
trict of  the  Geriuai)  Customs  Union  for  sanitary  reasons,  a  meeting  ol  merchants 
engaged  in  that  trade  in  this  city  was  called  on  the  Nth  instant,  at  whicli  the 
undersigned  were  authorized  to  call  the  attention  of  the  honorable  Bundesrath  to 
such  objections  which,  in  their  opinion,  the  proposed  measure  would  encounter, 
not  only  from  the  interests  involved  at  the  places  engaj^ed  in  the  traffic,  which 
interests,  however,  we  admit  at  the  outset,  will  alway.s  have  to  give  way  to  those 
of  a  more  national  character,  but  also,  in  a  far  greater  degree,  where  national, 
economical,  and  fiscal  interests  are  at  stake. 

If  the  reasons  which  on  a  former  occasion  led  to  the  imperial  decree  of  June  25, 
1880,  regarding  the  exclusion  of  chopped  pork  and  sausages  from  America  from 
Germany,  are  now  also  to  be  made  to  apply  for  prohibitive  measures  against  other 
portions  of  pigs,  such  as  are  less  easily  controlled,  as  for  instance,  hams,  shoulders, 
etc.,  they  can  not  possibly  be  advanced  to  justify  the  projected  prohibition  against 
salt  pork  and  bacon,  for  the  reason  that  salt  pork  is  only  edible  in  a  boiled  state 
and  trichinae  are  never  found  in  bacon.  If,  however,  there  should  still  be  some 
apprehension  that  trichina?  might  be  contained  in  the  small  strips  of  meat  that 
occur  in  bacon,  the  danger  of  infection  could  be  reduced  to  the  slightest  miniuiuu 
by  the  introduction  of  an  obligatory  inspection  of  the  meat,  which  could  be  con- 
trolled at  the  ports. 

But  a  comparatively  greater  danger  lies  in  the  consumption  of  our  home  pro- 
ductions, which  can  not  be  ao  easily  controlled,  and  in  which  every  part  of  the 
pig  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  food,  and  it  is  from  th;s  source  that  most  of 
the  serious  cases  of  infection  of  which  we  read  in  the  papers  originate,  as,  for 
instance,  the  late  case  in  Brunswick.  Although  we  can  not  believe  that  in  influ- 
ential quarters  any  importance  is  attached  to  the  newspaper  reports  regarding 
hog  cholera,  which  are  actuated  by  interested  motives,  we  can  not.  nevertheless, 
refrain  from  calling  attention  to  the  official  re])ort  made  in  May  of  last  year  to  the 
American  Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Blaine,  which  sufficiently  refutes  the  slightest 
suspicion  that  diseased  pigs  could  be  employed  in  the  preparation  of  human  food. 

In  this  report,  "  Result  of  an  investigation  made  under  authority  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  of  the  United  States."  it  is  remarked:  "The  fact  can  readilj'  be 
attested  to  that  all  rumors  and  reports  that  American  pigs  that  have  died  of  dis- 
ease, or  even  by  accident,  are  ever  sent  into  the  market,  either  in  the  form  of  meat 
or  lard,  are  founded  on  malice  and  ignorance;  for  it  is  (luite  impossible  for  the 
packer  or  lard  renderer,  however  much  he  might  be  inclined  to  do  so,  to  use  the 
carcass  of  a  disejised  jng  in  the  preparation  of  human  food  in  any  form  that  could 
escape  detection  even  by  the  most  superficial  inspection." 

The  justness  and  warranty  for  the  alxive  remarks  must  be  apparent  to  all  who. 
like  the  undersigned,  are  ac(iuainted  with  the  true  state  of  things  from  personal 
experience  in  the  great  American  stock  yards,  and  it  is  this  fact  which,  in  our 
opinion,  imposes  upon,  us  the  duty  of  making  the  f«)llowing  statement.  By  far 
the  greater  part  of  bacon  that  is  shipped  from  America  comes  from  Chicago,  which 
place,  as  is  well  known,  has  not  its  equal  on  the  face  of  the  earth  as  regards  the 
magnitude  of  its  pork-packing  establishments. 

The  shipments  of  pigs  to  that  place  frequently  exceed  50,000  head  per  day,  and 
there  are  often  no  less  than  10,000  to  15,000  pigs  packed,  as  is  the  technical  term 
used  for  slaughtering  and  preparing  the  pigs  for  the  market,  per  day.  It  must 
be  quite  apparent  to  anybody  that  so  enormous  an  industry  can  only  be  conducted 
by  meaus  of  the  most  careful  classification  of  the  work,  and  hence  it  follows  that 
each  separate  branch  of  the  work  is  done  by  such  fixed  rules  that  any  deviation 
therefrom,  as,  for  instance,  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  any  single  branch, 
would  be  highly  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  whole.  The  swine  are  driven 
into  the  stock  yards  (cattle  yards  of  1  square  mile,  English,  in  extent),  and  thence 
selected  and  purchased  by  agents,  excellently  trained  and  experienced  in  their 
calling,  for  the  packers. 

The  compau)',  a  stock  company  with  a  large  capital,  to  which  the  stock  yards 
belong,  has  a  contract  with  another  company,  the  Union  Rendering  Company, 
according  to  which  the  latter  company  has  tiie  right  and  duty,  and,  as  it  derives 
large  profits  from  it,  the  interest,  to  claim  for  itself  all  diseased  animals. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  629 

From  this  arrans^ement,  which  has  existed  for  years,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is 
utterly  impossible  to  bring  a  diseased  pig  into  mnrket.  and  consequently  it  would 
be  impossible  for  a  packer,  even  if  he  desired  to  do  so,  to  purchase  a  diseased 
animal. 

But  the  business  of  those  pncl^ers,  too,  is  so  extensive,  each  one  of  them,  and 
especially  all  of  them  wlio  work  for  the  European  trade  are  so  well  known,  and 
are  such  wealthy  people,  and  have  ac  luired  so  world-wide  a  reputation  for  their 
wares  in  conseciuence  of  their  scrupulous,  conscientious  management  of  their  busi- 
ness that  their  own  interests  would  seem  to  comjiel  them  to  exercise  unceasing 
vigilance  against  any  other  than  the  best  quality  of  absolutely  healthy  pigs  ever 
reaching  the  market  under  their  names. 

All  cases,  barrels,  and  boxes  in  wh  ch  their  wares  are  sent  to  all  parts  bear  their 
firm's  name,  and  it  is  known  throughoiit  the  busin  ss  world  with  what  justifiable 
pride  these  firms  strive  to  send  nothing  but  the  best  article  into  market.  They 
are  well  aware  of  the  injury  that  would  be  done  to  their  interests  if  they  could  Ije 
ever  justly  reproached  with  shipping  a  bad  or  even  interior  article.  By  these 
principles  they  demonsti  ate  anew  the  fact  that  has  been  observed  everywhere,  that 
whenever  a  large  commercial  or  industrial  enterprise  was  made  to  flourish,  it  was 
done  only  by  the  application  of  honest  ijrinciples,  and  herein  lies,  in  our  opinion, 
the  best  guaranty  for  the  protection  of  the  consumer. 

The  diseased  animals  are  used  exclusively  i!i  the  preparation  of  grease,  which, 
as  is  well  known,  is  used  only  for  technical  purposes.  Any  attempt  to  mix  it  with 
pork  productions  designed  for  human  food  would  lead  to  ruinous  results  to  those 
engaged.  Such  a  manipulation  would  be  quite  as  foolish  as  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  a  renowned  brewery  to  mix  a  quantity  of  spoiled  beer  with  that  of  an 
excellent  quality  in  order  to  increase  the  quantity.  All  the  above  details  are  not 
only  well  known  to  American  and  European  business  men,  but  anyone  having 
enough  interest  in  the  matter,  and  who  has  occasion  to  express  an  opinion  upon 
it,  can  easily  inform  himself  as  to  their  authenticity. 

If,  in  the  face  of  such  well-known  facts,  it  has  still  been  possible  to  circulate  the 
reports  that,  in  our  day  even,  diseased  animals  were  intentionally  and  systemat- 
ically used  in  the  preparation  of  human  food  at  the  great  American  packing  houses, 
we  believe,  until  we  have  received  proofs  to  the  contrary,  that  they  were  circulated 
by  mistake  and  on  the  strength  of  misleading  statements.  If  we  may  now  be 
allowed  to  regard  the  question  from  a  national,  economical  point  of  view,  we  are 
convinced  that  a  general  prohibition  would  be  greatly  p.e judicial  to  the  interests 
of  a  great  number  of  consumers,  more  especially  to  the  poorer  classes  of  our  father- 
land, without  any  advantage  accruing  to  the  German  agriculturist.  Yes.  it  can 
even  be  proven  that  such  a  prohibition  would  be  injurious  to  the  real  interests  of 
the  latter.  Of  meat  (salted,  fresh,  and  prepared)  there  was  imported  into  Q-er- 
many,  in — 

Handredweight. 

1878 632,235 

1879 800,788 

1880 477,314 

1881 - --   ..  --   378,580 

Although  the  customs  tariff  makes  no  distinction  between  the  kinds  of  meat,  it 
is  nevertheless  well  known  to  the  initiated,  and  also  apparent  from  the  returns 
from  the  places  whence  these  articles  are  principally  shipped  (Bremen,  Hamburg, 
Belgium,  and  from  the  United  States  direct)  that  bacon  is  an  important  factor  in 
the  foregoing  figures. 

Of  late  years  the  importation  has  been  sensibly  diminished,  owing  to  the  high 
prices  which  have  been  oocasioned  by  the  short  crops  in  America.  When,  however, 
prices  were  moderate,  and  the  shipments  more  extensive,  it  was  possible  to  supply 
a  large  portion  of  our  poorer  classes,  and  notably  in  the  industrial  district  of 
Germany,  with  an  article  of  animal  food  in  the  form  of  cheap  American  bacon, 
so  useful  to  this  class  and  so  necessary  to  their  physical  and  intellectual  develop- 
ment. The  same  state  of  things  will  again  result  from  an  increase  in  American 
crops,  and  nothing,  in  our  opinion,  could  justify  a  measure  which  would  deprive 
the  classes  in  question  of  this  so  important  article  of  food— not  even  a  considera- 
tion for  the  interests  of  the  German  agriculturists— for  what  the  latter  produce 
in  pigs  and  jiork  preparations  brings  such  high  prices,  and  during  the  period  of 
cheap  American  pork  brought  such  high  prices,  that  our  poorer  classes  could 
never  think  of  purchasing  domestic  hams  or  bacon  and  lard  to  any  extent  worth 
ment:ouing. 

On  tlie  contrary,  it  has  frequently  happened — and  herein  lies  the  proof  of  the 
above-made  statement — that  the  unrestricted  importation  of  bacon  has  redounded 
to  the  interests  of  the  German  agriculturists;  that  landowners  and  farmers  have 


630  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    XTNTTED    STATES. 

sold  the  swine  raised  on  their  lands  for  the  high  prices  which  were  paid  in  the 
markets  (the  price  seldom  fell  much  below  ^>0  marks  for  100  pounds,  no  matter 
whether  American  bacon  cost  30  or  75  marks  per  100  pounds),  and  bought  tor  their 
own  use  the  cheaper  American  bacon. 

If.  therefore,  the  sanitary  reasons  advanced  for  the  prohibition  and  consumption 
of  American  bacon  are  not  tenable,  whereas  on  the  other  hand  the  interests  of  the 
poorer  classes  would  seem  to  demand  imperatively  an  unrestricted  importation  of 
this  important  article  of  food — and  experience  has  taught  us.  moreover,  that  such 
importation  can  in  no  way  be  prejudicial  to  German  agriculture — we  may  be  par- 
doned for  pointing  out  the  fact  that  through  a  prohibitive  measure  the  income 
from  this  source,  which  amounted  to,  in— 

Marks. 

1878 - 948.359 

1879 1,736,219 

1880 - 2,863,884 

1881.. 2,271,480 

would  cease,  and  the  deficiency  would  probably  have  to  be  made  good  by  the 
imposition  of  heavier  duties  upon  other  articles. 

We  would  also,  in  conclusion,  refer  to  the  enormous  loss  accruing  to  the  Ger- 
man shipping  interests  (even  the  provisioning  of  the  ships,  as  far  as  this  article  of 
food  is  concerned,  would  have  to  be  done  in  foreign  ports) .  as  also  to  the  extensive 
intermediate  traffic  in  the  article  in  question  with  Scandinavia  and  Denmark  by 
such  prohibition.  This  traffic,  in  case  the  transit  trade  were  not  also  prohibited 
by  an  especial  measure,  would  be  unnecessarily  lost  to  German  shipping  and  Ger- 
man trade  and  be  diverted  into  Eelgian,  Hollandish.  and  English  ch.mnels. 

We  therefore  take  the  liberty  at  this  early  day  to  express  the  hope  that,  in  case 
a  general  proh  bition  should  be  considered  inevitable,  the  honorable  Bujidesrath 
will  be  phased  to  consider  as  feasible  the  request  to  retain  to  the  seajjorts  the 
international  traffic  in  the  articles  in  question  as  soon  as  the  latter  shall  have 
adopted  such  measures  that  will  prevent  any  of  the  prohibited  articles  from  reach- 
ing the  German  markets. 

As  any  other  motives  for  the  contemplated  prohibition  than  those  alluded  to 
have  not  been  made  public,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  we  are  constrained  to  confine 
ourselves  to  the  foregoing  >tatements  and  remarks,  to  which,  however,  we  respect- 
fully beg  leave  to  make  such  farther  additions  as  occasion  may  offer. 

We  express  the  ho!ie.  howe  .-er,  that  the  honorable  Bundesrath.  in  giving  all  due 
consideration  to  the  German  interests  involved  in  the  question,  will  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  said  interests  do  not  require  a  prohibition  of  the  importation 
of  American  i>ork  and  bacon,  and  that  these  two  articles  may  be  exempted  from 
any  prohibitive  measure  that  may  be  adopted. 

With  all  due  respect  for  the  honorable  Bundesrath. 

Heinrich  Pfeiffee, 
Ed'm  J.  A.  Siemens, 
GusTAV  J.  J.  Witt. 


No.  66. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuyseru 

[Extract.] 

No.  87.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  December  18, 18S2.     (Received  January  5,  1883.) 

SiK:  1  have  the  honor  to  state,  referring  to  my  dispatches  recently  sent,  stating 
the  agitations  for  and  against  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  swine 
produi;t8  into  Germany,  that  .strong  protests,  similar  to  that  of  the  Hamburg  mer- 
chants, have  been  sent  from  Bremen  and  several  other  cities  interested  in  the 
commercial  aspects  of  the  matter. 

During  the  past  week  Herr  Richter,  the  distinguished  leader  of  the  Progressist 
party  in  the  Reichstag,  made  a  powerful  speech  in  opposition  to  the  proposed 
exclusion,  denying  the  soundne.s8  of  the  reasons  adduce!  tor  such  action  and  also 
the  power  of  the  federal  council  to  make  the  prohibition  without  the  sanction  of 
the  Reichstag. 

I  presume  you  are  aware  that  the  proposition  is  pending  in  the  Bundesrath  and 
is  to  be  effected  by  a  simple  order  or  decree  of  that  body  and  is  not  to  be  adopted 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  631 

in  the  form  of  a  law.     In  fact,  it  could  not  gain  sanction  as  a  law.     In  a  more 
popular  body,  like  the  Reichstag,  it  would  surely  be  defeated.    *    *    * 

The  power  is  claimed  for  the  Bundesrath  under  an  article  in  the  tariff  laws  of 
July  1,  1869,  which  reads  as  follows: 

"Article  1.  All  productions  of  the  nature  of  art  or  industrial  productions  may 
be  imported  into,  exported  from,  or  transported  through  the  entire  district  of  the 
customs  union. 

"Art.  2.  Exceptional  measures  may  be  temporarily  adopted  under  extraordinary 
circumstances  for  the  prevention  of  dangerous  contagious  diseases,  or  for  other 
sanitary  or  precautionary  reasons,  for  a  part  or  the  whole  district." 

The  power  herein  granted  is  obviously  for  temporary  purposes  and  for  emergen- 
cies. Some  great  and  unusual  calamity  impending  must  have  been  in  the  minds 
of  the  legislators.  *  *  *  [No]  emergency  now  exists  nor  disaster  impends  from 
the  importation  of  American  pigs  or  pork;  certainly  not  one  so  threatening  that 
there  is  not  ample  time  for  ordinary  legislative  processes. 

In  view  of  these  obvious  considerations  it  is  alleged  that  the  Progessist  party 
intends  making  an  interpellation  in  the  Reichstag  regarding  the  threatened  prohi- 
bition of  the  importation  of  American  pork  products.  This  interpellation  I  find 
reported  in  one  of  the  local  papers  as  follows: 

"  In  reference  to  the  project  now  pending  before  the  Bundesrath  to  prohibit  the 
future  introduction  of  American  pork  products,  the  undersigned  would  address 
the  following  inquiries  to  the  imperial  chancellor: 

"1.  Has  the  Bundesrath  caused  any  statistics  to  be  collected  showing  to  what 
extent  American  meat  products,  especially  bacon,  are  necessary  articles  of  food  to 
a  large  class  of  the  poorer  people  in  different  parts  of  the  country? 

"  3.  Does  the  Bundesrath  propose  to  cause  special  statistics  to  be  collected  relat- 
ing to  the  alleged  unwholesome  character  of  the  American  meat  products  at  the 
port  of  entry  and  at  the  place  of  origin  of  the  article? 

"  3.  Does  the  Bundesrath,  apart  from  the  question  of  a  continual  sanitary  con- 
sideration in  the  premises,  hold  itself  authorized  to  adopt  measures  restricting 
importations  without  the  concurrence  of  the  imperial  Parliament,  by  virtue  of  the 
right  vested,  for  temporary  circumstances  only,  in  the  Bundesrath  by  article  2  of 
the  tariff  laws  of  July  1,  1869?" 

These  questions  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  The  considerations  which  they 
raise  can  hardly  be  ignored  in  the  Bundesrath,  though  they  may  not  prevail  to 
prevent  the  foreshadowed  action. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  67. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  90.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  January  1,  188S.     (Received  January  19,  1883.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  a  very  strong  feeling  of  opposition  has  been 
aroused  in  Berlin  and  other  German  cities  as  well  as  in  the  manufacturing  districts 
generally  against  the  threatened  exclusion  of  American  pork  products. 

Strong  protests  are  being  sent  in  to  the  Bundesrath  and  committees  of  merchants 
and  others  have  visited  the  capital  to  protest  against  the  measure.  Editorials  in 
leading  papers  have  fully  exposed  the  falsity  of  the  excuses  for  exclusion. 

If  this  were  strictly  a  Goverinnent  of  public  opinion  in  the  American  sense,  these 
general  public  appeals,  backed  as  they  are  by  solid  reasoning  upon  indisputable 
facts,  would  prevail,  and  the  project  would  be  abandoned.  But  this  is  far  from 
being  the  case,  and  the  prospect  is  stronger  than  ever  that  the  decree  will  be  issued. 
I  am  informed  that  Mr.  Bottischer,  the  imperial  minister  of  the  interior,  informed 
a  protesting  delegation  during  the  past  week  that  the  measure  would  certainly  be 
adopted. 

It  is  believed  in  some  well-informed  quarters  that  this  will  be  done  in  a  day  or 
two  to  anticipate  the  impending  discussion  m  the  Reichstag,  which  was  adjourned 
until  its  next  sitting,  about  the  middle  of  January,  when  the  opponents  of  prohi- 
bition will  undoubtedly  make  a  strong  showing  against  both  the  policy  and  the 
legality  of  the  measure. 

There  is  considerable  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  opponents  of  prohibition  in  the 
Reichstag  in  view  of  this  threatened  snap  judgment,  and  a  leading  member  of  that 
body  characterized  it  to  me  as  "a  mean  trick." 


632  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    8TATE8. 

The  pretense  of  sanitary  reasons  is  becoming  the  thinnest  veil,  which  has  been 
torn  into  shreds  anil  which  is  now  apparently  only  insisted  on  as  an  excuse  to  the 
Unit^ed  States.  The  Berliner  Tribune,  a  powerful  organ  of  the  Progressists,  clearly 
showed  in  an  article  published  on  Saturday,  the  30th  ultimo,  that  it  appears  from 
official  reports  that  from  1877  to  1879  there  was  an  average  of  83  deaths  per  year 
in  Germany  from  trichinosis,  and  that  the  average  has  increased  since  then,  and 
yet  it  asserts  there  has  not  proved  to  be  one  case  of  death  or  even  disease  from 
eating  American  pork. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  shown  that  the  methods  of  preparing  export  meat  in  the 
Unit«'d  States  are  absolute  death  to  trichin;**.  It  says  that  in  every  case  of  death 
or  disease  from  eating  pork  it  has  been  from  the  use  of  freshly-slaughtered  German. 
Russian,  or  Hungarian  pork.  It  holds  that  the  American  assertion  that  diseased 
meat  is  never  e.vported  from  our  country  is  maintained,  and  such  meat  is  too  rapid 
in  decomposition  to  be  prepared  for  export.  In  a  word,  as  it  shows,  there  is  no 
sanitary  objection  to  American  pork.  It  gives  the  true  explanation  of  the  agita- 
tion by  saying  that  it  is  a  thorn  in  the  fiesh  of  German  proprietors  that  a  pound  of 
American  pork  can  be  sold  here  for  10  pfennige  less  than  the  home  product. 

If  the  move  of  keeping  out  the  half  a  million  hundredweights  of  American  pork 
impoi'ted  into  Germany  yearly  could  succeed,  then  their  greatest  rival  is  out  of  the 
way,  and  they  will  fix  prices  to  suit  themselves. 

Of  course  if  the  public  is  not  to  be  benefited,  the  great  landholders  are. 

If  the  price  of  pork  rises  5  pfennige  per  pound,  a  hog  of  300  pounds  gains  15 
marks  in  value  on  present  prices,  and  the  result  is  that  the  large  farmers  who 
slaughter  yearly  from  500  to  1.000  head  have  a  gain  of  7,500  to  15,000  marks. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  hog  raiser  works  in  the  interest  of  his  pocketbook 
against  the  importation  of  American  meat.  "  But  woe  to  the  poor,  who  pay  to 
him  the  15,000  marks!  Woe  to  the  hungry,  who  imagine  that  it  is  a  duty  of  the 
Government  not  to  make  the  means  of  living  exorbitant!  " 

The  falsity  of  the  pretense  of  sanitary  reasons,  and  the  real  motives,  are  here 
clearly  exhibited,  directly  under  the  eyes  of  the  council. 

A  similar  showing  is  made  in  yesterday's  National  Zeitung.  Both  papere  show 
that  the  present  is,  above  all,  an  improper  time  for  such  a  measure.  There  exists 
no  reason  for  helping  German  agriculturists,  for  this  years  harvest  has  been 
remarkably  abundant,  while  American  crops  have  fallen  off,  and  consequently 
American  exports  to  Germany,  leaving  the  German  fanners  a  nearly  clear  field 
and  good  prices;  and  these  conditions  can  not  be  changed  until  the  harvest  of 
1883. 

But  Eurojw  needs  American  agricultural  products,  for  it  can  not  feed  itself,  but 
must  pay  for  these  with  its  labor. 

It  is  also  pointed  out  that  Germany  is  likely  to  be  a  great  gainer  by  the  proposed 
reduction  of  the  American  tariff. 

The  Americans  can  not  be  convinced  that  the  meat  which  they  freely  eat  with- 
out iniury  is  unwholesome,  or  that  the  measure  is  not  a  selfish,  injurious  blow  at 
their  interests.  The  danger  of  reprisals  is  pointed  out.  and  it  is  suggestively  stated 
by  the  Tribune  that  because  the  French  have  recently  been  buying  railroad  sup- 
plies of  Austria  instead  of  Germany,  probably  getting  them  cheaper,  a  mere  pri- 
vate corporation  business,  not  involving  governmental  action,  the  German  press 
has  been  clamorous  for  reprisals  by  overtaxing  champagnes. 

"  If  the  action  of  a  few  Frenchmen  can  raise  such  stormy  calls  for  reprisals, 
what  will  the  Americans  think  on  seeing  their  pork  prohibited  while  Russian  pork 
is  allowed  to  come  in?  " 

The  Tribune  sees  in  this  measure  new  powder  for  the  guns  of  the  social  demo- 
crats, and  deprecates  the  adoi>tion  of  a  measure  where  the  gains  must  be  so  little 
and  the  damage  is  certain  to  be  so  great. 

I  have  given  the  substance  of  these  newspaper  articles  that  j'ou  may  see  that 
there  is  no  lack  of  light  shed  on  the  subject. 

I  have  sought  by  every  means  to  oppose  the  measure,  and  have  lost  no  opportu- 
nity to  expose  its  true  character  and  to  show  that  the  health  of  American  swine  is 
unimpaired  and  American  swine  products  are  entirely  wholesome.  I  do  not  think 
these  latter  propositions  are  now  seriously  disputed  by  people  of  intelligence.  The 
movement  is  merely  selfish,  and  in  disregard  ot  the  interests  of  the  United  States. 
The  only  argument  which  would  be  effective  against  the  measure  would  be  the 
fear  of  reprisals.  We  could,  not  insist  upon  any  people  receiving  from  us  articles 
deleterious  to  health,  but  we  can  as  little  submit  to  the  exclusion  of  our  products 
upon  false  pretenses — pretenses  so  obviously  false  as  in  this  instance. 
I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sarqent. 


8W1NE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  633 

No.  68. 

Mr.  Warner  to  Mr.  Davis, 

No.  31.]  ,  United  States  Commercial  Agency, 

Diifiaeldorf,  January  10,  188S.     (Received  February  19.) 

Sir:  Judging  from  the  tone  of  the  large  number  of  petitions  that  have  recently 
been  addressed  to  the  German  Federal  Council  praying  for  a  repeal  of  the  law  it 
has  in  contemplation  of  enforcing  against  the  importation  of  American  hog  meat 
into  the  German  Empire,  a  certain  cjass  of  manufacturers  here  have  felt  no  little 
anxiety  that  should  the  German  Government  persist  in  adopting  any  such  strin- 
gent measures  the  American  Government  might  retaliate  in  a  manner  that  would 
work  very  detrimental  to  the  importation  of  a  certain  kind  of  their  goods  into  the 
United  States.  This  hint  toward  retaliation  by  many  of  our  American  journals 
has  had  a  decided  effect  in  stirring  up  the  Germans  to  feel  wherein  their  interest 
lies,  and  they  have  perceived  that  the  American  nation  is  not  that  kind  to  accept 
anything  like  the  sort  of  reciprocation  their  Government  proposes  to  offer  by 
excluding  from  their  markets  good  and  wholesome  American  products. 

Considering  the  great  interest  that  is  now  being  manifested  on  the  part  of  the 
German  Government  in  its  offering  every  possible  encouragement  to  the  extending 
of  Germany's  exporting  trade,  and  as  the  industrial  classes  of  Germany,  chiefly  of 
the  iron  and  wool  industries,  are  wide  awake  to  the  increasing  demand  for  their 
products  in  the  United  States  and  the  briglit  prospects  for  them  in  the  future 
should  the  tariff  on  foreign  goods  to  the  United  States  be  lowered,  there  is  no 
wonder  that  these  people  should  be  greatly  desirous  of  putting  a  cessation  to  any 
unwise  legislation  by  their  Government  that  would  exert  the  slightest  influence 
in  arresting  in  any  way  this  thriving  business  with  our  country. 

A  glance  at  the  value  of  the  exports  to  the  United  States  from  Germany  for  the 
years  1881-8v}  will  show  the  increase  above  referred  to.  The  total  value  of  exiorts 
for  the  year  ending  1881  was  $r,2,l»89,18],  and  for  1882  $56,368,542.  The  values  of 
woolen  goods  for  the  same  years  were  $4,815,376  and  $5,441,408,  respectively, 
showing  a  trifle  over  half  a  million  of  dollars  in  favor  of  this  one  class  ot  goods. 

The  petitions  say  that  to  prevent  the  importation  of  American  hog  meat  into 
Germany  would  be  a  great  deprivation  to  the  indigent  laboring  classes  in  the  indus- 
trial districts,  who  could  not  afford  to  pay  anything  like  the  prices  that  would 
necessarily  be  charged  for  the  home  production,  and  would  have  to  live  and  work 
on  food  into  which  meat  would  not  enter.  They  (the  petitioners)  further  claim 
that  all  the  excitement  about  the  American  meat  containing  trichinae  is  to  be 
attributed  chiefly  to  gross  exaggerations,  without  any  foundation  for  proof,  and 
that  the  German  hog  meat  is  just  as  liable  to  be  diseased  as  the  American. 

In  the  iron  mining  and  smelting  district  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  the  petitioners  have 
been  very  earnest  in  their  appeals.  They  say  the  society  for  furnishing  provisions 
to  the  workingmen  in  the  ironworks  of  Aitenberg  issued  to  their  laborers  during 
the  years  1874  to  1882,  428,404  pounds  of  the  American  hog  meat  and  its  prod  nets, 
and  the  mining  works  in  the  Eifel  consumed  42, 130  pounds  from  1878  to  1882,  which 
was  purchased  by  the  workmen  in  quantities  varying  from  a  half  to  1  pound  at  a 
time.  Now,  as  the  supporters  of  this  prohibitory  law  claim  that  all  the  American 
hog  meat  that  is  imported  into  Germany  contains  from  1  to  5  per  cent  of  trichinae, 
or  is  otherwise  diseased,  it  will  be  seen  that  of  the  above  amounts,  even  if  reckoned 
as  containing  only  1  per  cent,  there  would  have  been  something  like  4,704  pounds 
of  trichina  meat  consumed  by  these  people — enough  to  have  afflicted  every  one  of 
them  with  trichinosis.     But  there  was  not  a  single  person. that  was  so  affected. 

There  were  imported  into  Prussia,  via  Antwerp,  from  the  year  1871  to  1881, 
138,301,590  pounds  of  American  hog  meat  and  its  products.  Now,  if  all  this 
amount  had  contained  even  1  per  cent  of  trichinae,  it  can  be  reasonably  supposed 
that  large  nunahers  of  Prussia's  laboring  people  would  have  become  afflicted  with 
trichinosis. 

If,  after  all,  the  proofs  contained  in  the  above  petitions,  which  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  German  Federal  Council  in  the  interest  of  the  working  population 
of  Germany,  should  not  have  the  desired  effect.  I  think  the  American  Govern- 
ment would  be  perfectly  justified  in  inaugurating  some  such  sort  of  retaliatory 
measures  as  suggested  by  many  American  newspapers  and  feared  here. 

I  have  heard  it  hinted  by  men  whose  opinions  I  have  no  reason  for  doubting 
that  the  chief  object  of  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  hog  meat 
into  the  German  markets  is  to  force  the  population  to  raise  its  own  pork. 

Wm.  D.  Wamer, 

Commercial  Agent* 


634  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  69. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  74.]  Department  of  State. 

Washington,  Jamiary  12,  ISSS. 
S'R:  Acknowledging  the  recei])t  of  yonr  very  interesting  and  instructive  dis- 
patch No.  87.  of  the  l«th  nltimo.  in  which  you  ^ive  an  account  of  the  method  in 
which  it  is  proposed  to  accomplish  the  exclusion  of  American  pork  from  Ger- 
many, I  have  to  request  you  to  lose  no  occasion  to  compass  the  abandonment  of 
the  restrictive  and  unjust  measures  now  prot)08ed. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fbedk.  T.  Fbelinghuysbn. 


No.  70. 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  96.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  January  13,  1883.     (Received  February  19.) 

SiK:  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  an  interesting  debate  occurred  at  the  session 
of  the  Reichstag  on  the  yth  instant,  upon  the  mooted  prohibition  of  the  importa- 
tion of  American  pigs  and  pork  by  decree  of  the  Bundesrath,  of  which  1  inclose  a 
full  report,  without  translation.  This  debate  aro.se  upon  an  interpellation  ad- 
dressed to  the  chancellor  by  Herr  Richter  on  behalf  of  the  Progressist  party,  a 
copy  of  which  is  given  in  my  dispatch  No.  87,  of  December  18,  1882. 

Herr  Richter  opened  the  debate  by  saying  that  the  interpellation  is  in  the  inter- 
est of  a  large  circle  of  poor  people.  He  showed  how  injurious  the  previous  pro- 
hibition of  American  sausages  and  chopped  meat  had  been,  and  dwelt  upon  the 
entire  lack  of  any  effort  by  the  chancellor  to  collect  or  present  any  evidence  of  the 
unsoundness  of  American  pork,  or  that  any  diseases  had  been  engendered  by  its 
consumption.  He  alluded  to  prools  accessible  that  cases  of  trichinosis  observed 
arise  from  the  use  of  German  chopped  meat  fresh  from  the  butcher.  The  only 
source  of  information  of  the  chancellor  was  a  document  written  probably  as  an 
advertisement,  *  *  *  and  full  of  sensational  stories.  Goulard  is  himself  quoted 
in  the  chancellor's  memorial  as  an  authority;  yet  the  witness  would  not  be  for  a 
total  exclusion,  but  for  a  prohibition  only  of  such  importation  as  he  did  not  profit 
by.  A  collection  of  the  advertisements  of  the  "Golden  110"  (a  cheap  clothing 
store  in  Berlin )  would  be  as  good  evidence  in  New  York  of  the  condition  of  Ger- 
man trade  as  this  circular  is  here  of  any  fact  in  American  production.  On  such 
flimsy  evidence  was  a  measure  proposed  that  would  cut  deep  into  German  food 
relations.  He  denied  that  American  pork  furnishes  only  3  per  cent  of  the  German 
meat  food,  and  that  the  deficiency  could  be  easily  made  up  otherwise,  for  in  some 
parts  of  Germany  the  imports  represent  a  very  considerable  percentage  of  meat 
nourishment.  Consumers  of  beef  might  eat  a  small  percentage  of  pork,  but  the 
poor  classes  used  it  wholly,  and  it  was  a  large  percentage  of  their  subsistence.  A 
food  association  of  mining  workmen  near  Aix  states  that  SO  kilograms  of  Amer- 
ican meat  is  used  per  head  every  year.  Often  the  piece  of  American  bacon  is  the 
only  animal  food  in  the  dish  which  the  wife  brings  to  her  husband  for  his  noon 
meal  at  his  place  of  work.  Already  the  high  price  of  Ameri  an  products  causes 
the  Westphalian  workman  to  subsist  on  the  refuse  of  sausage  factories,  or  go  with- 
out animal  food.  The  short  maize  crop  had  raised  the  price  of  American  pork, 
but  a  good  harvest  would  put  this  food  cheaply  in  the  reach  of  the  German  poor. 

He  a! so  challenged  the  right  of  the  Bundesrath  to  make  the  prohibition  under 
the  tariff  law  of  18G9.  its  only  pretense  of  authority,  which  gives  only  the  right  of 
temporary  suspension  in  cases  of  emergency.  The  whole  speech  was  admirable 
and  convincing. 

Upon  its  conclusion,  and  as  if  to  close  the  discussion,  the  ministerial  director, 
Marcard,  arose  and  answered  the  interpellation  at  once,  not  responding  to  any  of 
the  propositions  of  law  or  fact  jtropounded.  but  declaring  that  the  Bundesrath  was 
still  investigating  the  matter  and  had  come  to  no  conclusion,  and  no  one  had  a 
right  to  announce  its  intentions  m  advance;  that  its  decision  would  undoubtedly 
be  laid  before  the  Reichstag  after  it  was  arrived  at. 

Deputy  Kapp  was  not  disposed  to  have  the  interpellation  so  easily  disposed  of. 


SWINE   PE0DUCT8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  635 

He  declared  that  the  proposition  of  the  Bundesrath  is  based  on  the  allegation  that 
American  pork  is  dangerous,  and  the  proof  of  this  is  not  furnished.  The  Bundes- 
rath had  not  obtained  sufficient  information.  This  it  could  have  easily  done,  for 
the  American  Government  had  published  the  result  of  official  investigations,  espe- 
cially the  collective  experience  of  Chicago  and  Cincinnati.  The  business  amoun<^ed 
in  1880  to  100,799,414  tons.  So  great  a  trade  could  not  take  place  unless  it  were 
conducted  on  the  most  conscientious  and  scientific  principles.  The  continuation 
of  the  trade  was  only  guaranteed  by  furnishing  the  best  article.  He  regretted 
that  so  high  an  official  as  State  Secretary  Burchard  had  promulgated  such  a 
groundless  assertion  as  that  cholera  had  broken  out  among  American  pigs,  and 
had  therefore  demanded  prohibition  for  sanitary  reasons. 

Competent  judges  would  have  told  him  that  cholera  only  affects  young  swine, 
which  are  never  sent  to  market,  as  they  pay  too  little.  These  also,  when  dead 
from  disease,  decompose  so  soon  that  it  is  not  possible  to  turn  them  into  lard,  and 
the  pigs  are  used  for  grease  and  soap.  He  showed  the  care  used  in  feeding  and 
handling  American  pigs.  He  thought  no  one  would  be  surprised  at  the  manipu- 
lations of  Messrs.  G .     It  would  not  be  sui'prising  if  the~e  gentlemen  spread 

a  report  that  they  had  been  spoken  of  by  the  Peichstag  with  high  praise.  A 
decisive  question  with  him  was,  is  it  desirable  to  disturb  the  good  relations  with 
the  American  Government,  which  is  engaged  in  reducing  the  tariff?  Were  this 
proposal  now  the  law  the  working  classes  would  be  less  physically  able  to  serve 
the  Fatherland.  He  trusted  the  council  ot  state  would  abandon  the  injurious 
step. 

The  chancellor,  Prince  Bismarck,  arrived  during  this  speech  to  announce  cer- 
tain relief  proposed  by  the  Emperor  for  the  flooded  districts.  He  made  a  few 
incidental  remarks  upon  the  interpellation,  and  called  pork  "the  poor  man's 
trichina."  He  excused  himself  on  the  plea  of  ill  health  from  speaking  at  length, 
and  for  that  reason  denied  himself  the  pleasure  of  retutation.  His  remarks  show 
that  he  was  not  moved  by  the  arguments  and  facts  presented  by  the  opposition, 
and  had  no  disposition  to  relax  his  purpose  to  secure  the  exclusion  of  American 
pork  products.     "■•■    *    * 

When  the  debate  was  resumed  Dr.  Frege  spoke  in  favor  of  exclusion,  saying 
the  speech  of  Mr.  Kapp  was  entirely  in  the  American  to  the  exclusion  of  German 
interests.  He  believed  the  great  quantity  of  hogs  slaughtered  made  it  impossible 
to  eliminate  the  diseased.  Ihe  German  poor  were  not  dependent  on  this  food,  as 
this  pork  is  only  3  per  cent  of  their  food. 

Secretary  Burchard  defended  his  statement  as  to  the  danger  from  hog  cholera 
by  citations  from  the  New  York  Staats  Zeitung,  stating  that  the  business  is  no 
longer  a  clean  one,  and  alluding  generally  to  scientific  opinion. 

Bundescomniissioner  Dr.  Kohier  asserted  that  it  is  established  that,  for  instance, 
in  Dresden,  10  per  cent  of  the  American  hams  had  trichinosis.  Similar  instances 
occurred  in  Magdeburg,  Brunswick,  Gestemiinde,  etc.  The  health  officials  have 
also  announced  that  8,  5,  and  8  per  cent  have  trichinosis,  and  that  pickling  and 
smoking  are  not  sufficient  to  destroy  this.  There  are  cases  of  fatal  sickness  as 
the  result  of  eating  this  meat,  especially  at  Bremen,  Rostock,  etc.  He  doubted  if 
distress  to  the  poorer  classes  would  arise  from  exclusion,  which  would  be  a  grave 
matter,  but  the  duty  of  the  Government  is  first  to  prevent  dangerous  articles 
from  being  imported. 

Dr.  Barth  said  he  was  not  convinced  by  anything  that  had  been  said  that  there 
was  danger  fi'om  American  meats.  He  carefully  refuted  the  statements  of  the 
previous  speaker  in  regard  to  the  prevalence  and  consequences  of  trichinosis  in 
American  pork,  and  said  the  consumers  of  the  food  petitioned  against  prohibition, 
and  the  only  ones  in  favor  of  it  are  the  Bundesrath  and  some  interested  hog 
bi-eeders. 

In  France  and  Austria-Hungary  the  prohibition  was  imposed  before  the  investi- 
gation by  the  American  Government.  In  the  latter  country  it  is  about  to  be 
taken  oft".  If  Germany  now  imposed  it,  after  the  investigation,  it  would  act  very 
offensively  to  the  American  Government,  and  drive  them  to  reprisals,  such  as 
there  were  in  18/2,  on  the  part  of  the  Unite  I  States  against  France.  Deputy 
Kapp  did  not,  as  Deputy  Frege  charged  him,  serve  American,  but  German,  inter- 
ests, as  he  warned  them  before  such  reprisals.  The  danger  which  the  use  of 
brandy  brings  with  it  is  immeasurably  greater  than  that  evoked  by  the  use  of 
American  pork.  In  the  Berlin  hospital  in  1878-79  there  were  623  persons  suffering 
from  chronic  alcohol  sm,  of  which  40  died.  Yet  nobody  would  deduce  from  that 
the  necessity  of  forbidding  he  use  of  alcohol.  In  the  interest  of  the  relations 
with  America,  of  the  laboring  classes  and  commerce,  he  invoked  further  serious 
test  by  the  Bundesrath  before  excluding  American  pork. 

Deputy  Ahlhorn  said  the  working  classes  are  accustomed  to  this  food.    Ha  had 


636  8WINE    PEODU0T8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

collected  many  reports  and  made  many  investigations,  but  not  a  sinjjle  case  had 
been  anthenticated  whose  sickness  has  been  the  result  of  using  American  lard  or 
bacon.  If  this  measure  is  deemed  necessary  it  should  be  brought  l^efore  the 
Reichstag  for  legislation.  It  is  a  question  of  the  indispensable  food  for  the  poor 
man,  who  is  already  injured  by  the  new  taxes. 

Here  the  debate  on  the  interi)ellatiou  rlosed.     The  \ngor  with  which  it  was 
waged  by  the  opponents  of  the  measure  and  the  fact  that  very  serious  interests, 
commercial  and  others,  are  affected  by  it  may  have  the  effect  of  preventing  the 
decree,  though  I  am  not  sanguine  of  that  at  this  writing. 
1  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  71. 

Mr.  Fox  to  Mr.  Davis, 

No.  192.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Brunswick,  January  l'>,  1SS3.  (Received  Februaiy  9.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  an  article,  with  translation,  which  I  take  from 
the  Magde  urger  Zeitung  of  January  12.  It  is  not  in  my  province  to  even  refer 
to  the  political  reasons  which  the  Government  had  for  proposing  the  prohibitory 
measures  against  American  meats.  It  must,  however,  be  very  satisfactory  to  our 
exporters  to  note  that  the  result  of  the  discnssion  has  lieen  to  bring  forth  indis- 
putable evidence  of  the  fact  that  American  pork  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  Ger- 
many, and  the  statement  coming  from  such  a  recognized  authority  as  Professor 
Virchow  must  carry  conviction  that  the  German  health  is  not  jeopardized  by 
eating  it. 

lam,  etc.,  '  William  C.  Fox, 

United  States  Consul. 


[Inclosnre  in  No.  192.— Extract  from  the  Magdebnrger  Zeitnng  of  January  12, 1883.— Translation.] 

The  following  letter  from  Iserlohn.  received  by  a  delegate  (of  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament) on  the  day  following  the  debate  in  regard  to  the  measure  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  meats,  has  been  handed  us,  and  we  publish  the  same  as  supple- 
mentary to  the  discussion  in  question: 

"  In  our  mutual-benefit  store  in  this  place— whose  business  manager  I  am — we 
have  for  the  past  ten  years  kept  American  bacon  in  stock,  during  which  time  we 
have  8o!d  some  ;300,000  pounds.  In  the  other  local  business  establishments  about 
700,000  pounds  have  been  sold,  and  not  one  single  case  of  trichinosis  has  occurrt  d. 
A  prohibitory  decree  would  rob  the  workman  of  a  good,  healthy,  and  thereby  a 
chetp  nourishment.  Three  years  ago  the  then  newly  imposed  duty  had  the  efiect 
of  gfreatly  increasing  the  price.  Before  the  introduction  of  the  duty  I  bought 
American  bacon  for  34-3.5  pf.  per  pound;  Westphalian  bacon  for  A'y  .50  pf.  ]ter 
pound.  To-day  the  same  costs:  American  bacon,  63  pf.  per  pound;  Westphalian 
bacon,  84  pf.  per  pound. 

'•We  formerly  sold  1,500-2.000  pounds,  to-day  only  about  500  pounds  monthly. 
A  prohibitory  mea.sure  would  simply  so  increase  the  price  of  Westphalian  bacon 
that  it  would  be  an  impossibility  lor  the  workmen  to  purchase  this  healthy  article 
of  food.'* 

*  «  «  *  .  « 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  Professor  Virchow.  who  is  recognized  as  the  lead- 
ing authority  on  the  subject  of  trichiuie,  is  against  the  pro'.iibltion.  He  s  lys  thnt 
With  absolute  certainty  he  has  not  been  able  to  find  one  case  of  trichinosis  caused 
by  American  bacon  or  ham,  and  that  he  has  only  heard  of  one.  viz.  in  1874.  It 
appears  that  the  American  trichinae  loses  its  injurious  properties  through  smoking, 
salting,  pickling,  and  especially  through  the  long  journey.  This  fact  has  been 
certified  to  by  Dr.  Schulze,  Government  ineilical  counselor  in  Minden.  in  his  report 
for  the  year  1880,  He  says:  "  The  assertion  that  the  trichinse  loses  its  infections 
properties  through  tran'-portation,  smoking,  and  salting  mnst  certainly  be  ma  n- 
tained,  since,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of  trichinae,  no  case  of  illness  from 
eating  snch  meat  has  been  recorded." 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  637 

No.  73. 

Mr.  Warner  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  32.]  United  States  Commercial  Agency, 

Dusseldorf,  January  22,  1S83.  (Received  February  19.) 
Sir:  The  speech  delivered  in  the  German  Imperial  Diet,  at  Berlin,  on  the  10th 
of  this  month  by  one  of  its  distinguished  members,  Herr  Eugen  Richter,  a  repre- 
sentative from  the  district  of  Hagen,  Westfalen,  is  so  strong  in  its  plea  against 
the  passage  of  a  decree  by  the  German  Government  prohibiting  the  importation 
of  American  hog  meat  and  its  products  into  the  German  Empire  that  I  have 
thouglit  it  important  to  ivirnish  the  Department  of  State  with  a  translation  of  the 
same.  It  i-  also  based  on  similar  protests  against  the  pro'jibition  of  the  importa- 
tion as  contained  iu  my  dispatch  No.  31,  transmitted  recently  to  the  Department. 

Wm.  D.  Wamer. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  33.— Extract  from  the  Kolnischen  Zeitung.— Translation.] 
MR.  RICHTER'S  speech. 

Gentlemen:  The  interpellation  is  offered  in  the  interest  of  the  population  of 
extensive  districts.  As  a  representative  of  the  people  of  the  district  of  Hagen, 
who  are  greatly  interested  in  this  matter,  I  support  this  inteipeliation. 

On  the  21st  of  November  last  year  proposals  were  made  to  the  German  Federal 
Council  by  the  imperial  chancellor  to  issue  a  decree  of  prohibition  against  the 
importation  of  American  pork  and  its  products  into  the  German  Empire.  This 
prc^hibition  will  cut  very  deeply  into  the  food  supply  of  the  population,  inasmuch 
as  there  are  many  hundred  thousands  of  centners  (equivalent  to  a  little  more  than 
100  pounds)  that  will  be  affected  annually  by  this  prohibition  of  the  importation. 

It  was  no  later  than  the  year  1880  that  the  Federal  Council  issued  a  decree  in 
reference  to  the  importation  of  American  sausages  and  hacked  meat,  in  which  it 
was  expressly  prescribed  that  the  importation  of  whole  hams  and  sides  would  be 
permitted.  Now  the  imperial  chancellor  bases  its  proposal  in  the  Federal  Council 
upon  the  unheal thfulness  of  the  products  of  American  meat,  particularly  of  the 
hams  and  bacon.  But  since  the  year  1880  nothing  has  become  known  to  either  the 
consumers  in  these  districts  that  has  given  cause  for  any  complaint  against  the 
use  of  the  American  hog  meat  on  account  of  its  unwholesomeness,  or  to  the  officials 
in  those  communities,  whose  official  duty  it  is  to  examine  into  everything  that  is 
supposed  to  be  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  people  where  the  American  products 
are  generally  enjoyed. 

Some  few  years  ago  the  scientific  commission  of  the  Prussian  ministry  for  sani- 
tary affairs  also  declared  itself  against  such  a  prohibition. 

Since  then  other  petitions  to  the  imperial  chancellor  have  become  known,  which 
have  been  presented  at  the  request  of  various  agricultural  societies,  aiming  at  such 
a  prohibition  of  American  products.  The  memorial  of  the  imperial  chancellor  to 
the  Federal  Council  first  proves  that  the  injury  to  health  of  these  articles  is  by  their 
producing  the  trichina  disease,  and.  secondly,  by  the  cholera  among  American  hogs. 

In  reference  to  the  trichina  disease  the  memorial  says  that  the  danger  from  the 
eating  of  American  hog  meat  is  at  least  six  times  greater  than  from  the  eating  of 
the  home  products. 

I  will  not  go  into  the  particulars  from  which  this  conclusion  has  been  drawn, 
since  the  simple  question  is  this:  If  of  these  articles  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cent- 
ners are  annually  consumed,  and  that  thereby  the  danger  is  six  times  greater  than 
with  the  domestic  ones,  where  are  the  sick,  where  are  the  dead,  which  in  conse- 
quence of  this  quality  of  the  American  hog  meat  we  have  to  complain  over? 

The  memorial  of  the  Federal  Council  simply  says:  Undoubtedly  diseases  have 
been  declared  by  the  control  at  the  places  of  import,  in  Germany,  in  consequence 
of  the  eating  of  American  hog  meat.  The  memorial  does  not  make  the  slightest 
attempt  to  specify  in  numbers  a  single  case. 

*  *  *  rpj^g  superior  medical  adviser  (obermedicinalrat) ,  Eulenburg,  who 
imparts  his  advice  in  the  ministry  of  the  interior,  and  who  is  a  distinguished 
authority  on  sanitary  matters,  quotes  from  a  report  made  by  him  in  1881  the  cases 
where  sickness  and  death  have  occurred,  and  I  hereby  declare  that  in  all  these 
cases  not  a  single  case  of  sickness  or  of  death  can  in  any  way  be  attributed  to  the 
diseased  condition  either  of  the  American  or  German  hams  and  bacon.  [iBear! 
Hear!]    There  are  but  two  cases  of  sickness  given  as  having  been  produced  by 


638  SWINE   PBODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

sausages,  and  there  is  no  proof  indicating  that  American  import  prodncts  were  in 
any  wuy  concerned  in  them. 

The  chief  causes  of  the  trichina  disease  have  been  in  consequence  of  the  eating 
of  hacked  raw  meat,  and  the  three  cases  there  noted  are  much  more  important 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  diseases  together. 

On  the  ground  of  these  experiences  the  eating  of  hacked  raw  hog  meat  could  be 
forbidden,  but  not  the  importation  of  hams  and  bacon,  which  play  no  part  in  these 
statistics. 

Now,  I  have  conversed  with  my  friend  Virchow  fthe  great  German  pathologist] 
concerning  this  matter.    He  is  known  for  his  strict  demands,  which  he  chiefly 

E laces  on  the  police  sanitary  board,  and,  again,  through  the  great  attention  which 
e  has  given  from  the  beginning  in  the  investigation  of  the  trichina  disease.  He 
is  in  certain  circles  of  the  butchers  and  slaughterers  one  of  the  best  interested  and 
most  hated  of  men.  My  colleague,  Virchow.  has  authorized  me  to  declare  that  he 
considers  this  prohibition  of  the  importation  in  no  manner  .iustified.  [Hearl 
Hear!]  He  says  he  has  investigated  this  matter  very  thoroughly,  and  has  taken 
the  greatest  pains,  and  up  to  the  present  has  not  been  able  to  tind  out  but  one 
case,  and  that  was  in  the  year  1874,  that  is  eight  years  ago,  in  which  the  trichina 
disease  was  produced  by  the  eating  of  American  hog  meat. 

A  valuable  testimony  is  furthermore  the  report  of  a  cooperative  association, 
which  states  that  the  association  had  ordered  in  one  year  in  its  district  2\'2.200 
kilograms  of  American  hog  meat,  and  that  not  one  single  case  of  sickness  has 
occurred,  although,  according  to  the  usual  calculation,  4,704  purchasers  have 
received  bacon  containing  trichinte. 

If  on  the  one  side  it  is  acknowledged  that  there  exist  in  a  comparatively  large 
number  of  the  sides  of  bacon  trichinae,  and  upon  the  other  side  none,  or  only  sin- 
gle cases  of  sickness  can  be  proved,  then  the  con  lusion  is  evident  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  salting,  pickling,  smoking,  the  long  transportation,  and  in  general 
the  whole  manipulation  to  which  this  article  is  subjected  previous  to  its  l)eing 
placed  on  the  market,  the  trichmap  are  either  no  longer  living  or  no  more  in  con- 
dition when  they  reach  the  human  organism  to  produce  in  any  way  dangerous 
efTects.  This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  a  statement  of  Dr.  Schiilz,  Govi  rnnient 
medical  adviser  at  Minden,  in  whose  district  a  large  part  of  the  investigation  of 
American  bacon  has  been  made,  and  who  says: 

"The  assertion  that  the  trichinae  which  appear  in  great  masses  in  American 
prepared  meats  have  lost,  through  the  manipulation  to  which  they  are  subjected, 
their  power  of  reproduction  in  the  human  system  must  still  be  maintained:  that 
notwithstanding  the  enormous  consumption  of  these  meats  there  has  not  been  a 
single  case  in  which  the  sharpest  kind  of  a  diagnosis  has  revealed  the  presence  of 
trichinae." 

In  the  face  of  this  statement  one  may  better  conclude  that  the  investigation  of 
American  hams  and  bacon  is  superfluous  rather  than  its  being  insufficient. 

Nevertheless,  I  will  make  no  objection  against  the  investigation  of  American 
bacon  and  hams  through  official  inspectors.  It  ma)'  be  necessary  to  satisfy  the 
consumers,  and  to  the  rejection  of  bacon  that  is  more  or  less  objectionable. 

But  when  it  is  said  that  among  the  examined  bacon  are  so  many  trichinae,  it 
may  rightly  be  said  that  this  investigation  of  the  American  import  is  much  easier 
than  the  investigation  of  hogs  butchered  in  Germany,  for  these  are  scattered  over 
the  whole  country,  while  the  importation  comes  en  masse  only  from  certain  places, 
and  where  the  regulations  for  the  investigation  are  at  hand.  *  *  *  Now,  the 
memorial  continues: 

'•Yes,  even  if  the  American  bacon  should  be  examined  at  the  port  of  entries,  it 
would  still  be  difficult  to  destroy  the  rejected  bacon  in  a  manner  to  prevent  con- 
tagion.    Dogs,  rats,  and  mice  could  transmit  the  trichina"." 

Yes,  gentlemen;  when  that  is  possible  here,  it  is  also  possible  in  reference  to  tri- 
chinae found  in  the  rejected  German  bacon,  and  then  we  come  to  the  point  of  the 
Mosaic  rule  (very  true),  for  dogs,  rats,  and  mice  make  no  distinction  in  regard  to 
their  appetite  whether  the  rejected  meat  is  American  or  German. 

In  regard  to  the  second  ground  for  the  prohibition  of  importation,  namely,  the 
cholera,  the  memorial  does  not  say  that  such  a  case  has  occurred  in  Germany  at 
all;  only  in  England  live  hogs  have  been  introduced  which  had  been  infected 
with  the  disease,  and  the  English  ordered  them  to  be  killed  immediately  after 
their  arrival. 

The  English,  therefore,  are  satisfied  with  this  police  order.  With  us,  where  no 
such  cases  have  come  to  light,  a  general  prohibition  of  import  is  at  once  ordered. 

Years  ago  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  State  had  taken  occasion  to  insti- 
tute a  formal  enquete  in  reference  to  the  cholera  disease,  and  appointed  the 
director  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  to  make  the  investigation. 

The  American  Govermnent  had  the  results  of  this  investigation  published  and 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  639 

forwarded  to  all  their  diplomatic  agents  in  foreign  countries.  It  maintains  that 
all  the  American  hogs  are  of  the  best  and  purest  breed;  that  the  report  spread  in 
Europe  concerning  the  disease  of  American  hogs  in  consequence  of  the  hog  chol- 
era is  greatly  exaggerated;  that  the  percentage  of  death  among  American  hogs  is 
not  any  greater  than  in  Europe;  that  of  the  American  hogs  which  die  of  cholera, 
in  consequence  of  the  strictest  investigation  and  inspection  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected, no  diseased  ones  can  be  sent  abroad,  and  that  out  of  the  meat  of  such  hogs 
no  bacon  nor  lard  can  be  prepared  for  the  trade. 

One  should  think  when  a  government  prepares  such  a  memorial  as  this  that 
proper  notice  should  by  all  means  be  given  to  the  investigations  of  the  American 
Government.  But  what  does  the  imperial  chancellor  do?  He  creates  the  impres- 
sion that  the  memorial  of  the  American  Secretary  of  State  had  been  written  in 
the  year  1882,  and  says  nothing  else  concerning  its  contents  save  only  that  "the 
results  of  the  en quete  form  a  comparatively  valuable  material,"' but  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  these  compounded  reports  are  neither  complete  nor  sufficiently 
reliable  for  a  control.  Official  proceedings  to  confirm  these  declarations  by  oath 
as  bound  by  law  have  not  taken  place. 

Yes,  gentlemen;  neither  have  they  taken  place  with  us.  One  should  think  that 
if  the  imperial  chancellor  utters  such  positive  judgment  in  regard  to  the  official 
enquete  of  the  United  States  he  would  have  greater  reason  to  produce  on  his  side 
truthful  and  complete  statements  of  impartial  men. 

As  proof  of  the  proportion  of  the  disease  of  American  hogs  a  paper  of  an  official 
American  stenographer  is  mentioned.  The  imperial  chancellor  puts,  then,  against 
the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  a  stenographer  of  New  York!  I  do 
not  know  what  stenography  has  to  do  with  this  question.  Has  that  man  been 
ordered  when  he  hears  complaint  about  hog  meat  to  stenograph  the  same?  He 
appears  as  a  man  who  at  times  is  employed  by  authority  for  stenography,  and 
who  has  been  ordered  to  put  his  name  on  a  pamphlet  which  is  put  together 
out  of  various  articles  from  a  New  York  commercial  paper  [hearl  hear!];  and 
in  the  memorial  of  the  Federal  Council,  of  the  size  of  19  quarto  pages,  the  extracts 
of  the  official  stenographer  out  of  the  commercial  paper  occupy  fully  4  pages  [hear! 
hear!],  such  great  value  has  the  imperial  chancellor  placed  upon  the  stenographer. 

By  closer  inspection  one  finds  that  all  articles  of  this  commercial  paper  are 
nothing  else  but  a  business  advertisement  of  the  firm  of  Goulard,  Rouse  & 
Bostwick. 

In  America  it  is  a  private  business  to  grant  certificates  in  regard  to  the  meat 
intended  for  export.  A  number  of  persons  in  New  York  make  a  good  business 
from  it.  But  by  degrees  Europeans  have  become  wise  enough  to  avoid  the  mid- 
dlemen of  New  York  by  securing  certificates  directly  from  the  export  places  in 
the  West.  ■ 

The  New  York  men,  not  being  pleased  with  the  loss  of  their  former  profit,  give 
their  competitors  in  the  West  a  bad  name  by  saying  they  do  not  understand  how 
how  to  examine  the  meat  properly. 

This  puff  appears  even  in  the  extracts.  In  the  paper  of  the  American  stenog- 
rapher we  read:  "The  Western  colleagues  seem  to  show  a  great  indifference  in 
reference  to  the  manifest  superiority  of  the  New  York  inspection. "  When  Austria 
received  meat  from  New  York  which  had  been  subjected  to  the  inspect  on  of  the 
house  of  Goulard,  Rouse  &  Bostwick  no  complaint  was  ever  made.  The  dread- 
ful stories  which  New  York  business  men  have  circulated  about  their  competitors 
in  the  West  form  what  the  imperial  chancellor  has  communicated  to  the  Federal 
Council  on  the  condition  of  the  American  hogs. 

The  imperial  chancellor  has,  of  course,  been  more  careful  in  his  proceedings, 
but  other  people  have  procured  the  American  pamphlet  for  themselves  and  found 
that  the  extracts  in  the  memorial  break  off  just  where  the  puff  advertisement 
begins. 

The  memorial  says:  "  There  is  but  one  remedy  to  protect  against  danger  in  the 
importation  of  hog  meat,  and  that  is  by  careful  inspection."  The  pamphlet  then 
continues:  "Such  an  inspection  will  only  be  guaranteed  through  the  firm  of 
Goulard,  Rouse  &  Bostwick."    [Great  hilarity.] 

If  an  official  stenographer  should  be  called  upon  to  make  for  the  American  Fed- 
eral Council  compilation  of  what  has  been  written  concerning  the  golden  number 
110,  the  people  there  would  perhaps  come  to  a  peculiar  conclusion  about  German 
solidity  and  German  industry.  [Here  the  speaker  read  other  passages  from  the 
American  pamphlet  to  prove  that  the  pamphlet  is  written  as  an  advertisement.  ] 

The  pamphlet  is  the  more  remarkable  since  Goulard  himself  acts  as  a  principal 
witness  of  the  imperial  chancellor.  His  testimony  is  quoted  under  the  title,  "Our 
reporter's  interview  with  Mr.  Goulard  of  March  14,  1881." 

Now,  I  must  say,  if  an  order  is  to  be  issued  upon  the  basis  of  such  material,  the 


640  8WINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

same  should  read  that  the  only  produf^ts  allowed  to  be  introduced  into  Gtermany 
should  first  be  seen  and  inspected  by  Mr.  Goulard. 

That,  gentlemen,  is  the  art^umeut  for  a  measure  of  the  most  decided  effect.  It 
shows  how  easy  the  imperial  chancellor  is  influence<l  in  making  such  proposals  to 
the  Federal  Council. 

Such  a  prohibitory  decree  of  an  article  of  export  is  for  our  people  of  the  greatest 
importance,  since  annually  several  hundred  thousand  centners  are  imjKjrted. 

The  memorial  says  it  com-erns  only  about  -i  i>er  cent  of  our  meat  consumption. 
It  does  not  depend  upon  the  general  percentage  which  this  importation  has  for 
certain  parts  of  Germany  and  certain  classes  of  the  population.  For  example,  it 
is  mentioned  in  the  pet  tion  of  the  Consumption  Association  for  .Mines  and  Iron 
Works  that  each  workman  consumes  from  140  to  160  pounds  ot  this  product  yearly, 
which  amounts  to  a  very  high  percentage  of  their  entire  nourishment.  The  prin- 
cipal thing  is  that  American  bacon  is  mu  h  cheaper  than  the  German,  and  that  it 
is  for  many  people  the  only  meat  diet  available,  which  is  true  in  particular  of  the 
workingmen  of  Westfalen.  For  this  reason  the  board  of  trade  in  Westfalen  have 
declared  against  the  prohibition  of  importation,  not,  indeed,  in  consequence  of 
commercial  interests,  but  on  account  of  the  ditticulty  of  replacing  the  product. 

Even  the  chamber  of  commerce  at  Dortmund,  which  upholds  the  politics  of  the 
chancellor,  has  petitioned  against  the  prohibition.  Agricultural  societies  in  West- 
falen also  oppose  the  prohibition,  simply  because  the  production  of  hog  meat  in 
Westfa'en  is  not  sufficient  for  the  supply  in  these  regions,  and  they  therefore  find 
the  import  indispensable. 

The  (juestion  now  comes  up.  how  happens  it  that  the  Federal  Council  can  issue 
a  prohibition  of  such  importance  without  the  cooperation  of  the  Reichstag 
(imi'erial  Parliament)?  As  a  sing'e  argument  in  its  favor  one  paragraph  in  the 
customs  regulations  can  be  cited,  which  speaks  only  of  a  temporary  prohibition 
for  sanitary  reasons,  and  this  can  not  be  taken  into  consideration  with  the  present 
case. 

The  law  of  the  German  tariff  union  mentions,  instead  of  a  '•  temporary  prohibi- 
tion." a  •'  fixed  time,'"  for  the  duration  of  the  prohildtion  can  not  lie  determined  in 
the  beginning;  but  this  <;^n  only  apply  to  prohibition  of  im])ort  on  account  of 
cattle  plague  and  the  like.  For  this  reason  the  Federal  Council  is  not  justified  in 
issuing  a  prohibition  against  the  importation  of  American  hog  meat  without  the 
cooperation  of  the  Reichstag,  and  I  hope  that  the  Federal  Council  will  duly  con- 
sider the  material  reasons  which  speak  against  the  prohibition,  and  not  conclude 
to  make  the  question  of  law  objectionable,  in  which  case  we  must  resort  to  special 
proposals  to  protect  our  interest. 

If  you  dissent  from  the  prohibition  you  will  confer  a  great  deed  of  charity  on 
large  districts  of  the  population. 


No.  73. 

Mr.  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 
[Telegram.] 

Department  of  State,  February  15, 188S. 

The  President  invites  Germany  to  send  a  commission  of  experts  to  the  United 
States  to  examine  raising  and  packing  of  hogs  and  hog  products  for  food.  He  asks 
that  final  decision  in  prohibitory  measures  be  suspended  until  commission  can 
adequately  report. 

Inistruction  by  maU. 

FBELmOHUYSEN. 


No.  74. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  87.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  February  16,  188S. 
Sir:  I  transmit  herewith  copies  of  a  memorial  addressed  to  the  President,  under 
date  of  the  itth  instant,  by  the  Chaml)er  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
concerning  the  apprehended  prohibition  by  the  German  Government  of  the  impor- 
tation of  American  bacon,  hams,  and  hog  products,  into  the  territory  of  the 
Empire. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  641 

The  considerations  set  forth  by  the  memorialists  are  believed  to  be  justly  stated. 
They  represent  what  this  Department  has  so  frequently  hitherto  represented 
through  your  legation,  that  the  alleged  existence  of  trichinae  and  of  diseases 
among  swine  in  this  country  to  an  alarming  extent  can  not,  even  if  established, 
affect  the  healthfulness  of  the  exported  product,  inasmuch  as  the  hog  products 
of  the  United  States  are  prepared  for  market  in  a  manner  which  renders  their 
uncooked  consumption  all  but  impossible;  that  the  disease  known  as  trichinosis  is 
rare  among  American  consumers  of  swines  flesh,  and  that  not  more  than  two  or  . 
three  cases  in  Germany  during  the  past  ten  years  have  occurred  where  the  dis- 
ease could  be  ascribed  to  the  consumption  of  American  pork,  while  most  of  the 
reported  cases  in  Germany  are  directly  traceable  to  the  consumption  of  the  raw 
meat  of  freshly-killed  domestic  hogs.  And  they  state  further  that  with  respect  to 
alleged  exportation  of  deleterious  meat  from  diseased  hogs  no  substantiation  what- 
ever has  been  shown. 

As  you  are  aware,  this  Government  at  home  and  through  its  legation  at  Berlin 
has  made  every  effort  from  the  first  to  countervail  a  tendency  toward  what  it 
believes  to  be  iincalled-for  and  unjust  legislation  on  the  part  of  Germany  in  seek- 
ing to  exclude  from  one  of  the  largest  markets  of  the  world  a  product  of  such 
great  importance  to  the  United  States.  No  endeavor  has  been  spared  to  bring 
home  to  the  mind  of  the  Imperial  Government  the  conviction,  reached  by  this 
Government  after  exhaustive  and  impartial  investigation  of  the  subject,  that  the 
premises  upon  which  the  intended  prohibition  rests  are  unfounded,  and  that  the 
exported  hog  products  of  the  United  States  are  in  no  wise  the  indiscriminate  source 
of  danger  to  life  and  health  which  they  are  alleged  to  be.  You  and  your  prede- 
cessors have  earnestly  set  forth  all  this  to  the  Imperial  Government;  you  have 
labored  to  convej'  a  right  understanding  of  the  facts  of  the  matter  as  they  are 
ascertained  to  exist  here,  and  you  have  urged  the  hardship,  almost  amounting  to 
an  international  wrong,  which  would  he  inflicted  alike  upon  the  producers  of  the 
United  States  and  the  peasantry  of  Germany  by  cutting  off  from  the  one  class  a 
large  ;ind  secure  market  and  depriving  the  other  of  a  cheaper  food  than  their  own 
country  can  supply.  So  far  as  is  now  known,  your  efforts  in  this  direction  have 
not  been  crowned  with  the  hoped-for  result. 

But  one  course  now  remains.  It  is  believed  here  that  if  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment itself  were  to  do  as  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  done,  and 
closely  examine  on  the  spot  all  the  conditions  of  the  hog  raising  and  packing 
industry;  if  it  were  to  follow  by  practical  observation  the  course  of  this  staple  of 
food  from  the  fields  and  farms  to  the  packed  state,  the  same  conclusions  would  be 
inevitably  reached  as  those  to  which  this  Government  has  been  drawn.  So  firmly 
is  this  believed  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  deems  it  a  common  duty 
to  its  own  citi  ens  and  to  the  consumers  in  Germany  to  invite  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment to  examine  into  the  matter  for  itself,  by  a  commission  of  experts  sent  to 
this  country,  before  final  decision  is  taken  on  the  proposed  measures. 

This  Government  stands  ready  to  extend  to  that  of  Germany  the  fullest  facilities 
for  the  profitable  pursuit  of  such  an  investigation.  Believing  that  the  results 
which  it  will  promise  are  of  no  less  moment  to  the  consumers  of  hog  products  in 
the  United  States  than  to  those  in  Germany,  it  is  willing  to  lend  the  services  of 
one  or  more  impartial  experts,  scientists  of  known  probity,  to  cooperate  with  those 
whom  Germany  may  send,  if  such  cooperation  be  deemed  desirable  and  acceptable 
by  Germany. 

You  will  therefore  present  to  the  Imperial  Government,  in  the  name  of  the  Presi- 
dent, a  formal  proposal  and  invitation  to  send  to  the  United  States  a  commission  of 
experts,  who  shall,  either  by  themselves  or  jointly  with  impartial  scientists  named 
by  the  United  States,  investigate  the  whole  question  of  hog  raising  and  the  curing 
and  packing  of  hcg  products  as  food  in  the  United  States.  And  you  will  ask  that 
action  in  a  final  sense  upon  the  pending  prohibitory  measures  may  be  suspended 
during  such  reasonable  time  as  may  be  necessary  for  such  a  commission  to  make 
a  thorough  examination  of  the  subject  and  report  thereon.  You  will  add  that  in 
making  this  proposition  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  actuated  by  the 
fairest  and  most  friendly  motives:  that  its  desire,  no  less  than  that  of  Germany 
can  be,  is  solely  that  the  truth  of  the  matter  may  be  established,  and  that  it  deems 
its  reasonable  request  entitled  to  friendly  consideration  on  the  part  of  a  govern- 
ment bound  to  the  United  States  by  so  many  ties  as  is  that  of  Germany.  It  is 
thought,  above  all,  necessary  that  some  such  course  as  that  now  proposed  be  adopted 
to  free  whatever  resultant  course  Germany  may  adopt  from  the  possible  charge  of 
being  an  unfriendly  discrimination. 

You  will  read  this  dispatch  to  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  leave  with  him 
a  copy. 

lam,  etc.,  Fkedk.  T.  Feelinghuysen. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 il 


642  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

llnclosure  in  No.  87.] 
CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW   YORK. 

Memorial  in  regard  to  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  bacon  and 

hams  into  Germany. 

To  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New  York  respeftfnlly  asks  leave  to 
represent  that  the  Imperial  Government  of  Germany  has  oiiciily  declared  its  inten- 
tion to  prohibit  the  importation  of  American  i)acon  and  h;im.s  into  their  country, 
on  the  ground  of  the  alleged  unwiiolesomenes-s  of  these  products,  and  that  such 

grohibition  threatens  to  destroy  a  valuable  and  growing  branch  of  commerce 
etween  our  country  and  Germany. 

Your  memorialists  are  aware  that  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  State  has  already 
directed  the  attention  of  the  United  States  minister  at  Berlin  to  the  subject.  In 
view  of  its  grave  importance  and  of  the  fact  that  the  German  Government  has 
only  recently  made  a  public  statement  of  its  intention  and  of  the  leasons  that  have 
prompted  it,  your  memorialists  nevertheless  deem  themselves  justified  in  adding 
their  testimony  to  the  information  already  in  possession  of  the  Government  and 
in  directing  its  attention  to  those  points  which,  in  the  present  position  of  the  matter, 
appear  to  be  of  the  gn*eatest  importance. 

The  German  Government  bases  its  intention  on  two  facts  which  it  claims  to  be 
established,  namely,  first,  on  the  occurrence  of  the  parasite  TrichiiKC  s])i)iilis  in  the 
American  hog  products  to  greater  degree  than  it  is  found  in  the  German  hog.  and, 
secondly,  on  the  widespread  prevalence  in  our  hog-producing  districts  of  the  dis- 
ease known  as  hog  cholera. 

Your  memorialists  are  convinced  not  only  that  both  these  charges  are  exagg(!r- 
ated,  but  also  that  the  conclusions  drawn  from  them  by  the  German  Governmentare 
not  justified  and  can  form  no  reasonable  ground  for  the  contemplated  prohibition. 

1.  Trichina. — The  German  Government  claims  to  have  e8tal)li8hed  the  occur- 
rence of  this  dangerous  jiarasite  in  about  4  per  cent  of  the  American  bacon  and 
hams  imported  into  Germany,  which  is  stated  to  be  the  result  of  accurate  inves- 
tigations prosecuted  during  a  series  of  years.  No  similar  official  tests  having 
ever  been  made  on  this  side,  your  memorialists  are  unable  to  disprove  or  to  con- 
finn  the  alleged  fact,  and  any  contradiction  from  our  side,  therefore,  is  not  likely 
to  be  accepted.  But  there  is  one  fact  which,  if  properly  urged,  should  convince 
the  German  Government  of  the  injustice  of  basing  a  decree  of  prohibition  on  the 
alleged  occurrence  of  trichinae  in  American  bacon  and  hams,  which  is  this:  That 
these  products  of  our  country  are  prepared  for  market  in  a  manner  which  renders 
their  consumption  in  the  raw  state  all  but  impossible.  This  alone  accounts  for 
the  rare  occurrence  among  American  consumers  of  the  disease  known  as  trichi- 
nosis, and  tor  the  fact  that  according  to  the  German  Government's  (*wn  statement 
not  more  than  two  or  three  cases  have,  within  the  past  ten  years,  occurred  in  Ger- 
many where  the  disease  could  be  ascribed  to  the  consumption  of  American  pork, 
while  all  widespread  and  dangerous  cases  of  trichinosis  in  Ge.  many  have  been 
traced  to  the  consumption  of  the  raw  meat  of  freshly  killed  domestic  hogs.  These 
facts,  instead  of  justifying  the  threatened  prohibition,  rather  go  to  establish  a 
great  advantage,  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view,  of  the  use  of  the  American  product 
over  that  of  the  domestic  meat. 

2.  Hog  cholera. — The  existence  of  hog  cholera  also  is  not  denied,  though  the 
prevalence  of  the  disease  can  be  proved  to  have  greatly  diminished  smce  the  bulk 
of  our  hogs  is  no  longer  raised  mainly  in  connection  with  our  distilleries,  but  on 
otir  Western  farms,  where  they  are  fed  on  indian  i  om.  Jn  urging  this  charge 
the  Government  appears  to  have  placed  more  faith  in  exaggerated  newsp:iper 
reports  than  in  the  results  of  the  official  investigation  inst  tuted  by  otir  Govern- 
ment, which  were  embodied  in  the  report  made  to  the  State  Dejiartment  by  Mr. 
Scanlan,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  dated  April  26.  18.S1.  which  report  has 
been  before  them.  Here  again,  however,  the  German  Government  has  drawn 
conclus  ons  f roni  the  facts  alleged  which  are  not  justified  even  by  these  facts,  smce 
they  have  been  unable  to  point  out  the  occniTence  of  any  American  meat  which 
might  have  been  called  diseased  from  that  cause,  much  less  any  injury  that  might 
thereby  have  been  inflii  ted  on  the  health  of  the  ( onsumers. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  thorough  and  systematic  exclusion  of  diseased  hogs 
fi-om  our  packing  establishments  can  easily  be  proved  to  any  fair  minded  man  that 
will  take  thetroub.e  of  e.vamining  into  the  process  connected  wit'n  tlie  preparation 
of  these  products  for  market,  your  memorialists  resp  ctfnl  y  suggest  that  the  Ger- 
man Government  should  be  invited  to  examine  mto  this  matter  by  a  commission 


8WINB    PRODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.  643 

of  experts  sent  to  this  country  before  final  decision  is  taken  on  the  proposed 
measure. 

Aud  your  memoralists  will  ever  pray,  etc. 

George  W.  Lane,  President. 

[seal.]  George  Wilson,  Secretary. 

New  York,  February  9, 1SS3. 


No.  75. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No,  109.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  February  17,  1883.     (Received  March  10.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  at  the  request  of  Count  Hatzfeldt,  imperial 
secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  I  had  an  interview  with  him  to-day,  where 
a  number  of  (luestions  interesting  to  the  United  States,  which  I  had  previously 
called  to  his  attention,  were  provisionally  discussed,  of  which  I  will  make  full 
report  as  soon  as  conclusions  are  reached.  When  he  had  concluded  with  his  topics 
I  read  to  him  your  telegram  of  the  15th  instant,  which  states  that  the  President 
invites  Germany  to  send  a  commission  of  experts  to  the  United  States  to  examine 
the  raising  and  packing  of  hogs  and  hog  products  for  food,  and  that  he  asks  that 
final  decision  on  prohibitory  measures  may  be  suspended  until  the  commission  can 
adequately  report. 

I  told  him  that  the  proposed  prohibition  had  excited  a  good  deal  of  attention  and 
some  feeling  in  America,  explained  the  importance  of  the  proposition  to  the  United 
States,  informed  him  that  there  was  a  general  belief  there,  founded  on  experience 
and  careful  examination,  that  the  objection  to  American  pork  as  a  sound  article 
of  diet  is  unfounded,  and  that  the  exclusion  would  be  improvident.  I  called  his 
attention  to  the  conclusive  and  candid  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the 
State  Department  to  examine  and  report  on  the  mode  of  raising  hogs  and  prepar- 
ing their  products  for  market,  made- after  extensive  and  exhaustive  investigation. 
I  told  him  I  would  send  to  him  a  fuller  statement  of  the  matter  as  soon  as  I  received 
the  instruction  now  on  the  way  to  me  by  mail,  and  would  also  at  the  same  tinle 
send  a  copy  of  the  public  document  to  which  I  referred ;  and  I  trusted  that  while 
the  Imperial  Government  were  considering  this  proposition  of  the  President  nothing 
further  would  be  done  and  the  proposition  would  be  accepted.  He  said  nothing 
decisive  upon  the  subject,  as.  of  course,  he  could  not  of  his  own  responsibility,  but 
exjiressed  a  desire  to  have  the  documents  and  information  in  question. 
I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  76. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 

No.  111.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  February  S4,  1883.     (Received  March  13.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  my  No.  109,  of  February  17,  acknowledging  my  receipt  of  your 
telegraphic  instruction  dated  the  15th,  and  stating  my  reading  the  same  to  Count 
Hatzfeldt,  imperial  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  and  stating  the  importance  of  the 
subject  from  the  American  standpoint,  etc.,  I  have  now  to  report  that  the  Bundes- 
rath,  on  the  18th,  unanimously  approved  the  decree  of  prohibition  of  American 
pork  products,  taking  no  notice  of  the  proposal  of  the  President,  if  the  same  was 
brought  to  their  notice  by  the  imperial  foreign  office. 

I  have  no  official  statement  of  the  decree  as  yet.  The  Berliner  Tageblatt  of  last 
evening  contains  the  following: 

"As  we  announced,  the  Bundesrath  has  approved  the  ordinance  on  the  prohi- 
bition of  the  importation  of  American  pork,  with  some  reservations  which  seem 
to  contradict  the  reasons  given  for  prohibition,  viz,  that  the  meats  are  unhealthy. 
For  instance,  the  commerce  in  such  meat  is  not  only  permitted  to  German  ships 
with  other  countries,  but  it  is  also  allowed  to  the  Hanse  Towns  to  supply  their 
ships  with  such  meats. 


644  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

"The  permission,  according  to  rumor,  has  been  given  on  the  ground  of  the  exist- 
ing laws. 

"The  power  of  the  Bundesrath  to  issue  such  ordinances  rests  upon  the  Zollverein 
laws,  and  especially  upon  article  2  of  them.  The  Hanse  Towns,  which  stand  out- 
side of  such  Zollverein,  do  not  thus  come  under  the  provision  in  question,  and  to 
obtain  their  adhesion  the  reservations  were  added." 

Immediately  upon  the  action  of  the  Bundesrath  becoming  known  to  me,  1  ))re- 
pared  and  sent  to  Count  Uatzfeldt  a  note,  a  copy  of  which  is  inclosed,  in  which  I 
called  his  attention  to  the  honorable  Secretary's  telegram  which  I  had  submitted 
to  him  on  the  17th  instant,  stating  that  I  had  promptly  conveyed  the  proposal  of 
the  President  through  the  only  possible  official  channel  to  the  Imperial  Q-overn- 
ment,  and  that  it  had  been  also  widely  published  in  the  Gpnnau  newspapers,  where 
it  would  unofficially  reach  the  Bundesrath.  I  re(iuested  that  an  official  copy  of  the 
late  ordinameof  the  Bundesrath  might  be  furnished  to  me, so  that  I  might  notify 
my  Government  of  the  exact  terms  of  the  response  or  constructive  refvisal  made 
to  this  request  of  the  President  upon  a  matter  of  very  much  importance  to  the 
United  States  and  deeply  affecting  the  trade  relations  of  the  two  countries. 

I,  however,  expressed  my  impression  that  the  ordinance  could  only  go  into  effect 
by  the  express  approval  of  the  imperial  executive,  and  therefore  asked  leave  to 
again  call  the  attention  of  the  imperial  secretary  to  the  ])roposal  of  the  President, 
and  to  repeat  what  I  had  said  at  our  interview  of  the  17th  instant,  that  the  United 
States  view  with  concern  this  ordinance  designed  to  destroy  an  important  part 
of  its  export  trade  with  Germany;  that  the  United  States  had  had  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  the  soundness  of  American  pork,  the  modes  of  rearing  hogs  and  preparing 
the  products  for  market,  carefully  and  impartially  examined,  and  are  convinced 
by  the  report  made  to  it,  a  copy  of  which  I  inclosed,  that  the  attacks  made  upon 
the  great  article  of  product  are  unjust  and  prejudiced,  and  not  in  any  dej^ree 
warranted  by  the  facts  in  the  case.  This  being  so,  1  stated  that  the  President 
confidently  relies  upon  the  result  that  would  follow  the  examination  by  a  German 
commission,  and  invites  the  imperial  Government  to  send  such  an  one.  r.nd  await 
its  report  before  striking  down  an  industry  that  not  merely  furnishes  all  the 
animal  food  to  large  classes  in  Germany  (a  consideration  more  immediately 
addressing  itself  to  the  Imperial  Government),  but  causes  great  loss  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  whose  capital  is  involved  and  labor  employed  in  prepa  ing 
pork  products  for  market. 

I  suggested,  further,  that  there  is  no  emergency  in  this  matter  that  can  not  await 
ordinary  modes  of  dealing  with  questions  of  such  moment,  there  being  no  apparent 
reason  why  this  ordinance  should  be  enforced  tliis  month,  or  year,  more  than  last 
or  the  next,  as  there  is  no  epidemic  cau.sed  by  German  consumption  of  American 
pork,  not  even  a  well  authenticated  instance  of  casual  sickness;  that  high  German 
scientific  authority  stated  that  the  very  rare  cases  of  trichinosis  found  in  Ger- 
many for  years  past  have  arisen  from  eating  raw  German  or  Hungarian  pork,  and 
that  no  case  whatever  is  traceable  to  American  pork,  which  is  so  cured  as  to  be 
harmless. 

I  suggested  that  where  the  evidences  of  harm  done  are  so  shadowy,  and  are 
opposed  by  carefully  grounded  statements,  and  the  interests  involved  are  so  great, 
the  request  of  the  President  for  investigation  might  well  commend  itself  to  the 
Imperial  Government  as  reasonable  and  statesmanlike,  and  consonant  with  the 
kindly  relations  existing  between  the  two  countries,  a  sense  of  which  on  the  part 
of  His  Imperial  and  Royal  Majesty  had  been  recently  conveyed  to  me  by  the 
chancellor  on  the  occasion  of  the  generous  relief  extended  by  the  citizens  of  tlie 
United  States  to  the  sufferers  of  the  Rhine  Valley.  Believing  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment to  be  animated  by  the  sentiments  expres.'^ed  in  the  chancellor's  com- 
munications, I  believe  it  would  not  desire  that  the  American  Government  or 
people  should  rest  under  a  sense  of  injustice  from  the  execution  of  this  measure, 
yet  such  a  conse  luence  seemed  inevitable  where  all  modes  of  nonest  investigation 
had  been  exhausted  by  the  American  Governmant,  with  the  result  of  apparently 
proving  this  product  sound,  and  where  daily  experience  shows  none  of  the 
assumed  inconvenience  to  either  German  or  American  health,  and  where  the 
Imperial  Government  is  formally  and  courteously  asced  to  look  into  the  whole 
subject  for  itself  before  acting  upon  possibly  interested  advice,  or  in  the  absence 
of  anything  worthy  the  name  of  evidence.  I  therefore  asked  for  a  re-ponse  to 
this  proposal  of  the  President,  that  investigation  be  had,  and  that  meanwhile  this 
serious  blow  to  American  interests  be  suspended. 

I  deemed  it  best  to  add  that  as  the  United  States  are  a  large  and  growing  con- 
sumer of  German  manufactures,  and  the  food  they  export  to  Germany  is  their 
prmcipal  article  of  exchange,  the  laws  of  trade  must  dictate  their  obtaining  the 
goods  they  import  elsewhere  if  the  equivalent  which  they  furnish  is  relused. 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  645 

This  would  probably  result  even  if  the  Congress  did  not  meet  the  issue  by  legisla- 
tion, under  the  belief  that  another  motive  than  the  unsoundness  of  American  pork 
products  caused  this  exclusion;  though  such  a  belief  could  not  obtain,  if  fair 
investigation  on  the  spot  by  German  experts  showed  dangerous  and  peculiar 
unsoundness  to  exist.  I  expressed  a  hope  that  this  many-sided  question  may  be 
tested  as  its  importance  deserves. 

As  this  question  is  a  burning  one,  I  have  acted  in  advance  of  the  receipt  of  your 
detailed  instructions  by  mail,  and  keep  yon  advised  of  progress,  without  waiting 
for  the  imperial  secretary's  reply  to  this  note. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  111.] 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Count  Hatzfeldt. 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  February  23,  1883. 

The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  had  the  honor,  in  his  interview  on  the  17th  instant  with 
his  excellency  Count  Hatzfeldt,  imperial  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  to 
submit  a  telegram  from  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  con- 
taining a  request  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  which  telegraph  was  in 
the  following  words: 

"  The  President  invites  Germany  to  send  a  commission  of  experts  to  the  United 
States  to  examine  the  raising  and  pacicing  of  hogs  and  pork  products  for  food. 
He  asks  that  the  final  decision  on  prohibitory  measures  be  suspended  until  such 
commission  adequately  report." 

This  proposition  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  promptly  conveyed 
to  the  Imperial  Government  through  the  only  possible  official  channel,  and  was 
also  widely  published  in  the  German  newspapers,  where  it  would  unofficially 
reach  the  Bundesrdth.  The  undersigned  respectfully  re(]uests  that  he  may  be 
furnished  with  an  official  copy  of  the  late  ordinance  of  the  Bundesrath  in  the 
matter,  so  that  he  may  notify  his  Government  of  the  exact  terms  of  the  response, 
or  constructive  refusal  made  to  this  request  of  the  President  upon  a  matter  of  very 
much  importance  to  the  United  States,  and  deeply  affecting  the  trade  relations  of 
the  two  countries. 

As  the  undersigned  is  under  the  impression  that  this  ordinance  can  only  go  into 
force  by  the  express  approval  of  the  imperial  executive,  he  most  respectfully  asks 
leave  to  again  call  the  attention  of  his  excellency,  the  imperial  secretary,  to  the 
proposal  of  the  President  contained  in  the  telegram  above  cited,  and  to  repeat 
what  he  said  in  his  interview  with  his  excellency  on  the  17th  instant,  that  the 
United  States  view  with  concern  this  ordinance,  designed  to  destroy  an  important 
part  of  their  export  trade  to  Germany;  that  the  United  States  have  had  the  whole 
question  of  the  soundness  of  American  pork,  the  modes  of  rearing  hogs  and  pre- 
paring the  products  for  market,  carefully  and  impartially  examined,  and  are  con- 
vinced by  the  report  made  to  them,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  inclosed,  that  the 
attacks  upon  this  great  article  of  product  are  unjust  and  prejudiced,  and  not  in 
any  degree  warranted  by  the  real  facts  in  the  case.  This  being  so,  the  President 
confidently  relies  upon  the  result  that  would  follow  the  examination  by  a  German 
commission  of  the  whole  matter,  and  invites  the  Imperial  Government  to  consti- 
tute such  an  one,  and  await  its  report,  before  striking  down  an  industry  that  not 
merely  furnishes  all  the  animal  food  to  large  classes  in  Germany  (a  consideration 
more  immediately  addressing  itself  to  the  Imperial  Government),  but  causing 
great  loss  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  whose  capital  is  involved  and  labor 
employed  in  preparing  pork  products  for  market. 

His  excellency's  courtesy  will  allow  the  undersigned  to  suggest-  that  there  is  no 
emergency  in  this  matter  that  can  not  await  ordinary  modes  or  dealing  with  ques- 
tions of  such  moment.  There  is  no  apparent  reason  why  this  ordinance  should 
be  enforced  this  month,  or  year,  more  than  last,  or  the  next.  There  is  no  epidemic 
caused  by  German  consumption  of  American  pork;  not  even  well-authenticated 
instances  of  casual  sickness.  It  has  been  stated  by  very  high  German  scientific 
authority  that  the  very  rare  cases  of  trichinosis  found  in  Germany  for  years  past 
have  arisen  from  eating  raw  German  or  Hungarian  pork,  and  that  no  case  what- 
ever is  traceable  to  American  pork,  the  mode  of  curing  which  makes  it  harmless. 

Where  the  evidences  of  harm  done  are  so  shadowy ,  and  are  opposed  by  carefully 


646  SWINE    PRODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

grounded  statements,  and  the  interests  involved  are  so  great,  the  request  of  the 
President  for  investigation  may  commend  itself  to  the  Imperial  Government  as 
reasonable  and  statesmanlike,  and  consonant  with  the  kindl}'  relations  existing 
between  the  two  countries,  a  sense  of  which  on  the  part  of  His  Imperial  and  Royal 
Majesty  has  been  recently  conveyed  to  the  undersij^ned  by  his  serene  highness,  the 
imperial  chancellor,  on  the  occasion  of  the  generous  relief  extended  by  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  to  the  sufferers  of  the  Rhine  Valley. 

The  undersigned  is  fully  aware  that  the  Imperial  Government,  animated  by  the 
sentiment  expressed  in  the  esteemed  communications  of  his  serene  highness,  would 
not  desire  that  the  American  Government  or  people  should  rest  under  a  sense  of 
injustice  from  the  execution  of  this  measure.  Yet  such  a  consequence  seems 
inevitable  where  all  modes  of  honest  investigation  have  been  e.xhausted  by  the 
American  Government  with  the  result  of  apparently  proving  this  product  sound: 
where  daily  experience  shows  none  of  the  assumed  inconvenience  to  either  German 
or  American  health,  and  where  the  Imperial  Government  is  formally  and  cour- 
teously asked  to  look  into  the  whole  subject  for  itself  before  acting  ui)on  possibly 
interested  advice,  or  in  the  absence  of  anything  worthy  the  name  of  evidence. 

The  undersigned,  therefore,  again  calls  atte:ition  to  this  express  request  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  res])ectfullyasks./or  the  sense  of  the  Imperial 
Government  thereupon,  that  investigation  be  had.  and  that  meanwhile  this  serious 
blow  to  American  interests  be  suspended.  Inasmuch  as  the  United  States  are  a 
large  and  growing  consumer  of  German  manufactures,  and  the  food  they  export 
to  Germany  is  a  principal  article  of  exchange,  the  laws  of  trade  must  dictate  their 
obtaining  the  goods  they  import  elsewhere,  if  the  equivalent  which  they  furnish  is 
refused.  This  would  probably  result  even  if  the  Congress  did  not  meet  the  i  sue 
by  legislation  under  the  belief  that  another  motive  than  the  unsoundness  of 
A'merican  pork  products  caused  this  exclusion.  Such  a  belief,  of  course,  could 
not  obtain  if  fair  investigation  on  the  spot  by  German  experts  showed  dangerous 
unsoundness  to  exist. 

Expressing  the  hope  that  this  many-sided  question  may  be  tested  adequately,  as 
its  importance  deserves,  the  undersig^ned  avails,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  77. 
Mr.  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  88.  ]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  February  21,  1SS3. 
Sir:  Your  dispatch  No.  96,  of  the  13th  ultimo,  giving  a  summary  of  a  recent 
debate  in  the  Reichstag  concerning  the  proposed  exclusion  of  American  pork  from 
the  German  market,  has  been  read  with  interest.  This  Government  can  not  but 
welcome  asj  a  hopeful  sign  any  disposition  to  bring  the  subject  to  a  parliamentary 
discussion  on  its  true  merits.  My  instruction  to  you  of  the  Kith  instant.  No.  87, 
proposing  a  German  investigation  in  the  United  States,  will  have  shown  the  con- 
fidence that  this  Government  feels  in  the  soundness  of  the  views  it  has  heretofore 
expressed,  and  its  belief  that  the  interests  of  all  demand  a  full  and  conclusive 
examination  of  the  whole  matter  of  pork  exportation. 
I  am,  etc., 

FuEDK.  T.  Frelinohuysen. 


No.  78. 

Mr.  Vogeler  to  Mr.  Davis, 

No.  77.]  United  States  Consut.ate-Grxer.\l, 

Frnnkfort-on-the-Main,  March  3,  18SS.     (Received  March  21.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herein  my  report  on  "The  resolution  of  the 
German  Bnndesrath  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  hog  meat." 
I  am,  etc., 

Ferdinand  Vogeler, 

Consul-  GeneraL 


SWINE-  PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  647 

[Inclosure  in  No.  77.  —Extract.] 

THE   RESOLUTION   OF  THE   GERMAN    BUNDESRATH    PROHIBITING   THE    IMPORTATION 
OF  AMERICAN   HOG  MEAT. 

In  ray  report  on  the  tariff  laws  and  customs  regulations  of  Germany,  dated  Jan- 
uary :.5,  1882,  I  showed  that  the  principal  reason  for  the  many  devices  resorted  to 
hy  German  customs  officials  to  impose  a  higher  rate  of  duty  on  certain  acticles 
than  the  law  contemplated  was  not  a  direct  purpose  to  discriminate  against  goods 
of  American  pro'lnction  or  manufacture,  because  these  devices  affected  importa- 
tion from  other  countries  as  well  as  those  from  the  United  States,  but  that  they 
proceeded  rather  from  a  desire  to  propitiate  and  minister  to  that  protective  spirit 
which,  since  the  year  1879,  was  known  to  have  come  into  favor  with  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  German  Government. 

When  I  now  refer  to  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  German  Bundesrath  on  the 
21st  day  of  February,  1883.  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  hog  mea:,  a 
subject  whicli  I  am  aware  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Department  for  several 
weeks,  I  do  so  merely  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Department  to  a  peculiar  circum- 
stance in  the  adoption  of  that  resolution,  tending  to  show  that  it  was  born  of  the 
same  spirit,  which  for  a  long  time  confidently  asserted  that,  in  the  eye  of  the 
German  tariff  laws  and  regulations,  canned  meats  or  peaches  were  "fine  iron- 
ware. " 

I  shall  endeavor  to  trace  the  resolution  referred  to  to  its  real  origin.  It  is  clearly 
the  policy  of  the  German  Government,  in  these  times  of  turbulent  socialistic  agi- 
tations, to  form  around  itself  a  phalanx  of  loyal  and  conservative  elements,  by 
means  of  legislation,  which  will  convince  them  that  the  Government  is  apprecia- 
tive of  their  wants  and  anxious  to  foster  and  enhance  their  material  welfare.  As 
in  all  other  European  countries  except  Great  Britain,  the  rural  population  of 
Germany  is  not  only  the  most  numerous,  but  also  the  most  conservative  element 
and  least  inclined  to  adopt  new  political  or  social  theories. 

A  paternal  care  exercised  over  the  rural  population,  a  proper  ministration  to 
their  wants,  therefore,  must  greatly  strengthen  the  Government.  Thus  gradually 
a  reliable  majority  in  the  Reichstag,  the  popular  and  most  essential  legislative 
factor  of  the  Empire,  may  be  created,  which  will  support  and  carry  out  reforma- 
tory plans  and  assist  in  keeping  in  check  the  turbulent  socialistic  elements  of  the 
great  cities. 

Now,  the  competition  of  the  American  hog  raiser  arid  pork  packer  was  severely 
felt  by  the  rural  producer  of  Germany.  The  imposition  of  a  duty  of  12  marks  per 
100  kilograms  did  not  deter  the  American  shipper.  According  to  the  present  com- 
position and  temper  of  the  Reichstag,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  a 
majority  for  a  law  either  prohibiting,  on  some  specious  ground,  the  importation 
of  American  pork  or  so  to  increase  the  duty  thereon  as  to  make  American  compe- 
tition impossible.  But  an  expedient  was  soon  found.  The  Bundesrath  is  not  only 
one  of  the  legislative  factors  of  the  German  Imperial  Government  (and  in  that 
respect  it  somewhat  resembles  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  while  the  Reich- 
stag corresponds  to  the  House  of  Representatives),  but  it  also  exercises  executive 
authority  and  functions;  in  other  words,  its  powers  are  not  only  legislative,  but 
also  supervisory,  regulative,  and  executive,  it  is  charged  with  the  adoption  and 
]iassage  of  suitable  rules  and  regulations  to  carry  into  effect  the  laws  of  the 
Empire. 

The  Bundesrath  consists  of  58  members.  These,  in  one  view,  represent  the  sev- 
eral sovereign  States  of  the  German  Empire.  They  are  not  elected  like  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag,  but  appointed  by  the  several  German  governments.  Of  the 
58  members  Prussia  appoints  17.  Bavaria  6,  Saxony  and  Wurtemberg  4  each,  Baden 
and  Hesse  3  each,  Mecklenberg-Schwerin  and  Brunswick  2  each,  and  all  other  prin- 
cipalities, including  the  three  Hanse  Towns,  Hamburg.  Bremen,  and  Lubeck,  1 
each.  This  body,  so  constituted  and  empowered,  was  requested  by  the  imperial 
chancellor  to  enjoin,  by  virtue  of  its  regulative  power,  the  importation  of  Amer- 
ican pork  on  the  ground  that  it  was  affected  by  trichinae,  and  therefore  unwhole- 
some. 

Now,  although  this  sweeping  allegation  was  not  supported  by  sufficient  proof, 
and  although  numerous  petitions  and  remonstrances  against  such  a  regulation 
were  sent  to  the  Government  and  to  the  Bundesrath  from  the  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts of  Germany,  where  American  pork  and  hams  had  become  indispensable  arti- 
cles of  nourishment,  yet  the  Bundesrath  unanimously  passed  the  resolution  referred 
to,  the  prohibition  decreed  to  go  into  effect  thirty  days  after  its  promulgation  by 
the  imperial  chancellor. 

It  is  likely  that  the  point  which  readily  suggests  itself,  viz,  whether  one  branch 
of  the  Government  can,  upon  an  unproven  assumption  of  facts,  by  a  so-called 


648  SWIME    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

" regulation,"  abrogate  and  annnl  a  law  duly  enacted  and  in  full  force  and  effect, 
will  be  raised  in  the  Reichstag  when  that  body  convenes  in  May  next;  but  I  doubt 
that  the  discussion  of  the  question  will  have  any  practical  result  whatever. 

The  public  journals  now  announce  that  the  decree  of  the  Bundesrath  will  be 
published  in  a  few  days,  and  that  the  regulation,  therefore,  will  go  into  effect  early 
in  April,  18«3. 

The  unanimity  of  the  decision  reached  by  the  Bundesrath,  however,  has  sur- 
prised even  the  friends  of  the  measure.  It  was  confidently  believed  that  not  only 
the  Hanse  Towns,  but  also  some  other  meml)ers  of  that  body,  would  vote  against  a 
proposition  of  such  doubtful  justice  and  utility.  Subsequent  developments,  how- 
ever, have  shown  how  that  unanimity  was  reached,  and  at  the  same  time  how 
little  the  Bundesrath  itself  believed  in  the  correctness  of  the  allegation  that  the 
American  pork  was  unwholesome. 

To  make  this  statement  of  mine  clear  it  is  only  necessary  to  cite  an  article  which 
api)eared  in  the  Cologne  Gazette,  a  leading  and  influential  journal  of  Germany,  in 
its  issue  of  the  26th  of  February,  1883.  which  article  I  attach  to  this  report,  and  of 
which  the  following  is  a  correct  translation,  viz: 

"On  February  21  the  Bundesrath  decreed  that  thirty  days  after  the  promulga- 
tion of  a  regulation  to  that  effect  by  the  imperial  chancellor  the  importation  of 
American  hogs  and  hog  meat  shall  be  prohibited,  this  resolution  having  been 
adopted  unanimously.  It  might  create  astonishment  that  the  Hanse  Towns  have 
also  given  in  their  consent.  But  it  must  be  obsei-ved  that  they  have  only  reluc- 
tantly said, '  Si  omnes  consentiunt,  ego  non  dissentto.'  They  have  declared  that  they 
have  been  unable  to  convince  themselves  of  the  utility  or  necessity  of  this  meas- 
ure, and  that  they  have  given  in  their  consent  only  because  sanitary  considerations 
alone  were  urged  as  a  reason  for  the  measure,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  being  alone  indifferent  to  the  health  of  the  German  people.  But 
as  wise  merchants  they  have  at  least  averted  the  worst  consequence  of  their  carry- 
ing trade,  inasmuch  as  they  have  obtained  permission  to  import  American  hog 
meat  for  reexportation  and  to  provision  their  own  ships  with  American  hog  meat. 
That  seamen  may  eat  trichinous  meat  with  impunity  we  had  not  hitherto  heard 
of.  Or  do  the  Hanse  Town  men  not  believe  in  the  danger  of  trichina  and  the 
seriousness  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  measure? 

"As  to  the  sanitary  consideration,  the  prohibition  of  American  hog  meat  will 
undoubtedly  prove  very  healthy  for  the  purses  of  our  estate  owners,  but  very 
unhealthy  for  the  poorer  classes  of  our  population. 

"  We  will  not  to-day  enter  further  into  the  subject,  which  to  us  is  the  most  mel- 
ancholy piece  of  our  economical  policy." 

Comment  on  this  article  is  unnecessary.  It  fitly  characterizes  the  spirit  of  the 
measure  referred  to.  I  will  only  add  in  conclusion  that  the  views  expressed  and 
implied  in  the  article  are  shared  by  almost  all  those  who  have  given  the  subject 
any  attention. 

Ferdinand  Vogeler, 

Consul-GeneraJ, 

No.  79. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Telegram.] 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  8,  188S. 

Mr.  Sargent  telegraphs  that  he  immediately  presented  the  request  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  that  while  Bundesrath's  action  was  adverse,  he  again  protested  strongly, 
asked  an  answer  to  the  President's  proposal,  and  suspension  of  action. 


No.  80. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frdinghuysen, 

[Telegram.] 

Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  14,  188S. 
Gtovemment  declines  to  investigate  or  suspend  order. 

Sa&qent. 


SWINE   PEODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  649 

No.  81. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent, 

No.  98.]  '  '  Department  of  State, 

Washington.  March  14, 18SS. 
Sir:  I  inclose  herewith  for  your  information  a  copj^  of  an  interesting  letter  from 
Messrs.  Armour  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  concerning  the  exclusion  of  American  pork 
from  Germany. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Inclosure  in  No.  98.] 
Armour  &  Co.  to  Mr.  Logan. 

Chicago,  March  1,  1883.     (Received  March  8.) 

Dear  Sir:  The  recent  action  of  the  German  Government,  in  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  American  hog  products,  it  seems  to  us,  demands  some  effort  toward 
checking  a  policy  that  must  uniiuestionably  result  (if  persisted  in)  in  disaster  to 
the  farming  interests  of  Illinois  and  the  Northwest.  We  know  that  your  familiar- 
ity with  this  subject  renders  it  unnecessary  for  us  to  enlarge  upon  it  for  your 
information,  but  recognizing  and  acknowledging,  with  thanks,  your  former  inter- 
est in  this  question,  we  now  beg  to  ask  your  cooperation  in  the  adoption  of  some 
measure  calculated  to  bring  about  the  speedy  repeal  of  existing  prohibitory  decrees, 
or  at  least  to  render  their  adoption  in  other  quarters  less  attractive  than  at  present. 

Knowing,  as  well  as  ourselves,  that  the  sanitary  pretexts  of  both  the  French  and 
German  Governments  need  no  arguments,  we  feel  that  you  will  heartily  support 
any  wise  retaliatory  measure  brought  forward  to  counteract  their  disastrous  legis- 
lation. And  while  aware  that  you  are  fully  informed  as  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
interests  thus  attacked,  we  may  state  that  from  our  intimate  relations  with  this 
most  important  Illinois  industry  the  time  can  not  be  far  distant  when  our  own 
and  adjoining  States  will  suffer  to  the  extent  of  millions  of  dollars. 

We  refrain  from  inflicting  upon  you  at  length  the  reasons  for  this  conviction, 
which  to  us  present  the  feature  of  absolute  certainty,  because  we  feel  that  your 
own  information  is  ample,  and  that  you  must,  having  already  broadly  considered 
the  matter,  fully  agree  with  us. 

We  therefore  confidently  re  luest  that  you  will  make  some  effort,  retaliatory  in 
its  character,  the  details  of  which  you  can  much  better  suggest  than  ourselves,  and 
will  conclude  by  saying  that  while  our  own  interests  are  necessarily  involved, 
they  are,  as  you  know,  secondary  to  those  enormous  interests  which  involve  the 
welfare  of  the  State  to  as  great  a  degree,  perhaps,  as  those  of  any  other  important 
industry. 

The  time,  we  suppose,  being  short  for  action  during  the  present  Congress,  we, 
of  course,  leave  the  matter  in  your  hands,  hoping  you  may  be  able  to  do  some- 
thing either  before  or  after  the  close  of  the  present  C-ongress,  but  as  promptly  as 
your  numerous  duties  (and  the  importance  of  the  subject)  will  permit. 
Yours,  truly, 

Armour  &  Co. 


No.  82. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  99.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington.  March  14,  1883. 

Sir:  Your  No.  Ill  of  the  24th  ultimo,  concerning  the  decree  prohibiting  the 
importation  into  Germany  of  the  hog  products  of  the  United  States,  has  been 
received. 

The  note  addressed  by  you  to  Count  Hatzfeldt  on  the  2.3d  ultimo,  in  relation  to 
the  President's  invitation  to  the  Imperial  Government  to  send  a  commission  of 
experts  to  the  United  States  to  examine  into  the  operations  of  hog  raising  and 
packing  here,  based  as  it  was  on  the  brief  telegraphic  instructions  sent  to  you.  has, 
in  the  main,  anticipated  the  instruction,  No.  87,  dated  the  16th  ultimo,  and  pre- 
sented with  considerable  fidelity  the  considerations  contained  therein  in  supijort 
of  the  President's  invitation. 


650  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

It  mnst,  however,  be  observed  that  you  have  to  some  extent  gone  beyond  the 
intention  of  the  P*resident  in  the  concluding  part  of  your  note  to  Count  Von  Hatz- 
feldt.     You  therein  say: 

"Inasmuch  as  the  United  States  are  a  large  and  growing  consumer  of  German 
manufactures,  and  the  food  it  exports  to  Gernuiny  is  a  principal  article  of 
exchange,  the  laws  of  trade  must  dictate  its  obtaining  the  goods  it  imports  else- 
where if  the  eijuivalent  it  furnishes  is  refused.  This  would  probably  result,  even 
if  the  Congress  did  not  meet  the  issue  by  legislation,  under  the  belief  that  another 
motive  than  the  unsoundness  of  American  pork  products  caused  this  exclusion. 
Such  a  belief,  of  course,  could  not  obtain  if  fair  investigation  on  the  spot  by  Ger- 
man experts  showed  dangerous  unsoundness  to  exist." 

So  far  as  your  intimation  touches  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  international 
trade,  it  is  unexceptionable.  Tho.se  laws  control  themselves,  and  commerce  must 
perforce  work  its  own  channels  in  the  most  natural  directions;  but  when  you  go 
further  and  indicate  the  possibility  that  this  Government  may  resort  to  retalia- 
tion if  its  views  be  not  assented  to  by  Germany,  you  introduce  an  element  which 
it  was  not  intended  to  present. 

The  act. on  taken  by  this  Government  was  unusual  and  necessarily  presupposed 
that  the  direct  proposal  of  the  President  to  the  Imperial  Government  would  be 
entertained  in  the  same  frank  spirit  in  which  it  was  proffered,  and,  no  doubt,  it 
Will  yet  receive  a  courteous  reply,  whether  favorab'e  or  unfavorable. 

It  may  be  that  His  Ma.iesty  the  Emi  eror  may  decline  to  send  hither  such  a  com- 
mission as  has  been  proposed,  through  unwillingness,  possildy,  th.it  the  re.sults  of 
its  labors  should  have  a  binding  effect  upon  hi.«s  Government,  such  as  might  nat- 
urally be  supposed  to  follow  from  a  commission  created  by  imperial  order.  The 
German  Government  has  an  undoubted  right  to  withhold  its  concurrence  in  the 
suggestion  of  the  President,  and  the  exercise  of  this  right  would  give  no  occasion 
for  offense.  It  is  the  duty  of  governments  to  be  jealous  of  the  health  and  careful 
of  the  interests  of  their  citizens  or  subjects,  and  the  President  does  not  seek  to 
support  an  appeal  to  the  German  sense  of  equity  by  any  menace. 

In  this  view  of  the  matter,  therefore,  any  intimation  such  as  is  contained  in  your 
note  to  Count  von  Hatzfeldt,  that  retaliation  might  ensue  in  the  event  of  a  refusal, 
was  out  of  place. 

If  the  Imperial  Government  declines  to  send  the  suggested  commission  to  exam- 
ine into  the  operations  of  hog  raising  and  packing  in  the  United  States,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  President  will  cause  such  an  examination  to  be  made  in  so 
thorough  and  impartial  a  manner  as  to  sati.sfy  that  Government  that  the  health 
of  the  German  people  will  not  be  imperiled,  but  rather  promoted,  by  the  importa- 
tion of  American  pork.  But  it  is.  of  course,  impossible  for  the  executive  branch 
of  this  Government  to  anticipate  what  may  be  the  action  of  the  legislature  of  the 
United  States  if  the  prohibitory  measures  contemplated  by  Germany  should  be 
adhered  to. 

Lest  the  statements  in  your  note  of  February  33  might  prove  liable  to  misinter- 
pretation, you  are  authorized  to  make  the  contents  of  this  instruction  known  to 
Count  von  Hatzfeldt  by  reading  it  to  his  excellency,  and,  should  he  desire  it.  l)y 
leaving  with  him  a  copy.  In  doing  so  you  should  state  to  him  that  this  instruc- 
tion is  explanatory  merely,  and  does  not  put  on  record  a  censure  of  your  course. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fredk.  T.  Fbklinghuysen. 


No.  88. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  121.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  15,  1883.  (Received  March  27.) 
Sir:  Your  instruction  No.  87  of  16th  February  was  received  March  10.  On  the 
13th.  the  first  subsequent  opportunity,  I  called  on  Count  Hatzfeldt.  and,  in  obedi- 
ence thereto,  read  it  to  him  and  left  with  him  a  copy.  He  said  he  had  my  last 
note  on  the  subject,  and  that  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  chancellor,  who  had 
written  to  the  German  minister  at  Washington  on  the  matter.  I  asked  him  if  I 
might  understand  that  this  communication  to  Washington  was  evidence  of  a  pur- 
pose to  convey  through  some  other  channel  the  answer  to  the  Presidents  proiiosal 
which  I  had  submitted,  to  which  he  replied  "'Not  at  all."  I  then  said:  If  the 
matter,  then,  was  not  foreclosed  I  would  remind  him  that  the  ordinance  was 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  651 

impending,  and  the  United  States  Government  had  submitted  a  definite  proposi- 
tion for  a  commission,  and  that  unless  the  Imperial  Government  is  so  clear  in  its 
conclusions  that  evidence  could  not  change  it,  or  unless  it  had  other  motives  than 
the  unsoundness  of  American  pork  for  its  prohibition,  so  that  evidence  was  unim- 
portant, it  would  appear  that  this  proposition  of  the  American  Government  should 
be  accepted. 

Count  Hatzfeldt  replied  that  Herr  Bojanowski,  president  of  department  No.  2 
of  foreign  affairs,  was  fully  in  jjossession  of  the  views  of  the  chancellor  on  the  mat- 
ter, and  requested  me  to  have  an  interview  with  him.  As  the  latter  is  an  officer 
intrusted  with  all  commercial  duties  and  relations,  and  equal  in  station  with  the 
secretary,  I  consented  to  call  upon  him  to  learn  the  decision  of  Prince  Bismarck, 
in  case  an  appointment  were  made  for  me.  Count  Hatzfeldt  stating  that  the  copy 
of  the  instruction  which  I  presented  should  be  laid  before  the  chancellor.  I  h;id 
no  doubt,  however,  that  the  answer  it  would  get  from  Herr  Bojanowski  would  Le 
unfavorable.    *    *    * 

To-day,  at  3  o'clock,  I  called  at  the  ministerinra  and  had  an  interview  with  the 
president  of  department  No.  2.  He  stated  that  instructions  had  been  sent  to  Mr. 
Von  Eisendecher  about  the  matter.  I  asked  if  a  commission  would  be  appointed 
to  investigate  the  alleged  unsoundness  of  American  pork  products,  and  he  said, 
"No."  1  asked  him  if  the  ordinance  would  be  suspended  until  Mr.  Von  Eisen- 
decher's  response  could  be  had,  or  until  the  latter  had  consulted  with  the  honor- 
able secretary  of  state,  and  he  said,  "It  w411  not."  I  said,  "Very  well;  that 
answers  my  questions:  and  I  will  communicate  the  facts  to  my  Government  for 
suchfurther  action  as  it  deems  proper. ■■  *  *  *  I  deemed  it  indiscreet  to  ask  the 
nature  of  Mr.  Von  Eisendecher"s  instructions,  and  if  they  contemplated  investiga- 
tion. I  presume  he  will  lay  before  you  whatever  his  Government  would  wish 
known  of  its  purposes.    *    *    * 

1  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 


No,  84. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  122.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  19,  18S3.     (Received  April  4.) 

Sir:  1  have  the  honor  to  inclose  a  copy  of  the  decree  of  the  Bundesrath  exclud- 
ing American  porlc  products,  as  approved  by  the  Emperor  March  6,  with  transla- 
tion. It  is  a  pure  and  simple  exclusion,  containing  no  reservation  on  its  face, 
whatever  it  may  be  in  practice. 

1  also  mclose  an  article  and  translation  from  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine 
Zeitung  of  the  14th  March,  showing  the  regulations  which  the  chancellor  pro- 
poses by  which  to  enforce  this  ordinance.  These  are  stringent  and  severe,  and 
calculated  to  totally  interrupt  all  trade  in  the  prohibited  products,  whether  the 
same  come  direct  from  America  or  through  other  countries.  These  regulations 
are  the  logical  result  of  the  ordinance,  and  are  subject  to  no  criticism  that  does 
not  apply  to  the  ordinance  itself;  though  the  chancellor  is  represented  as  justify- 
ing them  on  the  ground  that  the  American  papers  have  said  the  ordinance  would 
be  evaded  by  indirect  shipments.  If  the  American  papers  have  so  said,  which  I 
have  not  observed,  the  enforcement  of  these  regulations  will  defeat  any  such 
anticipations.  It  will  be  seen  that  considerable  ingenuity  is  used  to  detect  and 
exclude  the  obnoxious  food. 

This  is  sufficiently  remarkable,  considering  the  welcome  the  same  regulations 
extend  to  Austro-Hungarian  and  Russian  pork,  w^hich  is  said  by  scientific  Ger- 
man authority  to  be  the  cause  of  all  the  (few)  cases  of  trichinosis  that  have 
occurred  in  Germany  for  several  years,  from  the  habit  of  the  people  to  eat  it  raw; 
the  Russian  pork,  I  am  told  by  Germans,  being  the  worst  in  the  world. 

I  am  able  to  say  that  there  is  as  little  apparent  public  opinion  back  of  this  pro- 
hibition as  there  is  justification  for  it  in  the  character  of  the  excluded  articles. 
*  *  *  Physicians,  who  ask,  for  obvious  reasons,  that  their  names  be  not  men- 
tioned, have  assured  me  personally  and  by  letter  that  there  is  no  disease  in  Ger- 
many from  American  pork.  The  only  case  now  known  to  exist  among  forty 
million  people  is  said  to  be  at  Bremen,  and  that  from  eating  raw  German  ham. 
According  to  these  respectable  authorities,  if  a  child  were  to  be  poisoned  at  Phila- 
delphia from  sucking  the  paint  from  a  German  doll,  legislation  to  prohibit  all 


652  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

German  toys  would  be  a  parallel  measnre,  provided  this  case  of  trichinosis  at 
Bremen  could  be  really  i^roved  to  arise  from  eating  American  pork. 

Deputations  of  uierchants  have  called  on  me,  anxious  to  know  if  the  measnre 
was  inevitable.  One  banker  spoke  of  it  as  gross  ingratitude  to  America,  whose 
contributions  for  the  Rhine  sufferers,  about  1,0(X),00()  marks,  are.  he  said,  insignifi- 
cant beside  the  amounts  annually  sent  out  from  America  to  dependent  relatives 
and  others,  for  which  no  return  is  ever  exj.ected.  He  spoke  of  this  as  in  his  own 
knowledge,  by  means  of  his  business.  I  presume  the  interaational  money-order 
office  would  tell  the  same  story.  He  also  said  the  United  States  are  the  most 
important  market  of  Germany,  and  the  latter  had  it  in  its  own  hands  whether 
they  should  be  ignominiously  hustled  out  of  the  German  market.  As  illustrating: 
the  dependence  of  Germany  upon  American  custom,  I  cite  the  following  from  the 
Berliner  Tageblatt,  the  correctness  of  which  I  have  not  the  means  of  verifying: 

"  The  prohibition  of  American  pork  products  begins  already  to  show  a  reaction. 
In  Germany,  for  instance,  there  exists  five  large  manufactories  of  dextrine,  whose 
products  are  principally  sent  to  America,  and  which  are  worked  so  advantageously 
that  a  larger  number  of  similar  establishments  are  to  be  erected.  The  dutv  on 
dextrine  amounted  hitherto  to  4  marks.  After  the  ist  July,  however,  it  will  be 
raised  to  16  marks,  thus  rendering  the  exportation  of  the  German  article  to  Amer- 
ica almost  impossible  and  checking  home  labor  very  sensibly." 

*  *  •  *  *  *  « 

I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 

[Inclosare  1  in  No.  122.— Translation.] 

ORDINANCE  CONCERNINa  THE  PROHIBITION   OF  THE   IMPORTATION   OF   PIGS,  PORK, 
AND  SAUSAGES  OF  AMERICAN   ORIGIN   OF  MARCH  G,  1883. 

We,  William,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Emperor  of  Germany,  King  of  Prussia,  etc., 
decree  in  the  name  of  the  Empire,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Bundesrath,  as 
follows: 

Section  1.  The  importation  of  pigs,  pork,  including  bacon,  and  all  kinds  of  sau- 
sages of  American  origin,  is  prohibited  until  further  notice. 

Sec.  2.  The  imperial  chancellor  is  empowerel,  by  applying  the  necessary  pre- 
cautionary measures,  to  permit  exceptions  to  be  made  in  this  prohibition. 

Sec.  3.  The  ordinance  of  the  25th  June.  1880,  concerning  the  exclusion  of 
American  pork  and  sausages  (Im.  Law  Gazette,  p.  151)  is  abolished. 

Sec.  4.  The  present  ordinance  goes  into  force  after  the  expiration  of  the  30th 
day  after  its  publication. 

Given  under  our  hand  and  the  imperial  seal. 

Berlin,  6th  March,  1883. 

WiLHELM. 

Von  Bismarck. 


[Inclosnre  2  In  Na  122.— Article  from  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitnng  of  March  U,  1883.— 

Translation.] 

On  the  order  of  to-day's  appointed  session  of  the  Bundesrath  stands  the  pro- 
posal concerning  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  pigs,  pork,  and  sausages  of 
American  origin. 

After  the  Bundesrath  has  voted  the  decree  for  the  prohibition  of  the  import  of 
pigs,  pork,  and  sausages  from  America,  it  will  be  necessary  in  the  interest  of  an 
efficient  eniorcement  of  the  prohibition  to  extend  the  same  not  only  to  such  prod- 
ucts which  are  shipped  directly  to  Germany  frr  m  America,  but  to  all  products 
included  in  the  prohibition  of  American  origin.  In  a  communication  to  the 
Bundesrath  the  chancellor  makes  no  suggestions  about  carrying  out  the  decree, 
and  orders,  for  the  prevention  of  its  evasion,  that  the  importation  of  such  articles 
from  other  countries  than  America  shall  only  be  admissible  in  future  when  it  is 
proved  liy  official  certificate  that  the  articles  are  above  suspicion,  i.  e..  not  of 
American  origin.  If  the  prohibition  is  really  to  impart  the  sanitary  protection 
aimed  at  by  it.  then,  says  the  chancellor's  communication  further,  only  the  cer- 
tificates of  such  officials  must  be  recognized  as  are.  on  the  one  hand,  in  a  position 
to  testify  to  the  truthfulness  of  their  statements  by  their  personal  knowledge  in 
the  premises,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  too.  are  responsible  to  the  Empire  or  the 
Government  of  their  country  for  the  conscientiou-ness  of  their  statements. 

The  certificates  of  Cjerman  consuls  will,  accordingly,  be  of  primarj-  considera- 
tion, but  as  the  interests  of  traffic  would  seem  to  forbid  our  confining  ourselves  to 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  653 

their  certificates  exclusively,  it  might  be  practicable  to  admit  the  certificates 
attested  to  by  the  proper  police  authorities  at  the  place  of  origin  as  sufficient. 
But  inasmuch  as  the  German  frontier  officials  may  not  always  be  able  to  tell 
whether  the  persons  certifying  are  actually  the  proper  police  authorities,  this  fact 
would  have  to  be  attested  to  by  the  German  consul  of  the  district  in  question. 
Exceptions  to  this  measure  would  only  be  admissible  in  the  case  of  certificates  of 
origin  which  come  from  Austria- Hungary,  if  issued  and  attested  to  according  to 
the  provision  of  the  treaty  with  that  Empire  of  25th  February,  1880,  as  in  all 
other  traffic  between  these  frontier  districts. 

If  the  attest  is  not  written  in  the  German  language,  a  certified  German  transla- 
tion would  have  to  be  added  by  the  importer  on  demand. 

Besides  this,  the  certificate  of  origin  would  have  to  be  issued  at  least  thirty  days 
before  the  arrival  of  the  goods  at  the  German  fmntier  and  to  be  kept  by  the  Ger- 
man frontier  officials  to  prevent  a  second  use  thereof.  As  specially  regards  the 
import  of  living  pigs,  the  foreign  police  authorities  would  have  to  certify  that  the 
animals  belonging  to  the  shipper,  who  is  to  be  especially  named,  are  described 
singly  and  accordiiigtokind,  size,  age  sex.  color,  and  other  outward  marks,  are  born 
and  raised  in  Austria- Hungary  (B;lginm,etc.),and  that  they  have  been  Itept  at 
and  within  the  district  of  the  authorities  certifying  for  the  last  thirty  days.  In 
the  case  of  sucking  pigs  (pigs  of  less  than  10  kilos  weight), as  their  importation 
from  America  might  scarcely  be  attempted,  a  certificate  describing  the  animals 
collectively  and  as  to  kind,  as  having  been  born  in  Austria- Hungary  (Belgium, 
etc. ) ,  might  suffice. 

The  matter  is,  however,  much  more  difficult  with  regard  to  preparations  of 
pork  and  sausages.  A  certificate  issued  by  the  authorities  at  the  i)lace  of  origin 
of  the  animals  would  be  of  little  value,  as  it  could  not  be  proved  by  the  articles  in 
question  that  they  really  are  made  from  the  animal  mentioned  in  the  certificate  of 
origin,  and  therefore  a  certificate  from  the  ])olice  authorities  at  the  place  where 
they  were  made  (except  America)  that  the  ware  specially  designated  and 
described,  if  chopped,  by  signature,  and  packing,  if  in  larger  pieces,  by  a  stamp 
which  is  to  be  placed  upon  them  by  the  authorities  at  the  place  of  origin,  to  the 
effect  that  the  wares  emanate  from  the  butcher,  etc..  residing  at  and  in  the  district 
of  the  certifying  office,  and  are  made  from  animals  of  English  (Belgium. etc. ) 
origin,  would  be  necessary.  Besides  this.it  might  be  practicable  to  demand  a 
certificate  to  the  effect  that  the  manufacturer  in  (question  is  not  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing wares  from  pigs,  pork,  or  bacon  of  American  org  n.nor  in  the  purchase 
or  sale,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  these  articles  of  American  origin.  In  justifica- 
tion of  these  suggest  ons,  the  communication  refers  to  utterances  in  the  American 
press  that  an  evasion  of  this  prohibition  by  repacking  the  American  article  in 
European  (not  German)  ports  is  contemplated. 

Finally,  the  chancellor  re:iuests  a  decision  of  the  Bundesrath  in  the  matter,  with 
the  remark  that  the  officials  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  decree  at  the 
frontier  will  be  furnished  with  instructions  before  the  time  that  the  decree  goes 
into  force,  thirty  days  alter  its  proclamation. 


No.  85. 
Mr.  Bailey  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  103.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Hamburg,  April  7,  1883.     (Received  April  25.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  you  herewith  an  article  cut  from  the  Ham- 
burger Nachrichten  of  this  date. 

The  figures  are  taken  from  the  official  report,  and  they  are  furnished  for  such 
information  as  they  may  contain. 

I  am,  etc.,  J.  M.  Bailey, 

United  States  Consul. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  103.— Extract  from  the  Hamburger  Nachrichten  of  April  7, 1883.— Translation.] 
EXAMINATION   OF  POEK  IN  HAMBURG. 

The  Government  veterinary  surgeon  has  published  an  account  of  the  examina- 
tions of  American  and  European  pork  which  have  been  made  during  the  past  five 
years.    He  states  that  18,619  specimens  of  American  pork  were  examined  during 


654  SWINE    PRODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

that  time  by  48  inspectors.  Of  these,  175  were  found  to  contain  trichinre.  Dnr- 
iufi  the  same  periocl  6().")'i7  specimens  of  European  pork  were  examined,  not  onf  of 
which  was  found  to  contain  trichin:e.  It  thus  appears  that  O.'J")  per  cent  of  tlie 
American  specimens  con  tame  1  trichinae  and  0.00  percent  of  the  European.  In 
the  year  1881,  7;i,113  American  and  .j.j,7*J9  European  specimens  were  examined  by 
60  inspectors.  Of  the  former.  6ii5,  i.  e.,  9.9.J  per  cent,  were  found  to  contain 
trirhinfe  and  of  the  latter  2,  or  0.004  per  cent.  In  the  year  1^80,  78,r)97  American 
and  49,943  European  specimens  were  examined  by  108  insiiectors:  of  tlie  former. 
83G,  or  1.0.")  per  cent,  contained  trithin:e  and  of  the  latter  none  at  all.  In  the 
year  1879,  10-',G()2  American  and  47.247  European  specimens  were  e.xaniined  by  91 
inspectors;  of  the  former.  1,290,  or  1.16  per  cent,  were  lound  to  contain  trichinip 
and  of  the  latter  3.  or  0.006  per  cent.  In  the  year  1878.  49.513  American  and 
28.173  Enropean  specimens  were  examined  by  17  inspectors:  of  the  former,  382,  or 
0.79  per  cent,  contained  trichina;  and  of  the  latter  3,  or  0.01  per  cent. 


No.  86. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

[Confidential.] 

No.  108.]  Department  of  State, 

Washingto7i,  April  11,  ISSS. 

Siu:  Your  dispatches  Nos.  121  and  122,  of  the  15th  and  19th  ultimo,  in  relation 
to  the  ordinance  and  regulations  of  the  German  Imperial  Government  for  the 
prohibition  of  American  pork  products,  have  been  received. 

Until  the  text  of  the  promulgated  regulations  for  the  execution  of  the  prohibi- 
tory ordinance  shall  be  received  it  may  seem  premature  to  consider  the  details  of 
the  question  and  express  an  opinion  thereon.  The  general  i.«sne,  however,  is  one 
which  can  not  fail  to  demand  the  most  careful  attention  of  this  Governn^ent.  not 
only  on  its  own  merits,  but  also  in  its  bearing  upon  Article  V  of  the  treaty  of 
commerce  and  navigation  between  the  United  States  and  Prussia,  concluded 
May  1,  1828,  and  especially  the  concluding  clause  of  the  article,  which  reads  as 
follows: 

"  Nor  shall  any  prohibition  be  imjwsed  on  the  importation  or  exportation  of  any 
article  the  proJuce  or  manufacture  of  the  United  States,  or  of  Prussia,  to  or  from 
the  ports  ot  the  United  States,  or  to  or  from  the  ports  of  Prussia,  which  shall  not 
equally  extend  to  all  other  nations."' 

The  treaty  question  which  may  be  thus  involved  is  receiving  attentive  consid- 
eration, and  may  hereafter  be  the  subject  of  a  special  instruction  to  you.     Mean- 
while I  have  to  thank  j-on  'or  the  information  conveyed  in  your  dispatches  and  to 
remark  that  your  suggestions  will  have  due  considr  ration, 
lam,  etc., 

FrEDK.  T.  FBELmGHUYSBN. 


No.  87. 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frdinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  135.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Bnlin,  April  IS,  1883.  (Received  May  2. 
Sm:  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  on  the  22d  March,  1883. 1  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Emile  iseignouret.  president  of  the  Chambre  Syndicale  du  Commerce 
des  Saindoux  et  Sala  sons  d'Americjue,  Bordeaux,  France,  a  copy  of  which  is 
inclosed,  informing  me  that  the  French  papers  were  publishing  a  dispatch  from 
Tilsit.  Germany,  statinir  that  some  cases  of  trichinosis  existed  in  Tilsit,  especially 
in  the  garrison,  and  that  there  were  already  13  deceased.  He  requested  me  to 
make  immiries  on  the  subject,  as  the  syndicate  is  doing  its  best  to  obtain  the  recall 
of  the  edict  of  prohibition  of  American  meats  in  France  and  had  already  serious 
promises  from  the  French  Government.  They  were,  however,  afraid  the  many 
advices  from  Germany  like  the  above  would  raise  difficulties  and  prevent  their 
success.  He  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  there  were  such  trichinosis  it  came  from 
eating  hoaie  meata,  and  not  from  American  salted  meat.    If  the  facts  could  be 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  655 

ascertained  and  vouched  for  by  me,  it  would  aid  them  to  obtain  free  importation 
in  France. 

Immediately  on  receipt  of  this  letter  I  wrote  to  United  States  consular  agent, 
Mr.  Conrad  Gaedeke,  at  Konigsberg,  the  nearest  consular  officer  to  Tilsit,  inclos- 
ing hira  a  copy  of  it,  and  informed  him  that  the  question  of  the  exclusion  or  admis- 
sion of  American  pork  products  is  now  being  agitated  here  and  in  France,  and  that 
he  would  much  oblige  mt^  and  do  the  United  States  a  service  if  he  would  ascertain 
and  inform  me  promptly  if  these  cases  of  sickness  referred  to  exist;  and  if  so,  if 
the  pork  was  of  American  or  other  production. 

The  same  day  I  wrote  to  Mr,  Neignouret,  stating  that  I  had  ordered  an  investi- 
gation to  be  made  into,  the  alleged  cases  of  trichinosis  at  Tilsit  by  the  nearest 
American  consul,  and  if  there  were  such,  if  they  originated  from  eating  Ameri- 
can pork.  I  told  him,  further,  that  I  find  that  all  cases  of  alleged  trichinosis  are 
ascribed  to  American  pork,  even  where  the  proof  is  open  to  anyone  that  they  arise 
from  eating  raw  native  or  Hungarian  pork;  that  interested  parties  spread  such 
stories,  and  frequently  the  stories  are  entirely  false,  there  being  no  sickness;  that 
high  German  scientific  authority  states  that  there  is  not  now  and  has  not  been  for 
years  any  case  of  trichinosis  in  Germany  from  eating  American  pork. 

The  United  States  consular  agent  at  Konigsberg  acknowledged  receipt  of  my 
letter,  under  date  of  March  27,  and  promised  immediately  to  try  to  ascertain  and 
inform  me  as  soon  as  possible  of  all  the  fa'ts  in  the  matter. 

I  am  now  in  possession  of  his  report,  under  date  of  April  9,  in  which  he  informs 
me  that  14  cases  of  trichinosis  have  occurred  at  the  garrison  at  Tilsit,  being  early 
in  March,  all  very  light,  and  everybody  now  recovered.  It  is  officially  stated  to 
him  that  the  soldiers  did  not  receive  the  infected  meat  in  the  menage  of  the  caserne, 
and  it  is  not  possible  to  state  where  they  got  it,  and  not,  therefore,  whether  it  is 
of  native  or  American  production,  but  they  probably  got  the  pork  from  their 
relatives.     *    *    * 

I  have  to-day  written  to  Mr.  Neignouret,  giving  to  him  these  facts  and  calling 
his  attention  to  the  exaggeration  or  falsehood  of  the  te]egrai)hic  account  in  that 
no  deaths  had  occurred;  that  the  cases  were  all  slight,  and  everybody  had  recov- 
ered, and  pointing  out  the  certainty  that,  as  the  pork  was  probably  furnished  by 
relatives,  it  was  the  local  raw  article,  which  is  the  ascertained  cause  of  all  known 
cases  of  trichinosis  where  the  trouble  has  been  taken  to  trace  the  cause. 

I  have  also  written  to  Mr.  Gaedeke,  thanking  him  for  his  promptness  and  effi- 
ciency in  the  matter,  and  stating  that  I  should  take  pleasure  in  mentioning  it  to 
the  State  Department. 

This  correspondence  tells  its  own  story,  and  remark  may  be  unaecessary.  In 
this  case  13  persons  are  announced  as  already  dead  from  trichinosis,  and  the 
fatal  disease  still  raging,  and  American  pork — that  '-unutterable  flesh '" — is swii  tly 
assigned  as  the  cause.  The  disastrous  news  is  spread  over  the  Continent  to  create 
prejudice  against  our  productions  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  those  who  favor 
prohibition.  When  the  Government  officers,  peculiarly  informed,  are  questioned, 
it  is  found  no  deaths  have  occurred;  that  there  were  only  some  slight  cases  of 
sickness,  and  pregnant  circumstances  imply  that  American  pork  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  cases  of  sickness  that  did  exist. 

*****  *  * 

While  the  German  Government  may  properly  decline  to  bind  itself  by  the  report 
of  its  own  or  any  other  commission  for  investigation  into  the  truth  or  error  of  its 
own  allegations  that  American  pork  products  are  dangerous  to  health,  and  into 
the  soundness  of  the  grounds  which  it  has  for  striking  a  severe  blow  at  our  trade 
or  manufactures,  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  *  *  *  cautious  how  it 
lends  itself  to  *  *  *  statements  against  the  interests  of  a  friendly  nation. 
*  *  *  When  the  chancellor  sent  his  request  for  the  prohibitive  ordinance  to  the 
Bundesrath  he  accompanied  it  by  a  memorial  in  which  he  did  not  give  reasons 
based  on  the  bills  ot  health  of  the  Empire,  but  cited  at  large  from  a  printed 
pamphlet  in  German.  *  *  *  which  pamphlet  was  a  compilation  of  certain 
New  York  newspaper  articles  published  in  1H81,  wh[ch,  while  condemning  the 
])rohibitory  policy  of  the  French  Government,  laid  blame  upon  the  Western 
packers,  who.  these  alleged,  put  up  meats  before  they  were  properly  cured,  and 
dwelt  upon  the  carelessness  of  freight  handlers.  Western  inspection,  etc.  The 
pamphlet  also  contained  the  opinions  of  French  and  German  exporters  that  the 
complaints  of  the  French  authorities  were  unfounded  from  a  sanitary  standpoint, 
and  the  faults  of  careless  packing  could  be  remedied  on  through  transit  meats  by 
having  them  overhauled  at  New  York  prior  to  shipmeot.  The  appointment  of  a 
certain  firm  of  New  York  packers  *  *  *  was  recommended  for  the  purpose. 
This  pamphlet  was  denounced  by  Herr  Richter,  in  the  Reichstag,  as  compiled  in 
the  interests  of  the  firm  alluded  to,  and  as  utterly  unworthy  as  authority  for  the 
proposed  exclusion.    Of  course,  it  does  not  come  anywhere  near  proof  of  danger 


656  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

of  trichinosia^  from  American  pork.  Imperfect  packing  may  cause  rotten  pork, 
which  no  one  would  buy  or  uge,  but  not  trichina*;  yet  this  unresponsive  evidence 
stands  as  the  basis  of  exclusion  in  this  Empire  today.  Investigation  might  *  *  * 
[show]  that  the  statements  of  the  pamphlet  in  regard  to  packing  are  false,  and 
that  the  supervision  of  the  before-mentioned  firm  is  unnecessary.  Every  barrel  of 
pork  that  reaches  Europe  bears  its  special  testimony,  and  the  interests  of  trade 
insure  fidelity  of  means.  If  any  steps  were  taken  to  as  -ertain  in  what  condition 
packed  pork  reached  Germany,  the  conclusion.s  were  not  added  to  the  assertions 
of  the  pamphlet  in  the  chancellor's  memorial;  and  the  investigation  carried  on 
under  orders  of  the  State  Department  was  not  deemed  worthy  of  notice. 

*  ****** 

One  effect  of  this  prohibition  is  now  obvious.  The  mas-^ses  here  are  accustomed 
to  reverence  government  and  look  to  it  peculiarly  for  guidance  in  matters  whi  h 
in  different  communities  it  could  not  influence.  The  Government  has  condemned 
American  pork  products  as  dangerous  to  health.  Its  action  fosters  alarm  in  that 
connection,  and  it  will  take  years  to  re-create  the  confidence  in  these  which  has 
been  impaired. 

To  avoid  multiplying  dispatches  I  will  here  state  that  on  the  10th  there  was  a 
discussion  on  the  bill  amending  "  trades  law."  In  section  5(56  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil ( Bundesrath )  is  authorized,  in  cases  of  necessity,  to  suspend  for  a  certain  period 
some  of  the  provisions  of  section  56  and  56o,  the  same  right  being  conferred  upon 
the  appropriate  state  authorities  for  the  individual  states  of  the  Empire.  This  is 
not  the  law  regulating  imports,  which  contains  a  somewhat  parallel  provision,  it 
being  therein  provided  that  the  Council  may  suspend  any  importation  temporarily 
in  case  of  emergency. 

During  the  discussion  Dr.  Baumbach  proposed  an  addition  to  this  paragraph, 
making  it  obligatory  upon  the  Federal  Council  to  submit  its  decrees  to  the  Reich- 
stag for  subseiiuent  approval. 

State  Minister  Scholz  declared  himself  decidedly  opposed  to  this  proposal, 
expressing  the  view  that  it  would  be  detrimental  to  the  dignity  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  see  its  decrees  annulled  so  soon  after  their  promulgation.  He  said  the 
motion  of  Dr.  Baumbach  would  make  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Federal 
Council  so  entirely  illusory  that  the  united  Governments  would  prefer  to  dispense 
with  it  altogether.  The  minister  conceded  that  there  existed  in  certain  cases 
similar  provisions,  requiring  subsequent  parliamentary  approval  of  decrees  of  the 
Federal  Council,  but  past  experience  did  not  dispose  him  to  advocate  an  extension 
of  this  principle.  The  proposed  motion  would  confuse  legal  relations,  and  he  must 
urgently  request  that  it  be  rejected. 

Deputies  Heydemann,  Maibauer,  Dr.  R6eand,  and  Dr.  Bamberger  spoke  in 
advocacy  of  Dr.  Baumbach's  motion.  The  latter  declared  it  to  be  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  oppose  the  principle  set  up  by  Minister  Scholz.  The  proposed  con- 
dition had  the  very  practical  purpose  of  comi)elling  the  united  Governments  to 
consider  duly,  before  issuing  a  provisional  decree,  whether  it  was  in  harmony  with 
the  law,  and  whether  it  would  receive  the  approbation  of  Parliament.  For 
instance,  if  the  united  Governments  had  been  compelled  to  submit  to  Parliament 
for  subsequent  approval  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  meat, 
he  was  convinced  the  decree  would  never  have  been  issued  at  all. 

He  therefore,  that  there  might  be  no  question  of  the  principle,  would  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  Dr.  Baumbach's  motion. 

Scholz,  finance  minister,  felt  called  upon  to  protest  energetically  against  the 
suggestion  that  the  Government  did  not  in  every  case  maturely  consider,  before 
its  issue,  every  provisional  decree,  and  the  necessity  for  subsequent  approval  could 
not  make  it  more  so. 

After  speeches  by  Dr.  Hiinel,  Richter,  and  others,  earnestly  advocating  the 
amendment,  it  was  adopted  by  a  small  majority. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 

[Inclosure  1  in  No.  135.] 

Mr.  Neignouret  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

Chambre  Syndicale  du  Commerce  des 

Saindoux  et  Salaisons  d'Ameriqub, 

Bordeaux,  March  22,  188S. 
Sir:  I  now  see  in  our  French  papers  a  dispatch  coming  from  Tilsit,  and  telling 
that  some  cases  of  trichinosis  have  occurred  in  this  town,  especially  in  the  garri- 
son, and  that  there  were  already  13  deceased. 
I  shall  be  most  obliged  for  your  inquiries  on  the  subject,  as  our  syndicate  is 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  657 

making  the  endeavor  to  obtain  the  recall  of  the  edict  of  prohibition  for  American 
meats  in  France,  and  we  have  already  received  serious  promises  from  our  Gov- 
ernment; but  we  are  afraid  that  the  many  advices  from  Germany,  like  the  above, 
will  be  a  difficulty  in  the  way,  and  perhaps  an  obstacle  to  our  success. 

Besides,  if  there  is  such  trichinosis,  my  opinion  is  that  the  cases  must  come  from 
home  meats  and  not  from  the  salted  ones  imported  from  America,  and  should  the 
matter  be  investigated,  your  information  and  certificates  on  the  subject  would  be 
of  great  assistance  in  our  endeavors  to  obtain  the  free  importation  in  France. 

I  rely  on  you  to  know  exactly  what  is  the  matter,  and  with  thanks,  remain, etc., 

Emile  Neignouret, 
The  President  of  tlie  Syndicate, 

[Inclosure  3  in  No.  135.] 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Conrad  Oaedeke. 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  March  2^.,  188S, 
Sir:  I  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Emile  Neignouret,  which  speaks 
of  some  cases  of  trichinosis  from  eating  pork  which  have  recently  occurred  at  the 
fortress  at  Tilsit.  The  question  of  the  exclusion  or  admission  of  American  pork 
products  is  now  being  agitated  here  and  in  France;  and  you  will  much  oblige  me 
and  do  the  United  States  a  service  if  you  will  ascertain  and  inform  me  promptly 
if  these  cases  of  sickness,  referred  to  in  the  inclosed,  exist;  and,  if  so,  whether  the 
pork  was  of  American  or  other  production. 

Very  respectfully,  A.  A.  Saeqent, 

[Inclosure  3  in  No.  135.] 
Mr,  Sargent  to  Mr.  Neignouret, 

LEaATION  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES, 

Berlin,  March  24,  1883. 

Sir:  I  have  ordered  an  investigation  to  be  made  by  the  nearest  American  consul 
into  the  alleged  cases  of  trichinosis  at  Tilsit,  referred  to  in  your  letter,  and  whether, 
if  there  are  such,  they  originated  or  not  from  eating  American  pork.  I  find  that 
all  cases  of  alleged  trichinosis  are  ascribed  to  American  pork,  even  where  the 
proof  is  open  to  any  one  that  they  arose  from  eating  raw  native  or  Hungarian 
pork.  Interested  parties  spread  such  stories.  Frequently  these  stories  are  wholly 
false,  there  being  no  sickness.  High  German  scientific  authority  states  that  there 
are  not  now,  and  have  not  been  for  years,  any  cases  of  trichinosis  in  Germany 
from  eating  American  pork. 

I  will  promptly  inform  you  of  the  result  of  my  inquiries. 

Respectfully,  A.  A.  Sargent, 

[Inclosure  4  in  No.  135.] 
Mr.  Gaedeke  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

United  States  Consular  Agency, 

Konigsberg,  March  27, 1883. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  communication  of  the  24th  instant, 
with  inclosure  of  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  IVIr.  Emile  Neignouret.    I  will  immedi- 
ately try  to  ascertain  and  inform  you  as  soon  as  possible  of  the  cases  of  trichinosis 
at  Tilsit  and  whether  the  pork  was  of  American  or  other  production. 
I  have,  etc., 

Conrad  Gaedeke. 

[Inclosure  5  in  No.  135.— Extract.] 
Mr.  Gaedeke  to  Mr,  Sargent. 

United  States  Consular  Agency, 

Konigsberg,  April  9,  1883. 
Sir:  In  pursuance  of  my  communication  of  the  27th  past,  I  have  the  honor  to 
inform  you  that  I  have  ascertained  that  fourteen  cases  of  trichinosis  have  occurred 
at  the  garrison  at  Tilsit  in  the  beginning  of  IVIarch,  but  that  all  these  cases  have 
been  very  light  and  that  everybody  has  already  recovered, 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 42 


658  8WINE    PB0DUCT8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

It  is  oflBcially  stated  that  the  soldiers  have  not  received  the  infected  pork  in  the 
menage  of  the  caserne,  but  it  has  not  been  possible  to  st.ite  whence  they  got  it, 
and  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  say  whether  this  pork  has  been  of  inland  or  of 
American  production,  but  it  is  most  probable  that  the  soldiers  have  received  the 
product  from  their  relatives.    *    *    * 

I  have,  etc.,  Conkad  Qaedbkb. 


[Inclosnre  6  in  No.  135.— Extract..] 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Neignouret, 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  April  10,  188S. 

Sir:  Referring  to  your  letter  of  March  22  and  mine  of  March  24,  concerning  the 
cases  of  trichinosis  alleged  to  exist  at  Tilsit,  I  have  the  honor  now  to  inform  you 
that  the  United  States  consular  agent  at  Konigsberg,  Mr.  Conrad  Gaedeke,  a  very 
reliable  and  intelligent  gentleman,  writes  to  me,  under  date  of  April  9,  that  he  has 
observed  my  instructions  and  investigated  the  cases  of  trichinosis  at  the  army 
quarters  at  Tilsit,  and  the  causes  thereof,  and  now  states  *  *  *  that  at  the 
beginning  of  March  there  were  fourteen  very  slight  cases  of  trichinosis,  from 
which  everyone  suffering  has  now  fully  recovered.  The  soldiers  did  not  receive 
the  infected  pork  as  rations,  but  ate  it  outside,  probably  receiving  it  from  their 
relations,  in  which  case  it  was  undoubtedly  native  pork.  As  raw  native  pork  is 
the  ascertained  cause  of  all  trichinosis  in  Germany  when  the  cause  has  been 
traced,  as  I  am  informed  by  German  medical  authority,  it  is  most  certain  to  have 
been  the  cause  in  this  instance. 

I  inclose  a  copy  of  Mr.  Gaedeke's  letter,  by  which  you  will  observe  also  that 
the  statement  that  deaths  had  occurred  was  totally  false,  and  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sauuent. 


[Incloeare  7  in  No.  135.] 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Gaedeke, 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  April  10,  188S. 
Sir:  I  thank  yon  for  the  promptness  with  which  you  have  complied  with  my 
request  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the  cases  of  trichinosis  at  Tilsit.     I  have 
taken  pleasure  in  informing  the  State  Department  of  the  promptness  and  efficiency 
you  have  shown  in  this  matter. 

Very  respectfully,  etc.,  .  A.  A.  Sargent, 


No.  88. 

Mr,  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuyaen. 

[Extract] 

No.  187.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  April  IS,  188S.     (Received  May  2.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  instruction  No.  99  of 
March  14.  *  *  *  I  beg  leave  to  submit  a  few  considerations  suggested  to  my 
mind  by  the  instruction  in  question.    *    *    * 

The  phrase  used  by  me  in  my  note  of  the  23d  ultimo  addressed  to  Count  Hatz- 
feldt,  pointed  out  by  the  Department,  was  not  inadvertent.  I  carefully  weighed 
every  word  of  that  note,  and  desired  to  present  every  reason  that  could  influence 
the  German  chancellor  to  avert  the  yet  suspended  blow  of  prohibition.  Please 
observe  that  any  allusion  to  action  by  the  American  lawmaking  power  was  not 
suggested  to  depend  upon  acceptance  of  the  President's  proposition,  but  upon  the 
fact  of  prohibition,  a  measure  replete  with  disaster  to  an  enormous  American 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  interest.  In  the  firm  belief,  then  and  now  enter- 
tained, that  phrase-making  would  not  prevent  or  rei)eal  such  an  unfriendly  ordi- 
nance, and  only  the  prospect  of  retaliatory  legislation  would,  I  distantly  intimated 
that  the  United  States,  through  its  only  lawmaking  body,  might  possibly  take 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  659 

notice  of  this  prohibition.  It  certainly  should  be  an  element  in  the  chancellor's 
estimate  of  the  question  that  a  nation  of  over  50,000,000  people  of  resolute  char- 
acter and  noble  history  might  adopt  some  form  of  legislative  reprisals.  In  the 
absence  of  instructions,  and  in  the  face  of  an  emergency,  I  advanced  this  sugges- 
tion instead  of  leaving  him  to  infer  or  overlook  it.  Before  my  note  to  Count 
Hatzfeldt  was  written,  the  American  papers  came,  containing  some  of  my  dis- 
patches in  which  I  had  strenuously  urged  that  the  only  way  in  which  the  German 
Government  could  be  influenced  was  by  the  fear  of  reprisals  by  legislation.  These 
were  republished  from  the  American  in  the  German  newspapers,  those  papers 
which  were  our  friends  in  the  controversy  saying  the  considerations  advanced 
should  be  heeded  by  this  Government.  *  *  *  As  these  publications  necessarily 
were  authorized  by  the  Department,  I  then  saw  no  error  in  saying  directly,  but 
courteously,  to  this  Government  what  it  was  thus  informed  that  I  had  officially 
said  of  it. 

*  *  »  *  «  *  * 

I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  89. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract.] 

No.  145.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  April  28,  1883.     (Received  May  16.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  No.  27  of  Commercial  Relations,  January, 
1883,  contains  a  dispatch  of  mine,  on  page  1,  upon  the  subject  of  the  prohibition 
by  Germany  of  our  pork  products,  wherein  the  representations  on  the  subject  by 
various  trade  associations  and  the  opposition  press  are  stated,  and  the  reasons  why 
the  prohibition  is  likely  to  be  made,  and  what  remedy  the  United  States  may 
have  and  should  use  to  prevent  such  experiments  against  their  interests,  are 
stated. 

As  was  necessary  in  such  a  dispatch,  the  truths,  as  they  appeared  to  me,  were 
clearly  stated,  that  you  might  be  perfectly  familiar  with  the  issue  with  which 
our  Government  had  to  deal  so  far  as  a  close  observation  here,  and  a  zealous  wish 
to  do  my  duty  could  enable  you  to  become. 

In  the  dispatch  was  also  a  personal  allusion,  useful  to  give  an  idea  of  the  state 
of  feeling  here  in  various  circles.  Such  a  dispatch,  informing  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  necessary  facts,  was,  according  to  my  view,  entirely  proper.  The  St. 
James  Gazette  recently  said,  referring  to  the  probability  that  the  English  home 
office  was  well  informed  in  regard  to  an  annexation: 

"  With  what  object  do  we  keep  up  diplomatic  establishments  in  every  European 
capital  if  the  first  hint  of  a  design  on  the  part  of  some  rival  power  to  seize  an 
important  territory  is  to  come  from  a  little  group  of  colonial  politicians?  " 

So  it  might  be  asked,  With  what  object  does  the  United  States  keep  up  diplo- 
matic establishments  in  Europe,  if  they  must  depend  upon  chance  and  tardy 
sources  for  information  as  to  measures  affecting  their  interests?  To  send  such 
information  in  such  a  colorless  form  that  if  it  were  published  the  government  to 
which  the  minister  is  accredited  could  not  find  a  shade  of  criticism  or  matter  of 
exception,  and  yet  the  Department  get  from  it  a  true  picture  of  occui'rences  hav- 
ing inimical  tendencies,  and  of  which  it  should  be  expressly  warned,  would  seem 
impossible. 

linclose,  with  translation,  an  article  from  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung, 
*  *  *  in  which  it  is  falsely  alleged  that  the  dispatch  in  question  was  a  news- 
paper article  published  by  me  in  a  newspaper  of  New  York  over  my  signature, 
and  distorting  ingeniously  the  contents  of  the  dispatch.  It  ascribes  to  me  the 
words  and  arguments  which  I  expressly  said  were  copied  from  German  papers; 
declares  that  I  said  the  German  Government  is  not  at  all  a  government  of  public 
opinion,  but  is  sure  to  do  the  exact  opposite  of  what  public  opinion  demands; 
whereas  I  said,  "If  this  were  strictly  a  government  of  public  opinion  in  the 
American  sense,  these  general  public  appeals  would  prevail."  It  alleges  that  I 
said  (three  months  before  the  ordinance  was  passed  at  all)  that  it  was  passed  by  a 
trick  over  the  heads  of  the  Reichstag,  etc.  By  a  comparison  with  the  original  you 
will  see  the  malignity  and  falsehood  of  this  travesty. 

If  I  had  so  far  forgotten  my  duty  as  to  publish  an  article  on  a  political  subject 


660  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

in  an  American  newspaper  over  my  signature,  I  should  feel  only  repaid  even  by 
such  gross  caricature  of  what  it  contained.  The  paper  in  question  knew  that  I 
was  innocent  of  any  publication  whatever,  for  a  month  before  it  had  published 
the  substance  of  it  correctly,  and  said  it  was  a  dispatch  to  my  Government,  and 
berated  the  oi)position  papers  for  f  umishini?  such  arguments  against  the  measures 
of  their  own  Government.  To  give  plausibilitj'  to  this  attack  it  was  necessary  to 
ignore  that,  and  to  sufficiently  fire  the  hearts  of  its  readers  it  was  necessary  to 
grossly  misrepresent  the  contents  of  the  document. 

The  undoubted  purpose  of  this  publication  was  to  work  on  the  patriotic  pride 
of  the  Germans  by  leading  them  to  resent  foreign  complaint  of  the  action  of  their 
Government  and  make  partisans  for  the  maintenance  of  prohibition.  The  scheme 
was  well  planned,  and  undoubtedly  works  in  the  way  foreseen. 

I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


[Incloenre  in  No.  145.— Extract  from  the  Norddentsche  Allgemelne  Zeitang,  April  ZL,  1883.— 

TraDslation.] 

In  the  New  Yorker  Handels-Zeitung  of  March  10  last  we  find  a  publication 
which  bears  the  signature  of  the  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Berlin  and  treats 
of  the  prohibition  in  Germany  of  American  pork.  The  first  half  of  this  article 
endeavors  to  describe  the  "opposition '"  to  the  exclusion  of  American  hog  products 
manifested  in  Berlin  and  other  cities,  and  refers  in  particular  to  articles  of  the 
National  Zeitung  and  the — in  the  meantime  deceased — Tribune.  A  political  criti- 
cism of  the  present  form  of  government  in  Germany  is  connected  with  the  descrip- 
tion of  that  opposition  movement,  the  German  Government  being  described  as  one 
not  "in  the  slightest  degree  a  government  of  public  opinion,"  but  one  which  most 
probably  always  did  the  reverse  of  that  demanded  by  the  voice  of  public  opinion 
as  well  as  by  the  press,  on  the  basis  "of  logical  deductions  from  indisputable  facts." 

The  decree  of  prohibition  is  criticised  as  an  illegal  measure  adopted  over  the  head 
of  the  Reichstag,  and  characterized  by  a  leader  of  the  opposition  in  the  Reichstag 
to  be  the  author  of  the  article  as  being  an  "unworthy  trick." 

It  is  possible  that  a  German  deputy  has  used  such  an  expression  to  the  represent- 
ative of  a  foreign  power.  We  know  more  than  one  whom  we  consider  capable  of 
such  an  act.  On  the  other  hand,  it  surprises  us  to  find  the  signature  of  a  minister 
accredited  to  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  under  such  declarations. 

In  the  article  it  is  further  stated:  ''The  Tribune,  an  influenii:''  organ  of  the 
party  of  progress,  has  convincingly  shown  the  sanitary  liarmlessi.v.sof  American 
pork  products.  It  was  solely  in  the  interests  of  the  larger  landowners  and  meat 
producers  of  Germany  that  the  prohibition  which  took  lo.OrO  marks  annually  from 
the  poor  to  give  them  to  the  rich  was  issued."  At  this  point  the  style  of  the  pub- 
lication attains  a  pathos  to  which  we  fear  our  quotation  will  not  do  justice.  It 
is  stated  word  for  word: 

'*  But  woe  to  the  poor  who  pay  to  him  (the  rich)  the  15,000  marks:"  woe  to  the 
hungry  who  imagine  that  it  is  a  duty  of  the  Government  not  to  allow  the  price  of 
food  to  become  too  high." 

The  National  Zeitung  had  also  furnished  a  similar  argument  that  could  not  be 
refuted  in  favor  of  American  interests:  that  journal  had  in  particular  as.serted  that 
last  year's  good  harvest  had  afforded  such  rich  profits  to  German  landowners  that 
their  interests  did  not  require  this  exclusion  of  American  pork  from  German  mar- 
kets. Here,  too.  therefore,  the  unvailed  insinuation  is  uttered  that  tlie  imperial 
Government  had  adopted  those  measures  solely  for  the  purpose  of  favoring  a  single 
class,  while  the  existence  of  weighty  sanitary  police  motives  for  the  prohibition  is 
not  conceded  or  mentioned  with  a  single  word. 

In  the  last  part  of  the  publication  the  damage  to  American  interests  to  result 
from  the  decree  of  prohibition  is  referred  to,  and  reprisals  are  threatened,  leaving 
out  of  consideration  the  fact  that  North  America  for  whole  decades  has  shut  itself 
off  from  the  products  of  Etiropean  industry  by  the  highest  protective  and  prohibi- 
tive duties,  without  our  ever  having  thought  of  demantlingof  America  considera- 
tion for  injured  German  and  disregard  of  American  interests. 

The  publication  closes  with  the  declaration  that  America  ''can  not  submit  to  the 
exclusion  of  her  products  under  false  pretences." 

The  article  therefore  anticipates  the  employment  of  international  pressure  to 
force  the  American  trichinie  upon  the  German  con.sumer,  after  the  latter  has  borne 
the  burden  of  inconsiderable  taxation  in  order  to  be  protected  against  the  domestic 
trichinje.  This  view  i:  aot  without  analogy  to  that  which  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Chinese  opium  war.    What  would  the  public  and  the  press  say  in  England  if  a 


SWIISTE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  661 

German  publication,  similar  to  that  contained  in  the  columns  of  the  New  Yorker 
Handels-Zeitnng,  had  attacked  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  German  cattle 
into  England  with  t^uch  arguments,  and  if  under  such  publication  the  name  of  the 
German  ambassador  accredited  to  the  Queen  of  England  had  stood?  Assuredly 
such  international  warfare  would  not  have  found  in  the  English  press  organs  to 
advocate  the  interests  of  a  foreign  land  at  the  expense  of  domestic  policy. 


No.  90. 

Mr,  Von  Eisendecher  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

Imperial  German  Legation, 
Washington,  May  2,  1883.     (Received  May  4.) 

Sir:  Ihave  received  from  my  Government  copy  of  a  note  addressed  by  Mr.  Sargent 
to  Count  Hatzfeldt,  under  the  date  of  February  23  of  this  j'ear,  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  the  ultimate  proclamation  of  the  prohibited  measures  resolved  upon 
by  the  confederate  governments  against  the  importation  into  Germany  of  Ameri- 
can bacon,  hams,  and  pork. 

Under  instructions  from  the  chancellor  of  the  Empire,  I  have  the  honor  to  com- 
municate to  you  the  following  reply  to  the  note  in  question: 

The  prohibition  resorted  to  by  Germany  is  a  measure  of  internal  German  legis- 
lation, found  necessary  after  careful  invest;igation.on  sanitary  grounds  and  closely 
connected  with  the  internal  institutions  of  the  country. 

Germany  has  always  carefully  avoided  all  interference  in  regard  to  measures 
which  other  governments,  and  es[iecially  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
think  just  to  adopt  in  the  interest  of  their  country. 

This  principle  of  noninterference  has  been  preserved  by  Germany  also  in  rela- 
tion to  the  high  and  often  prohibitive  duties  imposed  upon  German  industries  in 
the  United  States  in  conseciuence  of  their  adopted  financial  system.  Germany  has 
never  even  ventured  the  slightest  remarks  in  this  respect  tending  to  suggest  an 
eventual  friendly  consideration  of  German  interests  in  the  framing  of  American 
internal  laws  and  measures.  In  the  prohibition  referred  to  above,  however,  higher 
interests  of  the  nation  are  at  stake  than  tariff  laws;  that  is,  the  protection  of  the 
people  against  a  danger  to  health.  Now,  as  Germany,  by  its  strict  and  rigorously 
enforced  legislation,  affords  the  same  protection  to  its  people  at  home  against  all 
danger  from  German  cattle  and  hogs,  it  can  not  possibly  treat  the  foreign  pro- 
ducers better  than  its  own. 

An  investigation  of  the  American  methods  of  raising  hogs  and  preparing  hog 
producis  by  a  commission  of  German  experts  in  the  United  States  could  not  effect 
a  material  change  in  this  respect. 

Germany,  taking  fully  into  account  the  very  considerable  importation  of  German 
cattle  into  England,  would  nevertheless  not  feel  at  liberty  to  request  the  British 
Government  to  inquire  into  the  necessity  of  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  the 
importation  of  German  cattle  into  England  by  a  commission  traveling  over  Ger- 
many. The  measures  adopted  in  England  against  the  importation  of  German  cat- 
tle are  also  based  upon  sanitary  but  much  less  important  reasons  than  those  exist- 
ing in  Germany  in  regard  to  American  pork.  Even  the  most  favorable  report 
rendered  by  such  traveling  members  of  a  commission  about  the  health  of  German 
cattle  and  the  methods  adopted  in  Germany  for  its  preservation  would  not  consti- 
tute a  sufficient  motive  for  the  British  legislature  to  recall  their  sanitary  precau- 
tionary measures. 

Austi'ia-Hungary  also,  to  whose  cattle  the  German  frontier  has  been  closed  upon 
sanitary  grounds  for  a  number  of  years,  has  not  considered  the  suggestion  of  an 
inquiry  by  German  officials  within  its  possessions  as  a  likely  means  to  have  that 
prohibition  removed  or  made  less  rigorous. 

These  extensive  and  long-established  prohibitive  measures  against  Austria- 
Hungary,  a  country  bound  to  Germany  by  the  closest  political  and  commercial 
ties,  may  at  the  same  time  be  mentioned  as  a  proof  that,  taking  for  granted  an 
impartial  and  unbiased  consideration  of  the  question,  such  measures  which  due 
regard  for  the  health  of  the  people  compels  the  Government  to  adopt  need  in  no 
way  interfere  with  our  friendly  relations  existing  with  Austria,  England,  and 
America. 

Expressing  the  hope,  in  the  name  of  my  Government,  that  the  foregoing  remarks 
may  receive  at  your  hands  the  appreciation  warranted  by  the  happy  and  friendly 
relations  of  both  nations  and  their  Governments,  I  avail,  etc.. 

Von  Eisendeoheb, 


662  SWINE   PBODUOTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  91. 
Mr.  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

[Extract.] 

No.  116.]  Department  op  State, 

Washington,  May  4,  188S. 
Sir:  Your  action,  as  reported  in  your  dispatch  No.  135,  of  the  13th  ultimo,  in 
causing  an  investigation  of  alleged  cases  of  trichinosis  at  Tilsit,  is  heartily  approved 
by  the  Department.  It  is  desirable  that  every  well -authenticated  report  of  an  out- 
break of  trichinosis  in  Germany  which  may  come  to  your  ears  should  be  inquired 
into  on  the  spot,  with  an  honest  and  evident  purpose  to  arrive  at  the  exact  facts 
so  far  as  may  be  possible. 

I  am,  etc., 

Fredk.  T.  Freunghuysen, 


No.  93. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  FrelingJiuyseru, 
[Extract.] 

No.  146.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  Nay  4,  1883.     (Received  May  21,  1883.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor,  referring  to  my  No.  145,  of  30th  April,  to  state  that  the 
Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung  has,  since  I  sent  said  dispatch — ^viz,  in  its  issue 
of  the  1st  Itfay — partially  atoned  for  the  inhospitable  attack  upon  the  representa- 
tive of  a  foreign  government,  and  its  gross  misrepresentations  of  his  utterances, 
by  publishing  the  whole  of  my  dispatch  of  January  1,  accompanying  it  with  the 
remarks  that  it  had  no  wish  to  be  inhospitable  to  an  accredited  representative  to 
His  Majesty  of  a  friendly  foreign  country,  but  still  affecting  to  believe  that  my 
name  to  the  document  was  a  forgery  or  unexplained.  It  is  somewhat  comically 
contradicted  in  this  by  the  introductory  remark  of  the  New  Yorker  Handels- 
Zeitung,  which  it  copies,  and  which  precedes  the  dispatch  in  its  columns.  This 
apology  is  as  much  as  may  well  be  expected,  *  *  *  and  perhaps  much  more, 
and  I  presume  the  incident  is  terminated. 

Meanwhile  the  German  and  Continental  press  has  been  somewhat  busy  over  the 
matter.    The  semiofficial  German  press  has  become  very  moderate  or  been  silent. 
*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

The  London  Times  correspondent  of  the  Ist  instant  says: 

"  Imitating  the  action  of  the  German  feders^l  council,  the  Greek  Government 
has,  from  sanitary  considerations,  forbidden  the  importation  of  all  sorts  of  Ameri- 
can pig  flesh.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  Prince  Bismarck "s  organ,  the  North  Ger- 
man Gazette,  publishes  to-day  the  text  of  the  dispatch  which  Mr.  Sargent,  the 
American  minister  here,  addressed  to  his  Government  on  the  subject  of  the  inter- 
dict, and  on  an  incorrect  rendering  of  which  this  organ  founded  its  late  personal 
attack  on  the  accredited  representative  of  the  United  States,  an  attack  which  any 
member  of  the  diplomatic  corps  would  have  been  justly  entitled  to  regard  as  a 
clear  infringement  of  his  rights  and  privileges.  The  publication  of  the  full  dis- 
patch in  question,  though  prefaced  by  a  weak  and  transparent  attempt  to  excuse 
the  previous  attack,  must  therefore  be  regarded  as  an  humble  but  inadequate 
apolog^y  to  the  American  minister,  seeing  that  the  North  German  Gazette  thus 
convicts  itself  of  having  grossly  misrepresented  his  excellency's  meaning  and 
imputed  to  him  words  which  he  never  used." 

The  North  American  Times,  published  in  London,  says: 

"The  United  States  minister  at  Berlin  has  been  attacked  by  the  Norddeutsche 
Zeitung  for  sending  to  a  New  York  paper  his  official  report  on  the  prohibition  of 
the  import  of  American  pork  into  Germany.  How  does  the  journal  know  that  the 
minister  sent  the  article  in  the  New  York  paper?  And  how  can  it  complain  of 
Mr.  Sargent  sending  a  dispatch  to  his  Government  on  a  matter  concerning  Ameri- 
can commerce?  It  is  the  duty  of  the  minister  to  write  such  dispatch,  to  express 
an  opinion  on  the  matter,  to  quote  other  opinions  both  for  and  against— in  a  word, 
to  give  his  Government  all  the  information  he  could  glean.    The  poinfc  of  attack 


SWINE   PEODUOTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  663 

is  that  the  North  German  Gazette  is  under  the  inspiration  of  Prince  Bismarck, 
and  the  exclusion  has  been  exciting  a  strong  feeling  on  the  other  side." 
The  same  paper,  referring  to  a  former  dispatch  in  the  London  Times,  says: 
•'  The  Times  tells  us  that  the  minister's  comments  thus  published  in  a  New  York 
trade  journal  have  caused  no  slight  displeasure  in  high  quarters  in  Berlin.    But 
we  can  tell  those  who  feel  this  displeasure  that  their  action  had  aroused  no  slight 
displeasure  among  the  sovereign  people  of  America;  not  that  the  exclusion  is  a 
matter  of  moment  just  now,  but  that  it  indicates  an  inclination  to  exclude  Ameri- 
can products  generally.    It  is  true,  as  the  Times  remarks,  that  'the  measure  was 
less  of  a  sanitary  than  of  a  prohibitive  nature.' " 
The  American  Register,  published  in  Paris,  has  the  following: 
"The  North  German  Gazette,  the  olficial  organ  of  Prince  Bismarck,  criticises 
an  article  in  the  New  Yorker  Handels-Zeitung  respecting  the  prohibition  import 
of  American  pork  into  Germany.     The  article  in  question  spoke  of  reprisals,  and 
was  signed  by  the  American  minister  at  Berlin.    The  North  German  Gazette 
expresses  surprise  at  seeing  the  signature  of  the  American  minister  to  the  article 
in  question,  and  adds  that '  when  the  article  in  question  speaks  of  reprisals  in  order 
to  force  American  trichinae  upon  German  consumers,  it  was  an  argument  not 
unlike  that  which  formed  the  ground  of  the  Chinese  opium  war. ' 

"  The  commercial  policy  of  Prince  Bismarck  is  a  protective  policy,  and  so  far  it 
resembles  that  of  the  United  States.  Now,  the  protective  system  is  essentially  one 
of  strict  reciprocity,  and  it  was  only  the  other  day  that  the  German  minister  of 
commerce  threatened  Spain  with  reprisals.  There  is  therefore  no  reason  why  the 
minister  should  be  so  horrified  at  the  system  which  he  applies  to  others  being 
applied  to  himself.  Of  course,  Germany  does  quite  right  to  exclude  American 
pork  when  it  is  infected  by  trichinae,  but  what  Americans  object  to  is  the  assump- 
tion that  American  pork  is  infected  with  trichinae  after  it  has  been  shown  that, 
owing  to  the  length  of  the  voyage  from  America  to  Europe,  the  parasite  can  not 
survive  in  the  dead  animal,  and  that,  therefore,  trichinae  in  American  pork  are  an 
impossibility.  It  is  very  curious  that,  while  the  North  German  Gazette  denounces 
American  pork,  the  French  papers  denounce  that  of  Germany  on  similar  grounds. 
•Perhaps  German  trichinae  require  to  be  protected,  and  if  so,  the  solicitude  of  the 
North  German  Gazette  for  their  welfare  is  comprehensible." 

«  *  •  *•  *  * 

1  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


[Inclosure  In  No.  146.— Extract  from  the  Norddeutscho  Allgemelne  Zeitnng,  May  1, 1883.— Trans- 
lation.] 

The  Borsen  Courier  brings  an  alleged  conversation  with  the  American  minister, 
Mr.  Sargent,  with  reference  to  our  article  of  April  24. 

We  can  make  no  better  answer  to  the  statements  it  contains  than  by  simply 
furnishing  a  copy  of  the  article  which  appeared  in  the  New  Yorker  Handels- 
Zeitung  over  the  full  signature  of  the  minister.  We  must  leave  it  to  the  organs 
which  have  relations  with  the  minister  to  enlighten  the  public  more  effectually 
than  has  heretofore  been  done  as  to  how  this  article  could  have  been  reprinted  in 
the  New  Yorker  Handels-Zeitung*  with  the  minister's  name  and  official  title  with- 
out a  protest  or  correction,  official  or  otherwise,  having  hitherto  been  made  with 
regard  to  this  abuse— for  as  such  we  must  now  regard  it— of  the  name  of  the  min- 
ister. We,  in  our  turn,  protest  against  the  heading  selected  by  the  Borsen  Courier 
for  its  article,  "The  American  minister  and  the  Norddeutsche  AUgemeine  Zeit- 
ung."  We  shall  never  permit  ourselves  to  so  far  violate  hospitality  and  interna- 
tional courtesy  as  to  attack  or  criticise  the  official  acts  of  a  minister  of  a  friendly 
state  accredited  to  His  Majesty  the  Emperor.  We  have  to  deal  only  with  the 
article  of  the  New  Yorker  Handels-Zeitung,  offensive  to  the  German  Empire,  and 
we  should  be  glad  to  learn  that  the  signature  to  that  article  is  based  upon  some 
error. 

The  article  is  as  follows: 

"  The  report  sent  to  our  Secretary  of  State  dated  January  1  last,  of  United  States 
Minister  Aaron  Sargent,  at  Berlin,  in  the«matter  of  the  prohibition  of  the  impor- 
tation into  Germany  of  American  pork,  of  which  we  communicated  an  extract  in 
the  last  number  of  this  sheet,  reads  as  follows: 

[Here  follows  a  translation  of  the  text  of  the  minister's  dispatch.] 


664  SWINE   PE0DU0T8    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  93. 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuyscru 

[Extract.] 

No.  147.]  ■    Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  May  5,  1SS3.     (Received  May  21.) 

Sir:  1  have  the  honor  to  report  that  in  obedience  to  your  telegraphic  instruction 
to  execute  the  instruction  9U,  1  had  an  interview  on  yesterday  with  Count  Hatz- 
feldt,  it  being  the  first  opportunity  therefor,  and  read  the  same  to  him,  stating 
that  I  was  happy  to  present  the  views  of  my  Government  upon  the  note  which  I 
had  heretofore  addressed  to  him  asking  a  suspension  of  the  prohibitory  ordinance 
until  an  examination  into  the  soundness  of  American  pork  could  be  made  by  a  com- 
mission of  German  experts,  and  at  his  request  I  left  him  a  copy  of  your  said  No.  99, 

Count  Hatzfeldt  replied  that  he  was  glad  to  have  a  formal  communication  from 
the  State  Department  showing  that  the  note  had  exceeded  the  views  of  the  Amer- 
ican Government  in  some  particulars,  viz,  its  discussion  of  the  internal  affairs  of 
the  German  Government,  and  the  menace  that  the  American  Government  might 
resort  to  retaliatory  measures,  although  he  had  already  been  informed  of  that 
fact  from  "Washington.  He  also  said  he  would  lay  the  matter  before  the  chancel- 
lor, who  would  no  doubt  be  much  pleased,  and  all  the  more  as  the  relations 
between  the  two  Governments  had  always  been  so  satisfactory. 

Considering  my  duty  expressly  limited  by  your  instruction,  I  refrained  from 
discussion,  and  did  not  say  what  seemed  to  me  true,  and  on  again  reading  my 
note  still  seems  to  me  to  be  so — that  I  have  not  discussed  in  it  the  internal  affairs 
of  the  German  Empire  except  so  far  as  its  acts  directly  affected  America,  and  that 
your  No.  99,  then  presented,  contained  no  correction  on  my  views  in  that  regard. 

I  have,  etc, 

A.  A.  Sarqent. 


No.  94. 
Mr,  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frdinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  155.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  May  19,  1883.     (Received  June  5.) 

Sir:  The  fierce  heat  of  discussion  that  has  followed  the  publication  of  my  report 
of  January  1  on  the  prohibition  of  American  pork,  or  rather  since  the  attack  upon 
the  same  by  the  North  German  Gazette,  especially  the  severe  comments  upon  that 
paper  and  on  the  imperial  administration  by  the  American  press,  have  compelled 
the  same  paper  to  finally  attempt  a  justification  of  the  prohibitory  ordinance  by 
showing  that  clear  sanitary  reasons  exist  therefor.  I  send  this  article  to  you 
inclosed  with  translation  that  you  may  have  both  sides  of  the  case  and  the  best 
that  can  be  *  *  *  said  for  the  ordinance,  **--<•  I  will  remark  that  its 
statements  of  German  facts  are  contradicted  by  the  representations  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag  who  opposed  the  measure.  Thus.  Herr  Richter  said  that 
proofs  are  accessible  that  the  cases  of  trichinosis  observed  in  Germany  arise  from 
the  use  of  German  chopjied  meat.  Dr.  Barth  refuted  the  statement  from  statis- 
tics, which  are  now  marshaled  in  the  North  German  Gazette,  and  which  were  then 
presented  by  Dr.  Kohler,  and  declared  the  American  meat  to  have  been  demon- 
strated as  comparatively  sound.  Deputy  Ahlhom  stated  in  the  same  debate  that 
he  had  collected  many  reports  and  made  many  investigations,  but  not  a  single  case 
had  been  authenticated  whose  sickness  had  been  caused  by  using  American  lard 
or  bacon. 

You  will  observe  that  the  Tilsit  cases  are  referred  to  in  this  article  to  strengthen 
the  argument,  although,  as  it  must  be  *  *  *  known  that  I  had  investigated 
that  matter,  and  knew  that  the  amount  of  disease  was  greatly  exaggerated,  and 
that  the  pork  used  was  undoubtedly  the  domestic  article,  this  case  is  passed  lightly 
over  as  a  newspaper  statement.  *  *  ,  *  The  great  fact  remains  that  the  bills  of 
health  show  no  particular  inconvenience  from  the  consumption  of  this  article  of 
food  in  Germany  or  elsewhere.  The  article  admits  that  such  inconvenience  does 
not  arise  elsewhere  and  would  not  exist  in  Germany  did  not  the  consumers  here 
like  the  flavor  of  raw  pork.    There  may  be  something  in  the  argument  that  the 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  665 

customs  of  a  country  should  be  considered  by  its  rulers,  and  if  the  people  here  will 
eat  raw  pork,  and  so  get  disease,  diseased  pork  that  would  be  made  sound  by  cook- 
ing must  be  kept  out  of  the  country.    *    *    * 

The  falling  off  of  importations  of  American  pork  being  so  great  as  represented, 
it  is  claimed  that  the  alleged  evil  should  soon  cure  itself,  and  it  is  not  worth  while 
to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  two  continents  by  prohibiting  an  importation  that 
has  decreased  by  eight-ninths  in  a  single  year.  The  argument  is  not  ingenuous. 
A  partial  prohibition,  covering  all  our  chopped  meats  and  sausages,  was  in  opera- 
tion in  1883,  and  the  threatened  prohibition  of  all  pork  products,  which  has  been 
since  pending,  contributed,  with  less  production  in  the  United  States,  to  decrease 
the  amount  sent  here. 

*  *      '  •  *  •  «  * 

I  have,  etc., 

A,  A.  Sargent. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  155.— Extracts  from  the  Norddeutsche  AUegemelne  Zeitung,  May  16, 1883. — 

Translation.] 

In  view  of  the  lively  discussion  caused  by  the  publication  of  the  report  of  the 
American  minister  at  Berlin,  concerning  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
American  pork,  it  seems  appropriate  to  call  attention  to  the  sanitary  grounds  upon 
which  alone  the  issue  of  that  prohibition  was  based. 

On  the  American  side  it  is  asserted  with  emphasis  that  the  frequent  occurrence 
of  trichinge  in  American  pork  is  a  fable,  such  pork  being  really  much  more  healthy 
than  the  German.  This  assertion  is  entirely  unfounded.  Apart  from  the  circum- 
stance that  uniform  measures  for  the  suppression  of  contagious  diseases  of  animals 
are  utterly  wanting  in  the  United  States,  the  official  investigations,  even  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  danger,  and  especially  as  to  the  occurrence  of  trichinae,  are  not  com- 
mensurate with  the  requirements  that  must,  in  the  interest  of  thoroughness,  be 
insisted  on  in  compiling  statistics.  The  pamphlet  of  Mr.  Scanlan,  ''American 
pork,"  often  cited  by  the  opponents  of  the  prohibition,  touches  trichinosis  quite 
superficially  only,  confining  itself  essentially  to  general  unauthenticated  state- 
ments of  individual  pork  packers  and  by  hog  raisers,  that  is  to  say,  of  persons 
interested  in  an  unobstructed  sale. 

Under  these  circumstances  we  must  consult  supplementary  investigations  in 
Germany  and  other  countries  of  Europe  and  the  statements  of  American  experts 
(veterinary  and  fnedical  persons). 

Let  it  be  remarked  in  advance  that  the  microscopic  examination  of  hogs  raised 
in  Germany  has  yielded  the  following  results:  Of  12,816,931  hogs  examined  in 
Prussia  during  the  period  from  1876  to  1880,  6,945,  or  0.054  per  cent,  contained 
trichinae;  of  29,823  examined  at  Dresden  in  1878,  and  of  41,500  examined  at  the 
same  place  in  1881,  11  and  7,  or  0.036  and  0.017  per  cent,  respectively,  were  thus 
affected;  and  of  444,833  hogs  examined  in  the  duchy  of  Brunswick  during  an 
extended  period.  74,  or  0.017  per  cent,  contained  trichinae. 

How,  on  the  other  hand,  does  American  pork  stand  in  this  respect?  The  health , 
commissioner  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Dewolff,  found  that  from  3  to  5  per  cent 
of  the  hogs  examined  by  him  contained  trichina?.  The  health  officer  of  Erie,  Pa., 
Germer,  places  on  the  basis  of  an  experience  of  long  years  the  percentage  of  hogs 
containing  trichinie  at  something  less  than  eight  in  a  hundred.  Billings,  of  Bos- 
ton, a  veterinary  surgeon  educated  in  Germany,  has  particularly  occupied  him- 
self closely  with  the  subject,  and  pursuant  to  his  latest  communications  in  No. 
333  and  in  later  numbers  of  the  New  York  Medical  Journal  of  March  last,  there 
were  in  1879,  among  2,701  hogs,  154,  or  5.7  per  cent,  and  in  the  years  1879,  1880, 
and  1881,  among  8,774  hogs,  345.  or  about  4  per  cent,  which  were  found  to  contain 
trichinae.  The  results  of  investigations  in  Europe  are  entirely  in  accord  herewith. 
At  Turin,  Volanti  found  4  per  cent;  French  experts  found  3  per  cent  to  contain 
trichinte.  In  Germany  the  average  of  imported  American  pork  is  4  per  cent.  A 
lot  of  living  hogs  imported  thence  into  Germany  in  1880  yielded  even  15.9  (in  Dres- 
den) and  33.3  per  cent  (in  Magdeberg)  containing  trichinge.  It  is  therefore  evi- 
dent that  the  danger  of  trichinosis  from  indulgence  in  American  pork,  including 
the  sides  of  fat,  which  always  contain  layers  of  meat,  is  absolutely,  as  well  as  in 
comparison  with  our  German  product,  extremely  great;  it  is  more  than  sixty  times 
as  great  as  in  the  case  of  German  pork. 

Examinations  at  the  places  of  importation  have  not  proven  to  be  an  efficacious 
means  of  control,  the  microscopic  examination  being  less  reliably  performed  at 
those  places  in  consequence  of  the  great  quantities  to  be  inspected  in  a  short  time. 
It  thus  repeatedly  occurred  that  meat  certified  to  at  a  port  of  entry  as  being  free 


666  SWUTE   PB0DU0T8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

from  trichinsB  was,  upon  »  snbseqnent  examination  in  the  interior,  foxmd  to  con- 
tain trichinae. 

The  objection  has  been  raised  that  the  nnmber  of  cases  of  disease  actually  aris- 
ing from  indulgence  in  American  pork  is  not  in  harmonj'  with  the  above.  To  meet 
this  objection  it  must  be  stated  that  in  ports  of  entry  epidemic  trichinosis  has 
repeatedly  been  proven  to  have  been  caused  by  indulgence  in  such  meat  (as,  for 
instance,  in  Bremen,  Rostock,  Dusseldorf,  and.  according  to  recent  newspaper 
notices,  at  Tilsit),  but  that  apart  from  these  instances,  it  has  in  many  cases  been 
found  quite  impossible  to  ascertain  the  source  of  meat  that  had  occasioned  disease, 
the  fact  having  been  established  that  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  pork  from 
America  is  sent  to  Germany  but  slightly  cured  (brined),  and  is  then  worked  up 
here  and  adapted  to  German  taste,  and  finally  put  on  the  market  as  Westphalian 
hams,  Gotha  or  Brunswick  cervelat,  sausages,  etc.  The  American  method  of 
preparation  does  not  suit  German  taste.  Diseases  arising  from  trichinas  wares 
thus  imported,  or  naturalized  in  Germany,  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  charged  to 
the  account  of  our  domestic  hogs. 

Tt  is  also  an  entirely  unfounded  assertion,  in  conflict  with  the  results  of  close 
scientific  examination,  that  ti'ichinae  are  destroyed  by  the  customary  salting  and 
smoking  of  pork.  There  is  but  one  reliable  way  of  attaining  this  end— to  cook  the 
meat  thoroughly,  trichinae  not  being  able  to  withstand  boiling  heat.  In  point  of 
fact,  in  most  of  the  other  States  of  Eui"ope  pork  is  eaten  only  when  thus  cooked, 
and  that  is  why  there  is  much  less  complaint  about  trichina^  elsewhere  than  with 
us,  for  the  Gterman  consumer  prefers  a  product  the  natural  good  flavor  of  which 
is  not  impaired  by  high  seasoning.  But  as  our  Government  must,  in  the  measures 
it  takes,  reckon  with  the  habits  of  our  people,  it  was  a  simple  duty  on  its  part  to. 
ward  off  by  a  decree  of  prohibition  so  serious  a  danger,  and  one  against  which  the 
poorer  portion  of  the  consuming  public,  in  particular  could  not  in  the  least  protect 
itself. 

In  conclusion,  a  word  about  the  economic  importance  of  the  importation.  The 
amount  of  meat  (fresh  and  prepared,  article  2"),  g.  1  of  the  tariff)  imported  into 
Germany  in  1881  was  190,0'.»0  double  hundredweight;  deducting  .the  amount  of 
the  export,  56,283  double  hundredweight,  there  remains  133,807  double  hundred- 
weight meat  (game,  beef,  veal,  pork,  sides,  etc.);  of  this  amount  three-quarters, 
or  100,355  double  hundredweight,  consist  of  pork  and  sides.  The  entire  consump- 
tion of  pork,  including  sides  from  domestic  hogs  and  from  importations  (in  par- 
ticular from  Russia  and  Austria-Hungary)  of  pork  and  living  hogs,  amounted, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  1881,  according  to  the  most  exact  calculation  possible,  to 
4,106  double  hundredweight;  hence  the  importation  from  abroad  of  pork  covers 
only  2 1  per  cent  of  the  entire  amount  consumed.  But  even  this  comparatively 
small  amount  of  100,305  double  hundredweight  decreased  in  the  year  1882  to  the 
ninth  part;  that  is  to  say,  to  11,444  double  hundredweight,  although  no  decree  of 
prohibition  had  as  yet  been  issued,  and  the  apprehension  of  such  decree  should 
rather  have  stimulated  importation.  Thus  the  best  testimony  is  afforded  of  the 
alight  importance  of  the  matter  from  an  economic  standpoint. 


No.  95. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

[Extract] 

No.  157.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  May  21, 1883.     (Received  June  5.) 

Sir:  Wishing  to  keep  you  informed  of  all  facts  bearing  upon  the  controversy  in 
regard  to  the  exclusion  of  American  pork  products,  whether  the  same  be  of  greater 
or  less  importance,  1  have  the  honor  to  state  that  *  *  *  the  North  German 
(Jazette  published  on  yesterday,  but  without  comments,  another  of  my  dispatches 
on  the  above-named  subject,  crediting  it  to  the  "Reports  of  consuls  of  the  United 
States."    It  is  to  be  found  on  page  39  of  the  January  number  of  that  publication. 

So  far  as  I  have  observed  no  comment  has  so  far  appeared  in  any  German  news- 
paper upon  the  strenuous  articles  in  the  American  press  which  have  followed  the 
North  German  Gazette's  attack  on  the  American  minister. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sa&gbnt. 


SWINE   PBODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  667 

No.  96. 

Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Sargent. 
[Extract.] 

No.  119.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington^  May  23,  1SS3, 

Sir:  Your  No.  145  of  the  28th  ultimo  has  been  received.  The  Department 
appreciates  the  embarrassment  to  which  you  have  been  subjected  by  the  misrep- 
resentation in  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung  of  your  published  report  of 
January  1 ,  on  the  subject  of  the  iiiipending  prohibition  of  American  pork  imports 
in  Germany. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  embarrassments  to  which  you  advert  were  not  due  to 
the  fact  of  an  official  publication  of  your  report  by  the  Department,  but  to  what 
appears  to  have  been  a  willful  perversion  of  that  fact  by  an  unfriendly  journal, 
which,  if  later  telegraphic  reports  are  to  be  credited,  has  been  brought  to  admit 
the  groundlessness  of  its  main  allegation,  that  you  had  corresponded  on  the  sub- 
ject with  an  American  journal,  and  to  admit  that  the  obnoxious  views  it  had 
attributed  to  you  were  in  reality  the  views  of  the  German  press  quoted  by  you. 

The  Department  gives  to  the  consideration  and  preparation  for  publication  of 
the  dispatches  of  its  agents  abroad  every  attention,  with  the  object  of  guarding 
against  the  publication  of  their  personal  views  which  might,  if  known,  expose 
them  to  criticism  or  censure  in  the  land  of  their  official  residence.  On  an  exami- 
nation of  the  blue  books  of  other  Governments,  it  is  believed  that  far  more  care  is 
here  exercised  in  this  respect  than  in  other  countries.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible 
to  prevent  malicious  or  honestly  mistaken  perversions  of  such  publications  by 
outside  parties. 

I  am,  etc., 

John  Davis,  Acting  Secretary, 


No.  97. 
Mr.  Frelinghvysen  to  Mr.  Sargent, 

[Extract.] 

No.  141.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  July  ^6,  1883, 

Sir:  I  inclose  herewith  for  your  information  a  copy  of  a  note  addressed  to  this 
Department  by  Mr.  Von  Eisendecher,  dated  lilay  2,'  in  which  he  communicates, 
by  instruction  of  his  Government,  the  reply  to  your  note  to  Count  Hatzfeldt  of 
February  23  last.  Previous  instructions  from  this  Department,  No.  88,  of  Febru- 
ary 21,  1883,  and  No.  108,  of  April  11  last,  have  already  put  you  in  possession  of 
the  views  of  the  President  on  this  subject.  A  perusal  of  Mr.  Von  Eisendecher's 
note  will  immediately  suggest  to  one  so  familiar  as  yourself  with  this  particular 
question,  as  well  as  with  the  distinction  between  general  and  discriminating 
internal  measures,  certain  points  wherein  it  is  open  to  valid  answer. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  note  contains  in  substance,  although  not  in  terms,  a 
rejection  of  the  President's  proposal  that  a  commission  of  German  experts  be 
appointed  to  examine  into  the  raising  and  packing  of  hogs  and  hog  products  for 
food,  because  Germany  by  its  laws  affords  its  people  protection  against  danger 
from  German  cattle  and  hogs  and  can  not  treat  the  foreign  producers  better  than 
its  own,  and  therefore  an  investigation  of  the  American  methods  of  hog  raising 
and  preparation  would  not  effect  a  material  change.  With  the  sanitary  legislation 
of  Germany  thus  alluded  to  this  Department  is  not  familiar,  but  it  might  well 
have  occurred  that  a  careful  investigation  of  the  processes  in  the  United  States 
would  have  shown  that  strict  legislation  of  this  character  is  unnecessary  here, 
because  of  the  different  situation  of  the  two  countries  and  the  different  methods 
followed  in  the  United  States  by  reason  of  their  large  area  of  thinly  settled  land, 
the  cheapness  of  corn  and  grain,  and  other  incidents  peculiar  to  the  occupation  of 
hog  or  cattle  raising  in  a  large  and  sparsely  populated  country. 

The  appointment  of  the  commission  suggested  would  at  least  have  prejudiced 
nothing,  and  might  have  resulted  in  removing  the  fears  of  the  Government  of 

'  See  ante. 


668  8WINE   PKODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

His  Majesty,  and  thus  aided  in  securing  the  revocation  of  a  decree  which  seriously 
impaired  an  important  trade  between  the  two  countries. 

The  parallel  sought  to  be  drawn  between  the  protective  tariff  system  of  the 
United  (States  and  this  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  pork  and  pork 
products  does  not  seem  to  be  well  founded.  Our  tariff  is  a  measure  of  general 
application;  it  applies  to  German  exports  to  the  United  States  no  more  and  no 
less  than  to  the  French,  Aiistrian,  or  English  exports:  it  is  distinctly  an  inter- 
nal measure  of  general  and  universal  application,  and  as  such  no  more  open  to 
objection  than  any  other  well-considered  and  fair  system  of  taxation  or  custom 
toils.  Were  our  tariff  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  certain  articles  because 
they  come  from  Germany,  permitting  the  importation  of  the  same  articles  com- 
ing from  other  countries,  or  were  it  to  impose  a  higher  duty  upon  German  exports 
as  such  than  upon  the  same  exports  from  other  countries,  then  the  parallel  to  the 
decree  now  alluded  to  would  become  apparent.  Nowhere  in  the  tariff,  however, 
is  such  a  discrimination  found. 

The  objection  to  the  decree  is  not  that  it  excludes  unhealthy  or  diseased  pork,  or 
pork  products,  for  such  a  decree  would  be  a  praiseworthy  sanitary  measure,  but 
thattit  excludes  American  pork,  healthy  or  unhealthy,  good  or  haA:  the  test  is  not 
the  condition  of  the  food,  but  the  place  it  comes  from.  In  certain  exceptional 
cases  even  discrimination  in  this  form  would  be  unobjectionable,  as  daring  the 
prevalence  of  an  epidemic.  On  this  principle,  all  vessels  coming  from  certain 
infected  ports  are  quarantined  regardless  of  the  actual  health  of  the  passengers 
and  crew,  but  such  measures  are  at  the  most  only  temporary  and  should  be  based 
upon  good  cause;  whereas  in  the  present  case  there  is  nothijig  to  show  the  decree 
to  be  of  temporary  application,  and  this  Government  has  offered  to  that  of  Ger- 
many an  opportunity  to  examine  into  the  facts  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
whether  the  alleged  cause  actually  exists,  which  offer  has  not  been  accepted. 

The  fact  that  certain  exceptional  legislation  in  Germany  as  to  Austro-Hunga- 
rian  cattle  has  not  met  with  objection  from  that  Government  may  arise  from  the 
geographical  situation  of  the  countries  reiiuiring  peculiar  and  strict  regulations 
not  so  properly  applicable  to  the  products  of  a  nation  over  8,000  miles  distant,  and 
which  can  only  reach  Germany  by  well-known  channels  through  ascertained 
ports,  where  they  may  be  easily  examined  and  inspected.  *  *  * 
I  am,  eto. 

Fredk.  T.  Fuelinohuysen. 


Mr,  Von  Eisendecher  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

Imperial  German  Leoation^ 
Washington,  July  S7,  18S3.     (Received  August  1,  1883.) 

Esteemed  Mr.  Secretary  op  State:  The  United  States  minister  at  Berlin 
some  time  since  communicated  to  the  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs  the 
instructions  sent  him  by  his  Government  under  date  of  March  14,  1883,  relative 
to  the  German  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  hogs,  etc. 

In  connection  with  this  communication,  for  which  the  chancellor  of  the  Empire 
feels  grateful  to  your  Government,  the  Imperial  Government  desires,  referring  to 
the  previously  received  note  of  the  United  States  minister,  again  to  explain  its 
own  position  in  this  question. 

The  aforesaid  note  of  Mr.  Sargent  made  an  unpleasant  impression  in  Berlin, 
both  becau.se  of  its  interference  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  Germany,  and  of  its  tone, 
which  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  friendly  relations  existing  between  the  two 
Governments.  The  German  Government  is  consequently  much  "gratified  to  find 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  adopt  the  position  taken  by  its 
representative  in  his  aforesaid  note. 

In  issuing  the  prohibitive  decree  in  question  the  object  had  in  view  was  simply 
the  adoption  of  a  sanitary  measure.  The  only  design  of  Germany  was  to  protoct 
her  own  population  from  disease,  and  there  is  less  reason  to  suppose  that  there 
was  any  intention  to  pursue  a  course  calculated  to  influence  the  relations  existing 
between  Germany  and  America,  inasmuch  as  similar  prohibitions  of  the  importa- 
tion of  American  pork  have  long  existed  in  other  countries,  viz,  in  France,  Italy, 
Austria-Hungary,  and  Greece,  which  circumstance  has  occasioned  no  similar 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  American  repre.seutative  at  Paris,  Rome,  Vienna,  or 
Athens. 

This  difference  of  action  causes  the  more  surprise  at  Berlin,  since  in  Germany 
only  does  this  complaint  made  by  America  fui-nish  ground  to  the  political  oppo- 
nents of  the  Government  on  which  to  base  their  denunciations  of  its  course. 

The  trade  in  hogs  and  their  products  is  subjected  to  the  most  rig^d  control  in 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    TJNITED   STATES.  669 

the  interior  of  Germany.  Not  only  does  the  sale  of  pork  containing  trichinae 
subject  the  seller  to  severe  penalties,  but  even  the  manufacture  (through  negli- 
gence) of  pork  products  that  may  endanger  the  health  of  the  consumer. 

There  are,  moreover,  in  the  various  districts  of  Germany  police  regulations 
providing  that  all  pork  shall  be  examined,  and  that  all  hogs,  before  being  slaugh- 
tered (even  by  private  parties),  shall  be  subjected  to  a  microscopic  examination. 
Butchers  are,  furthermore,  obliged  to  slaughter  their  hogs  in  slaughterhouses 
which  are  under  police  inspection.  The  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  these 
products  of  the  American  market  was  therefore  indispensable  to  the  observance 
of  strict  impartiality  toward  citizens  of  the  German  Empire  and  foreigners. 

With  regard  to  the  proposition  to  allow  the  American  slaughterhouse  arrange- 
ments, etc. ,  to  be  examined  by  a  commission  of  German  experts,  the  Imperial 
Government  gladly  recognizes  the  good  intentions  thereby  manifested;  it  is  unable, 
however,  to  reach  the  conviction  that  such  an  examination  would  secure  the 
desired  result,  since,  although  the  Imperial  Government  does  not  doubt  that  pre- 
cautionary measures  are  adopted  in  many  such  establishments  in  America,  or  that 
the  products  in  question  are  prepared  with  care  and  under  proper  inspection,  it 
nevertheless  thinks  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure  and  maintain  uniformity  among 
all  such  establishments  in  the  United  States,  and  a  German  commission  will 
never  be  able  to  become  convinced,  even  from  the  most  complete  arrangements 
of  exporting  houses,  that  the  latter  are  able  to  furnish  a  constant  guaranty  of 
safety  from  trichinse.  The  sending  of  such  a  commission  would  doubtless  reveal 
the  best  intentions  and  the  most  perfect  order  in  the  establishments  visited  by  it, 
but  also  the  impossibility  of  preventing  the  exportation  of  trichinous  pork  even 
when  every  conceivable  precaiition  is  taken. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  conclusion  that  a  petition  remonstrating  against  the  pro- 
hibition to  import  American  pork  was  some  time  since  received  from  the  trades- 
men of  Konigsberg,  some  of  whom,  and  the  very  ones  who  have  been  most 
prominent  in  getting  up  the  petition,  have  since  been  punished  for  selling  trichi- 
nous American  pork. 

Accept,  etc.,  Von  Eisendecher. 


No.  99. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  156.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  October  9,  1893. 

Siu:  V/ith  reference  to  previous  correspondence  on  the  subject,  I  have  to  inform 
you  that  in  view  of  the  action  taken  by  Germany  and  several  other  foreign  powers 
in  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  pork  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  an 
unhealthful  article  of  food,  this  Government  has  now  taken  measures  for  such  a 
thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  as  will,  it  is  thought,  leave  no  doubt  what- 
ever as  to  facts. 

To  this  end  the  President  has  designated  a  commission  which  he  has  charged 
with  the  duty  of  making  a  searching  and  impartial  examination  of  all  the  condi- 
tions of  hog  raising  and  packing  industries  of  the  United  States. 

The  chairman  of  the  commission  is  Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  the  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture,  whose  official  duties  for  several  years  past  have  made  him  familiar 
with  the  subject  now  submitted  to  the  commission  for  formal  investigation. 

The  other  members  of  the  commission  are: 

First.  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler,  an  eminent  scientist  of  New  York,  who  was  unan- 
imously selected  by  the  chamber  of  commerce  of  that  city  on  account  of  his  pecul- 
iar competency  for  the  position; 

Second.  Eliphalet  W.  Blatchford,  esq. ,  who  was  nominated  by  the  Board  of 
Trade  of  Chicago  as  an  intelligent  gentleman  of  the  very  highest  social  and  busi- 
ness standing,  who  "  is  in  no  way  personally  interested  in  the  business  to  be  inves- 
tigated, and  is  possessed  of  those  characteristics  which  it  is  believed  will  enable 
him  fully,  ably,  and  fairly  to  cooperate  with  the  other  members  of  the  commission 
in  placing  these  most  important  interests  in  their  true  position  before  the  Govern- 
ment, and  through  it  before  the  commercial  world;" 

Third.  F.  D.  Curtis,  esq.,  of  Charlton,  N.  Y.,  recommended  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  as  a  gentleman  who  has  given  long  and  diligent  study  to  the 
industry;  and. 

Fourth.  Prof.  D.  E.  Salmon,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  nominated  by  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture,  and  well  known  as  one  of  the  most  learned  and  skillfol 
veterinary  surgeons  in  the  United  States. 


tm 


670  8WINE    PK0DU0T8    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

This  commisBion  will  be  organized  at  an  early  day,  and  the  results  of  its  inves- 
tigation will  be  submitted  to  Congress  as  soon  as  practicable. 

As  the  Imperial  German  Government  has  declined  to  be  represented,  it  will  not 
be  necessary  for  you  to  communicate  the  contents  of  this  instruction  to  that  Gov- 
ernment, but  you  may,  when  a  suitable  opportunity  presents  itself,  informally 
make  known  to  the  foreign  office  the  action  which  this  Government  has  taken  with 
reference  to  the  matter. 

I  am,  etc,  Fredk,  T.  Fkelimghuysen. 


No.  100. 

Mr,  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghvysen. 

No.  201.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  October  15,  188S.     (Received  October  29.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  I  have  observed  with  some  interest  the  news 
in  the  German  newspapers  as  to  the  existence  of  trichinosis  in  the  Empire  since 
the  absolute  exclusion  of  American  pork  and  pork  products,  and  since  a  suffi- 
ciently long  time  has  elapsed  to  insure  accuracy  in  the  conclusion  that  the  stock 
of  American  products  of  that  kind  is  exhausted.  From  time  to  time  notices  of  the 
prevalence  of  the  disease  have  appeared. 

It  seems  to  me  now  just  to  conclude  that  cases  reported  are  caused  by  the  con- 
sumption of  German  or  some  other  than  American  pork;  and  that  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  ascribe  to  the  articles  furnished  by  the  United  States  the  disagreeable 
results  of  the  consumption  of  raw  pork. 

In  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  of  October  11  appears  a  telegram  from  Ermesleben, 
near  Halberstadt,  in  Prussian  Saxony,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  there  are  now  in 
that  town  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  persons  who  have  been  seized  with  trichi- 
nosis. It  is  also  stated  that  the  epidemic  does  not  seem  to  have  reached  its  height, 
as  new  cases  are  reported  daily,  and  that  four  persons  have  already  died. 

It  is  entirely  safe  to  say  that  no  such  epidemic  as  this  is  shown  to  have  ever 
resulted  from  the  consumption  of  American  salted  pork,  which  must  be  cooked  to 
be  eaten. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sabqent. 


No.  101. 
Mr,  Smith  to  Mr.  Davis, 

[Extract.] 

No.  104.]  United  States  Commercial  Aqenct, 

Mayence,  October  17, 1883.  (Received  November  12.) 
SiE:  As  all  items  which  appear  in  the  newspapers  of  Germany  respecting  the 
occurrence  of  cases  of  trichinosis  in  the  Empire  are  doubtless  of  interest  and  value 
to  the  Department  just  at  this  time,  when  American  pork  is  excluded  from  this 
country  under  the  plea  of  unwholesomeness,  I  have  the  honor  to  herewith  lay 
before  you  the  following  short  article  which  I  met  with  in  yesterday "s  evening 
edition  of  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung  in  regard  to  numerous  cases  of  trichinae  infec- 
tion recently  brought  to  public  notice  in  the  province  of  Saxony,  namely: 

"FBOM  THE  province  OP  SAXONY. 

"Various  places  in  the  province  have  recently  been  badly  afflicted  by  trichinae. 
In  Ermesleben.  according  to  the  Nordhaiiser-Zeitung,  are  at  present  18;J  persons 
down  therewith;  in  Deesdorf,  about  70-80;  in  Nienhagen,  57;  in  Crottorf.  q^Jjout 
30-40;  furthermore,  are  also  lying  in  Groningen,  Klein-Grciningen,  Quen^edt. 
Schwanstedt,  and  Wegeleben,  persons  ill  from  trichinosis.  Cases  of  death  have 
also  begun  to  occur;  in  C^uenstedt,  1;  Ermesleben,  5;  Groningen,  2;  and  there  are 
30  or  40  persons  of  whose  death  intelligence  is  daily  expected.  The  distress  is 
indescribable.  In  Ermesleben,  Crottort,  Deesdorf,  Nienhagen,  are  whole  families 
down  sick.  The  cattle  have  departed  in  search  of  food,  because  there  is  no  one  to 
attend  to  them,  or  otherwise  must  have  gone  hungry.  The  physicians  are  of  the 
opinion  that  a  further  extension  of  the  disease  is  to  be  feared,  for,  accordicDg  to 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  67l 

previous  experience,  persons  who  have  partaken  of  flesh  infected  with  trichinae, 
not  in  a  fresh  state,  but  as  black  pudding,  pickled  pork,  boiled  flesh,  etc.,  only 
after  four  weeks,  and  even  later,  have  been  seriously  attacked  with  the  malady. 
A  judicial  investigation  is  now  in  full  progress." 

I  doubt  not  that  I  am  fully  justified  in  saying  that  there  is  no  instance  on  record 
of  the  consumption  of  swine  flesh  in  the  United  States  of  America  having  ever 
played  such  havoc  with  a  community  as  that  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  article, 
and  to  the  major  part  of  our  people  it  would  seem  almost  impossible  that  any 
calamity  of  the  kind  could  take  place.  In  comparison  with  his  German  kinsman, 
the  American  hog  is  a  very  inoffensive  creature,  and  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning.  He  is  reviled  and  persecuted  here,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  really 
so  much  because  his  flesh  is  considered  dangerous  as  a  food  as  because  it  is  inim- 
ical to  the  farming  interests  of  the  Empire.  Anyway,  the  Government  at  Berlin 
has  forbidden  its  importation,  and  the  great  body  of  the  German  people  are  hon- 
estly of  the  opinion  that  its  flesh  is  suspicious.  *  *  *  A  residence  of  two  years 
in  Europe  has  led  me  almost  to  conclude  that  the  people  over  here  are  very  mnch 
inclined  to  regard  everything  American  and  from  America  as  of  the  devil,  for  the 
devil,  and  by  the  devil,  and  ought  to  perish  from  the  earth.  Potato  rot,  phyllox- 
era, trichinae,  and  all  the  pests,  plagues,  hurricanes,  and  direful  calamities  by 
which  the  nations  are  visited,  according  to  their  disordered  imaginations,  have 
their  origin  in  America. 

I  have,  etc.,  Jas.  Henry  Smith. 


No.  103. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

[Telegram.] 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  October  20,  188S, 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Sargent,  instructing  that  a  thorough 
investigation  be  made  promptly  by  the  nearest  consuls  of  the  origin  of  present 
trichinsB  cases  reported  in  Germany,  for  the  information  of  the  commission. 


No.  103. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  204.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  October  SO,  1888.     (Received  November  10.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  my  No.  201,  of  15th  October,  relating  to  the  prevalence  of 
cases  of  trichonosis  in  Germany  since  the  absolute  exclusion  of  all  kinds  of  Ameri- 
can pork  products,  and  after  the  lapse  of  sufficient  time  to  exclude  the  conclusion 
that  the  cases  of  disease  arise  from  the  consumption  of  American  pork,  I  am  now 
enabled  to  state  fuller  particulars  of  the  epidemic  that  has  broken  out  in  Prussia, 
as  I  gather  them  from  the  Berlin  newspapers  and  the  dispatches  sent  from  this 
city  to  the  London  journals.  A  telegram  from  Berlin  to  the  London  Daily  News 
of  Tuesday  last  has  the  following: 

"  Considering  the  Draconian  measures  taken  by  the  Gterman  Government 
against  the  importation  of  American  pork,  it  is  very  strange  that  a  most  alarm- 
ing outbreak  of  trichinosis  is  reported  from  Saxony.  In  some  ten  villages  nearly 
400  persons,  including  entire  families,  are  prostrated  by  the  terrible  disease. 
Deaths  are  occurring  daily,  and  over  50  cases  are  stated  to  be  beyond  hope,  while 
the  physicians  expect  the  disease  to  spread  still  further.  The  police  are  actively 
engaged  in  searching  for  the  origin  of  the  epidemic." 

The  "Draconian  measures  "  referred  to  have  only  been  directed  against  Ameri- 
can pork,  and  that  in  view  of  the  fact,  seemingly  well  founded,  that  the  consump- 
tion of  American  pork  in  the  United  States,  England,  Switzerland,  and  Belgium, 
where  it  is  thoroughly  cooked  before  eating,  very  rarely  produces  consequences 
injurious  to  health,  and  also  that  investigation  showed  that  the  cases  of  trichino- 
sis occurring  in  Germany  before  the  prohibition  arose  from  the  consumption  of 
native  or  Hungarian  pork  in  its  raw  state,  and  not  from  the  use  of  American  pork. 
Good  medical  authority  in  France  sanctions  the  View  that  American  pork  is  not 
dangerous. 


G72  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UN1TP:D   STATES. 

However  much  controversy  might  be  raised  over  these  propositions,  there  is  no 
room  for  assumption  that  the  present  distressing  epidemics  are  cansed  by  the 
American  articles.  It  might  be  worth  all  the  inconvenience  of  a  year's  exclusion 
of  our  products  of  this  kind  for  the  result  to  be  so  clearly  demonstrated  that  the 
cases  of  trichinosis  whit-h  sometimes  occur  in  Germany  are  unjustly  ascribed  to 
Ameri(  an  pork.  It  has  been  the  universal  habit  here  to  assign,  without  inquiry, 
this  origin  to  trichinosis  cases.  Thus,  the  cases  occurring  at  K(  nigsberg  (Tilsit) 
were  so  accounted,  although  the  inquiries  which  I  caused  to  be  made  of  the  local 
military  and  civil  authorities  controverted  that  conclusion. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Daily  INews  falls  into  the  same  strain,  and  holds  it 
extraordinary  that  trichinosis  should  be  so  prevalent  and  disastrous  after  the 
severe  measures  taken  against  American  pork,  as  if  such  measures  were  all  that 
were  necessary  to  insure  immunity. 

I  inclose  a  dispatch  from  the  infected  district,  pablLshed  in  the  Berliner  Tage- 
blatt  of  the  17th  instant,  with  translation,  in  which  the  details  given  by  the  cor- 
respondent of  the  Daily  News  are  confirmed.  By  this  dispatch  it  seems  the  disease 
has  been  developing  for  some  four  weeks,  and  has  spread  through  several  villages 
whose  inhabitants  are  accustomed  to  eat  raw  sausage  meat  All  who  have  eaten 
lK>rk  in  this  form  have  died,  and  many  are  sick  who  have  eaten  probably  imper- 
fectly cooked  meat  and  sausages  from  the  infected  pigs.  The  butcher  who  killed 
the  swine,  and  the  inspector  and  their  families,  are  sick.  There  seems  to  be  no 
decline  as  yet  in  the  disease,  the  horror  of  which  is  said  to  surpass  conception. 
The  local  authorities  are  taking  the  expense  of  medical  ti-eatment  upon  them- 
selves. .  That  it  is  genuine  trichinosis  is  shown  by  examining  the  flesh  of  the 
deceased. 

These  facts  are  interesting  as  showing  that  the  ordinance  of  the  Empire  dis- 
criminating against  American  pork,  while  admitting  Russian,  Hungarian,  or 
French  pork,  was  not  calculated  to  accomplish  its  avowed  object,  viz,  the  pre- 
vention of  disease  and  death  from  trichinosis.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Ameri- 
can pork  is  worse  than  that  furnished  by  other  countries,  and  hence  no  ground 
for  discrimination  against  it.  The  danger  comes  at  least  equally  from  other 
quarters,  viz,  from  German  pork  or  the  pork  of  the  neighboring  countries.  This 
is  already  demonstrated  by  the  facts  above  given,  for  American  pork  can  not  be 
accused  of  being  the  cause  of  these  present  disasters.  If  this  disease  is  caused  by 
German  pork,  the  claim  in  Herr  Von  Eisendecher's  note  of  May  1,  1883,  to  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  State  is  not  justified,  viz: 

"  Now,  as  Germany,  by  its  strict  and  vigorously  enforced  legislation,  affords  the 
same  protection  to  its  people  at  home  against  all  dangers  from  Gennan  cattle  and 
hogs,  it  can  not  possibly  treat  the  foreign  producers  better  than  its  own." 

If  the  disease  comes  from  foreign  hogs,  except  American,  allowed  still  to  be 
freely  imported  int-o  Germany,  the  measure  prohibiting  our  products  was  not  only 
discriminating  against  the  United  States,  but  ineffectual.  Li  any  view  the  whole 
subject  needs  reconsideration  by  Germany. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A,  SAEaENT. 


[Incloeare  in  No.  304.— Extract  from  Berliner  Tageblatt  of  October  17, 1883.— Translation.] 
EBMESLEBEN,  NEAR  HALBERSTADT. 

The  symptoms  of  trichinosis  of  which  we  have  already  made  mention  first  made 
their  appearance  about  four  weeks  ago  in  Ermesleben,  where  the  pig  or  pigs  were 
killed.  About  200  persons  lie  ill  there,  of  whom  14  have  already  died.  Then  fol- 
lowed Nienhagen,  a  small  way  station  near  by,  where  about  80  persons  have  been 
attacked,  none  of  whom  have  died  as  yet.  Further,  the  disease  appeared  in  Gninin- 
gen,  Quenstadt,  Schwanstedt,  and  Wegeleben.  In  all  about  300  persons  suffer 
from  it,  of  whom  17  have  died.  Throughout  the  region  the  habit  of  eating  (raw) 
chopped  pork  (so-called  sausage  meat)  predominates,  especially  among  the  labor- 
ing class.  All  who  have  eaten  of  it  in  this  shape  die.  But  those,  too,  who  have 
eaten  it  boiled  or  as  sausages — yes,  as  is  asserted,  even  as  lard— have  been  severely 
attacked  with  the  malady,  although  their  cases  are  not  so  hopeless.  There  does 
not  seem  to  be  a  decline  in  the  epidemic,  and,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the 
attending  doctors.  50  per  cent  of  the  infected  die.  Other  reports  estimate  the 
mortality  at  20  per  cent.  May  the  Almighty  prevent  this,  for  the  horror  of  this 
malady  surpasses  ail  conception.  In  one  family  4  persons,  and  in  another  7,  even, 
have  been  attacked.    In  one  family  4  persons  died.    Even  the  butcher  who  sold  the 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  673 

meat,  and  the  inspector  of  the  meat,  together  with  their  families,  are  sick.  The 
former  has  already  lost  his  mother,  and  there  is  little  hope  for  himself.  The  par- 
ish authorities  have  taken  very  laudable  steps  to  alleviate  the  distress.  In  Ermes- 
leben  the  local  authorities  have  taken  the  expenses  of  medical  treatment,  etc.^ 
upon  themselves,  and  Deesdorf  immediately  granted  1,000  marks  for  that  purpose. 
Those  that  die  are  all  young,  vigorous  persons,  and  in  most  cases  fathers  or  mothers 
of  families. 

In  a  portion  taken  from  a  female  corpse  for  dissection,  17  trichinae,  freed  from 
the  capsules,  were  easily  discernible.  Upon  whom  the  blame  falls  or  whose  neg- 
ligence caused  this  disaster  will  probably  never  appear,  since,  as  already  men- 
tioned, the  butcher  as  well  as  the  inspector  of  the  meat,  a  barber,  have  both  been 
attacked  by  the  disease. 


No.  104. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinqhuyseru 

No.  205.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  October  22,  1883.  (Received  November  10.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  last  night  of  your  telegram, 
reading  as  follows:  [See  ante.  No.  102.]  I  have  to-day  communicated  a  copy  of 
the  above  telegram  to  Mr.  W.  C.  Fox,  consul  at  Brunswick,  with  instructions  to 
caref  tilly  and  promptly  execute  it.  I  will  send  his  report  as  soon  as  it  is  received. 
A  copy  of  my  letter  to  him  is  herewith  inclosed. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 


[In closure  in  No.  205.] 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Fox. 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  October  21,  1883, 

Sir:  Late  last  night  I  received  a  telegram  from  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State, 
which  reads  as  follows:  [See  ante.  No.  102.]  The  cases  of  trichinosis  referred  to 
in  the  above  are  reported  to  have  developed  first  about  four  weeks  ago  at  Ermes- 
leben.  near  Halberstadt,  in  your  immediate  neighborhood,  and  to  have  taken  for- 
midable dimensions  there,  so  that  by  various  accounts  from  14  to  50  persons  have 
already  died  and  200  persons  now  lie  ill.  The  disease  has  also  appeared  at  Gronin- 
gen,  Quenstadt,  Schwanstedt,  and  Wegeleben.  in  the  same  neighborhood,  so  that 
in  all.  it  is  stated,  300  persons  have  suffered  from  it.  The  Department  desires 
information  to  be  at  once  furnished  (for  the  use  of  the  commission  of  inquiry  into 
the  general  subject  of  American  rearing  and  packing  pork)  as  to  the  origin  of  this 
disease  in  the  localities  in  question.  Where  were  the  pigs  raised  which  were  con- 
sumed by  the  sufferers;  in  what  form  was  the  pork  eaten,  raw  or  cooked?  In 
short,  all  facts  obtainable  bearing  upon  the  origin  of  this  disease  are  wished. 

As  your  consular  district  embraces  these  localities,  you  will  please  make  imme- 
diate inquiry  as  to  these  points  and  any  other  bearing  on  the  subject  which  you 
may  deem  useful,  as  to  the  extent  of  the  epidemic;  for  instance,  the  number  of  per- 
sons affected,  the  number  of  deaths,  and  action  of  the  authorities  in  view  of  the 
emergency,  etc.  Also,  please  inform  me  if  any  American  pork  now  comes  into 
your  district,  and  if  there  is  any  reason  for  ascribing  this  visitation  to  American 
pork.     I  will  transmit  your  report  to  the  Department. 

I  will  ask  you  to  give  immediate  and  personal  attention  to  this  matter  by  mak- 
ing inquiries  on  the  spot  of  municipal  officers,  physicians,  and  others  able  and 
willing  to  inform  you.  I  am  aware  that  you  can  not  take  testimony  under  oath 
in  such  cases;  but  you  can  undoubtedly  gather  much  and  valuable  information, 
and  your  acquaintance  with  the  German  language  and  public  experience  pecul- 
iarly fit  yon  for  this  work  required  by  the  Department.  1  have  no  doubt  that  the 
honorable  Secretary  will  allow  you  for  any  necessary  expenses  incurred  in  execut- 
ing his  order. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  Sargent. 


S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 43 


674  8 WINE   PBODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

No.  105. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  208.]  Legation  of  the  Unitkd  States, 

Berlin,  October  S6,  188S.     (Received  November  12.) 

8iB:  I  am  now  able  to  transmit  the  able  rejwrt  of  Mr.  W.  C.  Fox.  consul  at 
Brunswick,  made  in  response  to  my  request  of  the  21st  instant,  in  obedience  to 
your  telegraphic  instruction  received  here  on  the  night  of  the  20th. 

Mr.  Fox  intelligently  followed  the  directions  given  to  him,  and  was  fnmished 
every  facility  by  the  local  authorities,  whose  courtesy  toward  him  was  most 
marked. 

I  refer  the  Department  to  his  inclosed  report  for  a  full  statement  of  the  origin, 
nature,  and  extent  of  the  disease.  It  may  be  briefly  stated  "that  the  fully  ascer- 
tained cause  of  the  epidemic  was  the  consumption,  mostly  in  an  entirely  raw  and 
partly  in  a  partially  raw  condition,  of  the  flesh  of  three  hogs  raised  in  the  vicinity, 
mixed  with  that  of  a  Hungarian  hog.  The  extraordinary  spread  of  the  disease, 
through  five  villages  in  a  circuit  of  2  miles,  occurred  because  the  potato  harvest 
was  in  progress,  and  it  was  customary  for  the  people  to  eat  raw  meat  and  bread 
in  the  fields  at  such  times  instead  of  spending  time  to  go  to  and  return  from  their 
homes.  The  inspection  is  alleged  by  the  inspector  and  butcher  to  have  been  made 
in  accordance  with  the  law.  though  the  record  required  by  law  was  not  properly 
kept.  The  inspector  was  the  village  barber,  the  person  habitually  employed  in 
Germany  for  such  inspections,  who  passes  an  examination  as  to  his  fitness  for  the 
task.  But  the  three  preparations  made  for  microscopic  inspection,  under  the  law, 
are  not  sufficient  to  give  safe  results,  as  trichinae  are  sometimes  found  only  after 
30  or  40  trials.  The  only  safeguard  of  the  consumer  against  the  disease  is  thorough 
cooking,  and  this  is  ample. 

The  whole  number  of  cases  so  far  is  about  4-38,  of  which  36  have  been  fatal  and 
19  more  probably  will  be  fatal. 

I  learn  from  another  source,  outside  of  this  report  of  Mr.  Fox,  from  an  eye- 
witness who  is  fully  reliable,  that  the  scenes  at  Ermesleben  are  distressing  in  the 
highest  degree.  My  informant  entered  one  house  where  the  grandmother,  father, 
and  son  lay  dead,  and  a  daughter,  about  18  years  of  age,  lay  sick.  She  is  the  only 
one  of  the  family  left,  and  may  recover.  There  are  about  700  inhabitants  in  the 
village,  living  in  about  120  houses.  There  are  2(57  sick  in  85  houses.  Some  of  the 
people  are  in  want,  but  the  community  is  rich,  some  of  the  peasants  being  worth 
$200,000  apiece.  There  is  a  large  kitchen  where  food  is  prepared  for  all  the  sick, 
for  rich  and  poor  alike. 

The  sickness  is  accompanied  by  extreme  exhaustion.  Swollen  extremities  force 
the  patients  to  remain  perfectly  still  for  weeks,  unless  relieved  from  suffering  by 
death,  which  is  caused  directly  by  suffocation.  These  sad  scenes  lead  to  several 
conclusions: 

E^rst.  American  pork  is  exonerated  from  the  suspicion  of  being  the  cause  of  this 
disaster,  and  its  prohibition  by  Germany  upon  the  theory  that  it  is  more  harmful 
than  other  i)ork  is  unadvised.    *    *    * 

Second.  The  inspection  laws  of  Germany  are  totally  inadequate  to  prevent  such 
calamities  so  long  as  the  people  indulge  the  habit,  which  seems  to  Americans  nan- 
seous,  of  eating  pork  raw. 

Third.  This  epidemic  is  a  terrible  warning  to  Germany  to  abstain  from  eating 
raw  pork.  In  the  language  of  Professor  Hertwieg  to  the  convention  of  butchers  of 
Berlm,  in  186.5,  "You  know  what  you  have  to  do  in  your  kitchens,  and  if  you  do 
it  properly  we  have  no  need  of  inspection." 

The  constant  danger  from  native  pork  eaten  in  a  raw  state  is  shown  by  the 
results  following  the  prospect  of  local  rewards  given  for  the  detection  of  trichiuiP. 
I  translate  the  two  following  announcements  from  a  recent  number  of  the  Hall)er- 
stadter  IntelligenzblMtt.  published  in  the  infected  neighborhood,  showing  not  only 
that  the  domestic  article  is  highly  dangerous,  but  that  the  inspection  contemplated 
by  the  law  is  insufficient: 

"  QuEDLTNBURO,  October  14. 

"A  reward  of  30  marks  of  public  monej^  has  been  awarded  to  Inspector  Re  ler, 
at  Gr.  Schierstedt,  for  the  discovery  of  trichinip  in  a  hog  examined  by  him. 

"The  magfistrate  of  Qnedlinburg  has  awarded  a  reward  of  15  marks  to  the 
inspector  of  meat,  Julius  Yrem,  for  the  discovery  of  trichinae  in  a  pig  slaughtered 
on  the  29th  ultimo." 

An  article  published  last  spring  in  a  newspaper  of  Berlin,  which  is  usually  sup- 
posed to  express  official  ideas,  held  to  the  view  that  the  prohibitory  decree  was 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


675 


proper,  becarise  a  government  must  recognize  in  its  acts  the  tastes  of  its  people; 
that  Germans  like  to  eat  pork  raw,  and  hence  the  fact  that  well-cooked  pork  is 
safe  and  uncooked  pork  dangerous  does  not  make  any  difference;  the  Government 
will  keep  out  the  American  article  because  it  is  dangerous  in  a  raw  state.  The 
discussion  of  these  events  at  Ermesleben  in  the  German  papers  has  been  quite 
resti'icted,  and  it  seems  to  me  there  has  not  been  much  disposition  to  draw  the 
natural  inferences,  viz,  that  the  eating  of  raw  pork  of  all  nationalities  should 
cease.    *    *    * 

I  have  thanked  Mr.  Fox  for  his  interesting  report,  and  will  forward  to  the 
Department  the  official  statement  of  the  local  authorities  to  which  he  alludes  as 
soon  as  I  receive  it,  and  will  also  have  incjuiries  made  as  to  any  other  neighbor- 
hood in  which  I  may  observe  the  disease  stated  to  be  prevalent. 

I  have,  etc.,  , 

A.  A.  Sakgent. 


[InclosTire  in  No.  208.] 
Consul  Fox  to  Mr.  Sargent, 

United  States  Consulate, 

Brunswick,  October  25,  18S3. 

SiE:  In  compliance  with  your  instructions  I  visited  the  villages  of  Ermesleben 
and  Deesdorf ,  in  this  consular  district,  on  October  23,  and  have  now  the  honor  to 
make  the  following  report  upon  the  trichina  epidemic  prevailing  in  that  vicinity: 

Ermesleben,  the  place  where  the  disease  has  taken  most  formidable  dimensions, 
is  situated  near  the  Harz  Mountains,  about  5  English  miles  from  the  city  of  Halber- 
stadt,  in  the  province  of  Saxony.  It  emi)races  in  its  complex  some  of  the  most 
fertile  soil,  and  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  localities  in  the  Prussian  Kingdom. 

The  scourge  now  raging  there  has  awakened  not  only  the  heartfelt  sympathy  of 
all,  but  the  liveliest  interest  in  medical  circles,  and  the  locality  is  visited  daily  by 
physicians  from  abroad  and  others  interested  in  obtaining  scientific  information 
in  regard  to  it.  It  has  assumed  such  proportions  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
for  the  resident  physicians  to  attend  to  all  the  cases.  Under  the  direction  of  privy 
counselor  Prof.  Dr.  Weber,  of  Halle.  Mr.  Wagner,  a  student  of  medicine,  is  on  the 
spot  ministering  to  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  taking  notes  for  the  purpose  of  future 
publication.  To  this  gentleman,  as  well  as  to  Mr.  Pastor  Greiling,  who  is  also 
unceasing  in  his  attentions  to  the  sufferers,  and  to  Mr.  Amtmann  Heine,  magis- 
trate of  the  village,  I  am  indebted  for  many  courtesies  shown,  as  well  as  for 
information  in  regard  to  and  opportunity  to  personally  see  many  of  the  patients. 
The  sickness  was  first  noticed  in  Ermesleben  about  September  16.  Several  per- 
sons were  taken  suddenly  ill  with  nausea  and  acute  diarrhea.  Medical  aid  was 
obtained  forthwith,  and  it  was  first  thought  that  a  cholera  epidemic  had  broken 
out  (cholera  nostras),  until  other  symptoms — swelling  of  the  eye,  face,  and  ex- 
tremities, combined  with  high  fever — showed  that  it  was  undoubtedly  trichinosis. 
The  disease  spread  rapidly,  and  up  to  date  433  cases  have  been  recorded;  36  have 
been  fatal,  and  upward  of  19  will  undoubtedly  prove  so,  as  follows: 


rincns. 

Cases. 

Deaths. 

Probably 
die. 

267 
80 
10 
40 

27 
None. 

3 

7 

14 

? 

? 

Deesdorf      

5 

367               36 

19 

433 

In  Nienhagen  and  Groningen  the  cases  are  much  lighter  than  in  Ermesleben, 
and  in  all  probability  the  patients  will  all  recover.  Several  cases  are  reported  to 
exist  in  Wegeleben  and  Kothhof ,  though  not  over  five  in  all.  All  of  the  infected 
villages  lie  within  a  circuit  of  about  3  English  miles.  I  made  Ermesleben  and 
Deesdorf  the  basis  of  my  investigation,  and  was  informed  by  the  gentlemen  with 
whom  I  conversed  upon  the  subject  that  I  could  learn  nothing  of  further  interest 
in  the  other  places,  as  all  the  parties  competent  to  give  me  information  were  in 
Ermesleben  at  the  time.  When  it  became  apparent  that  the  disease  was  trichi- 
nosis the  local  authorities  immediately  instituted  a  thorough  investigation  in  the 


676  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

endeavor  to  locate  its  origin.  It  appears  that  on  or  about  the  12th  and  14th  of 
SeptembtT  four  swine  were  biitcliered.  the  meat  of  all  was  mixed  and  sold  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  infe<'ted  districts.  Three  of  the  pigs  were  the  so-called  land- 
schwein  (common  kind  reared  in  the  vicinity),  the  other  was  a  Baguner  (Hun- 
garian). 

The  fact  has  been  established  beyond  all  dispute  that  in  all  the  cases  the  patients 
had  eaten  the  meat  raw,  eitlier  in  the  form  of  klumpfleisch  (raw chopped  meat)  or 
in  the  form  of  rothwurst  ( blood  sausage).  This  latter  article  is  said  to  bo  cooked, 
but  (my  mformant,  Mr.  Pastor  Greiliiig.  assured  me)  so  slightly  as  to  have  no 
effect  whatever  upon  the  trichinae  germs.  The  custom  of  eating  raw  swine's 
meat  is  prevalent  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  first  trichin*  epidemic  occurred 
in  1855,  though  it  was  not  so  disastrous  as  the  one  now  raging.  The  inhabitants 
claimed  then,  as  now,  that  the  swine  were  not  properly  inspected.  The  cotintry 
folk  have  the  idea  that  the  examination,  when  condr.cted  according  to  law,  gives 
them  ample  security.  Dr.  Wagner  maintained  to  me,  however,  that  this  is  an 
erroneous  supposition,  and  that  the  present  law  is  very  defective.  The  law 
requires  the  inspector  to  make  at  least  three  preparations  for  microscopic  exam- 
ination, and  as  a  rule  he  rarely  makes  more.  It  Is  asserted,  however,  that  experi- 
ment has  proved  that  the  trichinae  are  sometimes  found  only  after  the  thirtieth  or 
fortieth  trial,  respectively.  In  1865  Professor  Hertwieg,  in  an  address  delivered 
before  a  convention  of  Berlin  butchers,  said.  *'  You  know  what  you  have  to  do  in 
your  kitchen,  and  if  you  do  it  properly  we  have  no  need  for  inspection." 

I  think  that  the  whole  case  is  here  stated  in  a  nutshell,  and  Ermesleben  affords 
additional  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  statement.  Mr.  Amtmann  Heine,  lease- 
holder of  the  Ermesleben  estates,  together  with  his  family,  partook  of  the  meat  in 
cooked  form.  None  of  them  have  suffered  in  the  least.  One  of  the  kitchen  maids, 
however,  simply  tasted  of  the  raw  meat  and  is  ill.  The  village  tavern  keeper  and 
his  family  also  ate  of  the  cooked  meat  and  are  well  and  hearty.  His  little  daughter 
ate  some  of  it  raw  at  a  neighbors  home  and  became  slightly  infected.  The  sworn 
official  inspector,  who  is,  by  the  way,  the  village  barber  in  Ermesleben.  and  the 
butcher  have  been  held  to  answer,  and  in  the  preliminary  examination  the  charges 
of  manslaughter,  infliction  of  bodily  injury,  and  negligence  in  performance  of 
duty  have  been  prefeiTed. 

Under  the  law  the  butcher  is  required  to  notify  the  inspector  when  he  has 
slaughtered  a  pig.  The  inspection  is  then  made,  which  consists  simply  in  making 
preparations  for  microscopic  examination,  as  before  stated;  the  inspector  then 
certifies  to  the  facts  as  they  may  appear  to  him.  If  he  declares  the  animal  to  he 
clean,  its  meat  can  be  sold  for  consumption.  The  butcher  as  well  as  the  inspector 
is  required  to  keep  a  list  of  all  swine  slaiightered  and  inspected.  This  list  is  at 
all  times  open  to  the  revision  of  the  authorities.  In  the  case  in  question  it  appears 
that  this  list  was  not  kept,  or,  if  kept  at  all.  so  imperfectly  as  to  be  wholly  worthless 
as  evidence.  The  delinquents  made  an  effort  to  put  it  in  order,  were  detected,  and 
finally  acknowledged  it.  They  nevertheless  earnestly  maintained  that  the  inspec- 
tion was  made  according  to  law.  The  parties  as  well  as  their  families  are  all  sick: 
several  members  have  died,  and  others  are  at  the  point  of  death.  A  circumstance 
which  in  a  measure  explains  how  it  happened  that  the  epidemic  assumed  su<-h 
formidable  proportions  in  Ermesleben  is  the  fact  that  it  was  the  time  of  the  potato 
harvest,  and  the  whole  village,  young  and  old.  men,  women,  and  children,  were 
at  work  in  the  i)otato  fields.  At  such  times  it  is  the  custom  not  to  cook  a  mid- 
day meal,  but  in  order  to  save  the  time  which  would  otherwise  be  consumed  in 
going  and  coming,  to  take  a  simple  repast  composed  of  raw  meat  and  bread.  As 
a  natural  consequence  the  sickness  has  caused  great  consternation  in  the  com- 
munity, and  the  people  have  become  doubly  careful.  As  a  result,  according  to 
the  Halberstadter  Intelligenzblatt,  several  infected  swine  have  been  discovered. 
Mr.  Meinecke.  a  veterinary  surgeon  in  Derenburg,  succeeded  in  finding  one,  and 
in  his  report  makes  the  following  suggestions: 

1.  In  order  to  secure  thorough  inspection  to  offer  a  high  premium  for  every 
infected  hog  found. 

2.  Not  to  eat  raw  meat. 

3.  To  adopt  measures  to  prevent  the  swine  becoming  infected. 

In  conclusion  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  mention  that  the  local  authorities 
aa  well  as  private  charity  are  doing  all  that  human  power  can  do  to  relieve  the 
present  distress.  I  can  not,  however,  refrain  in  expressing  my  sincere  thanks  to 
Pastor  Greiling  and  Mr.  Wagner  to  refer  to  their  untiring  energy  and  self-sacri- 
fice of  personal  interests  in  the  work  which  they  have  on  hand.  Mr.  Wagner  is 
preparing  an  exhaustive  report,  which  he  has  promised  to  send  me  when  com- 
pleted, and  I  hope  to  be  able  to  traiisiiiit  same  to  you  at  an  early  day.  While  we 
certainly  deeply  sympathize  with  this  sadly  afflicted  community,  it  must  never- 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  677 

theless  be  the  source  of  peculiar  satisfaction  to  our  countrymen  to  know  that  the 
malady  was  not  caused  by  American  meats.  In  fact,  it  has  not  been  even  inti- 
mated that  such  a  thing  was  possible,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  American 
pork  has  ever  been  used  there  at  all. 

I  have,  etc.,  William  C.  Fox, 

United  States  Consul, 


No.  106. 
Mr.  Sargent  io  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  213,]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  November  5,  1883.     (Received  November  30.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  previous  correspondence  on  the  subject  of  trichinosis,  and  in 
particular  to  my  dispatch  No.  208,  of  October  28  last,  with  which  I  inclosed  the 
report  of  Consul  Fox  on  the  outbreak  of  the  disease  at  Ermesleben  and  other  places 
in  the  vicinity,  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  in  translation  an  announcement 
reporting  the  progress  of  the  disease  at  those  places,  which  I  take  from  the 
National  Gazette  of  this  city  of  the  1st  instant: 

"  In  the  last  few  days  two  more  persons  have  died  of  the  trichinosis  in  the  neigh- 
boring village  of  Ermesleben.  This  makes  the  number  of  persons  who  have  died 
there  ;J0  and  in  the  vicinity  9;  altogether  39.  Unfortunately  270  persons  are  still 
prostrated  by  the  terrible  disease,  among  them  several  who  are  severely  ill,  and 
whose  death  is  daily  expected.  As  the  physicians  have  recommended  as  the  best 
diet  strong  bouillon  and  wine,  many  of  the  sufferers  being  unable  to  swallow  solid 
nourishment  on  account  of  the  swollen  condition  of  their  throats,  the  community 
continues  to  cook  and  provide  for  all  in  common.  Some  60  pounds  of  good  sound 
beef  are  reiuired  daily  in  order  to  comply  with  the  directions  of  the  physicians. 

"  The  assistance  required  from  and  supported  by  the  community  has  thus  far 
amounted  to  about  900  marks  weekly.  A  writer  to  the  Magdeburg  Gazette  says 
that  this  community,  which  is  not  without  means  and  which  enjoys  the  enviable 
position  of  having  no  local  poor  to  provide  for,  has  for  some  five  weeks  and  until 
now  been  able  to  carry  on  unaided  this  work  of  love,  but  that  it  now  needs  the 
assistance  of  charitable  people." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  the  number  of  the  sufferers  and  also  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  from  the  disease  have  increased  since  the  date  of  the  report  of 
Consul  Fox,  267  to  270  and  from  36  to  39,  respectively,  while  several  more  fatal 
terminations  are  anticipated. 

Another  outbreak  of  the  trichinosis,  though  of  a  far  milder  character,  has 
occurred  at  Zechin  and  neighboring  villages  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Frankfort- 
on-the-Oder,  in  Prussia.  A  Berlin  sheet,  the  Neueste  Nachrichten,  of  the  25th 
ultimo,  makes  the  following  announcement: 

"  The  trichinosis  has  lately  assumed  most  serious  dimensions  in  spite  of  all  legal 
and  administrative  measures.  At  Zechin,  in  the  circuit  Letschin,  the  disease  has 
appeared  in  thirty  families.  In  Letschin  two  persons  have  been  attacked;  at  Voss- 
berg  eight.  Other  persons  are  reported  as  attacked  at  Sydowswiese,  Friedrichsan, 
Golzow,  and  also  in  the  so-called  Bush  villages  (Gericksberg,  Lemaunshosel, 
Bayersberg)  and  elsewhere.  It  is  hard  to  say  where  the  outbreak  may  end,  since 
the  supposed  diseased  meat,  worked  up  into  garlic  sausages,  has  been  dissem- 
inated far  and  wide.  The  persons  attacked  at  Zechin  assert  that  they  bought  and 
ate  about  two  weeks  ago  pigs'  flesh  from  a  dealer  at  that  place.  This  dealer  and 
his  son  are  among  the  persons  attacked." 

Within  a  brief  period  after  the  above  publication  it  was  reported  that  the  dis- 
ease at  Zechin  was  of  a  mild  type,  and  that  it  was  believed  by  the  physicians  that 
all  the  patients  would  recover;  also  that  the  investigation  had  not  disclosed  the 
source  of  the  meat  causing  the  disease,  and  that  no  facts  had  appeared  fastening 
the  sale  of  the  diseased  meat  upon  the  dealer  at  Zechin. 

I  shall  carefully  watch  for  any  report  of  results  that  may  be  reached  in  the 
search  for  the  origin  of  this  outbreak,  and  cause  an  investigation  to  be  made  on 
the  spot,  if  the  expenditure  seems  warranted,  and  report  thereon.  In  the  mean- 
time it  would  seem  safe  to  assume  that  the  blame  can  not  attach  to  American  pork 
so  long  after  prohibition  of  its  importation  into  the  country. 

I  have,  etc.,  A.  A.  S^BaBNT. 


678  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  107. 

Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  214.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  November  12,  1SS3.     (Received  November  26.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  the  subject  of  trichinosis  at  Ermesleben,  I  have  the  honor  to 
transmit  the  latest  news  from  that  place  of  the  progress  and  conditions  of  the 
disease,  in  the  following  translated  excerpts  from  the  local  papers: 

"  Halberstadt. — Yesterday  and  day  before  there  were  5  more  deaths  from 
trichinosis  in  the  neighboring  village  of  Ermesleben,  so  that  the  total  number  of 
peraons  of  every  age  who  have  succumbed  to  this  terrible  disease  is  41.  In  the 
surrounding  villages  9  have  died  to  date.  The  distress  is  daily  increasing.  It  is, 
however,  gratifying  that  the  call  for  assistance  is  meeting  with  such  hearty 
response.  The  collection  opened  by  Ucille's  newspaper  of  this  place  already  shows 
receipts  up  to  nearly  GOO  marks.  It  seems  striking  that  just  at  this  time  trichinse 
should  be  so  frequently  discovered.  Among  others.  Mr.  Meinicke,  veterinary  sur- 
geon in  our  neighboring  town  of  Derenburg,  Meat  Inspector  Plettner.  of  Werni- 
gerode,  etc.,  have  lately  found  swine  infected  with  trichinse.  Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  discovery  of  trichinj©  in  swine  is  of  so  frequent  occurrence,  the 
insurance,  which  costs  from  30  pfennige  to  50  pfennige  per  pig,  is  generally  neg- 
lected. We  have  positive  information  that  a  whole  family  in  Groningen  have 
been  taken  sick  with  trichinosis — happily  not  dangerously — from  eating  of  pig 
which  they  had  themselves  slaughtered  and  inspected.  A  second  inspection  after 
several  weeks  had  elapsed  showed  the  pig  to  be  slightly  infected." 

The  fact  is  important  that  a  family  bias  been  stricken  down  after  eating  pork 
which  had  been  especisUly  killed  and  inspected  by  itself,  as  the  opinion  prevails 
that  such  special  inspection  is  a  sure  guarantee  against  trichinosis. 

The  same  paper,  of  the  7th  instant,  has  the  following: 

"Halberstadt,  Notmnber  5. — To-day  Mr.  E.  Bodenstein,  meat  inspector  of  this 
city,  again  discovered  trichina;  in  a  pig  slaughtered  by  a  local  butcher.  We  are 
informed  by  experts  that  the  trichina^  are  found  to  exist  chiefly  in  the  lights  and 
diaphragm  of  infected  swine,  but  that  the  examination  of  these  parts  is  generally 
omitted.  Trichinae  are  found  in  almost  equal  numbers  in  the  diaphrag*a  and  the 
so-called  tenderloin;  in  less  numbers,  however,  in  the  hams.  It  is  nevertheless 
generally  believed,  and  the  idea  is  prevaLmt,  that  the  chief  seat  of  the  trichin* 
is  the  hard  muscles  and  hams.  A  thorough  examination  by  expert  meat  inspectors 
is  absolutely  necessary. " 

It  will  be  observed  that  inspection,  so  often  fallacious,  is  still  recommended, 
instead  of  cooking  or  even  salting,  which  probably  destroys  the  germs. 

By  an  item  in  the  Berlin  Tageblatt  of  yesterday  I  learn  that  during  the  past 
month  of  October  there  were  discovered  at  the  municipal  meat  inspector's  otfice 
at  the  central  slaughterhouse,  at  Berlin,  where  all  cattle  are  slaughtered,  22  cases 
of  trichina:*  and  127  measly  swine.  These  were  seized  by  the  police  and  taken  to 
the  fiscal  rendering  house  for  destruction,  or  for  other  than  food  purposes. 
I  have,  etc., 

A.  A.  Sargent. 


No.  108. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  169.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  November  S7,  18SS. 
Sir:  Acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch  No.  208,  of  the  26th  ultimo,  I 
have  to  thank  you  for  the  very  instructive  report  which  you  obtained  with  com- 
mendable promptness  f<.r  the  use  of  this  Department  in  relation  to  the  outbreak  of 
trichinosis  at  Ermesleben,  in  Germany. 

lam,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  109. 
Mr.  Sargent  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

No.  318.]  Legation  op  the  United  States, 

Berlin,  December  1,  1883.    (Received  December  17.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that,  in  consequence  of  notices  which 
appeared  in  the  daily  papers  that  an  outbreak  of  trichinosis  had  occurred  at  Thorn, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  679 

a  city  in  West  Prussia,  of  70,000  inhabitants,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Peter  Collas,  our  con- 
sular agent  at  Danzig,  to  furnish  me  with  such  particulars  as  he  might  be  able  to 
obtain  in  regard  to  the  reported  epidemic. 

The  following  is  one  of  the  notices  referred  to: 

"Thorn,  November  JO. — It  is  confirmed  that  about  fifty  persons  have  been 
attacked  by  trichinosis  hei-e.  Up  to  Saturday  twenty-one  cases  were  authenticated 
by  the  district  physician,  and  since  then  many  new  cases  have  been  reported  to  the 
police.  A  meat  shop  in  which  infected  sausages  were  discovered  was  closed  on 
Saturday,  but  after  an  inspection  of  the  remaining  wares  was  again  opened.  The 
owner  of  the  shop  had  received  about  2:50  pounds  of  meat  from  Culmsee,  through 
which  the  dreadful  disease  seems  to  have  been  brought  hither,  as  previous  to  this 
several  persons  had  been  attacked  by  trichinosis  at  Culmsee.  By  order  of  the  com- 
mander of  this  place  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  are  forbidden  to  purchase  sau- 
sages or  raw  ham  in  the  meat  shops  here."' 

I  herewith  inclose  a  copy  of  the  reply  received  from  Mr.  Collas,  with  a  copy  and 
translation  of  the  letter  from  the  editor  of  the  Thorn  newspaper  from  whom  his 
information  was  received,  which  confirms  the  above  report.  It  seems  that  the 
pork  causing  the  mischief  is  of  native  production. 

I  have,  etc..  A.  A.  Sarqent. 

[Inclosure  1  in  No.  218.] 

Mr.  Collas  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

United  States  Consular  Agency, 

Datizig,  November  30,  1883. 
Sir:  In  consequence  of  your  retiuest  1  at  once  made  inquiries  respecting  the 
trichinosis  at  Thorn,  where  I  find  that  about  fift}^  cases,  more  or  less  serious,  have 
occurred,  jirising  from  the  enjoyment  of  sausages  manufactured  from  pork  sent 
hither  from  Culmsee,  a  place  about  t20  kilometers  distant,  the  meat  being  native 
p  oduction.  It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  the  same  was  examined  in  the  usual 
manner  before  going  into  consumption,  but  this  is  under  investigation  at  present 
by  the  official  authorities,  and  about  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  obtain  the  result 
and  information  later  on. 
Inclosed  the  note  from  which  the  foregoing  is  derived. 

I  remain,  etc. ,  Peter  Oollas, 

United  States  Consular  Agent. 


[Inclosuro  2  in  No.  218.— Translation.] 

Mr.  Queschede  to  Mr.  OuldznisM. 

Thorn,  November  23,  1883. 
In  reply  to  your  esteemed  inquiry  of  yesterday,  we  respectfully  inform  you  that, 
according  to  the  researches  made  by  us,  about  fifty  cases  of  trichinosis  have 
occurred.  The  disease  has  been  caused  by  the  consumption  of  sausage  which 
was  made  from  inland  pork.  This  pork  is  said  to  have  been  brought  here  from 
Culmsee,  but  the  dealer  in  question  denies  this.  The  investigation  already  insti- 
tuted by  the  authorities  will  develop  the  fact.  There  has  as  yet  been  no  question 
made  regarding  foreign  pork. 

Respectfully,  Gustav  Queschede, 

Editor  Thorner  Ostdeutsche  Zeitung. 


No.  110. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Sargent. 

No.  177.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  December  26,  188S. 
Sir:  Your  dispatch  No.  318  of  the  1st  instant,  concerning  the  outbreak  of  trichi- 
nosis at  Thorn,  in  West  Prussia,  has  been  read  with  interest. 

Adding  that  the  Department  approves  your  course  in  promptly  instituting 
inquiries  into  the  matter, 

I  am,  etc.,  Feedk.  T,  Frelinghuysen. 


680  SWINE   PBODDOTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

OfiEECE. 

No.  111. 
Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  8.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Athens,  February  10,  1883.     (Received  March  5.) 

SiE:  I  received  a  few  days  ago  a  circular  of  the  minister  of  the  interior,  dated 
January  23,  1883,  addressed  to  the  provincial  authorities  of  the  Kingdom  and  to 
the  bureau  of  health  of  Pintus,  with  reference  to  the  importation  of  cattle  from 
various  eastern  countries.  The  second  paragi'aph,  however,  of  the  circular  renewed 
the  prohibition  against  the  importation  of  hams,  sausages,  and  lard  coming  from 
America,  either  directly  or  indirectly.  I  inclose  a  copy  and  translation  of  this  cir- 
cular. 

On  his  first  reception  day  I  inquired  of  Mr.  Tricoupis  whether  the  Government 
had  any  additional  reasons  for  prohibiting  the  importation  of  hams.  etc. ,  from  the 
United  States,  adding  that  I  thought  that  the  results  of  the  investigations  under- 
taken by  the  order  of  our  Government  had  suflS^ciently  proved  that  there  was  no 
danger  to  be  expected  from  such  importations.  Mr.  Tricoupis  said  that  lie  was 
ignorant  of  the  causes  which  had  led  to  the  insertion  of  the  paragraph  referred  to, 
as,  in  his  capacitj'  of  minister  of  the  interior,  he  had  simply  published  a  circular 
prepared  by  the  sanitary  authorities  of  his  department;  that  if  he  had  noticed  the 
passage  he  would  have  inquired,  because  he  remembered  that  Mr.  Botassi,  the 
Greek  consul-general  at  New  York,  had  made  a  report  in  which  he  stated  that 
the  reports  about  disease  of  swine,  etc.,  in  America  had  been  greatly  exaggerated. 
He  promised  me,  therefore,  to  make  further  inquiries,  and,  without  binding  him- 
self, gave  me  to  understand  that  if  the  reiult  of  his  inquiries  proved  satisfactory, 
the  prohibition  would  be  withdrawn. 

I  have,  etc,  Eugene  Schuylee. 


[Inclosnre  in  No.  8.— Translation.] 
CIRCULAR  PROHIBITING  IMPORTATION  OF  AMERICAN  PORK. 

Athens,  Jamiary  11,  1S8S. 

Tlie  Ministry  of  the  Interior  to  the  Nomarchs  and  Eparehs  of  the  Kingdom  and  to 
the  Bureau  of  Health  of  Pirceus. 

According  to  the  orders  which  you  have  already  received,  cows  and  buffaloes 
coming  from  Russia,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Egypt,  Thrace,  Valona,  and  Rahova  in 
Roumania,  on  account  of  the  epizooty  raging  in  these  countries,  are  only  allowed 
to  be  imported  by  way  of  Syra,  Corfu,  and  Pirseus,  and  after  a  previous  quaran- 
tine. With  regard  to  raw  cow  and  buffalo  hides  of  the  .same  origin,  their  impor- 
tation is  only  permitted  by  Syra  and  Corfu,  and  with  all  the  prescribed  sanitary 
precautions,  while  the  importation  of  other  products  of  these  animals,  such  as 
bones,  intestines,  etc.,  is  absolutely  forbidden. 

By  the  present  circular  we  renew  to  you  these  orders,  and  also  those  concerning 
the  prohibition  to  import  into  Greece,  hams,  sausages,  lard,  etc.,  coming  directly 
or  indirectly  from  America,  and  we  order  you  to  see  that  these  orders  are  strictly 
executed  by  the  sanitary  authorities  of  your  jurisdiction. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  medical  council,  and  in  view  of  the  epizooty 
existing  in  Thrace  and  at  Valona,  we  also  forbid  the  importation  of  cows  and  buffa- 
loes coming  from  any  part  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  by  any  other  way  than  Syra, 
Corfu,  and  Piraeus,  and  until  after  a  previous  quarantine  of  nine  days,  including 
the  days  of  the  passage.  We  also  forbid  the  importation  into  Greece  of  raw  cow 
hides  of  the  same  origin,  except  by  way  of  Syra  or  Corfu,  and  after  the  observance 
of  the  sanitary  measures  prescribed  by  the  regulations.  The  importation  of  dried 
and  salted  cow  hides  is  not  prohibited. 

You  will  communicate  the  contents  of  this  circular  to  the  sanitary  authorities 
of  your  jurisdiction. 

The  minister: 

Ch.  Tricoupis. 


SWIJME    PKODUCTS    OF  .THE    UII^^ITED    STATES.  681 

No.  112. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr,  Schuyler. 

No.  20.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  March  9,  1883. 
Sir:  I  have  to  aclmowledge  your  No.  8  (Greek  diplomatic  series),  of  the  10th 
ultimo,  in  regard  to  tlie  renewal  of  the  prohibition  against  American  pork,  in 
which  you  state  that  you  had  a  conversation  with  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
in  which  he  said  that  inquiry  would  be  made  in  the  matter.  It  is  trusted  that  the 
hopes  you  express  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  obnoxious  provision  will  be  realized. 
I  am,  etc., 

Preo'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  llo. 
Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  29.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Athens,  May  17,  1SS3.  (Received  June  4.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  my  dispatch  No.  8,  dated  February  10,  1883,  on  the  subject  of 
the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  American  pork  into  Greece,  I  have  the  honor 
to  inform  you  that  I  yesterday  had  a  conversation  on  the  subject  with  Mr.  Tri- 
coupis,  the  president  of  the  council  of  ministers.  He  stated  to  me  that  in  conse- 
quence of  my  previous  representation  a  circular  had  been  issued  to  all  the  repre- 
sentatives ot  the  Greek  Government  in  Europe  resiuesting  them  to  ascertain  exactly 
the  action  of  the  Governments  to  which  they  are  accredited  on  the  subject,  and 
that  a  telegram  had  also  been  sent  to  the  consul-general  of  Greece  at  New  York 
requesting  an  e?cact  report  on  the  health  of  American  swine  and  the  quality  of 
American  purk  and  lard.  He  thought  that  answers  would  soon  be  received  and 
that  within  a  month  the  Hellenic  Government  would  be  sufficiently  well  informed 
to  be  able  to  take  action  in  the  matter. 

I  have,  etc.,  Eugene  Schuylkb, 


» 


No.  114. 

Mr,  Davis  to  Mr.  Schuyler. 

[Extract.] 

No.  33.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  May  28,  1883. 
Sir;  In  a  dispatch  from  Berlin,  dated  the  4th  instant,  Mr.  Sargent  remarks  as 
follows: 
"  The  London  Times  correspondent  on  the  1st  instant  says: 
"  'Imitating  the  action  of  the  German  Federal  Council,  the  Greek  Government 
has,  from  sanitary  considerations,  forbidden  the  importation  of  all  sorts  of  Ameri- 
can pig  flesh. '" 

******* 

Information  of  this  action  of  the  Government  of  Greece  w^as  duly  conveyed  in 
your  No.  8  (Greek  diplomatic  series),  of  February  10  last,  and  of  your  conversa- 
tion at  the  time  with  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs. 

******* 

Aside  from  the  assurance  of  Mr.  Botassi,  the  Greek  consul-general  at  New  York, 
that  the  reports  about  disease  of  swine,  etc.,  in  America  had  been  greatly  exagger- 
ated, a  modification  of  the  circular  might  well  be  asked  upon  the  consideration 
which  the  subject  has  received  in  other  directions. 

Thorough  scientific  scrutiny  and  extensive  observation  at  different  periods  and 
by  various  earnest  and  competent  individuals  have  failed  to  establish  that  Amer- 
ican pork  is  of  tener  or  more  fully  impregnated  than  that  coming  from  other  regions 
or  that  the  serious  maladies  which  the  consumption  of  the  diseased  hog  flesh  may 
occasion  are,  as  a  fact,  prevalent  in  any  country,  and  when  is  considered  the 
immense  pork  products  of  this  country  which  have  annuallv  been  distributed  and 


682  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

consumed,  this  conspicuous  freedom  from  the  dreaded  disease  should  itself  relieve 
the  United  States  from  these  unjust  and  unwarrantable  charges. 

This  Government  v?ill  yield  to  no  other  in  the  sincere  intention  of  treating  the 
public  health  as  of  paramount  concern,  and  it  would  be  the  first  to  sacrifice  any 
commercial  interest  fairly  shown  to  be  detrimental  to  the  general  individual  com- 
fort. In  this  spirit  the  Department,  upon  the  first  agitation  of  the  subject,  dis- 
patched a  skilled  officer  to  the  principal  raising  and  packing  districts  here,  to 
obtain,  for  its  guidance,  n  careful  and  candid  investigation  of  the  sul)ject.  His 
conclusions,  which  yon  will  find  in  the  inclosed  pamphlets.'  strongly  developed 
the  purity  of  this  class  of  exports  and  confirmed  the  previous  justifiable  opinion 
that  all  contrary  assertions  were  exaggerated  and  without  sufficient  foundation. 

The  further  in-;pections  which  have  occurred  abroad  have  all  tended  to  the 
same  conclusion,  and  have  exhibited  a  unanimity  in  this,  that  pork  can  safely  be 
used  if  cooked,  even  when  in  rare  instances  containing  trichinje.  and  that  its 
noxious  effects  have  only  been  observed  among  those  who  consume  it  in  the  raw 
state.  As  to  the  cholera,  which  has  served  to  create  such  marked  apprehension 
abroad,  it  is  well  ascertained  that  this  disease  attacks  mostly  the  young  swine — 
here  known  as  "pigs" — whose  flesh  can  never  be  utilized  by  the  packers,  and 
that  whenever  its  victim  is  a  mature  swine,  here  known  as  "  hog,"  the  decompo- 
sition is  so  speedy  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  treat  it  for  any  commercial  use 
whatever. 

In  the  face  of  these  considerations  this  Government  does  not  expect  a  persistent 
adherence  to  the  prohibitory  policy  which  has  already  injured  our  trade  and 
depreciated  our  products,  and  it  can  not  observe  without  earnest  protest  the 
announcement,  at  this  late  stage,  of  the  determination  of  any  government  to 
enter  upon  the  policy  which  has  so  unjustly  affected  a  legitimate  and  valuable 
trade. 

It  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that,  so  far  as  Greece  is  concerned,  the  direct  impor- 
tation, at  least,  of  American  pork  is  very  insignificant;  that  it  is  not  understood 
that  a  single  instance  of  disease  from  its  use  has  been  noted  there,  and  therefore 
the  present  acceptance  by  that  Government  of  the  policy  which  has  already  borne 
hard  upon  the  commerce  of  our  citizens  vrith  other  countries  would  groundlessly 
throw  the  weight  of  her  influence  in  favor  of  a  harsh  and  unjust  discrimination 
against  American  commerce. 

It  is  hoped  that  you  will  take  early  occasion  to  endeavor  to  obtain  from  the 
minister  a  recession  of  the  objectionable  restrictions,  informing  him  of  the  uncor- 
dial  attitude  to  an  American  interest  which  the  present  position  of  Greece 
necessarily  presents. 

I  am,  etc, 

John  Davis, 

Acting  Secretary. 


No.  115. 

Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelin/jhuysen. 

No.  31.  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Athenx,  July  25,  18S3.     (Received  August  18.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch  No.  '6'-\.  <lated 
May  28.  with  reference  to  the  prohibition  by  the  Greek  Government  of  American 
pork.  I  have  not  failed  to  give  this  sub.iect  my  earnest  attention,  but  I  have  not 
yet  obtained  the  exact  replies  to  the  circular  sent  out  by  the  Greek  Government, 
as  mentioned  in  my  dispatch  No.  29,  dated  May  17. 

I  do  not  despair  of  obtaining  a  modification  of  the  order  in  question. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  southern  peoples  are  very  susceptible  to  any- 
thing that  concerns  public  health,  and  although  almost  no  pork  is  imported  into 
Greece  from  any  country,  yet  the  fact  that  such  importation  has  been  prohibited 
or  restricted  in  other  countries  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  in  the  minds  of  many 
for  a  similar  restriction  here  without  the  necessity  of  suggestions  from  outside  to 
that  effect.  This  susceptibility  may  be  particulary  observed  now,  when  a  quaran- 
tine of  twent}--one  days  has  been  imposed  on  account  of  the  cholera  in  Egypt.  As 
the  quarantine  in  Turkey  on  similar  vessels  is  only  ten  days,  it  is  proposed  to 
impose  a  quarantine  of  eleven  days  on  all  vessels  coming  from  Constantinople. 

In  the  mean  time  I  respectfully  ask  you  to  inform  me  briefly  as  to  the  status  of 

'  See  House  Ex.  Doc.  209,  Forty-seventh  Congress,  first  session,  p.  179. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  683 

American  pork  in  all  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  whether  freely  admitted,  with 
restrictions,  or  entirely  prohibited.  I  have  some  general  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
but  do  not  know  positively  the  present  state  of  the  case,  except  as  regards  Ger- 
many and  Austria. 

I  shall  also  be  glad  to  receive  several  more  copies  of  the  pamphlet  entitled 
"American  Pork,"  inclosed  in  your  No.  33.  If  there  is  a  translation  in  French  it 
would  be  more  useful  for  distribution. 

As  concerns  the  prohibition  of  Pork  in  Roumania,  of  which  I  informed  you  by 
my  dispatch  No.  86,  dated  September  22,  1881,  the  case  is  different,  and  I  do  not 
consider  it  possible  to  obtain  any  modification  whatever.  The  f  act  is  that  the  san- 
itary and  veterinary  regulations  between  Austria- Hungary  and  Roumania  are  very 
severe  and  are  enforced  on  the  part  of  the  Hungarian  Government  with  great  vigor 
on  very  slight  pretexts,  Roumania  exports  pigs  and  pork,  and  does  not  generally 
import  them,  and  unless  it  maintain  the  restrictions  against  the  pig  products  of 
other  countries  its  exportation  to  Austria- Hungary  will  be  forbidden. 
I  have,  etc., 

EUOENE  SCHUYLEE. 


No.  116. 
*  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Schuyler. 

No.  5.]  Department  op  State, 

WasJnngto7i,  September  18,  188S, 

Sir:  Acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  No.  31  (Greek  diplomatic  series)  of  the 
25th  July,  1  have  to  say  that  several  copies  of  the  pamphlet  to  which  yoa  refer, 
viz,  "American  Pork,  etc.,  1881."  published  by  this  Department,  will  be  sent  you 
at  once  under  separate  cover.  This  pamphlet  was  translated  into  French  in  1881, 
at  the  American  legation,  Paris,  and  I  trust  that  on  written  application  to  Minister 
Morton  you  may  be  able  to  procure  a  copy. 

In  response  to  your  query  as  to  the  present  status  of  the  admission  of  American 
pork  at  European  ports,  I  refer  you  to  House  Executive  Document  No.  209,  Forty- 
seventh  Congress,  first  session,  and  have  to  add  that  according  to  No.  333  (April 
13,  1883)  of  Mr.  Morton,  the  French  exclusion  of  American  pork— owing  to  the 
pressure  of  certain  French  packers,  evidently — is  still  maintained.  According  to 
No.  41  of  Mr.  Heap  (August  10,  1881),  Turkey  was  at  that  time  still  disinclined  to 
remove  the  prohibition  there  declared,  and  it  seems  that  we  have  no  later  advices 
from  Constantinople  on  the  subject.  A  like  attitude  was  maintained  by  Portugal 
as  late  as  July  25,  1881,  since  which  period  the  Department  appears  to  be  without 
further  information  in  this  regard. 

The  attitude  of  Switzerland,  as  respects  the  introduction  there  of  our  pork  prod- 
uct, is  no  less  intelligent  than  that  of  Belgium.  (See  pamphlet.)  The  latest 
report  on  the  subject  seems  to  be  contained  in  dispatch  No.  420  of  Mr.  Fish,  dated 
July  15,  1881.  It  appears  by  No.  40  of  Mr.  Foster,  of  July  23  last,  that  Spain  has 
not  prohibited  the  importation  of  American  pork,  as  reported,  but  has  only  ordered 
inspection.  It  is  apparent  from  dispatch  No.  106,  of  April  30,  1881,  of  our  minis- 
ter at  Stockholm,  and  from  No.  15,  of  April  28  last,  of  our  diplomatic  representa- 
tive at  Copenhagen,  that  our  pork  trade  with  Denmark  and  with  Sweden  and 
Norway  will  not  easily  be  interrupted,  and  it  is,  doubtless,  safe  to  say  that  our 
trade  in  pork  with  countries  of  Europe,  aside  from  those  named  above  (some  of 
which  exclude  our  pork  and  some  of  which  do  not)  and  Roumania,  will  continue 
as  heretofore. 

lam.  etc..  Fred'kT.  Fbelinghuysen. 


No.  117. 

Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

[Extract.] 

No.  42.J  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Athens,  October  19,  1883.     (Received  November  7.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch  No.  5,  dated 
September  18,  1883,  relative  to  the  present  status  of  the  admission  of  American 
pork  at  European  ports,  as  also  of  nine  copies  of  the  pamphlet  on  American  pork, 


684  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

six  copies  of  a  French  translation  of  the  same  through  the  American  legation  at 
Paris,  and  a  copy  of  House  Executive  Document  No.  tiOO,  Forty-seventh  Congress, 
first  session. 

Referring  to  my  dispatches  No.  8,  dated  February  10,  No.  29,  dated  May  7,  and 
No.  31,  dated  July  25, 1  have  further  to  report  my  action  on  the  subject. 

About  April  20,  after  Mr.  Tricoupis  had  given  up  the  foreign  office  and  Mr. 
Contostavlo  had  been  appointed  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  I  received  a  circular 
on  the  importation  of  pork,  dated  April  7-19,  of  which  I  inclose  a  copy  and  a  trans- 
lation. I  immediately  went  to  see  Mr.  Contostavlo,  and  expressed  my  regret  that 
an  additional  circular  sh(mld  be  issued  when  the  question  of  the  prohibition  of 
pork  was  under  discussion  between  the  two  Governments  in  consequence  of  the 
circular  of  January  11.  He  professed  his  entire  ignorance  of  the  matter,  as  he  had 
ju-;t  entered  office,  and  promised  inquiry. 

As  the  result  of  several  consultations  with  the  prime  minister,  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  and  the  minister  of  the  interior,  the  (juestion  was  twice  sent  back 
to  the  medical  council,  and  on  each  occasion  this  body,  composed  of  three  physi- 
cians practicing  in  Athens,  at  the  head  of  which  is  Dr.  Soutsos,  the  chief  medical 
officer  of  the  army,  refused  to  rescind  the  action  which  it  had  already  taken.  The 
reason  given  was  that  the  importation  of  pork  had  been  prohibited  in  France,  and 
as  a  southern  people  like  the  Greek  wa-*  especially  susceptible  to  anything  which 
bore  upon  the  health  of  the  population,  the  medical  council  had  considered  it  nec- 
essary to  follow  this  precedent.    *    *    * 

When  the  medical  council  had  twice  refused  to  revise  their  action,  I  considered 
it  my  duty  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  the  authorities  the  fact  that  their  action  in  the 
case  was  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  Article  VIH  of  our  treaty  with  Greece  of 
1837.  Mr.  Contostavlo  said  offhand,  that  sanitary  considerations  took  precedence 
of  all  othei-s.  I  replied  that  this  could  only  be  the  case  where  they  were  mentioned 
in  the  treaty;  that  there  was  often  a  provision  in  treaties  that  prohibitions  apply- 
ing to  a  single  country  might  be  made  where  sanitary  measures  warranted  it;  but 
that  without  such  a  provision  I  could  not  admit  its  propriety,  especially  as  in  the 
treaty  of  1837,  the  article  about  quarantine  (Article  XV)  showed  that  sanitary 
questions  had  been  considered  by  the  negotiators.    *    *    * 

After  receiving  your  dispatch.  No.  5,  dated  September  18,  1  addressed  to  Mr. 
Contostavlo  a  note  on  the  subject,  dated  October  17,  a  copy  of  which  I  herewith 
inclose,  marked  3,  and  of  which  I  trust  that  you  will  approve. 
I  have,  etc, 

EUGENB  SCHDYLBB. 


[Inclosnre  1  in  No.  42.— Translation.] 

Circular  of  tlie  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

Athens,  April  7-19,  1883. 

The  minister  of  foreign  affairs  has  the  honor  to  inform  the  legation  of  the  United 
States  of  America  that,  upon  the  advice  of  the  medical  council  of  Athens,  the 
department  of  the  interior  has  just  forbidden  the  import  into  Greece  of  hams,  sau- 
sages, lard,  and  other  pork  products  cdming  from  America,  because  of  the  trichi- 
nosis with  which  pigs  in  that  country  are  attacked. 

The  import  of  similar  products  coming  from  other  countries  will  only  be  allowed 
on  a  certificate  from  the  sanitary  authorities  of  the  country  certified  to  by  the 
competent  Hellenic  consul,  stating  that  the  above  malady  does  not  exist  in  the 
country  from  which  these  products  come. 

Mr.  Contostavlo  has,  etc. 

[Inclosure  2  in  No.  42.] 

Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Contostavlo. 

Leoation  op  the  United  St.\tes, 

Athens,  October  .'>-17,  188S. 

Mr.  Minister:  After  the  conversations  which  I  had  the  honor  to  have  with  your 

excellency  on  the  subject  of  the  prohibition  by  the  Hellenic  Government  of  hams. 

sausages,  lard,  and  other  products  of  pork  inported  from  the  United  Stjites,  I  had 

hoped  that  the  medical  council  would  revise  its  decision.    I  thank  you  sincerely 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  685 

for  having  on  two  different  occasions  called  the  attention  of  the  medical  council 
to  this  subject,  and  I  greatly  regret  that  it  has  seen  fit  to  maintain  its  former 
decision. 

The  council  has  apparently  not  taken  into  consideration  the  statements  with 
regard  to  the  manufacture  of  pork  and  proving  the  absence  of  disease  in  the  United 
States,  as  set  forth  in  the  official  report,  of  which  1  had  the  honor  to  give  you  a 
copy,  and  of  which  I  now  inclose  three  copies  in  a  French  translation.  It  would 
appear,  too,  from  what  your  excellency  told  me,  that  the  medical  council  has  not 
examined  this  qiiestion  for  itself,  nor  has  even  ever  seen  and  inspected  pork  prod- 
ucts of  American  origin,  but  has  based  its  decision  upon  the  action  of  certain  other 
governments,  which,  in  order  to  encourage  the  production  of  salt  pork  at  home, 
have,  under  the  pretext  of  sanitary  measiires,  prohibited  its  importation  from  the 
United  States.  As  you  are  aware,  Mr.  Minister,  not  all  governments  have  taken 
the  same  course  of  action,  and  I  may  cite  especially  Great  Britain  and  Belgium,  in 
which  countries  American  pork  is  largely  consumed  without  injurious  effects  upon 
the  health  of  the  population.  This  deference  on  the  part  of  the  medical  council 
to  the  action  of  certain  other  governments  is  the  more  astonishing,  as  I  am 
informed  that  the  Hellenic  consul-general  at  New  York  has  officially  reported  that 
the  accounts  of  disease  among  American  hogs  have  been  greatly  exaggerated,  yet 
no  consideration  seems  to  be  given  to  his  statements,  and  American  pork  iS  abso- 
lutely prohibited,  while  pork  is  allowed  to  be  imported  from  other  countries  on 
the  consul's  certificate. 

The  medical  council  has  apparently  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  difference  of 
treatment  which  it  establishes  for  the  importation  of  pork  is  in  direct  contravention 
of  Article  VIII  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Greece  of  December 
10-22,  1837.  This  article  provides  that  there  shall  not  he  established  in  Greece  on 
the  products  of  the  soil  or  of  the  industry  of  the  United  States  any  prohibition  or 
restriction  of  importation  unless  such  prohibition  or  restriction  be  also  established 
upon  articles  of  like  nature  coming  from  other  countries. 

As  I  am  sure  that  His  Majesty's  Government  has  no  intention  of  even  seeming 
in  any  way  to  act  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
your  excellency  will  at  once  call  the  attention  of  the  medical  council  to  this  point, 
and  provide  that  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States  receive  the  same  treat- 
ment as  similar  products  of  other  countries. 
I  seize,  etc., 

Eugene  Schuyler. 


No.  118. 
Mr.  Schuyler  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  52.J  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Athens,  December  8,  18S3.  (Received  December  27.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  my  dispatch  No.  42,  dated  October  19,  on  the  subject  of  the 
prohibition  of  American  pork  in  Greece,  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  herewith  a  copy 
and  translation  of  a  note  I  have  just  received  from  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
which  promises  a  new  examination  of  the  affair.  The  reference  to  information 
asked  for  at  Berlin  is  probably  called  out  by  the  fact  that  various  statements  have 
recently  been  published  in  the  Greek  newspapers  about  an  outbreak  of  trichinosis 
in  Germany. 

I  have,  etc., 

Eugene  ScnuYiiEB. 


[Inclosnre  in  No.  52.  —Translation.] 

Mr.  Contastavlo  to  Mr.  Schuyler. 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
Athens,  November  23 — December  5,  1883. 
Mr.  Minister:  The  department  of  the  interior,  whose  attention  I  hastened  to 
draw  to  your  note  of  October  5-17,  respecting  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
American  pork  into  Greece,  has  just  informed  me  that  before  revising  the  disposi- 
tions already  made  on  this  subject  on  the  advice  of  the  medical  council  at  Athens, 
it  required  new  and\f  uller  information,  which  it  has  desired  me  to  ask  of  our  con- 
sul-general at  New  York  and  of  the  King's  legation  at  Berlin. 
I  have  just  asked  for  this  information,  and  I  will  not  fail  to  duly  communicate 


686  SWINE    PRODUCTS   OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

to  you  the  decision  which  the  ministry  of  the  interior  may  think  proper  to  make 
on  the  subjei-t.  as  soon  as  this  information  has  been  received. 
Please  accept,  etc., 

CONTASTAVLO. 


No.  119. 
Mr.  Frdinghuysen  to  Mr.  Schuyler. 

No.  48.1  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  December  19.  1S83. 
Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  Nos.  46  to  49  (Greek  diplomatic 
series). 

Ai>i)roving  your  course  touching  the  question  of  restriction  placed  on  the  intro- 
duction of  American  pork  at  the  ports  of  Greece,  as  set  forth  in  your  No.  42, 
I  am,  etc., 

Fred'k  T.  Fbelinqhuysen. 


T^E  Netherlands. 

No.  120. 

Mr.  Eckstein  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  361.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Amsterdam,  January  11,  188S.     (Received  January  37.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  inclose  a  translation  of  certain  extracts  from 
a  report  made  to  the  minister  of  the  interior  of  the  Netherlands,  of  an  investiga- 
tion as  to  the  occurrence  of  trichinae  in  pork  imported  from  the  United  States. 
I  am,  etc., 

D.  Eckstein, 
United  iStates  Consul. 


[Tncloenre  in  No.  261.1 
AMERICAN  POBK  IN  HOLLAND. 

As  the  agitation  in  Europe  respecting  American  pork  has  not  yet  subsided,  and 
shows  even  far  greater  vitality  than  trichina  ever  did,  and  as  it  appears  that  even 
Gfermany  is  about  to  be  allied  to  France  in  making  war  upon  the  American  hog 
prod  act  by  prohibiting  its  importation,  I  concluded  to  bring  to  your  knowledge 
what  recently  took  place  in  this  country,  with  reference  to  this  matter. 

By  the  order  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  minister  of  the  interior  an  invas- 
tigation  was  made  as  to  the  occurrence  of  trichinae  in  pork  imported  from  the 
United  States. 

The  investigators  made  a  report  on  the  subject  to  the  Government,  which  was 
published  in  the  Staats  Courant  (official  journal)  in  November  last,  but  it  did  not 
come  under  my  notice  until  a  few  days  ago. 

1  should  have  liked  to  have  furnished  the  Department  with  a  translated  copy  of 
the  entire  report,  but  as  it  is  very  lengthy,  and  I  can  not  manage  to  get  it  properly 
translated  within  any  reasonable  time,  I  subjoin  hereto  only  the  introductory 
remarks,  the  result  of  certain  experiments  made,  and  the  conclusions  reached  by  the 
investigators,  viz: 

"Acting  upon  a  suggestion  made  by  the  board  of  inspectors  for  the  sanitary 
supervision  of  the  State  to  institute  an  inquiry  on  an  extensive  scale  as  to  the 
occurrence  of  trichinte  in  American  pork,  and  as  to  the  danger  thereby  incurred, 
the  minister  for  the  home  department  had.  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1881, 
instructed  the  sanitary  inspector  for  the  province  of  South  Holland  to  suggest  in 
what  manner  such  an  inquiry  might  be  held  as  to  the  pork  imported  at  Rotterdam 
from  America. 

'  •  The  mode  of  inquiry  accordingly  proposed  by  the  latter  met  with  the  approval 
of  the  minister,  and  it  was  thereupon  determined  that  the  investigation  was  to  be 
held  under  the  supervision  of  the  undersigned,  by  a  few  persons  qual  tied  for  that 
purpose,  who  had  offered  their  services,  and  who  were  to  pursue  their  labors 
according  to  rules  fixed  uniformly  for  alL 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  687 

"  These  investigators  were  Dr.  F.  I.  Dupont,  who  had  moreover  taken  npon  him- 
self to  conduct  the  whole  of  the  inquiry  at  Rotterdam;  Dr.  W.  Nolen,  Dr.  H.  I. 
Feth,  professor  of  natural  history  at  the  higher  burgher  school  in  Rotterdam;  Mr. 
W.  A.  L.  Legebeke,  municipal  apothecary,  and  three  young  ladies  (one  of  whom 
has  a  diploma  entitling  her  to  teach  natural  history  at  middle-class  schools),  who 
have  given  most  satisfactory  proofs  of  their  ability  in  using  the  microscope  and  in 
detecting  trichinae. 

"In  order  to  have  sufficient  certainty  that  the  investigation  of  all  the  samples 
would  be  effected  according  to  the  same  rules,  full  instructions  were  framed  for 
the  guidance  of  the  investigators,  with  which  they  all  bound  themselves  to  comply." 

Succeeding  the  above  preliminarj' remarks  comes  a  recital  of  the  rules  in  accord- 
ance with  which  the  inspections  had  to  be  and  were  made,  and  a  full  description 
of  the  labor  performed  by  the  investigators. 

The  investigations  continued  over  a  period  of  several  months,  during  which 
eighteen  hundred  samples  of  American  pork,  bacon,  and  ham  were  thoroughly 
and  closely  examined  and  inspected,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  trichinae  in 
thirty-three  of  the  samples. 

The  report  then  closes  as  follows: 

"  The  proofs  that  were  taken  have  led  to  the  following  results,  viz: 

"With  boiled  pork,  containing  trichinae,  were  fed  one  young  pig  and  two  rats, 
all  three  with  negative  results. 

"With  raw  American  pork,  containing  trichinae,  taken  from  pieces  sent  to  the 
investigators,  were  fed  two  young  pigs,  one  young  rabbit,  and  four  dogs  of  about 
two  years  old.  A  careful  examination  led  to  the  conclusion  that  all  these  animals, 
killed  at  various  periods,  did  not  suffer,  or  had  not  suffered  in  any  way  from 
trichinous  disease. 

"Although  the  investigations  and  tests  in  a  matter  of  this  nature  can  never  be 
sufficiently  numerous  to  give  claim  to  a  scientific  infallible  conclusion,  yet  we 
consider  that  from  the  inquiry  that  has  been  held  we  may  safely  draw  the  follow- 
ing conclusions: 

"Among  the  pieces  of  American  pork  there  are  many  that  are  more  or  less 
infected  with  trichinae.    Nearly  2  per  cent  of  the  pieces  examined  were  trichinous. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  extensive  consumption  of  American  trichinous  pork  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  more  especially  at  Rotterdam,  the  trichinous  disease  has 
hitherto  not  been  detected  there.  More  than  6,000,000  kilograms  of  pork  were 
imported  from  America  in  1881  at  Rotterdam  alone. 

"It  is  possible  that  the  habit  of  the  Dutch  people  of  always  either  boiling  or 
roasting  the  said  meat  may  greatly  contribute  to  this  result.  Yet  it  is  probably 
not  always  boiled  or  roasted  so  long  as  to  secure  that  the  trichinae  in  the  inner- 
most parts  of  a  large  piece  are  infallibly  killed. 

"Proofs  taken  with  animals  by  feeding  them  with  boiled  and  raw  American 
trichinous  pork  have  shown  that  it  was  eaten  by  them  without  any  injurious 
effects. 

"We  have  therefore  every  reason  to  presume  that  the  strong  pickling  and 
smoking  of  the  said  meat  has  such  an  influence  on  the  life  of  the  trichinae  tliat 
during  the  many  weeks  or  months  that  elapse  between  the  slaughtering  of  the 
trichinous  animals  in  America  and  the  consumption  of  the  meat  in  this  country 
they  lose  all  vitality. 

•'  It  has  not  appeared  that  the  salted  and  smoked  pork,  as  it  is  brought  into  the 
market  from  America,  exposes  consumers  in  this  country  to  any  danger  from 
trichinous  disease. 

"  We  propose,  at  a  later  period,  to  report  to  your  excellency  on  the  proofs  that 
are  still  being  taken. 

"In  conclusion  we  take  the  liberty  to  point  to  the  expediency  of  causing  an 
investigation  to  be  instituted  on  a  extensive  scale  as  to  the  occurrence  of  trichinae 
in  native  pigs,  for  which  purpose  a  good  opportunity  will  present  itself  as  soon  as 
the  public  slaughterhouse  at  Rotterdam  shall  come  into  use." 


Spain. 
No.  121. 

Mr.  Fair  child  to  Mr.  Blaine. 

No.  176.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Madrid,  July  16, 1881.     (Received  August  4.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  instruction  No.  144, 
transmitting  copies  of  the  report  recently  made  by  an  officer  of  the  Department 


688  8WINE   PRODUCTS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  State  relative  to  the  late  minors  as  to  the  alleged  unhealthf  ulness  of  American 
pork. 

In  accordance  with  the  instructions  therein  contained  I  have  addressed  a  note 
upon  the  subject  to  tlie  minister  of  state,  and  at  the  same  time  transmitted  sev- 
eral copies  of  the  report  in  question.    A  copy  of  my  note  is  herewith  inclosed. 

As  your  instruction  was  very  naturally  based  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
admission  of  American  pork  into  Spain  was  still  prohibited,  it  is  necessary  that  I 
should  make  the  following  explanation: 

When  the  ciuestion  of  the  prohibition  of  American  pork  in  France  was  occupy- 
ing the  attention  of  the  l.'epartment  and  the  legation  at  Paris,  General  Noyns 
wrote  to  me  asking  to  be  informed  as  to  what  measures,  if  any,  had  been  tal<en' 
by  the  Spanish  Government  in  regard  to  the  entry  of  that  article  of  our  produce 
into  Spain.  I  at  once  examined  the  question  and  found  that  the  royal  order  of  the 
28th  February,  1880,  prohibiting  the  admission  of  American  pork  into  Spain  had 
been  annulled  by  royal  order  dated  the  10th  of  July,  of  the  same  year,  and  that 
that  article  would  thereafter  be  admitted  on  complying  with  certain  conditions 
prescribed  therein.     A  copy  of  this  order  was  sent  to  General  Noyes. 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  the  royal  order  of  10th  July,  above  referred  to,  entirely 
escaped  my  notice  at  the  time  of  its  issuance  and  publication,  thus  preventing  my 
sending,  as  I  certainly  should  have  done,  a  copy  to  the  Department.  I  now  send 
a  copy  and  translation  of  it  that  you  may  the  better  see  upon  what  conditions 
American  pork  is  now  permitted  to  enter  Spain.  Those  conditions.  I  have  no 
doubt,  will  appear  to  you  as  they  do  to  me,  just  and  proper,  and  to  which  no  rea- 
sonable objection  can  be  made  by  the  dealers  in  and  shippers  of  that  iini)ortant 
article  of  our  produce,  as  it  has  always  been  their  wish  that  the  article  should  be 
subjected  to  the  most  severe  inspection,  knowing  full  well  that  it  would  more  than 
stand  the  test  and  comparison  with  that  of  any  other  country. 

I  shall  avail  myself  of  every  opportunity  to  give  publicity  to  the  report  by  dis- 
tributing it  among  those  interested. 

1  have,  etc.,  Lucaus  Fairchild. 


[Inclosnre  1  In  No.  17tf.] 
Mr.  FairchUd  to  Minister  of  State. 

Madrid,  July  15,  1881. 

Excellency:  In  view  of  the  disastrous  effects  produced  throughout  Europe  by 
the  reports  of  the  alleged  unhealthf  ulness  of  American  pork  shipped  to  foreign 
countries,  an  oflBcer  of  the  Department  of  State  at  Washington  was  recently 
detailed  to  make  a  most  searching  and  impartial  investigation  concerning  the 
truth  or  untruth  of  such  reports. 

The  oflB(;er  in  question,  after  having  visited  the  cities  of  Chicago  and  Cincinnati, 
the  two  great  pork  centers,  and  where  are  situated  and  in  daily  operation  the  largest 
pork-slaughtering  establishments  in  the  United  States,  has  lately  submitted  the 
result  of  his  impartial  investigations  to  the  Secretary  of  State  in  a  report,  copies 
of  which  I  beg  to  hand  your  excellency  herewith. 

The  report  not  only  clearly  and  fully  proves  that  there  was  not  the  slightest 
foundation  for  the  alarming  reports  set  afloat,  but  also  as  clearly  shows  how 
impossible  it  is,  owing  to  the  severe  inspection  to  which  the  pork  is  subjected, 
whether  alive  or  dead,  for  unhealthful  pork  to  reach  either  the  home  or  the  for- 
eign markets.  For  your  excellency's  further  information,  and  for  greater  con- 
venience, I  beg  to  refer  to  the  conclusions  arrived  at  on  page  14  of  the  report  above 
mentioned. 

I  do  not  know  how  I  can  better  illustrate  to  your  excellency  the  entire  good  faith 
with  which  my  Government  ordered  the  inspection  to  be  made,  than  by  quoting 
the  following  paragraph  from  the  instructions  sent  to  me  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
in  transmitting  the  report  above  referred  to: 

'•This  investigation  was  forced  upon  the  Government  by  the  disastrous  effects 
produced  abroad  by  those  rumors,  and  by  the  action  of  several  European  govern- 
ments in  stringently  rest»icting  or  prohibiting  the  importation  of  swine  products 
from  this  country.  It  was  undertaken  in  the  most  impartial  spirit  and  with  full 
recognition  of  the  weighty  responsibility  which  would  rest  upon  this  Government 
should  the  prevalent  rumors  be  substantiated.  Had  it  been  found  that  this  great 
American  industry  was  the  means  of  disseminating  disease  and  death  abroad,  no 
admission  could  have  been  too  frank  or  prompt,  and  no  repressive  measures  too 
urgent  to  vindicate  our  national  good  faith. 

"As  it  is,  the  result  goes  beyond  our  most  sanguine  expectations  in  proving  the 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  689 

baselessness  of  the  statements  which  have  unhappily  wrought  such  injury  upon 
one  of  our  most  widely  spread  and  valuable  branches  of  foreign  commerce." 

I  may  add  that  the  information  contaihed  in  the  report  herewith  inclosed  is  only 
sent  to  your  excellency  to  bear  out  the  wise  and  just  decision  arrived  at  in  the 
royal  order  of  the  10th  of  July,  1880,  rescinding  that  of  February  28,  of  the  same 
year,  and  permitting  the  entry  into  Spain  of  pork  and  lard  proceeding  from  the 
United  States  on  certain  conditions  prescribed  therein.  This  laudable  action  of 
His  Catholic  Majesty's  Government  can  not  be  too  highly  commended. 

I  may  a  so  reier  your  exce  lency  to  the  action  of  the  Government  of  His  Majesty 
the  King  of  L'elgium  (on  pages  l'>  and  16  of  the  report  in  question),  which,  disre- 
garding the  popular  clamor  and  prejudice  and  examining  the  question  fairly  upon 
its  merits,  reached  some  time  since  the  conclusion,  to  which  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  is  also  irresistibly  led,  that  of  the  widely  spread  food  staple  of 
the  world's  commerce,  none  is  grown,  packed,  and  exported  under  conditions 
more  calculated  to  assure  safety  and  wholesomeness  than  the  pork  product  of 
America. 

I  have  inclosed  to  your  excellency  several  copies  of  the  report  referred  to,  not 
doubting  that  your  excellency  will,  in  the  interest  of  the  dealers  in  and  consumers 
of  Anieric  n  pork  in  Spain,  desire  to  give  publicity  to  the  facts  therein  contained. 
I  avail,  etc., 

Lucius  Fairchild. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  176.— Translation.! 
Minister  of  the  Interior  to  Minister  of  Hacienda. 

Excellency:  An  account  having  been  given  to  His  Majesty  of  the  applications 
made  by  various  merchants  andindustrials  of  Valladolid, Cartagena.  Santander,  and 
of  Madrid,  soliciting  the  derogation  of  the  royal  order  of  February  28,  ultimo,  which 
prohibited  the  introduction  into  Spain  of  pork  and  pork  grease,  proceeding  from 
the  United  States  of  America  and  Germany,  and  the  grounds  upon  which  their 
-petitions  were  based  having  been  attentively  examined;  and  whereas  the  observ- 
ance of  said  royal  decree  has  brought  about  a  remarkable  rise  in  the  price  of  the 
alimentary  substance  above  referred  to;  and  whereas  in  the  fusion  (melting)  of 
the  greases  no  trichina^  are  found  to  exist,  and  as  it  is  easily  recognized  with  the 
micioscope  in  the  lean  parts  of  pork,  as  in  other  meats;  and  as  the  same  exam- 
ination when  made  of  the  greases  obtained  by  pressure  does  not  give  the  assurance 
that  they  are  free  from  the  said  parasite;  and 

Considering  that  the  rise  experienced  in  the  prices  of  pork  and  pork  grease  shows 
the  insutliciency  of  the  national  production  to  meet  public  consumption,  and 
deprives  the  poorer  class  of  a  most  necessary  food;  and  considering  how  difficult 
it  is  to  avoid  fraud  on  account  of  the  impossibility  of  proving  the  country  of  pro- 
duction when  they  come  from  nonprohibited  places;  and  considering  that  a  guar- 
anty must  be  given  to  public  health  without  injuring  the  interests  of  commerce, 
His  Maiesty  the  King,  having  heard  the  opinion  of  the  royal  board  of  health,  has 
deigned  to  decree  as  follows: 

1.  The  royal  order  of  28th  February,  ultimo,  which  prohibits  the  introduction  of 
pork  and  pork  grease  proceeding  from  the  United  States  of  America  and  Germany 
is  annulled. 

2.  Only  the  prohibition  regarding  the  greases  coming  from  the  United  States 
which  have  not  been  obtained  through  melting  will  continue  in  force. 

3.  All  meats  which  may  be  introduced  shall  be  subjected  to  a  scrupulous  and 
microscopic  inspection,  and  all  that  which  contains  trichinae  or  is  injurious  to 
health  shall  be  destroyed. 

4.  The  inspection  shall  be  made  by  a  farrier  of  superior  category  appointed  by 
the  gobernado  of  the  province,  and  paid  by  the  importers  in  accordance  with  the 
following  tariff. 

5.  The  introduction  of  said  meats  and  greases  shall  only  be  effected  through  the 
first-class  customs. 

6.  The  foregoing  provisions  will  be  applied  to  meats  and  greases  already  imported 
and  pending  clearance  at  the  custom-houses. 

By  royal  order  1  communicate  this  to  your  excellency  for  your  information,  and 
in  order  that  the  necessary  orders  to  the  above  effect  may  be  given  by  the  ministry 
under  your  worthy  charge. 

Gcd  guard  your  excellency  many  years. 

Francisco  Romero  Robledo. 

Madrid,  July  10,  1880. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 44 


690  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Tariff  for  the  payment  of  fees  for  the  insppction  of  pork  which  may  be  imported 
from  the  United  States  of  America  and  Germany:  For  each  case  containing  from 
80  to  100  hams.  2  pesetas;  for  each  case  containing  from  '250  to  300  shoulders,  feet, 
legs,  or  tongues.  2  pesetas  50  centimes;  for  each  case  of  bacon  (containing  muscu- 
lar fiber)  of  from  20  to  30  pieces,  1  peseta  50  centimes. 

Approved  by  me. 

Madrid,  July  10, 1S80, 


Romero. 


No.  122. 

Mr.  JUarston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

[Telegram.] 

Malaga,  February  18,  1882, 
No  trichinae  found  in  American  port  in  Malaga  as  reported. 

Marstok,  Consul. 


No.  123. 

Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  76.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  Spain.  February  14,  ISS'J.     (Received  March  5.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  appearance  in  Malaga  of  the  miich-dreaded 
trichinfe,  and  I  herewith  inclose  copy  of  an  official  bulletin  issued  yesterday  by 
the  civil  governor  of  the  province,  cautioning  the  public  against  the  use  of  pork, 
ham.  sausage,  etc..  and  providing  such  preventives  as  will  arrest  the  further 
spread  of  the  malady.  About  20  jjersons  are  now  suffering  from  this  affliction 
(7  in  one  house),  and  1  person  has  died  from  its  effects.  From  the  investigation 
that  I  have  made  thus  far.  it  appears  that  some  of  those  who  are  afflicted  have 
eaten  longaniza  or  sansage  brought  from  Galena  in  the  district  of  Seville,  and  it 
is  claimed  that  one  case  has  been  traced  to  a  person  havmg  eaten  ham  said  to  have 
been  imported  from  the  United  States;  but  of  this  there  is  no  certainty:  in  fact. 
I  question  whether  any  proof  exists  as  to  where  the  ham  came  from.  I  am  inves- 
tigating the  subject,  however,  and  will  report  the  origin  if  possible. 

The  longaniza  or  sausage  is  made  from  raw  fresh  pork,  and  is  intended  to  be 
cooked  before  being  eaten.    Therefore  it  is  not  possible  that  the  pork  used  in 
making  the  sausage  came  from  the  United  States,  but  is  home  production. 
lam,  etc., 

H.  C.  Marston,  Consul. 


[Inclosare  in  76.— Oflacial  bulletin  extra  of  the  province  of  Malaga.— Translation.] 
CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

Malaga,  February  11, 1883. 

The  terrible  malady  wh'ch  has  caused  such  ravages  in  Grermany  and  other  coun- 
tries, and  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  trichinosis,  being  caused  by  the  presence 
of  a  microscopic  parasite  in  the  flesh  of  swine,  has  appeared  at  Malaga  among 
I)er8ons  who  have  eaten  of  that  flesh,  and  more  than  20  individuals  are  nowaffected 
with  the  disease. 

The  provincial  board  of  health  and  the  medical  society  have  ascertained  by 
microscopic  analysis  that  sausages  and  pork  sold  in  the  market  contain  the  germ 
of  the  disease. 

In  view  of  this  fact,  and  having  heard  the  opinion  of  the  provincial  board  of 
health.  I  have  resolved,  among  other  measures,  to  warn  the  public  of  the  great  risk 
which  attends  the  eating  of  pork  in  all  its  forms,  unless  it  has  been  boiled  or  fried 
sufficiently  to  destroy  the  germ  of  the  disease.  For  this  purpose  the  pork  or  ^iau- 
sage  should  be  cut  or  slit  in  many  places,  in  order  that  the  center  may  be  exposed 
to  a  temperature  exceeding  at  least  70'  C.    It  must  be  remembered  that  trichinae 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  691 

are  so  tenacious  of  life  that  they  are  not  destroy^^d  by  putrefaction,  salting,  smok- 
ing, or  pickling,  i  have  further  ordered  that  all  pork,  lard,  and  sausages  in  Malaga 
shall  be  carefullj'  examined  bj*  a  scientific  coinmi^sion  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
and  in  order  that  the  public  may  more  easily  enjoy  the  benefit  thereof ,  the  authori- 
ties have  procured  two  miser. jscopes— one  at  the  slaughterhouse  and  the  other  in 
the  market  p'ace.  wber^^  experts  will  be  found  ready  to  examine,  by  aid  of  the 
microscope,  free  of  charge,  all  meat  and  sausages  that  maj-  be  presented  to  them. 

Teodoro  JBaro,  Governor. 


No.  124. 

Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  77.]  UxiTED  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  Spain,  February  19.  1S83.     (Received  March  10.) 

StK:  I  have  the  honor  to  continue  my  report  upon  trichin*  in  Malaga,  which 
was  the  subjtct  of  my  dispatch  No.  76,  under  date  of  February  14,  1888.  Since 
writing  that  dispatch  I  have  obtained  a  copy  of  a  telegram  forwarded  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  Malaga  to  the  Spanish  Grovernment  at  Madrid.  As  the  civil  governor 
distinctly  says  in  that  dispatch  that  one  p^^rson  had  acquired  the  malady  tlirough 
eating  ham  imported  from  America,  I  immediately  addressed  his  excellency  a 
communication,  under  date  of  the  loth  instant,  and  his  reply,  dated  the  17th 
instant,  reached  me  on  Sunday  morning,  the  18th  instant.  You  will  see  that  he 
mw  declares  that  no  proof  exists  that  any  American  ham  or  pork  has  been  found 
affected  with  trichinre.  On  receipt  of  the  governor's  letter,  on  the  18th  instant, 
and  knowing  that  the  Society  of  Natural  and  Phj-sical  Sciences  had  made  micro- 
scopic inspection  of  all  meats  in  Malaga  which  the  authorities  had  suspected,  I 
addressed  the  president  of  that  society,  and  received  his  official  reply  the  same  day. 

Early  Sunday  morning,  the  18th  February.  1  was  applied  to  for  information 
upon  the  subject  of  trichinne  by  parties  who  had  received  telegrams  from  England 
asking  whether  20  persons  had  died  in  Malaga,  as  reported  by  telegraph  from  Madrid. 
This  convinced  me  that  the  alarm  was  widespread  and  gravely  detrimental  to 
American  interests,  and  I  felt  justified  in  tele.graphing  to  your  Department. 
Especially  did  I  feel  authorized  so  to  do  with  the  official  letter  of  the  civil  governor 
in  my  possession,  as  well  as  that  of  the  president  of  the  society,  to  whom  all  sus- 
pected meats  had  been  referred.  I  also  made  it  my  business  to  see  that  answers 
to  the  telegrams  from  England  were  sent  in  accordance  with  the  facts,  although  I 
fear  that  grave  iniury  has  resulted  from  the  false  reports  in  circulation,  yet 
prompt  denial  will  allay  to  some  extent  tiie  excitement  caused.  Previous  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  trichina?  in  Malaga  every  store  where  meats  were  sold  had  a 
large  supply  of  American  hams;  whereas  the  day  following  the  publication  of  the 
governor's  report  to  Madrid  not  an  American  ham  could  be  found  in  Malaga. 
They  had  all  suddenly  changed  into  English  hams.  There  are  now  about  25  persons 
suffering  from  trichinosis  in  Malaga  and  3  have  died. 

Hoping  this  report  will  meet  with  your  approval,  I  am,  etc., 

H.  C.  Marston,  Consul. 


[Inclosure  1  in  No.  77.— Telegram.— Translation.] 
Governor  of  Malaga  to  the  Spanish  Government. 

Several  cases  of  trichinosis  have  occurred  at  this  capital,  there  being  four  per- 
sons in  a  single  house  who  are  affected  with  the  disease,  two  of  them  dangerously 
so.  Three,  moreover,  have  symptoms  of  the  disease,  and  in  another  house  one. 
We  have  also  learned  that  two  other  persons  have  been  attacked.  I  at  once  con- 
voked the  board  of  health,  and  suitable  measures  have  been  adopted  to  check  the 
disease.  The  cause  of  the  sickness  in  the  seven  persons  first  referred  to  was  the 
eating  of  sausages  from  Galena,  in  Cadiz,  to  the  governor  of  which  province  I 
have  reported  by  telegraph  what  has  taken  place;  and  the  eighth  was  attacked  in 
consequence  of  having  eaten  ham  imported  from  America.  The  meat,  upon 
examination  with  a  microscope  by  experts,  was  found  to  contain  trichinae. 


692  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OB'    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

[Inclosure  2  in  No.  77.] 
Mr.  Marston  to  the  Oovemor  of  Malaga. 

United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  February  15,  188S. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  address  your  excellency  upon  the  subject  of  the  appear- 
ance of  trichinne  in  Malaga.  Maj'  I  beg,  in  pursuance  of  uiy  duty  as  American 
consul  at  this  place,  that  you  will  furnish  me  with  whatever  knowledge  you  pos- 
sess that  the  hams  eaten  by  one  or  more  of  the  sufferers  were  imported  from  the 
United  States,  as  contained  in  the  published  dispatch  sent  by  your  excellency 
officially  to  Madrid? 

I  have,  etc.,  H.  C.  Maeston,  Consul, 


[Inclosure  3  in  No.  77.— Translation.] 

The  Governor  of  Malaga  to  Mr.  Marston. 

Malaga,  February  17,  188S. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  reply  to  your  polite  communication  of  the  15th  instant, 
and  to  inform  you  that  I  have  reported  to  the  Government  that  the  cases  of  trichi- 
nosis that  had  occurred  in  this  capital  were  due,  according  to  intelligence  received, 
to  the  eating  of  pork  imported  from  the  nation  which  you  so  worthily  represent 
in  this  city.  These  reports  were  afterwards  not  confirmed,  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  pork  which  originated  the  cases  in  question  was  not  the  fresh  meat  of  hogs 
slaughtered  in  this  city.  This  is  all  I  have  to  communicate  in  reply  to  your  polite 
note. 
God  guard  you  for  many  years. 

Teodoro  Bar6, 
Civil  Governor. 


[Inclosure  4  in  No.  77.] 
Mr.  Marston  to  the  President  of  the  Society  of  Natural  and  Physical  Sciences. 

United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  February  18,  1S83. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  with  yon  upon  the  subject  of  trichinae  in 
Malaga.  I  understand  that  your  society  have  examined  all  samples  of  ham.  pork, 
loiKjaniza.  etc.,  which  the  authorities  of  Malaga  have  suspected  as  being  affected 
with  trichinae.  Have  any  trichinae  been  detected  in  any  hams  or  pork  reported  to 
have  been  imported  from  the  United  States?  Your  answer  to  this  inquiry  will 
greatly  oblige,  etc. 

U.  C.  Marston,  Consul. 


[Inclosure  5  in  No.  77.— Translation.] 
Mr.  Orneta  to  Mr.  Marston. 

Society  op  Physical  and  Natural  Sciences  of  Malaga, 

Old  College  of  San  Telmo, 

Malaga,  February  IS,  18SS. 
I  have  received  your  communication  of  this  date,  and  I  have  the  honor  to  inform 
you  that  Trichina  spiralis  has  been  detected  by  this  society  in  sausage  of  whose 
origin  we  are  ignorant.    In  the  other  cases  in  which  swine's  flesh  was  examined 
we  have  as  yet  been  unable  to  establish  its  existence. 
May  God  preserve  your  life  for  many  years. 

DoMO.  De  Orneta,  President. 
A.  Prolongo,  Secretary. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  693 

No.  125. 

Mr,  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  78.  J  United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  February  24,  1883.  (Received  March  13.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  continue  my  report  upon  trichinse  in  Malaga,  which  was 
the  subject  of  my  dispatches  Nos.  7(5  and  77.  I  was  so  indignant  at  the  declara- 
tion that  tri-hinae  had  originated  in  Amei'ican  hams  without  any  proof  thereof 
that  I  induced  the  authorities  here  to  make  all  possible  efforts  to  trace  the  origin, 
happily  with  success,  as  you  will  see  by  tbe  inclosed  paragraph  which  appeared  in 
this  morning's  paper.  Happily  we  have  a  civil  governor  whose  administration  is 
an  honorable  and  just  one. 

I  am,  etc.,  H.  C.  Marston,  Consul. 


[Inclosure  in  "So.  78.— Extract  from  Malaga  newspaper.— Translation.] 

It  appears  from  a  telegram  received  by  the  governor  of  Malaga  from  the  gov- 
ernor of  Seville  that  Jose  Diaz,  a  sausage  vender  at  Galena,  brought  to  this  city 
the  sausage  containing  trichinte,  which  has  caused  all  the  sickness  and  alarm  here. 
Various  examinations  have  been  made  of  pork  at  Galena,  in  some  of  which  tri- 
chinae have  been  found.  The  pork  thus  affected  has  been  burned,  and  the  authori- 
ties have  issued  stringent  orders  with  a  view  to  preventing  the  spread  of  the  disease. 
They  have,  moreover,  reported  the  matter  to  the  General  Government. 


No.  126. 
Mr.  Reed  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  173.]  Legation  of  the  (Jnited  States, 

Madrid,  February  28,  1883.     (Received  March  17.) 

Sir:  Some  days  since  I  saw  in  the  Madrid  papers  that  several  cases  of  trichinosis 
had  occurred  at  Malaga,  some  of  which  it  was  alleged  had  been  caused  by  the  eat- 
ing of  raw  ham  proceeding  from  the  Un  ted  States. 

At  about  the  same  time  I  received  a  dispatch  from  Mr.  Marston,  our  consul  at 
Malaga,  dated  the  isth  instant,  informing  me  of  his  action  in  the  matter  and  inclos- 
ing a  copy  of  his  telegram  and  of  his  dispatch  upon  the  subject  to  the  Department, 
dated  the  14th  instant. 

In  view  of  the  very  worthy  and  prompt  action  of  Mr.  Marston.  I  did  not  deem  it 
necess'ary  for  me  to  act  here,  but  seeing  in  the  papers  of  Saturday  last  that  some 
of  the  persons  attacked  had  died  and  that  the  authorities  at  Malaga  had  under 
consideration  the  propriety  of  recommending  the  issuance  of  an  order  preventing 
the  further  importation  of  pork  from  the  United  States,  and  knowing  how  diffi- 
cult it  would  be  if  the  order  was  once  issued  to  have  it  rescmded,  I  deemed  it  my 
duty  to  do  what  I  jiroperly  could  to  prevent  any  such  order  from  being  issued. 
With  this  object  in  view  1  at  once  proceeded  to  the  direction-general  of  health,  etc. 
(under  the  direction  of  the  ministry  of  gobernacion).  and  not  finding  the  director- 
general  in,  asked  to  see  the  next  officer  in  charge.  This  gentleman  received  me 
very  courteously,  and  after  explaining  the  object  of  my  visit,  he  advised  me  to 
write  an  unofficial  note  to  the  minister  of  gobernacion  upon  the  subject,  assuring 
me  at  the  same  time  that  it  would  receive  prompt  attention.  This  I  did  on  Monday, 
the  2fith  instant,  inclosing  for  his  further  information  two  copies  of  the  report  on 
"American  pork,"  made  by  Mr.  Scanlan  in  18':>1,  under  the  direction  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State.     1  beg  to  inclose  a  copy  and  translation  of  my  note. 

Last  evening  I  received  the  reply  of  the  minister  of  gobernacion  (a  copy  and 
translation  of  which  I  also  beg  to  inclose  herewith) .  expressing  thanks  for  the 
copies  of  the  report  and  informing  me  that  up  to  the  present  time  it  had  not  been 
decided  to  introduce  any  changes  whatever  in  regard  to  the  sanitary  formalities 
established  for  the  introduction  into  Spain  of  pork  proceeding  from  the  United 
States,  and  adding  that  he  proposed  to  make  a  careful  study  of  the  report  which  I 
sent  him. 

I  feel  quite  certain  that  no  order  will  be  issned  preventing  the  further  importa- 
tion of  American  pork.     I  am  strengthened  in  this  belief  by  the  reception  to-day 


694  SWIXE    PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

of  another  dispatch  from  Mr.  Maraton.  dated  the  •24th  instant,  inclosing  a  copy  of 
a  parajfraph  taken  that  morning  from  a  Malaga  paper  stating  that  it  had  lieeu 
ascertained  tha*^^  the  cases  of  trichinosis  were  caused  by  the  ^fating  of  longanizas 
(a  kind  of  sausage),  prepared  by  one  Jose  Diaz,  of  Galena,  and  that  the  pork  or 
meats  in  his  possession  in  which  trichinse  were  found  had  been  burned  and  strict 
orders  given  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  evil. 

I  shall  continue,  however,  to  keep  a  careful  watch,  and  should  I  have  occasion 
so  to  do  will  make  every  effort  to  prevent  any  action  by  the  authorities  here  detri- 
mental to  the  introduction  into  Spain  of  this  important  article  of  our  produce. 

In  closing  this  dispatch  I  beg  to  strongly  commend  the  course  pursued  by  Mr. 
Marstou. 

I  have,  etc.,  Dwight  T.  Reed. 


[Inclosure  1  In  No.  173.— Translation.] 

Mr,  Reed  to  the  Minister  of  Gobernacion, 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Madrid,  February  26,  1883. 

Sir:  According  to  the  newspapers  it  appears  that  there  has  lately  occurred  at 
Malaga  several  cases  of  trichinosis,  of  which,  it  is  alleged,  were  caused  by  eating 
ham  imported  from  the  United  States,  and  that  in  consequence  of  this  the  authori- 
ties have  under  consideration  the  propriety  of  recommending  the  prohibition  of 
further  importation  of  pork,  hams,  etc.,  from  that  country. 

In  view  of  the  above-mentioned  statement  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  inclose  for  your 
excellency's  iniormation  two  copies  of  a  report  gi\'ing  the  result  of  an  investiga- 
tion made  in  ISSi,  under  the  direction  of  the  Department  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  in  regard  to  American  pork.  This  report  explains  very  clearly  how  Ameri- 
can swine  is  fattened,  slaughtered,  and  prepared  for  the  market,  and  how  very 
impossible  it  is  for  the  pork,  hams,  etc.,  to  contain  trichinje. 

While  I  know  nothing  in  regard  to  the  cases  of  trichinosis,  referred  to,  or  of  the 
intentions  of  the  Government  in  regard  to  the  matter  further  than  what  I  have 
seen  in  the  newspapers,  my  object  in  writing  this  note  is  to  reciuest,  unofficially, 
your  excellency's  powerful  aid  in  preventmg  the  issuance  of  any  order  which 
would  prohibit  the  importation  into  Spain  of  American  pork.  hams.  etc. 

Begging  that  your  excellency  will  give  the  matter  your  early  consideration,  I 
avail,  etc., 

Dwight  T.  Reed, 
Chargi  d' Affaires  ad  int. 


[Inclosure  3  in  173.] 

Mr.  Gallon  to  Mr.  Reed, 

Ministry  of  Gobernacion, 

February  27,  188S. 
Sir:  I  have  received  with  much  pleasure  your  polite  letter  dated  26th  instant, 
and  the  two  pamphlets  which  accompanied  it. 

I  give  to  you  my  best  thanks  for  your  kindness,  and  I  am  able  to  state  to  you 
that  up  to  the  present  moment  it  has  not  been  decided  to  introduce  any  change  in 
the  sanitary  formalities  estalilished  for  the  introduction  of  pork  proceeding  from 
the  nation  you  so  worthily  represent  in  this  court. 

I  propose  to  make  a  careful  study  of  said  report;  and,  renewing  my  thanks,  I 
am,  etc., 

Pio  Gallou. 


No.  127. 

Mr,  Davis  to  Mr.  Marston. 

No.  41.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  March  7,  1883. 

Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  dispatch  No.        dated  the  14th 
ultimo,  reporting  the  appearance  of  trichinae  in  sausage,  pork,  and  ham  at  Malaga, 


SWIIS^E    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  695 

which  has  seriously  affected  a  number  of  consumers.  In  reply,  j'ou  are  requested 
to  keep  the  Department  fully  informed  on  the  subject  Our  experience  else- 
where leads  us  to  the  conviction  that  the  trichinte  are  not  to  be  attributed  to  the 
American  products,  but  are  usually  the  result  of  eating  the  native  pork  uncooked. 
There  is  as  yet  no  reason  to  believe  that  a  different  result  will  be  found  in  Malaga. 
Your  further  report  is  awaited  with  interest. 

I  am,  etc. ,  John  Davis, 

Assistant  Secretary. 


No.  128. 

Mr.  Badeau  to  Mr.  Davis. 

[Telegram.] 

Habana,  April  5,  1883. 
Authorities  have  to-day  ordered  all  hog's  lard  coming  from  United  States  to 
Cuba  to  be  examined  before  landing. 

Badeau. 


No.  129. 

Mr.  Badeau  to  3Ir.  Davis. 

No.  98.1  •  Consulate-General  of  the  United  States, 

Habana,  April  5,  1883.     (Received  April  10.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  forward  herewith  an  order  of  the  governor-general, 
with  translation,  dated  April  1.  but  published  this  day,  relative  to  the  inspection 
of  hogs  lard  coming  from  the  United  States. 

lam,  etc.,  Adam  Badeau, 

Consul-  General, 


[Inclosure  in  No.  98.— Translation.] 

order  of  the  governor-general. 

Government-General  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  Bureau,  Health, 

Habana,  April  1,  1885. 

On  this  date  is  communicated  to  the  civil  governor  of  the  island  the  following: 

In  view  of  the  statements  made  to  this  central  government  by  the  Spanish  con- 
sul at  New  York  in  regard  to  the  bad  hygienic  condition  of  a  certain  class  of  hog's 
lard,  which,  with  different  marks,  is  imported  into  this  island  from  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  in  view  also  of  the  result  of  the  analysis  made  by  the  sub- 
delegate  of  pharmacy  of  this  capital  of  the  sample  of  said  grease  forwarded  by  the 
said  consular  officer,  the  governor-general,  by  decree  of  this  date,  has  been  pleased 
to  order  that  the  hogs  lard  of  said  origin,  of  every  class  of  mark,  arriving  at  the 
ports  of  this  island,  whether  coming  in  tierces  or  any  other  wooden  vessel  what- 
soever, shall  be  inspected  by  the  boarding  physicians  before  being  conveyed  to  the 
respective  custom-houses;  and  you  are  directed  to  order  what  is  necessary,  so  that 
this  duty  may  be  performed  with  the  celerity,  exactness,  and  care  which  every- 
thing relative  to  the  public  health  demands. 

At  the  same  time  his  excellency  has  ordered  that  upon  the  publication  in  the 
official  bulletin  of  this  province  of  the  aforesaid  result  you  recommend  to  the  local 
authorities  and  board  of  health  the  greatest  watchfulness  over  the  establishments 
from  which  the  above-mentioned  articles  issued,  in  order  to  prevent  the  sale  of 
the  same  in  improper  condition  for  consumption  for  the  food  of  families. 

This  order  of  his  excellency  is  published  in  the  Official  Gazette  for  general 
information. 

M.  Diaz  de  la  Qulntana, 


G96  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

No.  130. 

Mr,  Badeaii  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  105.]  Consulate-General  of  the  United  States, 

Habana.  April  10,  18SS.  (Received  April  17.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  my  dispatches  Nos.  98  and  101,  of  April  "i  and  7,  respectively, 
I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  inimediat^-ly  upon  the  appearance  of  the  ord»  r  rela- 
tive to  the  in8i>ection  of  American  hog's  lard,  of  which  a  copy  was  forwarded  with 
my  No.  98,  I  addressed  a  comuinnication  to  the  governor-general,  reiiuesting  a 
copy  of  the  communication  of  the  Spanish  consul  at  New  York,  and  of  the  report 
of  the  subdelegate  of  pharmacy  of  this  cit^^  or  any  other  information  on  which 
the  said  order  was  based:  but  1  recf'ived  from  his  excellency  a  reply  declining  to 
accede  to  my  recjuest.  on  the  ground  that  the  documents  in  question  could  be  for- 
warded only  to  the  Government  of  the  King  (Ao  iiuedo  facilitarlos  mas  que  al 
Gdbierno  de  S.  M.  el  Rey). 

I  have,  etc.,  Adam  Badeau,  Consul-Oeneral. 


No.  131. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Reed. 

No.  150.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  April  12,  1S8S. 

Sir:  Your  No.  173  of  the  25th  of  February  last,  in  regard  to  the  case  of  trichi- 
nosis at  Malaga,  whic'i  it  was  alleged  was  produced  by  eating  American  pork,  and 
Inclosing  a  copy  of  your  note  to  the  minister  of  gobernacion  on  the  subject,  and 
of  his  rep'y  thereto,  has  been  received. 

It  is  probable  that  all  the  cases  of  alleged  trichinosis  from  eating  American  pork 
which  are  spoi*adically  reported  in  Europe  from  time  to  time  would,  if  properly 
examined,  prove  to  be  as  groundless  as  in  the  present  instance. 

Your  action  is  approved,  although  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  irregular 
to  correspond,  even  unofficially,  with  the  branches  of  the  Spanish  Government 
other  than  the  foreign  office. 

It  is  deemed  proper  that  you  should  watch  this  matter  carefully  and  be  prepared 
to  address  a  note  to  the  minister  of  state  immediately  on  the  appearance  of  any 
agitation  hostile  to  American  pork  in  Spain. 

Consul  Marston's  vigilance  will  be  commended. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  182. 

Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Badeau. 

No.  40.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  April  IS,  1S8S. 

Sir:  Your  dispatch  of  the  5th  instant,  No.  98.  has  been  received,  inclosing  a  copy 
of  the  recent  order  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba  in  relation  to  the  inspection 
of  hog's  lard  imported  into  Cuba  from  the  United  States. 

The  reason  assigned  for  the  promulgation  of  the  order  in  question,  as  stated  by 
the  governor,  is  that  he  has  received  certain  information  from  the  Spanish  consul 
at  New  York  to  the  effect  that  lard  of  a  bad  quality  and  dangerous  to  the  health 
of  its  consumers  is  shipped  from  the  latter  port  to  Habana  and  other  ports  in  Cuba, 
and  that  the  inspection  and  supervi-sion  over  such  shipments  provided  for  by  the 
order  in  question  are  rendered  necessary  in  the  interest  of  the  pn>>lic  health.  To 
an  order  or  regulation  inspired  bj*  such  higli  public  motives  no  objection  can  with 
propriety  1  e  opposed.  'The  right  of  every  government  to  adopt  such  precautionary 
measures  for  the  safetj*  of  its  subjects  and  the  preservation  o''  the  public  health  is 
a  sovereiirn  prerogative  which  this  Government  would  l;e  the  last  to  question.  It 
is  only  when  in  practice  such  a  measure  may  be  shown  to  1)6  an  international  dis- 
crimination against  citizens  of  the  United  States  that  these  citi  ens  would  have  a 
right  to  complain,  and  that  this  Government  might  feel  it  its  duty  to  remonstrate. 

There  are  vast  regions  of  North  America  outside  the  territories  of  the  United 
States  where  hog  raising  is  prosecuted  extensively,  much  of  the  lard  product  of 
which,  it  may  be  presumed,  finds  its  way  to  Cuba,  and  which  certainly  would  seek 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  697 

that  market  should  lard  from  the  United  States  be  practically  excluded.  It  is  only 
deemed  necessary  at  present  to  instruct  you  to  observe  closely  and  diligently  the 
operation  of  the  order  and  the  practice  under  it.  and  to  report  to  the  Department 
"Without  delay  any  case  which,  upon  examination  of  the  tacts,  you  may  be  led  to 
believe  forms  just  grounds  tor  complaint.  ,lt  is  believed,  however,  that  impure 
lard  is  not  exported  from  the  United  States,  and  it  is  not  imposs  ble  that  through 
a  misunderstanding  of  the  trade  classification  the  statements  of  the  consul-general 
were  based  upon  samples  of  "'grease,"  which  is  always  plainly  marked,  and  can 
not  be  mistaken  or  used  for  lard.  It  is  hoped  that  you  will  make  further  imjiiiries 
as  to  the  reason  for  the  order  and  as  to  the  samples  on  which  it  was  based,  that 
the  Department  may  be  fully  informed  on  the  subject.  A  copy  of  a  report  made 
after  an  investigation  of  this  subject  in  1881,  by  order  of  this  Department,  is 
inclosed  for  your  information.' 

I  am,  etc.,  John  Davis, 

Assistant  Secretary. 


No.  133. 

3Ir,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Reed, 

No.  159.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  May  3,  1S83, 
Sir:  I  inclose  a  copy  of  an  order  (translation)  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba, 
of  April  1.  iS'^'i.  touching-  th^  insi)ection  of  hog's  lard  coming  to  that  island  from 
the  United  States,  and  ot  a  telegram  from  our  consul-general  there  with  regard 
to  a  later  order  requiring  the  inspection  to  be  made  before  landing.  I  also  inclose 
a  copy  of  Mr.  Badeaus  No.  105  on  the  subject.-  The  purpose  of  this  instruction 
is  to  procure  for  communication  to  the  co'isul-general  copies  of  the  papers  men- 
tioned in  dispatch  No.  105  not  obtainable  from  the  local  government. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  134. 

Mr.  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  86.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  May  9,  18S3.     (Received  May  29.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  again  with  your  Department  upon  the 
6ubje:jt  of  trich'me  found  in  a  shoulder  of  bacon  on  the  11th  ultimo  in  Malaga. 

I  investigated  the  case  at  the  time,  but  I  have  awaited  the  official  report,  which 
only  reached  me  on  yest  rday.  from  the  president  of  the  Society  of  Natural  and 
Physical  Sciences  in  this  city,  to  whom  the  whole  case  was  referred  for  examina- 
tion and  report.  This  bacon  has  been  traced  as  coming  from  Manchester.  England, 
and  the  English  consul  in  Malaga  has  forwarded  also  a  copy  of  the  inclosed  com- 
munication to  the  British  foreign  office.  The  results,  if  anj\  I  will  communicate 
forthwith.  Fortunately  this  piece  of  bacon  was  sent  for  examination  to  the  society 
before  anyone  had  eaten  of  it. 

I  am,  etc.,  H.  C.  Marston, 

United  States  Consul. 


[Inclosure  in  No.  86.— Translation.] 

Report  of  the  president  of  the  Society  of  Natural  and  Physical  Sciences. 

Society  of  Natural  and  Physical  Sciences  of  Malaga, 

Old  College  of  San  Telmo, 

Malaga,  May  6, 1883. 
As  I  am  aware  of  the  interest  which  you  have  taken  in  the  trichina  case  in 
Malaga,  especially  since  the  existence  of  trichinae  was  discovered  in  a  ham  by  this 
society,  I  have  the  honor  to  lay  before  you  a  report  which  I  have  received  from  the 

'  See  House  Ex.  Doc.  209.  Forty-seventh  Congress,  first  session,  page  179. 
*  See  ante  for  inclosures  in  this  instruction. 


698  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

first  alcalde  of  this  capital,  in  reply  to  my  communications,  which  report  is  as 
follows: 

•■As  soon  as  I  received  your  esteemed  communication  of  the  11th  instant,  inform- 
ing me  that  the  ham  pi-eseute<l  for  inspection  by  Don  .lost-  A'eanza  to  the  society 
over  which  you  so  worthily  preside,  contained  eicysted  trichinie.  I  orden-d  that 
measures  should  be  taken  to  discover  the  origin  of  said  ham.  and  that  the  hams  in 
the  establishment  Irom  wh;ch  it  was  procured  should  be  sei-  ed  for  inspection. 

•'So  efficient  were  the  steps  taken  by  the  board  of  hnalth  in  pursuance  of  my 
instructions  that  it  was  proved  that  the  ham  in  questi  n  had  been  sold  at  the  fresh 
and  salt  meat  market  ot  Don  Antonio  Baro  Guerrero,  >.o.  17  Five  Ball  alley.  Mr. 
Guerrero  was  summoned  to  appear  before  me,  and  the  following  instrument  was 
drawn  up:  In  the  city  of  Malaga,  on  the  ]'2th  day  of  April.  188;).  it  being  about  '6 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Don  Antonio  BaroGnerrero.  ha\  ingbeen  duly  summoned, 
appeared  before  the  constitut  onal  alcalde  of  this  citv,  the  said  Guerrero  being  an 
inhabitant  of  this  city,  residing  at  No.  IT  Five  Ball  alley,  where  he  kteps  an  estab- 
lishment for  the  sale  of  fresh  and  salt  meat,  and  being  requested  to  state  whether 
it  was  true  that  the  ham  presented  by  Don  Jose  A  eau/ca  f(ir  inspection  to  the 
Academy  of  Physical  and  Natural  Sciences  was  bought  by  the  said  Aleanza  at  his 
establishment,  he  said  that  the  ham  in  question  was.  indeed,  purchased  by  Mr. 
Aleanza  at  his  establishment,  it  having  been  one  of  a  lot  which  he  had  received 
on  the  6th  of  February  last  from  the  firm  of  Leverhns.  Husk  &  Co.,  of  Man- 
chester, by  the  steamer  Mamiela,  of  which  he  produced  the  invoice  and  bill  of 
lading. 

"The  invoice  having  been  examined,  he  was  requested  to  explain  the  difference 
between  the  49"2  kilograms  named  in  the  invoice  and  the  CO  or  80  kilograms  which 
were  approximately  the  weight  of  the  5  hams  seized  by  the  commission  at  his 
aforesaid  establishment;  whereupon  he  said  tuat  the  difference  was  owing  to  the 
fact  that  he  had  sold  these  hams  to  various  unknown  persons,  but  that  he  had  thus 
far  heard  of  no  accident  resulting  from  the  consumption  thereof.  No  further 
])rcceedmg8  took  place,  and  the  parties  concerned  signed  their  names,  to  which  I, 
the  secretary. certify.  Carlos  Davila.  L.  Castilla.  Anto.  Paro,  Jose  Ma.  Lopes.  I 
communicate  to  you  the  foregoing  for  your  mformation  and  in  reply  to  your  com- 
munication of  the  ITth  instant,  and  I  must  at  the  same  time  inform  j'ou  that, 
according  to  a  communication  received  from  the  president  of  the  board  of  health, 
of  the  18th  instant,  the  four  remaining  hams  which  were  found  belonging  '.  o  the  lot 
in  which  Mr.  Baro  received  the  ham  sold  to  Don  Jos'^  Aleanza  were  carefully  exam- 
ined with  the  aid  of  a  microscope  by  Drs.  Tnocente  Martinez  and  Candido  Solas 
and  that  nothing  was  found  in  them  indicating  the  existence  of  trirhinse:  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  the  aforesaid  gentlemen  being  fully  satisfied  of  their  wholesome 
character,  they  were  returned  to  their  owner. "' 

I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  you  the  foregoing  for  your  information. 
God  guard  you  many  years. 

DoMO  De  Orxeta,  President. 

No.  135. 
Mr.  Badeaii  to  Mr.  Davis, 

No.  147.]  Coxsulate-Gexeral  of  the  Uxited  States, 

Habana,  May  25,  1883.  (Received  May  31.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  your  dispatch  of  April  18  instant,  I  have  the  honor  to  report 
that  immediately  upon  its  receipt  I  addressed  the  Governor-General  in  compliance 
with  yonr  orders,  making  further  inciuiries  as  to  reason  for  his  order  relative  to 
the  inspection  of  hog's  lard  imported  into  Cuba  from  the  United  States,  and  have 
this  day  received  a  reply,  a  copy  of  which,  with  translation,  is  inclosed. 
I  am,  etc., 

Adam  Badeau, 
Consul-General. 


[Inclosure  with  dispatch  No.  147.— Translation.] 

Letter  from  Oovemor- General  of  Habana  to  Consul-Oeneral  Badean. 

In  answer  to  your  honor's  official  letter  of  last  month,  relative  to  the  motives  on 
which  the  order  for  the  inspection  of  lard  imported  into  this  island  from  the  United 
States  is  based,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  your  honor,  by  order  of  his  excellency 
the  governor- general,  that  in  the  circular  decree  of  this  Government,  dated  1st  of 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  699 

April  ultimo,  published  in  the  Official  Gazette  of  the  4th  of  said  month,  the  reasons 
for  ordering  eaid  inspection  are  clearly  expressed:  and  nothing  has  since  occurred 
in  the  matter  worthy  of  mention;  inforni'ng  your  honor  that  if  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  wishes  to  become  thoroughly  ac(iuainted  with  the  particulars 
relative  to  the  inspection  of  lard,  it  can,  if  thought  convenient,  address  itself  to  his 
excellency  the  Span  sh  minister  at  Washington,  who  has  detailed  information  of 
what  in  substance  is  declared  in  the  aforesaid  circular  of  April  1. 

All  of  which,  by  his  excellency's  orders,  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to 
your  honor  for  your  information. 

May  God  preserve  \our  honor  many  years. 

Habana,  May  19,  1883. 

M.  Diaz  de  la  Quintana, 


No.  136. 
Mr,  Marston  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  88.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Malaga,  Spain,  June  8,  1883.     (Received  June  26.) 
Sir:  I  have  now  the  honor  to  further  communicate  with  your  Department  upon 
the  subject  of  my  dispatch  No.  86,  under  date  of  May  9  last. 

In  reply  to  the  report  made  at  the  time  by  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  consul  here, 
the  British  foreign  office  has  now  forwarded  to  that  office  a  communication  from 
the  firm  in  Manchester  who  purchased  the  "  shoulder"  in  question  and  shipped  it 
to  Malaga. 

It  is  obviously  a  very  obscure  report,  not  shedding  much  light  upon  the  origin 
of  the  meat,  "Higgins,  the  curer  in  America,"  being  about  as  authentic  as  Jones 
or  Smith  would  be. 

I  am,  etc.,  H.  C.  Marston, 

United  States  Consul, 

[Inclosure  No.  88.] 
Leverhus,  Husk  &  Co. ,  to  the  clerk  of  the  council,  veterinary  department. 

1  AND  3  Lemington  Place, 
Princess  Street,  Manchester,  May  17,  1883. 
Sir:  In  reply  to  j'our  inquiry  [of  the]  16th  instant,  we  beg  to  say  that  the  shoul- 
ders in  question  were  bought  by  us  as  sound  meat  in  Liver^jool,  through  our 
brokers,  as  '-American"  shouldeis,  and  the  boxes  were  branded  with  the  name  of 
Higgins,  which  we  believe  is  a  curer  in  America. 
We  are,  etc., 

Leverhus,  Husk  &  Co. 


No.  137. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Barca. 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  June  14,  1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  a  copy  of  an  instruction  (No.  40)  of  this  Depart- 
ment to  Consul-General  Badeau,  at  Habana,  touching  an  order  of  the  Governor- 
General  of  Cuba,  in  relation  to  the  inspection  of  hog's  lard  imported  from  this 
country  into  that  island,  also  a  copy  of  the  Governor-Generars  note  of  May  19  last, 
in  the  case.'  Asking  that  you  will  kindly  give  me  such  information  as  you  can  as 
to  the  necessity  of  this  inspection, 

I  beg,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


No.  138. 
Mr.  Barca  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 

Legation  of  Spain  at  Washington, 
Washington,  June  20,  1883.     (Received  June  21.) 
The  undersigned,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  Hia 
Majesty  the  King  of  Spain,  has  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  note  of  the  14th  instant,. 

^  See  ante  for  inclosure  in  this  note. 


700  SWIXE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

whereby  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State,  in  transmitting  to  him  a  copy  of  the 
instructions  (No.  40)  sent  to  Mr.  Badeau.  United  States  consul-jreneral  at  Habana. 
relative  to  the  order  issned  by  the  Governor-General  of  C'nba.  tor  the  examination 
of  hog's  lard  imported  from  the  United  States,  and  of  the  note  of  the  atoresaid 
Governor-General  of  the  l!)th  ultimo,  relative  to  the  same  matter,  was  pleased  to 
ask  him  for  information  concerning  the  causes  which  had  rendered  such  an  exami- 
nation necessary. 

The  undersii,'"ned  hastens  to  inform  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  that  the 
measure  in  tiuest:on  was  adojjted  because  a  number  of  Ameri;:-an  citizens,  mer- 
chants in  good  standing,  had  made  complaint  to  the  consul-general  of  Spain  in 
New  York  that  a  certain  house  was  exporting  adulterated  lard,  which  was  injuri- 
ous to  health  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  that  honest  dealers  were  unalle  to  com- 
pete with  the  shippers  of  that  artic  e.  An  order  was  consequently  issued  that 
samples  of  the  lard  complained  of  should  be  examined  by  competent  exi^rts.  which 
examination  showed  that  the  said  lard  did,  indeed,  contain  ingredients  injurious 
to  public  health.  The  Governor-General,  therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  his  rights 
and  in  the  fulfillment  of  his  duty,  ordered  that  hog's  lard  from  the  United  States 
should  be  inspected. 

The  undersigned  takes  pleasure  in  informing  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State 
that  the  adoption  of  the  measure  in  question  implies  no  intention  to  establi.sh  any 
discrimination  between  goods  from  the  United  Siatf^s  and  those  of  any  other 
friendly  nation,  nor  any  intention  to  establish  discriminatinj:  measures  calculated 
to  check  the  development  of  commerce  between  the  United  States  and  Cuba.  The 
object  of  the  captain-general  of  Cuba  in  isstaing  the  order  which  gave  rise  to  the 
complaint  of  the  American  consul-general  was,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  under- 
signed, to  take  such  precautions  as  are  reijuired  by  a  due  re;jard  for  public  health 
in  a  tropical  country  during  the  summer  months,  and  to  protect  hone.st  merchants 
in  accordance  with  their  own  request. 

The  undersigned,  hoping  that  the  foregoing  explanations  will  fully  satisfy  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  State,  avails,  etc., 

Fbancisco  Barca. 


No.  139. 

Mr.  Frelinghtiysen  to  Mr.  Barca. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  June  29,  1883. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  20th  instant, 
apprising  the  Department  of  the  fact  that  the  late  order  of  the  Governor-General 
of  Cuba  touching  inspection  there  of  hog's  lard  from  the  United  States  originated 
in  a  complaint  to  the  consul-general  of  Spain  at  New  York  from  certain  American 
merchants  that  a  certain  house  was  exporting  adulterated  lard  and  that  honest 
dealers  were  unable  to  compete  with  the  shippers  of  that  article. 

Thanking  you  for  your  very  kind  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  the  D .partment  of  the 
14th  instant, 

I  beg,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinohuysen. 


No.  140. 
Mr.  Foster  to  Mr.  Frelinghnysen. 

No.  40.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Madrid,  July  :'3,  18S3.     (Received  August  9.) 

Sir:  On  the  19th  instant  the  newspapers  of  this  capital  announced  that  on  ac- 
count of  the  appearance  of  cases  of  trchinosis  at  Malaga  the  Spanish  Government 
had,  upon  the  advice  of  the  royal  board  of  health,  decided  to  prohibit  the  impor- 
tation of  American  and  German  pork  products. 

On  the  same  day  I  called  upon  the  minister  of  state  and  asked  him  if  he  could 
give  me  any  information  as  to  the  correctness  of  this  report.  He  answered  that 
he  had  heard  nothing  of  it.  but  recommended  me  to  call  upon  his  colleague,  the 
minister  of  the  interior  (gobernacioni,  which  I  did  on  the  same  day.  In  the 
absence  of  that  minister  the  subsecretary  received  me.  who.  in  reply  to  my  imjuir- 
ies.  stated  that  the  roj'al  board  of  health  had  recommended  the  prohibition  referred 
to,  but  the  minister  of  the  interior  had  decided  that  it  was  only  necessary  to  enjoin 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  701 

the  enforcement  of  the  royal  order  of  July  10, 1880.  which  prescribed  an  inspection 
of  pork  and  lard  proceeding  from  the  United  States  and  Germany  and  their  destruc- 
tion when  found  to  contain  trichinae.  A  copy  and  translation  of  the  royal  order 
of  July  10, 1880.  was  sent  to  the  Department  with  Mr.  Fairchild's  No.  176,  of  July 
16.  1881. 

I  improved  the  opportunity  of  my  visit  to  explain  somewhat  in  detail  to  the  sub- 
secretary  and  to  the  chief  of  the  sanitary  bureaii.  who  was  present,  the  results  of 
the  investigations  made  under  the  direction  of  the  De; mrtment  of  State,  as  contained 
in  Mr.  Scanlans  report  of  1881  (a  copy  of  which  had  been  left  at  the  ministry  by 
Mr.  Reed  some  months  ago),  and  the  importance  of  this  industry  to  our  country. 
I  was  assured  that  the  exclusion  of  American  pork  was  not  contemplated  by  that 
ministry,  but  only  a  rea  ouable  inspection,  in  view  of  the  reported  appearance  of 
the  disease  at  Malaga. 

You  will  tee.  by  reference  to  Mr.  Reed's  dispatch.  No.  173,  of  February  28  last, 
that  a  similar  report  affecting  American  pork  was  started  at  Malaga  at  that  time, 
but  upon  investigation  it  was  found  that  the  disease  did  not  originate  from  the 
use  of  pork  proceeding  from  the  United  States,  but  from  Spain  itself.  Informa- 
tion will  be  asked  of  the  consul  as  to  the  cause  of  the  recent  alarm,  and  his  report 
will  be  sent  to  you. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  telegrams  from  Madrid  have  appeared  in  the  European 
press  giving  a  false  report  of  the  action  of  the  Spanish  Government,  I  deem  it 
proper  in  the  interest  of  our  exporters  to  send  you  a  telegram  this  morning,  as 
follows: 

"  Importation  of  American  pork  not  prohibited  in  Spain  as  telegraphed  to  for- 
eign press.    Only  inspection  required  as  reported  in  Fairchild's  No.  176." 
I  am,  etc., 

J.  W.  Foster. 


No.  141. 
Mr.  Foster  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  43.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Madrid,  July  23,  1SS3.     (Received  August  9.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  your  instruction  No.  159,  of  May  3  last,  to  Mr.  Reed,  and  his 
dispatch  No.  235,  of  June  5,  relative  to  lard  or  pork  inspection  in  Cuba.  I  now 
transmit  a  further  note  from  the  minister  of  state,  dated  the  19th  ultimo,  in  which 
he  saj's  that  information  has  been  asked  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba,  with  the 
object  of  communicating  the  same  to  this  legation,  but  the  minister  adds  that  the 
measure  adopted  by  the  governor-general  was  in  accordance  with  precautions  tele- 
graphed on  the  25th  of  February  last  by  the  ministry  of  ultramar. 

In  acknowledging  receipt  of  the  minister's  note  on  the  21st  ultimo,  I  suggested 
that  you  would  be  gratified  to  be  informed  of  the  reports  or  information  which 
led  to  the  action  of  the  ministry  of  ultramar,  and  the  character  of  the  instructions 
given  to  the  authorities  of  Cuba. 

A  translation  of  the  minister  s  note  and  a  copy  of  my  reply  are  herewith  inclosed. 
I  have  delayed  their  transmission  to  date  in  the  hope  that  I  might  receive  a  fur- 
ther reply  touching  the  information  suggested  in  my  note  of  the  21st  ultimo,  but 
it  has  not  come  to  hand. 

I  am,  etc.,  John  W.  Foster. 


[Inelosure  1  in  No.  43.— Translation.] 

Minister  of  State  to  2Ir.  Foster. 

Ministry  of  State, 
Palace.  June  19,  1883. 
My  Dear  Sir:  In  addition  to  the  note  to  the  legation,  dated  the  1st  instant, 
relative  to  the  documents  and  other  information  in  regard  to  the  sanitary  inspec- 
tion ordered  by  the  superior  authority  of  the  island  of  Cuba,  in  all  the  ports  of 
that  island,  of  pork  products  (cecina)  proceeding  from  the  United  States,  I  have 
the  honor  to  inform  your  excellency  that  before  the  request  referred  to  may  be 
sent  to  the  respective  customs  authorities,  antecedents  have  been  asked  of  the 
governor-general  of  said  island  in  order  to  furnish  your  excellency  with  the 
desired  information,  although  I  must  state  that  the  measure  adopted  by  the  gov- 


702  SWIXE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UXITED   STATES. 

emor-general  of  Cuba  in  the  matter  was  in  accordance  with  precautions  tele- 
pjaphed  on  the  21th  Febraary  last,  by  the  minister  of  ultramar,  to  guard  against 
the  propaKHtion  of  trichinae  in  pork  and  lard. 
I  improve,  etc., 

The  Marquis  de  la  Vega  de  Arhijo. 


[Inclosure  2  In  No,  43.] 

Mr.  Foster  to  Minister  of  State. 

Legation  of  the  Uxited  States, 

Madrid,  June  21.  JSS3. 
Excellency:  I  beg  to  thank  your  excellency  for  the  note  of  the  19th  instant,  by 
which  lam  informed  that  the  antecedents  of  the  order  regarding  pork  proceeding 
from  the  L'nited  States  have  been  asked  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba,  in 
order  that  your  excellency  may  more  tullv  reply  to  the  note  of  this  legation  of  the 
28th  May  last. 

As  it  would  seem  from  your  excellency's  note  above  referred  to.  that  the  meas- 
ure adopted  by  the  governor-general  of  Cuba  was  in  accordance  with  precautions 
telegraphed  on  the  -'.Ith  Februarj'  last  by  the  m  nistry  of  ultramar,  I  venture  to 
suggest  to  your  excellency  that  my  Governiueut  would  be  highly  gratified  to  be 
informed  of  any  of  the  reports,  investigations,  or  information  which  led  to  the 
action  of  the  ministry  of  ultramar  February  2.5,  and  the  character  of  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  the  authorities  of  Cuba,  so  far  as  it  may  Le  deemed  proper  by  His 
Catholic  Majesty's  Government  to  communicate  the  information  desired. 
I  g.ad.y  avail,  etc., 

John  W.  Foster. 


No.  142. 

Mr.  Foster  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen. 

No.  89.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Madrid,  October  23,  188S.  (Received  November  7.) 
Sir:  Referring  to  the  note  of  thp  Spanish  minister  of  state  of  June  19  last  on 
the  subject  of  hog's  lard,  transmitted  with  my  No  43  of  Juh'  23,  I  now  inclose  a 
further  note  of  the  10th  instant  from  the  minister,  in  which  he  communicates  the 
reasons  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba  for  the  adoption  of  the  order  for  the 
inspection  of  lard  proceeding  from  the  United  States.  These  rea.sons,  it  will  be 
seen,  are  based  upon  the  alleged  adulteration  of  certain-named  brands  of  American 
manufacture. 

I  am,  etc.,  Johx  W.  Foster. 


[Inclosare  in  No.  89.— Translation.] 

The  Minister  of  State  to  Mr.  Foster,  * 

Ministry  of  State, 
Palace,  October  10,  188.^. 

Excellency:  In  answer  to  the  notes  from  your  legation,  dated  the  28th  of  May 
and  2l8t  of  June  last,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  to  your  excellencj-  that  information 
had  been  asked  of  the  governor-general  of  Cuba  concerning  the  measures  adopted 
for  the  inspection  and  examination  of  hog's  lard  coming  from  the  United  States. 

The  said  authority  has  recently  informed  His  Majesty's  Government  to  the 
effect  that  hog's  lard  marked  "Corona."  '•  Irving,"  •'  Pavo  real,"  and  "  Rosedale," 
imported  to  that  island,  proceeding  from  the  United  States,  was  condemned  as 
injurious  to  th"  public  health:  therefore  ordering,  as  was  his  duty,  that  the  dis- 
patch of  the  article  mentioned  should  be  suspended  in  the  custom-house  until  the 
result  of  the  eicpert  examination  which  had  been  ordered  to  take  place  should  be 
kBown. 

This  havirig  taken  place,  it  appeared  that,  although  the  aforementioned  hog's 
lard  could  not  be  proved  notoriously  injurious  to  the  health,  it  was  nevertheless 
an  impure  and  adulterated  article,  without  qualities  for  sustenance;  for  which 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  703 

cause  the  <?overiior-general  of  Cuba  ordered,  on  the  1st  of  April,  the  previous 
inspection  of  all  iard  arriving  at  the  ports  of  the  island  proceeding  from  the  United 
States  which  should  come  in  tieri  es  or  any  other  wooden  packages,  and  from  this 
arose  the  remonstrance  of  the  consul-general  of  the  United  States  to  the  aforesaid 
superior  authority,  asking  for  a  copy  of  the  accusation  and  the  expert  report,  to 
which  the  governor-general  did  not  think  he  ought  to  accede. 

The  latter  a'Ids  finalh-  that  the  examination  directed  by  the  order  of  the  1st  of 
Axiril  does  not  extend  to  all  the  lard  (cecina)  wh  ch  is  imported,  but  only  to  the 
lard  of  American  jToduction  which  C()m?s  in  wooden  packages. 

In  informing  your  excellency  of  the  foregoing, 
I  avail,  etc., 

•  The  Marquis  de  la  Vega  de  Armijo. 


Sweden  and  Norway. 

No.  143. 

3Ir.  Gade  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  300.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Ohristiania,  March  S,  1SS2.     (Received  March  29.) 

Sir:  For  more  than  a  year  no  complaints  have  been  heard  in  this  country  con- 
cerning diseased  pork  im;;orted  from  America.  The  boards  of  health  in  the  cities 
continue  to  examine  the  pork  imported  from  abroad,  but  it  is  evident  that  only 
a  partial  examination  of  each  lot  can  be  made,  and  that  the  prescribed  examina- 
tion is  largely  a  matter  of  form.  On  the  other  hand,  some  time  since  trichinae 
were  founcl  in  this  district  in  pork  raised  in  Norway,  and  several  persons  were 
seriously  ill  from  eating  it. 

Large  quantities  of  American  salt  meat  have  for  a  number  of  years  been  imported 
into  this  country  for  the  use  of  the  mercantile  marine,  and  up  to  this  time  there 
has  been  general  satisfaction  with  this  article.  However,  I  now  see  that  the  board 
of  health  in  Moss,  one  of  our  neighboring  towns,  has  lately  seized  a  lot  of  spoiled 
American  salt  meat,  and  lots  of  similar  ([uality  are  said  to  be  reported  from  other 
places  in  this  country.  The  attention  of  shipowners  's  therefore  directed  to  the 
necessity  of  closely  examining  every  barrel  of  American  meat.  The  meat  in  ques- 
tion, which  was  sold  in  America  as  a  prime  article,  was  imported  by  a  firm  at  this 
port,  and  seems  to  have  been  already  rei  used  by  deaers  at  another  port  before  being 
shipped  to  Moss. 

As  most  of  the  American  meat  imported  here  arrives  over  England  and  other 
countries,  I  can  not  give  statistical  figures  showing  the  quantities  imported  from 
America.  But  lately  it  has  largely  replaced  Danish  meat,  which  was  formerly 
in  use  on  the  many  hundred  Norwegian  vessels  which  everj'  spring  leave  these 
ports,  and  it  will  probably  continue  in  great  demand  here  if  the  American  pro- 
ducers export  a  sound  and  wholesome  article. 

I  am,  etc.,  Gerhard  Gade, 

United  States  Consul, 


No.  144. 
Mr.  Gade  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  313.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Ohristiania,  April  12, 1SS2.     (Received  M^y  1.) 

Sir:  Referring  to  my  dispatch  No.  309,  dated  March  3,  this  year,  relating  to 
spoiled  American  meat  imported  into  this  district,  I  have  now  the  honor  to  report 
that  I  am  informed  that  the  meat  m  question  was  packed  at  Kansas  City, Mo.,  by 
a  firm  which  exports  largely  of  that  article. 

The  importer  of  the  spoiled  meat  has  had  a  legal  survey  held  of  it  here,  and  had  it 
also  examined  l)y  the  chemical  expert  of  the  police  chambers  of  this  city.  I  beg 
leave  to  give  subjoined  a  part  of  the  testimony  of  the  said  expert: 

'•The  exterior  of  the  meat  e;iamined  was  found  to  be  fresh,  not  only  in  appear- 
ance, but  in  odor,  while  the  interior  was  found  to  be  more  or  less  damaged  on  the 
inside,  in  some  places  so  much  that  the  meat  formed  a  slime,  which  emitted  a 


70 i  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

horrible,  rotten  stink.  The  reason  why,  in  the  very  same  piece,  the  outer  part  was 
Iresh,  while  the  inner  was  spoiled,  is  probably  to  be  ascribed  to  the  ciicumstance 
that  the  pieces  were  not  immersed  in  the  brine  immediately  after  s'aughteriug, 
but  were  previously  only  •  sprinkled  with  salt,'  which  did  not  penetrate  m  sufficient 
quantity  or  with  sufficient  rapidity  into  the  larger  pieces  to  prevent  their  spoiling." 

The  expert  adds: 

••As  the  brine  was  Iresh  and  sufficient,  the  damage  can  in  no  case  whatever  result 
from  the  treatment  of  the  mtat  after  it  was  sent  from  the  packing  house." 
I  am,  etc., 

Gerhard  Gade,  United  States  Consul. 


Switzerland. 

No.  145. 

Mr.  Byers  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  285.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Zurich,  March  f^.  ISSe.     (Received  April  2.) 

Sir:  In  my  dispatch  No  259,'  I  had  the  honor  to  report  that  the  very  stringent 
regulations  of  this  canton  as  to  American  meat  importations  were,  as  I  was 
informed  by  the  authorities,  to  be  considered  as  partialiy  suspended.  In  that  dis- 
patch I  added,  however,  that  on  the  least  provocation  the  fright  as  to  American 
hams  would  be  renewed  and  the  regulations  enforced  with  greater  vigor  than 
ever. 

A  provocation  was  discovered  in  the  early  autumn.  Certain  hams  were  imported 
here  from  Germany,  containing  trichinae.  They  had  been  advertised,  invoiced, 
and  paid  for  as  ••  first-class  Westphalian  hams,'"  by  a  firm  claiming  to  deal  in  the 
finest  Westphalian  hams  only.  The  damaging  discovery  of  trichina'  was  no 
sooner  made  than  certain  of  the  officials,  with  a  part  of  the  press  and  the  native 
butchers,  asserted  that  the  hams  were  not  German  but  American. 

The  regulations  were  enforced  again  stronger  than  ever,  and  in  a  way  that 
became  equivalent  to  prohibition  entirely. 

I  undertook  to  point  out  to  the  authorities  the  injustice  of  the  proceeding,  and 
submitted  to  them  numerous  reports  and  results  of  investigations,  both  in  France 
and  the  United  States,  tending  to  show  the  extreme  tuti  ity  of  microscopic 
examinations  to  protect  against  existence  of  trichina-.  I  further  showed  by  indis- 
putable evidence  that  a  single  case  of  trichinosis,  from  use  of  American  hams, 
had  not  yet  been  discovered  in  Switzerland.  I  at  the  same  time  had  a  private 
examination  of  the  meat  that  had  been  seized  and  an  investigation  as  to  its  origin. 
The  result  was  trichime  were  found  in  abundance,  but  there  was  liO  proof  what- 
ever that  the  hams  came  from  America.  On  the  contrarj',  there  was  and  is  every 
reason  for  suppos  ng  that  the  hams  were  what  they  were  represented  to  be,  viz, 
"first-class  Westphalian  hams."  It  is  true,  the  seller,  in  his  fright,  and  in  his 
vam  desire  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty,  pretended  that  he  had  been  cheating  the 
public,  and  that  these  special  hams  were,  after  all.  American  ones  pared  down 
and  smoked  over  to  resemble  the  Westphalian.  There  was.  however,  no  proof  of 
the  truth  of  this  afterthought  statement;  besides,  in  his  invoice,  advertisement, 
and  letters  accompanying  invoice  (all  in  my  possession ) ,  he  distinctly  declares 
these  hams  to  be  Westphalian. 

After  my  repeated  and  earnest  protests,  the  authorities  at  last  appointed  a  spe- 
cial commissicm  to  investigate  the  whole  subject  of  importation  of  meats.  mi(  ro- 
scopic  examination  of  meats,  etc.  The  result  of  this  investigation  is  the  public 
circular  order  of  the  Government,  which  1  inclose. 

This  order  points  out  the  uselessness  of  microscopic  investigations  of  American 
or  other  meats,  and  fully  rescinds  the  objectionable  regulations  of  1878.  and  does 
wholly  away  with  police  examinations  of  any  kind,  thus  making  it  possible  to 
import  American  hams  into  a  city  and  canton  where  former  regulations  had  well- 
nigh  destroyed  the  market. 

I  am,  etc.,  S.  H.  M.  Byers,  Consul. 

[Incloses  circular  of  the  Cantonal  Government.  March  11,  1882,  in  German.] 


'Printed  on  page  174,  House  Ex.  Doc.  209,  Forty-seventh  Congress,  first  session. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  705 

No.  146. 

Mr.  Mason  to  Mr.  Davis. 

No.  146.]  United  States  Consulate, 

Basle,  Septeviber  25,  18S3.     (Received  October  8.) 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  a  report  on  the  present  condition  of 
the  importation  and  traffic  in  American  salted  and  cured  pork  in  Switzerland,  with 
some  allusion  to  the  general  aspect  of  the  same  question  in  relation  to  neighbor- 
ing European  countries. 

The  fact  that  the  Department  of  State  is  reported  in  printed  dispatches  as  being 
about  to  institute  an  investigation  of  the  conditions  of  hog  raising  and  pork 
packing  in  the  United  States  has  invested  the  vexed  question  of  meat  imports  with 
new  and  extraordinary  interest,  and  the  inclosed  report  is  respectfully  submitted, 
in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  found  pertinent  to  a  sub.iect  of  renewed  importance. 

It  is  stated  in  this  report  that  Germany  prohibits  the  transit  of  American  hog 
products  through  the  territory  of  that  Empire,  even  when  such  merchandise  is 
consigned  to  importers  in  other  countries.  In  proof  of  this  statement  I  hereby 
inclose  one  original  letter  and  two  telegrams,  with  translations,  all  of  which  are 
addressed  to  Messrs.  Jenny  &  Kiebiger,  meat  importers  of  this  city.  The  telegram, 
which  is  official,  shows  that  a  shipment  of  American  lard  from  Antwerp  to  Basle 
was  stopped  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  the  German  frontier,  and  had  to  be  returned  to 
Antwerp  and  shipped  to  Switzerland  by  a  longer  route,  through  France  and  Bel- 
gium.   This  inexcusable  mandate  of  the  German  Government  is  still  in  force. 

Messrs.  Fiechter  Brothers,  of  Antwerp,  to  Messrs.  Jenny  &  Kiebiger,  of  Basle. 

FiECHTER  Brothers,  Commission  Shipments,  etc., 

Antwerp,  May  IS,  1883. 
We  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  per  York  City  40  cases  of  pork  meat 
arrived  for  your  firm,  marked  J.  K.  Thirty-six  cases,  10,339  kilograms,  have  been 
sent  to  you  in  railway  wagon  No.  61974,  via  Cethur,  to  be  delivered  to  you  at  the 
Badisch  railway  depot.  The  remaining  four  cases  shall  be  sent  with  our  merchan- 
dises combmed.  You  will  receive  the  note  of  our  expenses  through  the  branch 
office  of  our  firm  at  Basle. 

It  was  impossible  for  us  to  have  this  shipment  directed  via  Sarrachen,  the  Ger- 
man authorities  since  recent  date  prohibiting  even  the  passing  through  of  Amer- 
ican meats. 

"With  highest  consideration, 

Fiechter  Brothers. 

[Official  telegram  of  service  No.  505.] 

Aix  LA  Chapelle,  June  25  1883—8.15  a.  m. 
To  R.  and  A.  Flebus,  Anticerp: 
American  lard  ean  not  pass  through  Germany. 

Chet. 
[Telegram  No.  549.] 

Antwerp,  June  25, 1883— 6.15  p.  m.     (Received  at  Basle,  8.03.) 
Jenny,  Basle: 
Passing  through  over  German  territory  prohibited.    Send  at  once  instructions. 

Flebus. 

No  recent  announcement  from  America  has  been  received  in  Europe  with  more 
general  satisfaction  than  the  published  report  that  the  Department  of  State  would 
appoint  a  commission  to  investigate  thoroiaghly  and  report  authoritatively  upon 
all  the  conditions  of  hog  raising  in  the  United  States,  and  the  preparation  of  the 
various  forms  of  pork  for  export. 

It  is  inferred  that  this  action  is  the  first  step  in  a  definite  policy  of  resistance  to 
the  causeless  and  wholly  unjustified  proscription  that  now  excludes  a  leading 
American  product  from  the  markets  of  several  European  countries  which  seek  by 
every  means  to  develop  and  increase  the  export  of  their  manufactured  merchan- 
dise to  the  United  States. 

The  time  has  long  been  past  when  any  intelligent  person  in  Europe  or  America 
could  be  deceived  by  the  transparent  pretense  that  American  cured  meats  are 
impure  or  more  dangerous  to  health  by  reason  of  trichinse  than  the  best  salted 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 45 


706  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

and  smoked  meats  of  Germany  or  Austria.  Xo  European  statesman  or  journalist, 
■who  discusses  the  question  canrlidly.  now  denies  tliat  the  pretended  horror  of 
trichinae  is  merely  a  diplomatic  display  of  solicitude  for  the  health  of  the  people, 
to  mask  the  real  economic  motive  which  underlies  all  these  edicts  of  prohibition. 

Were  itnottruethattheimportationof  American  meats,  at  a  normal  stage  of  the 
market,  brings  the  retail  price  of  a  favorite  article  of  food  within  reach  of  many 
thousands  of  working  people  who  could  not  otherwise  afford  such  a  luxury,  and 
thereby  not  only  makes  a  serious  coaipetition  for  the  Euroi)ean  but  hers  and  hog 
raisers,  but  diverts  a  large  and  constantly  increasing  ontflow  of  money  to  the 
United  States,  it  would  never  have  l)een  di>covered  by  the  economists  "of  Paris, 
Berlin,  and  Vienna  that  Ame/iraa  pork  was  dangerous  or  impure. 

If  European  statesmen  would  say  frankly  that  American  meats,  being  for 
obvious  reasons  much  cheaper  than  the  European  and  equally  good,  and  would 
in  time  destroy  or  seriously  iniure  the  prosperity  of  their  liome  farmers  and  meat 
venders,  and  that  therefore  they  felt  obliged  to  iin|>03e  an  impost  duty  upon 
foreign  meats  that  should  balance  the  unejual  cost  of  production,  that  would  be 
open,  fair,  and  in  acco.dance  with  recognized  principles  of  international  com- 
merce. But  they  dare  not  do  this.  They  shrink  from  the  clamor  which  would 
meet  any  such  avowed  measure  to  tax  the  food  of  the  people.  So  they  invent  a 
theory  that  American  m«ats  are  diseased  and  dangerous,  and  impose  their  pro- 
hibitory tariff  in  the  form  of  an  edictof  abs  )lute  prohioition,  based  upon  sanitary 
grounds.  The  peasant  and  artisan  are  therebj'  made  to  pay  from  15  to  20  centimes 
more  per  pound  for  the  little  meat  which  they  eat  than  they  would  if  American 
pork  were  admitted  freely;  but  they  are  told  that  this  discreet  mandate  which 
robs  their  pockets  has  been  wisely  devised  by  a  paternal  government  which  is 
anxiously  solicitous  about  their  health.  Hence  the  many-sided  meat  (jnestion. 
But  while  (Germany  is  carrying  her  prohibitive  poli-y  to  the  absurd  length  of  for- 
bidding American  meats,  and  even  lard,  to  be  carried  across  her  territory  by  rail 
in  cars  sealed  at  Antwerp  for  delivery  in  Switzerland,  it  is  also  true  that  in  this 
country  the  reputation  of  those  meats  and  the  public  demand  for  them  are  higher 
and  greater  than  ever  before.  From  the  first  agitation  of  the  subject,  in  the  winter 
of  1881-82,  Switzerland  has  taken  an  intelligent  and  well-considered  eoursj  in 
respect  to  the  meat  question.  When  France  suddenly  issued  a  prohibitory  decree 
because  a  family  at  Crespy.  in  Valois.  had  been  attacked  by  trichinosis  after  eat- 
ing the  raw  flesh  of  a  newly  killed  pig  the  Swiss  Government  appointed  an  able 
and  deliberate  sanitary  commission  to  ascertain  whether  any  person  in  Switzer- 
land had  ever  suffered  in  like  manner  from  having  eaten  salted  meat  imported 
from  the  United  States.  Finding  no  such  instance  on  record,  and  having  a  large 
working  population  living  upon  limited  earnings,  the  Swiss  Federal  Government 
issued  an  official  circular  to  all  its  Cantons,  reminding  them  that  aU  pork  should 
be  properly  cooked  before  being  eaten,  and  then  welcomed  to  its  markets  the 
trans- Atlantic  hams  and  bacon  which  were  excluded  by  its  more  powerful  neigh- 
bors. 

While  the  official  investigation  is  in  progress  in  the  United  States,  the  fact 
deserves  to  be  widely  known  that  here  in  Switzerland,  which  is  almost  the  only 
continental  country  in  which  American  meats  are  permitted  to  be  imported  and 
sold  on  their  merits,  their  reputation  is  not  only  higher  now  than  ever  before,  but 
they  command  a  preference  in  this  market  over  similar  classes  of  meats  from 
every  other  countr}-.  Among  the  many  and  perfectly  palpable  proofs  of  this  may 
be  added  the  experience  of  a  large  meat-importing  firm  in  Basle,  which  supplies 
no  less  than  1,500  retail  dealersin  central  Europe. 

Three  years  ago  this  firm  imported  large  quantities  of  hams,  bacon,  lard,  and 
mess  pork  from  the  United  States.  American  lard  had  already  a  reputation  as 
tbe  best  in  the  market,  and  that  was  sold  under  its  proper  geographical  designa- 
tion; but  the  meats,  in  consequence  of  what  was  then  a  vague  and  indefinite  preju- 
dice, were  sold  as  being  of  German  and  Swiss  origin.  No  little  trouble  and  expense 
were  assumed  by  this  firm  to  maintain  the  delusion  that  their  meats  were  all  from 
European  sources. 

The  short  corn  crop  of  1881  and  the  advance  of  the  prices  of  hog  products  in 
the  American  market  during  1882  made  importations  from  the  United  States 
uxiprofitable.  and  these  Swiss  importers  were  oblii^ed  to  draw  their  sui)plie8  from 
Austria.  Their  customers  complained  of  the  deterioration  in  their  goods,  which 
they  found,  in  respect  to  curing  and  gene  "al  excellence,  decidedly  inferior  to  those 
of  the  preceding  year.  It  was  explained  to  them  that  the  meats  which  they  were 
now  buying  and  selling  were  really  European,  while  those  of  1881  had  been  of 
American  origin. 

The  bountiful  corn  crop  of  1882,  and  its  effects  upon  the  American  meat  supply, 
brought  the  hams  and  bacon  and  mess  pork  from  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  707 

and  New  York  again  within  the  exporting  price  limits,  and  to-day  the  Basle 
importers  have  an  unprecedented  trade,  and  almost  exclusively  in  American 
meats.  They  report  that  during  the  period  of  this  controversy  about  trichinae 
and  impure  meats  an  extraordinary  improvement  has  taken  place  in  the  curing 
and  packing  of  all  grades  of  meats  exported  to  Europe  from  the  United  States. 
In  this  respect  there  was  very  little  to  complain  of  before,  but  since  the  quality 
of  their  wares  has  been  challenged  the  American  packers  have,  with  character- 
istic spirit  and  unanimity,  improved  their  methods  and  increased  their  precautions 
until  their  product  is,  as  a  whole,  unequaled  in  quality  by  that  of  any  other 
country. 

The  name  "American,"  as  applied  to  this  class  of  provisions,  has  become,  instead 
of  a  reproach,  its  highest  recommendation  wherever  the  facts  are  known. 

I  have  personally  conversed  with  retail  dealers  from  Aargau  and  other  interior 
Cantons,  who  say  that  their  trade  demands  meats  cured  by  the  present  American 
method,  and  that,  excepting  a  limited  quantity  of  the  very  high-priced  Westphalian 
hams,  they  can  hardly  sell  any  other. 

While  therefore  the  economic  policj-  of  several  leading  European  countries  has 
nominally  excluded  the  hog  products  of  the  United  States  from  these  markets,  the 
reputation  of  these  products  has  steadily  improved.  Considerable  quantities  of 
these  provisions  have  of  course  been  brought  from  New  York  and  Boston  to 
Great  Britain,  and,  after  repacking  to  conceal  their  origin,  have  been  shipped  to 
continental  ports.  Meat  dealers  everywhere  know  of  the  superior  merits  of  Amer- 
ican meats,  if  the  statesmen  who  make  laws  for  them  do  not.  The  pending  offi- 
cial investigation  will,  it  maj^  be  presumed,  settle  conclusively  all  the  real  facts 
in  respect  to  this  (luestion.  which  may  be  considered  as  yet  in  dispute.  If  the 
result  of  that  measure  should  be  the  lifting  of  an  embargo  which  has  no  motive 
but  selfishness,  no  justification  but  prejudice,  the  result  would  be  an  immediate 
expansion  of  the  European  demand  for  American  meats  to  the  extreme  limit  of 
the  supply.  Not  only  can  marketable  swine  be  raised  more  cheaply  in  the  West- 
em  States  of  America  than  in  European  countries,  but  for  the  reason  that  they 
are  more  cleanly  and  naturally  fed,  and  their  flesh  more  skillfully  cured,  Amer- 
ican meats  will  command,  and  must  in  the  end  supply,  the  principal  markets  of 
the  world. 

Frank  H.  Mason,  Consul. 


Turkey. 

No.  147. 

Mr.  Wallace  to  Mr.  Frelinghusen. 

No.  96.]  Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Constantinople,  June  6,  1882.     (Received  June  26.) 

Sir:  A  note  verbal  came  to  the  legation  under  date  of  3d  June  containing  a 
sweeping  interdiction  against  salted  meats  from  America,  including  lards.  There 
is  not  much  direct  importation  of  the  prohibited  articles;  wherefore,  besides  that 
reflection,  there  is  consolation  in  the  facts  that  nearly,  if  not  quite,  nine-tenths  of 
the  salted  meats  consumed  in  Turkey  will  continue  to  be  the  American  product 
under  some  foreign  brand,  and  that  whether  first  marketed  in  France,  England, 
or  Germany  the  original  dealer  is  not  likely  to  be  deprived  of  his  profits  by  proc- 
lamations such  as  is  here  inclosed  and  translated. 

Construing  the  circular  as  one  more  to  the  several  blows  recently  aimed  at 
American  products  in  this  region,  it  seemed  best  to  notice  it  with  an  immediate 
protest,  a  copy  of  Avhich  is  also  inclosed. 

Very  respectfully,  etc..  Lew.  Wallace. 

[iDclosure  1  in  N"o.  96.] 
Said  Pasha  to  Mr.  Wallace. 

[Translation.] 

Sublime  Porte,  Ministry  op  Foreign  Affairs, 

June  3,  1882. 
Circular.    Note  verbal.  ] 

The  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  has  the  honor  to  Inform  the  legation  of  the  United 
States  of  America  that  the  measure  of  interdiction  which  strikes  the  introduction 


708  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

of  salted  pork  meats  from  America  is  also  extended  to  the  ham  and  lard  of  the 
same  source,  no  matter  by  what  way  these  articles  are  imported  in  Turkey. 

The  imperial  ministry  begs  of  the  legation  of  the  United  States  of  America  to 
kindly  bring  what  precedes  to  the  knowledge  of  his  citizens. 


[Inclosure  2  in  No.  96.] 

Mr.  Wallace  to  Said  Pasha. 

United  States  Legation, 
Constantinoph-,  June  5,  1S82. 

Excellency:  I  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  the  note  verbal  from  the  Sublime 
Porte,  dated  June  3  instant,  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  inform  me  that  the 
measure  of  interdiction  against  the  introduction  of  salted  meats  from  America  is 
extended  to  hams  and  lard,  regardless  of  their  form  of  importation  into  Turkey. 

Your  excellency  will  pardon  an  expression  of  surprise  at  the  action  thus  indi- 
cated, announced,  as  it  is,  without  a  reason  given.  If  reference  is  had  to  the  treaty 
between  the  powers,  it  appears  to  me  arbitrary  in  the  highest  degree.  While  it 
continues  in  its  present  form  it  can  not  but  be  construed  as  a  discrimination  against 
an  important  article  of  American  manufacture,  and  peculiarly  in  violation  of 
treaty  rights,  for  which  reasons  it  is  my  duty  to  earnestly  protest  against  its  exe- 
cution. At  the  same  time  to  open  a  way  to  an  accommodation  of  the  points  pre- 
sented, I  will  esteem  it  a  favor  if  you  will  give  me  the  reasons  which  have  induced 
the  Porte  to  resolve  upon  the  interdiction,  and  give  them  to  me  before  execution 
of  the  measure  is  entered  upon.  Not  impossibly  the  operative  causes  may  be 
explained  away. 

I  avail  myself,  etc.,  Lew.  Wallace. 


No.  148. 

Mr.  Frelinghuyseti  to  Mr.  Wallace, 

No.  68.]  Department  of  State, 

Washington,  June  29,  ISSS. 
Sir:  Your  dispatch  No.  96,  of  the  6th  instant,  inclosing  copy  of  your  protest  in 
reply  to  the  note  verbal  of  the  Ottoman  Government,  prohibiting  the  importation 
therein  of  American  salt  meats,  has  been  received,  and  your  timely  action  is 
approved. 

I  am,  etc.,  Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 


Miscellaneous. 

No.  149. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Loring,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  et  al. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  July  30,  188S. 

Sir:  On  several  occasions  during  the  last  few  years  the  importation  of  hog  prod- 
ucts from  the  United  States  has  been  restricted,  or  even  entirely  prohibited,  by 
the  legislation  of  several  foreign  states.  The  grounds  of  this  action  are  understood 
to  be  the  alleged  prevalence  of  disease — hog  cholera,  trichinosis,  and  the  like — 
among  the  swine  of  the  United  States,  and  the  supposed  consequent  unfitness  of 
the  prepared  products  for  consumption  as  human  food.  The  consequent  legisla- 
tion, however,  has  not,  in  most  cases,  expressed  the  motives  of  the  restrictions 
imposed.  The  prohibitory  decrees  of  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany,  for  instance, 
unciualifiedly  forbid  the  importation  into  those  countries  of  the  pork  products  of 
the  United  States. 

This  Government,  from  the  time  the  intention  was  first  observed  abroad  to 
question  the  healthfulness  of  the  pork  products  exported  from  the  United  States, 
has  made  every  effort  to  investigate  the  truth  of  the  unfavorable  statements  which 
came  to  its  knowledge.  It  was  conceived  that  we  were  more  interested  in  proving 
such  charges  against  one  of  our  greatest  staples  of  food,  consumed  by  millions  of 


SWIlJfE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  709 

our  people,  than  could  be  any  foreign  country,  whose  inhabitants  are  only  in  com- 
paratively small  part  consumers  of  the  American  products.  After  exhaustive  and 
impartial  investi,i;:ation  of  the  subject  the  conviction  was  reached  by  this  Govern- 
ment that  the  premises  upon  which  the  above  legislation  abroad  rested  were  and 
are  unfounded,  and  that  the  exported  hog  products  of  the  United  States  are  in  no 
wise  the  source  of  danger  to  life  and  health  which  they  are  alleged  to  be.  Wide 
publicity  has  been  given  to  the  results  of  the  investigations  undertaken  bj'  ttie 
Department  of  State  and  by  the  report  on  trichinae  and  trichinosis,  prepared  by 
the  Marine-Hospital  Service  and  published  by  order  of  Congress  in  1881.  And 
efforts  have  not  been  spared  to  induce  in  the  minds  of  foreign  governments  a  right 
understanding  of  the  facts  of  the  matter  as  thej^  are  ascertained  to  exist  here.  The 
conviction  reached  by  this  Government  has  not.  however,  been  shared  by  the  for- 
eign governments  to  whose  attention  it  was  brought,  and  the  contemplated  pro- 
hibitory legislation  has  been  effected,  thereby  closing  important  foreign  markets 
to  a  food  product  generally  used  by  a  large  proportion  of  our  people. 

It  is  doubtless  one  of  the  first  duties  of  a  government  to  watch  over  the  health 
of  its  own  community.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  their  restrictive  measures 
arise  from  any  other  motive;  and  if  foreign  governments,  after  impartial  exami- 
nation, are  satisfied  that  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States  are,  as  compared 
with  the  like  products  of  other  coun  tries,  unwholesome  to  a  degree  which  demands 
their  exclusion  from  use  as  human  food,  it  behooves  this  Government  to  examine 
this  charge,  and.  if  it  should  be  substantiated,  to  fulfill  its  duty  as  the  custodian 
of  the  public  health  by  enacting  a  system  of  sanitary  laws  which  shall  afford  for 
its  own  citizens  as  complete  a  guaranty  against  the  evil  effects  of  consuming  the 
domestic  product  as  the  statutes  of  foreign  countries  afford  for  their  subjects. 
The  President  has  therefore  determined  to  name  a  commission  of  experts  of  known 
probity,  impartiality,  and  competence  to  make  a  searching  examination  on  the 
spot  of  all  the  conditions  of  the  hog  raising  and  packing  industries  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  follow  by  the  most  practical  examination  the  course  of  this  food 
staple  from  the  fields  and  farms  to  the  wharf  where  it  is  shipped,  or  to  the  shops 
where  it  is  exposed  for  domestic  consumption. 

The  matter  presents  itself  to  the  President  with  such  urgency  that  he  is  unwill- 
ing to  await  action  by  Congress.  He  believes  it  of  national  importance  that  the 
results  of  the  investigation  he  contemplates  should  be  laid  before  Congress  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  in  December  next  in  order  that,  if  needful,  legislative  action 
may  be  then  taken.  It  is  therefore  the  President's  desire  that  you  will  recom- 
mend to  him  the  names  of  two  competent  persons  to  be  commissioned  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  your  Department. 

The  commission  will  embrace  in  addition  one  representative  of  the  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  one  representative  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  and 
one  gentleman  to  be  chosen  by  the  President,  comprising  in  all  five  members.  As 
the  statutes  prohibit  the  making  of  any  contract  involving  guaranty  of  money 
payment  or  the  incurment  of  any  obligation  for  the  eventual  repayment  of 
expenses  without  the  previous  assent  of  Congress,  the  Executive  is  unable  to 
promise  any  positive  assurance  that  the  expenses  of  the  commission  will  be  repaid. 
It  is,  however,  thought  that  the  great  importance  of  the  step  taken  and  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  interest  at  stake  will  lead  Congress  to  recognize  the  justice  of  reim- 
bursing whatever  outlay  the  commissioners  shall  have  incurred  in  discharging  the 
important  trust  confided  to  them. 

lam,  etc.,  *  Fredk.  T.  Feelinghuysen. 

Similar  letters  to— 

The  president  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce; 

The  president  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 


No.  150. 
Mr,  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Loring,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  et  dl. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  October  S,  1883. 
Sir:  During  the  last  few  years  the  importation  of  hog  products  from  the  United 
States  has  been  restricted,  and  in  some  instances  entirely  prohibited,  by  the  legis- 
lation of  several  foreign  countries.     The  grounds  of  this  action  are  understood  to 
be  the  alleged  prevalence  of  disease— hog  cholera,  trichinosis,  and  the  like  among 


710  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  swine  of  this  country,  and  the  supposed  consequent  unfitness  of  the  prepared 
products  for  food. 

This  Government,  from  the  time  the  intention  was  observed  abroad  to  question 
the  healthfulness  of  the  i)ork  products  cn ported  from  the  United  States,  has  made 
efforts  to  investigate  the  truth  of  the  unfavorable  statements  on  the  subject  which 
came  to  its  knowledge.  The  result  of  the  investigations  so  made  has  been  to  show 
that  the  premises  upon  which  the  adverse  legislation  abroad  rests  are  unfounded, 
and  tnat  the  exported  hog  products  of  the  United  States  are  in  no  wise  the  source 
of  danger  to  health  and  life  they  are  alleged  to  be.  Although  efforts  have  not  been 
spared  to  inform  foreign  governments  as  to  this  state  of  facts,  they  have  not  given 
due  weight  to  the  representations  which  have  been  made  to  them  on  the  sub.ect, 
and  consequently  prohibitory  legislation  has  been  extended  in  Europe  until  many 
important  markets  there  have  been  closed  to  the  food  products  in  question,  of 
which  this  country  produces  a  large  excess  aViove  its  own  consumption. 

Inasmuch  as  the  course  which  various  foreign  powers  have  pursued  with  regard 
to  this  matter  involves  the  charge  that  American  citizens  are  engaged  in  the  expor- 
tation of  an  unhealthful  article  of  food,  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  believed  that  the 
agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  this  country  are  now  suffering  great 
damage  in  consequence  of  misrepresentations  as  to  the  character  of  the  hog  prod- 
ucts of  the  United  States,  it  has  been  determined  to  take  measures  for  such  a 
formal  and  thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  as  will  leave  no  doubt  whatever 
as  to  the  facts. 

To  this  end  you  are  hereby  notified  that  the  President  has  designated  a  commis- 
sion to  make  a  searching  examination  of  all  the  conditions  of  the  hog  raising  and 
packing  industries  of  the  United  States  of  America.  This  commission  is  consti- 
tuted as  follows:  1,  Dr.  George  B.  Loring;  2,  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler;  3,  Eliphalet 
W.  Blatchford,  esq.;  4,  F.  D.  Curtis,  esq.;  5,  Prof.  E.  D.  Salmon. 

As  the  statutes  prohibit  the  making  of  any  contract  involving  guaranty  of 
money  payment  or  the  incurment  of  any  obligation  for  the  eventual  repayment 
of  expenses  without  the  previous  assent  of  Congress,  the  President  is  unable  to  give 
any  positive  assurance  that  the  expenses  of  the  commission  will  be  repaid.  It  is, 
however,  thought  that  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  at  stake  will  lead  Congress 
to  recognize  the  justice  of  reimbursing  whatever  outlay  the  commission  may  incur 
in  discharging  the  important  trust  confided  to  it. 

You  are  requested  to  confer  with  your  colleagues  with  a  view  to  the  speedy 
organization  of  the  commission,  that  its  labors  may  begin  at  an  early  day. 

The  method  of  procedure  and  other  details  are  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  com- 
mision,  the  President  desiring  simply  that  it  shall  proceed  in  such  manner  as  may 
seem  most  advisable  to  examine  into  this  industry  and  the  allegations  as  to  the 
healthfulness  of  the  pork  prodacis  of  the  United  States. 

The  commission  will  report  the  result  of  its  investigation,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  for  communication  to  Congress. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fred'k  T.  Frelinqhuysek. 

Similar  letters  to — 

Eliphalet  W.  Blatchford.  esq.,  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago; 
Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler,  on  the  part  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New  York; 

F.  D.  Curtis,  esq.. of  Charlton,  N.  Y.: 

Prof,  D.  £.  Salmon,  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 


[H.  Ex.  Doc.  No.  106,  48th  Congress  Ist  session.] 

SWINE  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

[Message  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  transmitting  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of 
State  relative  to  the  importation  of  the  swine  products  of  tne  United  States.] 

To  the  House  of  Representatives: 

I  transmit  herewith  for  the  consideration  of  Congress  a  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  accompanying  a  report  made  by  the  commission  lately  designated  by  me 
to  examine  and  report  upon  the  asserted  unhealthfulness  of  the  swine  products  of 
this  country.  The  views  and  conclusions  of  the  commission  deserve  the  most  care- 
ful couBideration  of  Congress,  to  the  end  that,  if  any  path  be  legitimately  open  tor 
removing  the  prohibition  which  closes  important  foreign  markets  to  those  prod- 
nets,  it  may  be  followed  and  appropiiate  legislation  devised. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  711 

1  earnestly  recommencl  that  Congress  provide  for  reimbursing  the  expenses 
incurred  by  the  commissioners  in  this  praiseworthy  service,  and  1  should  be  glad 
also  if  some  remunerative  recognition  of  their  public-spirited  action  in  accepting 
the  onerous  and  responsible  duties  imposed  on  them  were  to  suggest  itself  to  Con- 
gress. At  all  events,  in  view  of  the  conflicting  theories  touching  the  origin  and 
propagation  of  trichiniasis  and  the  means  of  isolating  and  extirpating  it  among 
domestic  swine,  and  considering  the  important  bearing  which  precise  knowledge 
on  these  points  would  have  on  the  com7riercial  aspects  of  the  matter,  I  recommend 
provision  for  special  research  in  this  direction.  , 

Chester  A.  Arthur. 

Executive  Mansion, 

Washington,  February  29,  ISS4. 


To  the  President: 

In  the  President's  last  annual  message  to  the  Congress  he  announced  that  in 
view  of  the  action  of  certain  foreign  governments  prohibiting  importation  of  the 
swine  products  of  the  United  States,  because  of  alleged  danger  to  health  from 
their  use,  he  had  deemed  it  so  important  to  ascertain  and  promxalgate  the  exact 
facts  that  he  had  designated  a  commission  of  experts  to  make  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  subject. 

The  commission  so  appointed  has  now  submitted  a  report  to  the  undersigned, 
which  is  herewith  laid  before  the  President,  for  transmission  to  Congress,  if  in  his 
judgment  it  be  deemed  advisable  so  to  do. 

The  report  is  thorough  and  impartial  to  a  degree  which  can  not  fail  to  com- 
mend it  to  public  consideration  here  and  abroad.  It  deals  mainly  with  the  two 
asserted  causes  of  a  diseased  condition  of  the  prepared  food  products,  namely, 
hog  cholera,  so  called,  and  trichiniasis.  As  to  the  first,  it  is  conclusively  shown 
that  the  flesh  of  swine  so  diseased  does  not  enter  the  market  packed  for  human 
food,  and  it  is,  moreover,  demonstrable  that  in  no  event  is  the  disease  communi- 
cable to  human  beings. 

As  to  trichiniasis  in  swine  the  report  is  less  conclusive,  because  less  is  certainly 
known  of  the  manner  in  which  the  living  trichinae  or  their  germs  are  transmitted. 
The  need  of  further  investigations  to  determine  this  point,  on  which  alone  can  any 
practicable  measure  for  the  extirpation  of  the  disease  be  based,  is  very  clear. 
Admitting  the  fact  that  a  percentage  of  the  animals  slaughtered  (probably  smaller 
than  in  the  countries  of  Europe)  are  more  or  less  infested  with  trichiniB,  the  com- 
mission points  out  that  the  processes  and  conditions  of  packing  and  the  lapse  of 
time  between  the  slaughter  of  the  animal  and  the  consumption  of  the  prepared 
flesh  abroad,  are  found  to  so  diminish  the  vitality  and  propagative  power  of  the 
trichinae  as  to  make  it  doubtful  whether  any  of  these  parasites  reach  Europe  in  a 
living  state,  or  in  a  condition  to  develop  in  the  human  body. 

So  far  as  known,  no  single  authentic  instance,  resting  on  competent  scientific 
testimony,  can  be  adduced  of  a  case  of  trichiniasis  in  Europe  arising  from  the  use 
of  American  packed  swine  products  as  food,  whether  eaten  raw  or  cooked.  In 
each  instance  of  outbreak  of  trichiniasis  in  Germany,  where  the  habit  of  eating 
hog's  meat  in  an  uncooked  state  maizes  the  disease  more  prevalent  than  in  other 
countries,  the  epidemic  is  not  only  distinctly  traced  to  the  consumption  of  the 
flesh  of  freshly-killed  native  hogs,  but  the  further  significant  fact  is  observed  that 
the  virulence  "of  the  infection  diminishes  with  the  time  elapsing  between  the  kill- 
ing of  the  animal  and  the  consumption  of  its  flesh,  and  that  an  interval  of  only  a 
few  days,  especially  when  the  meat  is  even  slightly  salted,  suffices  to  reduce  the 
severity  of  the  symptoms  below  a  fatal  stage.  It  may  not  be  irrationally  inferred 
that  a  still  longer  interval  would  wholly  remove  the  danger  of  infection,  even  in 
uncooked  meat.  Scientific  research  as  to  the  duration  and  conditions  of  propaga- 
tive vitality  of  the  trichin'je  after  the  death  of  the  animal  in  which  they  are  found, 
would  appear  to  be  a  very  necessary  step  toward  a  fuller  knowledge  of  this  aspect 
of  the  question. 

In  conclusion  the  commissioners  say  that — 

"After  carefully  studying  every  circumstance  that  in  any  way  affects  the  con- 
dition of  the  American  swine,  from  the  hour  of  their  birth  to  the  landing  of  the 
cured  meat  in  foreign  ports,  we  are  free  to  say  that  our  exported  pork  in  all  its 
forms  is  fully  equal,  perhaps  superior,  in  its  freedom  from  taint  of  every  kind, 
either  from  disease  or  deterioration  after  slaughtering,  to  the  pork  of  France  or 
Germany,  or  any  other  country  in  which  the  hogs  are  confined  within  a  narrow 
compass  and  do  not  enjoy  that  free  run  and  pasturage  which  they  get  in  the  hog- 
growing  regions  of  the  United  States.    There  is  no  general  prevalence  of  disease 


712  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

among  swine  in  any  portion  of  this  country.  Microscopic  examinations  show  that 
here,  as  in  all  other  countries,  a  small  percentage  of  the  swine  is  affected  with 
trichiniasis:  probably  a  smaller  percentage  than  in  the  countries  of  Europe.  That 
the  occas  onal  presence  of  trichinae  in  our  pork  is  a  comparatively  unimportant 
fact  is  shown  by  the  variety  of  trichiniasis  among  human  beings,  as  imlicated  by 
the  returns  from  the  State  and  city  boards  of  health.  Another  very  important 
fact  is  the  almost  certain  destruction  of  the  trichimip,  when  prtsent  in  pork,  by  the 
curing  process  before  it  can  be  landed  in  foreign  countries.  Nevertheless,  while 
we  believe  that  no  legitimate  grounds  exist  for  the  restrictions  imposed  on  the 
importation  of  American  pork,  we  are  satisfied  that  microscopic  inspection  of  all 
pork  for  export  can  be  secured  at  the  packing  houses,  if  such  inspection  should  be 
demanded,  as  we  have  already  fully  explained." 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  objection  in  principle  to  such  inspection  when- 
ever it  may  be  required.  Foreign  commerce  is  necessarily  conducted  in  conformity 
with  the  demands  of  the  local  trade,  and  it  is  clearly  to  the  interest  of  producers 
to  set  such  wares  on  a  foreign  market  as  will  meet  with  ready  and  unhampered 
sale.  When  a  government  imposes  upon  the  importation  qf  foreign  products  con- 
ditions no  more  burdensome  or  unreasonable  than  those  which  weigh  upon  native 
products,  conformity  with  those  conditions  is  reasonable  and  requisite.  If  home 
inspection  with  due  certification  will  open  foreign  markets  for  our  swine  prod- 
ucts, it  will  certainly  pay  the  American  exporter  to  submit  to  inspection. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  trust  expressed  in  the  President's  last  annual  message  be 
repeated,  that  Congress  shall  find  in  the  national  and  international  bearings  of  the 
matter  a  sufficient  motive  for  providing  for  the  reimbursement  of  the  expenses 
incurred  by  the  commissioners.  It  seems  but  just  to  also  provide  some  compen- 
sation for  the  time  and  knowledge  thus  devoted  by  them  to  public  interests.  It 
may  also  be  advisable  to  make  an  appropriation  for  setting  on  foot  the  investiga- 
tions suggested  by  the  commission  as  to  the  origin  and  transmission  of  trichinae 
and  the  means  of  isolating  and  extirpating  the  disease. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

Fred'k  T..  Frelinghuysen. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Februai'y  28,  1884. 


Part  I. 

introductory. 

Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghuysen, 

Secretary  of  State: 
The  commission  appointed  by  the  President  to  examine  into  the  swine  industry 
of  the  United  States,  and  into  "the  allegations  as  to  the  healthfulness  of  the  pork 
products  "  of  this  country,  beg  leave  to  report.    The  commissioners  entered  upon 
the  work  assigned  them  in  accordance  with  the  following  letters  of  instruction: 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  LoHng,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  et  al. 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  July  30,  J883. 

Sir:  On  several  occasions  during  the  last  few  j-ears  the  importation  of  hog 
products  from  the  United  States  has  been  restricted  or  even  entirely  prohibited  by 
the  legislation  of  several  foreign  States.  The  grounds  of  this  action  are  under- 
stood to  be  the  alleged  prevalence  of  disease — hog  cholera,  trichinosis,  and  the 
like— among  the  swine  of  the  United  States,  and  the  supposed  consequent  unfit- 
ness of  the  prepared  products  for  consumption  as  human  food.  The  consequent 
legislation,  however,  has  not,  in  most  cases,  expressed  the  motives  of  the  restric- 
tions imposed.  The  prohibitory  decrees  of  Austria- Hungary  and  Germany,  for 
instance,  unqualifiedly  forbid  the  importation  into  those  countries  of  the  pork 
products  of  the  United  States. 

This  Government,  from  the  time  the  intention  was  first  observed  abroad  to 
question  the  healthfulness  of  the  pork  products  exported  from  the  United  States, 
has  made  every  effort  to  investigate  the  truth  of  the  unfavorable  statements  which 
came  to  its  knowledge.  It  was  conceived  that  we  were  more  interested  in 
proving  such  charges  against  one  of  our  greatest  staples  of  food,  consumed  by 
millions  of  our  people,  than  could  be  any  foreign  country  whose  inhabitants  are 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  713 

only  in  comparatively  small  part  consumers  o''  the  American  products.  After 
exhaustive  aud  impartial  investigation  of  the  subject,  the  conviction  was  reached 
by  this  Grovernment  that  the  premises  upon  which  the  above  legislation  abroad 
rested  were  and  are  unfounded,  and  that  the  exported  hog  products  of  the  United 
States  are  in  nowise  the  source  of  danger  to  life  and  health  which  they  are  alleged 
to  be.  Wide  publicity  has  been  given  to  the  results  of  the  investigations  under- 
taken by  the  Department  of  State  and  by  the  report  on  trichinre  and  trichinosis, 
prepared  by  the  Marine-Hospital  Service,  and  published  by  order  of  Congress  in 
1881.  And  efforts  have  not  been  spared  to  induce  in  the  minds  of  foreign  gov- 
ernments a  right  understanding  of  the  facts  of  the  matter  as  they  are  ascertained 
to  exist  here.  The  conviction  reached  by  this  Government  has  not,  however,  been 
shared  by  the  foreign  governments  to  whose  attention  it  was  brought,  and  the 
contetnplated  prohibitorj^  legislation  has  been  effected,  thereby  closing  impor- 
tant foreign  markets  to  a  food  product  generally  used  by  a  large  proportion  of  our 
people. 

It  is  doubtless  one  of  the  first  duties  of  a  Government  to  watch  over  the  health 
of  its  own  community.  It  is  difiScult  to  believe  that  their  restrictive  measures 
arise  from  any  other  motive;  and  if  foreign  governments,  after  impartial  exami- 
nation, are  satisfied  that  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States  are.  as  compared 
with  the  like  products  of  other  countries,  unwholesome  to  a  degree  which  demands 
their  exclusion  from  use  as  human  food,  it  behooves  this  Government  to  examine 
this  charge,  and  if  it  should  be  substantiated,  to  fulfill  its  duty  as  custodian  of  the 
public  health,  by  enacting  a  system  of  sanitary  laws  which  shall  afford  for  its 
own  citizens  as  complete  a  guaranty  against  the  evil  eifects  of  consuming  the 
domestic  product  as  the  statutes  of  foreign  countries  afford  for  their  subjects. 
The  President  has,  therefore,  determined  to  name  a  commission  of  experts  of 
known  probity,  im])artiality,  and  competence,  to  make  a  searching  examination 
on  the  spot  of  all  the  conditions  of  the  hog  raising-  and  packing  industries  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  follow  by  the  most  practical  examination  the  course  of  this 
food  staple  from  the  fields  and  farms  to  the  wharf  where  it  is  shipped,  or  to  the 
shops  where  it  is  exposed  for  domestic  consumption. 

The  matter  presents  itself  to  the  President  with  such  urgency  that  he  is  unwill- 
ing to  await  action  by  Congress.  He  believes  it  of  national  importance  that  the 
results  of  the  investigation  he  contemplates  should  be  laid  before  Congress  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  in  December  next,  in  order  that,  if  needful,  legislative  action 
may  be  then  taken.  It  is  therefore  the  President's  desire  that  yo.i  will  recommend 
to  him  the  names  of  two  competent  persons  to  be  commissioned  as  the  representa- 
tives of  your  Department. 

The  commission  will  embrace,  in  addition,  one  representative  of  the  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  one  representative  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  and  one 
gentleman  to  be  chosen  by  the  President,  comprising  in  all  five  members.  As  the 
statutes  prohibit  the  making  of  any  contract  involving  guaranty  of  money  pay- 
ment, or  the  incurment  of  any  obligation  for  the  eventual  repayment  of  expenses, 
without  the  previous  assent  of  Congress,  the  Executive  is  unable  to  promise  any 
positive  assurance  that  the  expenses  of  the  commission  will  be  repaid.  It  is,  how- 
ever, thought  that  the  great  importance  of  the  step  taken,  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  interest  at  stake,  will  lead  Congress  to  recognize  the  justice  of  reimbursing 
whatever  outlay  the  commissioners  shall  have  incurred  in  discharging  the  impor- 
tant trust  confided  to  them. 

I  am,  etc.,  Feedk.  T.  Frelinghutsen. 

Similar  letters  to— 

The  president  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce; 

The  president  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 


Mr.  Frelinghuysen  to  Mr.  Loving,  Commiss-io  ?er  of  Aqricu  tvre,  at  al. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Octohrr  3, 1883. 

Sir:  Daring  the  last  few  years  the  importation  of  hog  products  from  the  United 
States  has  been  restricted,  and  in  some  instances  entirely  prohibited,  by  the  legis- 
lation of  several  foreign  countries.  The  grounds  of  this  action  are  understood  to 
be  the  alleged  prevalence  of  disease — hog  cholera,  trichinosis,  and  the  like — among 
the  swine  of  this  country  and  the  supposed  consequent  unfitness  of  the  prepared 
products  for  food. 

This  Government,  from  the  time  the  intention  was  observed  abroad  to  question 
the  healthf uluess  of  the  pork  products  exported  from  the  United  States,  has  made 


714  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

efforts  to  investigate  the  truth  of  unfavorable  statements  on  the  subject  which 
came  to  its  knowledge.  The  result  of  the  investigations  so  made  has  been  to  show 
that  the  premises  upon  which  the  adverse  legislation  abroad  rests  are  unfouudtd, 
and  that  the  exported  hog  jiroducts  of  the  United  States  are  in  no  wise  the  sou.  ce 
of  danger  to  health  and  life  they  are  alleged  to  be.  Althorgh  efforts  have  not 
been  spared  to  inform  foreign  Governments  as  to  this  state  of  facts,  they  have 
not  given  due  weight  to  the  representations  which  have  been  made  to  them  on 
the  subject,  and  conse(iuently  prohibitory  legislation  has  been  extended  in  Europe 
until  many  important  markets  there  have  been  closed  to  the  food  products  in 
question,  of  which  this  country  produces  a  large  excess  above  its  own  consumption. 

Inasmuch  as  the  course  which  various  foreign  powers  have  pursued  with  regard 
to  this  matter  involves  the  charge  that  Auieiican  citizens  are  engaged  in  the  ex- 
portation of  an  unhealthiul  article  of  food,  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  believed  that  the 
agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  this  country  are  now  suffering  great 
damage  in  cousequence  of  misrepresentations  as  to  the  charactter  of  the  hog  prod- 
ucts of  the  United  States,  it  has  been  determined  to  take  measures  for  such  a  for- 
mal and  thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  as  will  leave  no  doubt  whatever  as 
to  the  facts. 

To  this  end  you  are  hereby  notified  that  the  President  has  designated  a  commis- 
sion to  make  a  searching  examination  of  all  the  conditions  of  the  hog  raising  and 
packing  industries  of  the  United  States  of  America.  This  commission  is  consti- 
tuted as  follows:  (1)  Dr.  George  B.  Loring,  (2)  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler,  (3)  Elipba'.etW. 
Blatchford.esq.;  (4)  F.D.  Curtis,  esq.;  (.5)  Prof .  E.  D.  Salmon. 

As  the  statutes  prohibit  the  making  of  any  contract  involving  guaranty  of 
money  payment  or  the  incurment  of  any  obligation  for  the  eventual  repayment 
of  expenses  without  the  previous  assent  of  Congress,  the  President  is  unable  to 
give  any  positive  assurance  that  the  expenses  of  the  commission  will  be  repaid. 
It  is,  however,  thought  that  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  at  stake  will  lead  Con- 
gress to  recognize  the  justice  of  reimbursing  whatever  outlay  the  commission 
may  incur  in  discharging  the  important  trust  confided  to  it. 

You  are  requested  to  confer  with  your  colleagues  with  a  view  to  the  speedy  organ- 
ization of  the  commission,  that  its  labors  may  begin  at  an  early  day. 

The  method  of  procedure  and  other  details  are  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  com- 
mission, the  President  desiring  simply  that  it  shall  procet  d  in  such  manner  as  may 
seem  most  advisable  to  examine  into  this  industry  and  the  allegations  as  to  the 
healthfulness  of  the  pork  products  of  the  United  States. 

The  commission  will  report  the  result  of  its  investigation,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  for  communication  to  Congress. 
I  am,  etc., 

Fredk.  T.  Frelinghuysen. 

Similar  letters  to— 

Eliphalet  W.  Blatchford,  esq.,  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago; 

Prof.  C.  H.  Chandler,  on  the  part  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New  York; 

F.  D.  Curtis,  esq.,  of  Charlton,  N.  Y.; 

Prof.  D.  E.  Salmon,  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  commission  assembled  at  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  Washington  on 
the  loth  of  October,  1888,  and  assigned  its  work  to  the  various  members  under  the 
following  heads,  viz: 

I. 

1.  The  origin  and  history  of  the  hogs  which  make  up  the  market  supply. 

2.  The  conditions  under  which  they  are  raised  and  fattened. 

II. 

1.  Transportation  of  hogs  from  farms,  or  when  they  are  fatted,  to  "  stock  yards  " 
or  packers. 

3.  Condition  of  animals  on  arrival  at  stock  yards  or  where  they  are  to  be  slaugh- 

tered and  packed. 
8.  Manner  of  slaughter  and  effects  on  the  meat. 

4.  Treatment  of  carcass  after  slaughtering,  before  cutting  up. 

5.  Curing  of  meat,  the  mode  and  materials  used. 

6.  Packages  used  for  shipment. 

7.  Storage  after  packing. 

8.  Transportation  to  seaboard. 

9.  Inspection  for  home  and  foreign  consumption  by  General  Government,  State 

authority,  boards  of  trade. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  715 

III. 

1.  Extent  of  trichinae  and  trichinosis  in  America  and  Europe. 

2.  Preventive  measures  required. 

3.  Effect  of  salting  or  curing  upon  trichina?. 

4.  Effects  and  extent  of  other  diseases  which  may  exist  among  hogs. 

In  performing  this  duty  the  packing  houses  of  the  West  and  in  the  seaboard 
cities  and  the  large  swine-breeding  sections  of  the  country  have  been  personally 
examined  by  the  commission,  and  an  extensive  correspondence  has  been  entered 
into  with  the  packers  of  pork,  the  State  and  municipal  authorities  who  have  issued 
regulations  with  regard  to  the  trade,  and  with  the  transportation  companies  over 
whose  hues  the  traffic  is  conducted,  in  order  to  secure  all  possible  information  on 
the  subject. 

I. 

1.  The  origin  and  history  of  the  hogs  which  make  up  the  market  supply, 

2.  The  conditions  under  ichich  they  are  raised  and  fattened. 

The  raising  of  swine  in  the  United  States  of  America  is  an  industry  so  universal 
that  it  extends  to  every  farm.  The  products  of  the  hog — pork,  bacon,  ham.  and 
lard,  or  in  their  manufactured  forms — are  consumed  by  all  classes.  Among  the 
farmers  they  constitute  the  chief  meat  food.  The  supply  for  domestic  use  is 
obtained  partly  from  the  farmers  themselves  and  partly  from  the  general  market, 
in  which  the  products  of  every  State  and  section  find  a  sale,  and  from  which 
foreign  countries  are  supplied.  The  States  which  furnish  nearly  all  the  pork 
products  which  go  to  foreign  markets  are  Iowa.  Illinois.  Missouri,  Indiana.  Ohio, 
Kansas,  Kentucky.  Nebraska,  Wisconsin,  and  Tennessee.  They  are  enumerated  in 
the  order  of  their  production,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Michigan.  West  Virginia,  and 
Minnesota  also  send  to  the  packing  houses  a  small  amount  of  the  great  market 
supply.  The  number  of  hogs  in  all  these  States,  according  to  the  returns  of  the 
Department  of  Agr.culture  lor  1888.  was  3l.95o,020,  while  the  total  number  in  the 
United  States  by  the  same  report  was  4:-i,270,086.  The  Southern  States  produce  a 
large  number  of  hogs  which  make  superior  bacon  and  hams,  Georgia  is  credited 
in  the  annual  report  of  the  Depaitment  of  Agriculture  with  1,412,G04  hogs;  North 
Carolina,  1.311,821;  Alabama.  1,225,534;  Mississippi,  1,070,269;  and  Virginia, 
773,864,    The  hogs  from  these  States  are  used  for  domestic  consumption. 

In  the  States  which  supply  the  hogs  for  the  foreign  market  corn  is  a  leading 
grain  production,  and  it  is  found  that  the  number  of  hogs  in  each  State  is  pro- 
portioned to  the  yield  of  this  staple.  The  lo  States  mentioned  above  produced,  in 
1883,  1,301,025,300  bushels  of  corn. 

As  indicating  the  interest  in  swine  breeding  in  America,  it  may  be  stated  that  a 
National  Swine  Breeders'  Association  has  been  formed,  in  which  all  the  States  are 
represented,  which,  at  its  last  session  held  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  Ill,,  November 
14. 1883,  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  which  was  reported  by  the  special  com- 
mittee on  sanitary  conditions,  from  which  we  quote  as  follows: 

"We  recommend  that  laws  should  be  passed  in  all  the  States  placing  all  animals 
thus  affected  [with  cholera]  in  quarantine,  with  restrictions  and  sevfere  penalties  in 
any  case  of  the  violation  of  the  law.  The  disease  of  trichinosis  is  practically 
unknown  among  the  farmers,  and  we  fail  to  see  how  corn,  the  chief  food  for  the 
hogs  which  make  up  the  market  supply,  can  in  any  possiVde  way  be  productive  of 
trichinosis.  The  active  efforts  of  the  national  administration  in  endeavoring  to 
obtain  a  repeal  of  the  embargoes  of  certain  foreign  Governments  against  the 
importation  of  American  pork  are  highly  appreciated,  and  we  would  approve  of 
continued  efforts,  and.  as  the  interests  at  stake  are  so  great,  of  radical  measures,  if 
necessary,  to  the  extent  of  a  rigid  governmental  inspection  both  before  the  slaugh- 
tering of  the  swine  and  the  packing  and  foreign  shipments  of  pork  products." 

BREEDS   OF  SWINE. 

The  breeds  of  hogs  in  the  United  States  which  are  the  most  numerously  bred 
are  Poland-China.  Berkshire.  Essex.  Chester- White,  Yorkshire.  Suffolk.  Cheshire, 
Victoria,  Duroc-Jersey.  and  Guinea.  Nearly  all  of  these  breeds  are  represented  by 
a  distinctive  association,  whose  members  vie  with  each  other  in  endeavoring  to 
improve  and  perfect  the  breed  of  their  choice.  The  Berkshire,  Essex,  Yorkshire, 
and  Suffolk  varieties  are  of  English  origin,  the  others  being  American  breeds. 
The  white  breeds  predominate  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  These  are  York- 
shire, large  and  small;  Suffolk,  Cheshire,  Victoria,  and  Chester- White,  The  last 
origmated  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Cheshire  and  Victoria  in  the 
State  of  New  York.     The  Duroc-Jersey  breed— red  hogs— was  formed  by  uniting 


716  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  two  different  families,  one  originating  in  New  York  and  the  other  in  New 
Jersey.  The  Gninea  hogs  are  natives  of  the  South.  They  are  compact  in  form, 
exceedingly  hardy,  and  are  black- blue  and  white  in  color.  Ninety  per  cent  of  the 
hogs  which  furnish  the  supply  for  the  packers  are  of  the  bree  1  of  Poland-China 
and  Berkshire.  The  Poland-China  swine  make  up  the  largest  proportion  of  this 
amount.  About  3  per  cent  of  the  hogs  which  go  to  the  Western  stock-yards  are 
white,  and  about  the  same  number  are  red  or  crossed  with  red.  and  the  rem  dning 
4  per  cent  are  crosses  of  white  andbl^ckani  Es.^ex.  The  Poland-China  and  Berk- 
shire breeds  closely  resemble  each  other,  and  liave  the  same  general  characteris- 
tics, excepting  that  the  Poland-China  are  usually  larger.  Berk.shire  blood  pre- 
dominates largely  in  the  making  up  of  this  breed.  Both  the  Poland-China  and 
the  Berkshire  are  black  with  white  spots,  but  when  dressed  the  skin  is  white,  with, 
perhaps,  a  faint  bluish  tinge.  Both  of  these  breeds  are  as  near  perfect  as  Ameri- 
can skill  and  experience  in  breeding  can  make  them,  and  while  they  have  the  form 
of  body  which  g^ves  them  great  popularit}'.  they  also  possess  the  color  (nearly 
black)  and  skin  which  fit  them  for  enduring  the  extremes  of  our  climate. 

BREEDING   AND   FEEDING. 

The  system  of  breeding  and  rearing  swine  is  nearly  the  same  in  all  the  States, 
with  the  e.icception  that  in  the  colder  latitudes  more  shelter  is  provided.  Where 
the  climate  is  milder  the  hogs  are  sometimes  kept  in  the  forests,  and  are  protected 
by  the  underbrush,  which  breaks  tlie  force  of  the  winds.  Away  from  the  forests 
sheds  are  provided,  or  regular  houses,  and  straw  for  bedding,  or  the  hogs  are 
allowed  to  s'.eep  around  the  .<traw  stacks,  near  the  farm  buildings.  It  is  manifest 
that  the  best  hogs  should  be  bred  on  the  farms,  not  only  those  suited  to  the  wants 
ot  the  packer,  but  possessing  as  much  physical  stamina  and  vital  power  as  possi- 
ble. It  may  be  suggested  here  that  more  nitrogenous  food  would  add  to  the  nutri- 
tion of  the  blood  and  give  it  greater  force  in  building  up  the  system.  The  cross- 
ing of  breeds  tends  to  impart  greater  constitutional  vigor  than  animals  have  which 
have  been  bred  for  a  considerable  time  in  a  direct  line,  and  on  this  account  it  may 
be  advisable  for  the  producers  of  pork  to  infuse  new  blood  into  their  herds.  For- 
tunately there  is  no  lack  in  this  country  of  breeds,  and  such  cross-bred  hogs  can 
be  had  without  any  material  change  of  form  or  losing  the  benefits  of  as  good  skin 
and  coats  of  hair.  The  farmers  of  the  West  undei stand  these  principles  in  breed- 
ing and  are  beginning  to  avail  themselves  of  the  means  at  hand  in  order  to  derive 
the  consequent  benefits.  While  it  may  be  for  the  interest  of  the  pork  producer  to 
fit  his  hogs  for  market  in  the  shortest  space  of  time,  the  same  law  does  not  hold 
good  in  the  rearing  of  breeding  stock.  The  farmers  have  learned  that  they  should 
grow  slower,  and  that  the  food  should  be  of  such  a  combination  as  to  develop  the 
entire  structure  of  the  animal  during  the  period  of  gi-owth.  and  not  the  1  atty  por- 
tions to  excess.  The  hogs  in  the  United  States  are  generally  allowed  to  roain  and 
feed  upon  grass  and  clover  as  their  natural  food,  during  those  months  in  which 
pasturage  can  be  continued,  and  they  are  fed  mainly  on  corn  during  the  time  in 
which  they  are  to  be  finished  for  the  market.  They  are  supplied  also  with  an 
abundance  of  pure  water,  and  this  mode  of  feeding  contributes  so  entirely  to  the 
health  of  the  animals  that  but  a  small  amount  of  disea.'-e  can  be  found  among 
them.  Refuse  is  seldom  or  never  used  in  the  great  pork-producing  regions  of  the 
country:  this  being  limited  entirely  to  \"illages  and  small  farms  when  the  hogs 
are  confined  the  year  through  in  clo.«e  quarters.  The  breeding  of  swine  has  always 
followed  the  lead  of  the  market,  which  used  to  demand  larger  hogs  than  are  now 
reqtiired.  Formerly  the  largest  proportion  of  the  pork  was  pickled  in  brine,  and 
in  this  form,  then  as  now.  the  heaviest  hogs  were  used.  The  more  modern  way 
of  dry-salting  the  sides  and  of  making  more  bacon  makes  the  demand  now  greatest 
for  medium-sized  hogs,  which  will  make  hams  of  smaller  weight.  The  pigs  of 
this  kind  are  farrowed  in  the  summer  or  in  the  autumn  while  the  mothers  are  in 
the  fields  or  in  the  woods;  when  in  the  fields  they  live,  as  we  have  said,  upon 
blue  grass  or  upon  clover,  as  the  case  may  be.  supplemented  with  corn.  In  the 
woods  or  on  the  river  bottoms  they  subsist  on  mast  (nuts),  grass,  and  roots  of 
various  kinds.  In  order  to  keep  them  from  roving  or  getting  wild  on  the  bottom 
ranges,  as  they  are  often  very  extensive,  reachmg  for  miles  the  hogs  are  fed  corn 
occasionally,  or  regularly  if  the  owner  finds  it  to  his  advantage  to  do  sp.  The 
pigs  designed  for  the  next  j'ear's  market  are  wintered  on  corn  or  mast  and  com, 
and  in  the  spring  they  are  allowed  to  run  in  pastures,  or  they  are  confined  to  a 
feeding  lot  where  there  is  water,  and  in  which  corn  is  their  food.  Except  the 
grass  and  mast,  which  the  hogs  have  access  to  in  the  hog-producing  States,  their 
food  is  Indian  corn.  The  breeding  sows  are  wintered  on  it,  and  it  is  fed  to  them 
bountifully  while  tlie  pigs  are  suckling  and  to  their  offspring.  The  older  hogs, 
which  are  wintered  on  corn,  are  turned  out  as  early  as  possible  into  a  pasture  lot, 
as  the  value  of  succulent  food,  together  with  corn,  is  well  appreciated. 


'  SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  7 17 

FEEDING  OFFAL,  ETC. 

The  statements  in  regard  to  feeding  offal  at  slaughterhouses  have  been  greatly 
exaggerated  and  convey  an  erroneous  impression.  Cases  of  such  feeding  are  lim- 
ited to  a  small  fractional  per  cent  of  the  number  of  hogs  as  compared  with  the 
grand  total  in  the  country.  A  few  hogs  are  kept  by  the  butchers  in  the  country 
towns,  which  are  fed  on  the  olfal  from  their  small  slaughtering  establishments  as 
far  as  it  will  suffice  for  their  food.  This  includes  the  offal  from  the  sheep,  cattle, 
and  hogs  which  they  may  kill.  These  hogs  are  always  slaughtered  by  their  owners 
and  sold  in  their  own  meat  stores  in  the  local  markets  to  their  customers.  In 
Kentucky  and  some  other  States  where  whisky  and  alcohol  are  distilled  from  grain 
hogs  are  sometimes  fed  by  the  owners  of  these  distilleries  on  the  refuse.  The  pork 
so  made  is  soft  and  never  purchased  for  the  foreign  market,  as  it  does  not  cure 
well  and  does  not  make  products  equal  to  their  standard  and  brand.  When 
distillery-fed  hogs  are  changed  from  the  refuse  of  the  grain  and  fed  wholly  on 
corn  for  several  weeks  before  slaughtering,  they  make  excellent  pork.  This  fact 
is  well  understood.  Butchers  can  always  detect  a  distillery-fed  hog  after  it  has 
been  dressed,  as  well  as  one  fed  on  mast.  The  tatty  portion  of  the  latter  is  yellow, 
and  both  are  more  oily  than  when  corn  fed. 

SANITARY  CONDITIONS. 

Not  all  American  farmers  have  yet  learned  that  hogs  are  really  among  the  most 
delicate  of  farm  animals  and  that  exposure  and  sudden  changes  of  temperature 
often  seriously  affect  them.  It  is  a  gratifying  fact,  however,  that  the  sanitary 
conditions  of  the  hog  upon  the  farms  have  been  greatly  improved.  Not  only 
warmer  quarters  are  provided,  but  the  important  fact  is  also  better  known  and 
appreciated  of  affording  them  dry  beds  and  sleeping  ground.  It  is  getting  to  be 
well  understood  that  good  water  is  almost  as  essential  as  good  food  to  make  healthy 
animals,  and  as  a  result  of  this  knowledge  and  the  gratifying  consequence  of  the 
experience  of  those  who  have  tried  the  experiment  where  there  are  no  natural 
streams  or  springs  to  furnish  pure  water,  a  resort  is  being  extensively  made  to 
wells,  with  windmills  and  pumps  attached,  to  procure  the  needful  supply.  The 
better  care  of  the  hogs  now  had  and  the  precautions  exercised  by  farmers  to  either 
burn  or  bury  all  animals  dying  from  dise;ise  has  had  the  most  salutory  effect  in 
increasing  the  general  healthfulness  of  swine.  The  sensational  and  exaggerated 
theories  and  statements  both  in  regard  to  the  propagation  of  hog  cholera  and 
trichinae  on  the  farms  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts  as  hogs  are  now  man- 
aged and  fed.  The  disease  termed  "thumps."'  which  is  one  of  the  most  fatal,  is 
confined  to  young  pigs,  and  usually  affects  them  while  suckling.  It  is  in  no  sense 
contagious,  and  almost  always  attacks  pigs  which  are  farrowed  early  while  shut 
up  in  pens  and  deprived  of  e-xercise.  The  mortality  on  this  account  has  been 
materially  reduced  by  later  farrowing  to  give  the  advantage  of  exercise,  thus 
preventing  excessive  fatness. 

SALES  AND  WEIGHTS. 

The  largest  sales  are  made  during  the  latter  part  of  autumn  and  the  early  part 
of  winter.  Sales  are  also  made  through  the  summer  or  whenever  the  condition  of 
the  hogs  is  suitable  and  the  prices  acceptable  to  the  owner.  The  average  dressed 
weight  at  I  year  old  is  about  200  pounds:  at  18  months  about  250  pounds.  These 
are  the  minimum  averages.  The  spring  pigs  constitute  another  class  of  hogs. 
They  make  lighter  bacon,  lighter  dry-salted  sides,  and  smaller  hams.  These  pigs 
are  fed,  as  soon  as  they  are  old  enough  to  eat,  all  the  corn  thej'  will  consume. 
When  8  or  10  months  of  age  they  ai'e  ready  to  be  turned  off  with  an  average  mini- 
mum dressed  weight  of  about  150  pounds.  The  aggregate  number  of  hogs  of  all 
ages  now  slaughtered  annually  in  the  United  States  is  estimated  at  about  30,000,000, 
averaging  a  dressed  weight  of  175  pounds,  or  5,250,000,000  pounds  of  gross  product, 
making  a  total  of  cured  meats,  lard,  and  other  products  of  4,725,000,000  pounds. 
The  hogs  are  sold  at  the  railway  stations  by  live  weight,  and  either  driven  or  trans- 
ported to  the  yards  of  the  shipper. 


Part  II. 
II. 


1.  Transportation  of  hogs  from  farms,  or  where  they  are  fattened,  to  stock  yards 

or  packers. 

2.  Condition  of  animals  on  arrival  at  stock  yards,  or  where  they  are  to  be  slaugh- 

tered or  packed. 

3.  The  manner  of  slaughter  and  the  effects  on  the  meat. 


718 


8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


4.  Treatment  of  carcass  after  slaughtering,  before  cutting  up. 

5.  Curing  of  meat:  the  mode  and  materials  used. 

6.  Packages  used  for  shipment. 

7.  Storage  after  packing. 

8.  Transportation  to  seaboard. 

9.  Inspection  for  home  and  foreign  consumption  by  General  Government,  State 

anthority,  and  boards  of  trade. 

THE   TRADE  IN   HOG   PRODUCTS. 

The  pork  trade  of  the  United  States  has  reached  enormous  proportions,  one-half 
of  the  worlds  supply  of  hogs  being  now  owned  and  raised  in  this  country. 

THE  world's  supply  OP  SWINE. 

The  following  table,  provided  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  gives  the 
number  of  swiue  reported  in  the  United  States  in  \i<83,  in  the  United  Kingdom  in 
18S2,  and  in  other  countries  having  100.000  or  more  in  1880: 


United  States 43,270.000 

Russia   -   .- 10,332,000 

Germany 7,324,000 

Austria-Hungary 6, 995, 000 

France 5,891,000 

Spain   4,352,000 

United  Kingdom 3,940.000 

Switzerland 2,000,000 

Italy.. 1,564,000 

British     North     American 

Provinces  1,419,000 

Roumania 837,000 

Portugal 717,000 


Belgium , 

Australia 

Denmark 

Sweden 

Holland 

Argentine  Republic 

New  Zealand 

Greece . 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  , 
Norway 


603. 000 
567, 000 
501,000 
426. 00 J 
352, 00) 
342,  000 
207, 000 
180, 000 
132, 000 
101.000 


Total 91,964,000 


Table  shotdng  the  estimated  total  number  and  total  value  of  each  kind  of  live  stock 
and  the  average  prices  in  Januai'y,  1883. 

[From  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  1883.] 


States  and  Territories. 


Hogs. 


Number. 

Average 
price. 

Value. 

71,416 

$11. 87 

$847,708 

54,511 

12.13 

661.218 

74,864 

11.67 

873,6.i:j 

80,908 

14.31 

1,1.57,793 

14,405 

13.39 

192,883 

62,406 

10.38 

647, 774 

744,238 

10.96 

8,1.56,848 

214,688 

12.75 

2,737.272 

1,060,856 

9.24 

9,802,309 

46,740 

7.80 

364.572 

335.413 

7.94 

2..')8:i:79 

773,864 

5.36 

4,147,911 

1,311,821 

4.15 

5.444,a'>7 

584,601 

4.34 

2,  .'137,]  68 

1,412,604 

4.04 

5,706,920 

320,000 

2.75 

880,1XX) 

1,22.^534 

4.34 

5.318.«i8 

1,07(),26« 

4.05 

4,3:+t,.J89 

564.439 

4.30 

2.427,088 

l,ft>3,189 

3.98 

7.77:1.692 

1,250,513 

3.88 

4,S.')1.990 

1,988,753 

5.56 

11.057,4^)7 

4<>4,406 

5.92 

2,394.084 

1,916,587 

6.73 

10,982.0+4 

2,714,112 

8.07 

21,«(!3.S84 

934,184 

8.45 

7,8!«.8.55 

2,724,383 

7.64 

30.814,286 

3,970,764 

7.46 

29,621,899 

1,162,238 

9.76 

11,343,443 

424,057 

7.45 

3,1.59.225 

6,107,445 

8.02 

40,961.709 

3,893,920 

5.56 

21.644,6.35 

1,984,646 

8.57 

17,008,416 

1,528,823 

7.96 

12,15.3,511 

856,000 

7.14 

6,111,840 

168.9.54 

5.49 

927,557 

12,000 

11.40 

136.800 

12,100 

11.58 

140,118 

9,200 

8.00 

73.600 

109,600 

8.81 

965,576 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massaehusetts . . 
Rhode  Island . . . 

•Connecticut 

New  York , 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania  .. 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia 

North  Carolina. 
South  Carolina . 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Tennessee 

West  Virginia.. 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois  . .... 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon 

Nevada 

Colorado 

Arizona 

Dakota 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


719 


Table  showing  the  estimated  total  number  and  total  value,  etc. — Continued. 


Hogs. 

states  and  Territories. 

Number. 

Average 
price. 

Value. 

Idaho - 

23,600 
17,200 
19,300 
22,500 
50,300 
735 

$11.00 
10.60 
10.80 
12.42 
0.42 
'     10.59 

$259, 600 

182, 320 

208.440 

Utah            

279,450 

272,626 

Wyoming ., 

7,784 

Total        

43,270,086 

6.75 

291,951,221 

Table  shoioing  the  estimated  numbers  of  farm  stock  expressed  as  a  percentage  of  the 
numbers  of  the  previous  years;  also,  average  of  actual  prices  in  January,  1883, 

[From  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  November  10, 1883.] 


Hogs. 

States  and  Territories. 

fc£03 
0  «  0 

1 

^^ 

> 
< 

1 

K 

t% 

> 
< 

Maine         .         ..  

Per  ct. 

99 

101 

99 

102 

101 

101 

101 

100 

94 

100 

98 

87 

95 

99 

■99 

122 

103 

92 

90 

103 

85 

97 

88 

99 

96 

102 

95 

96 

104 

109 

92 

95 

111 

116 

95 

105 

120 

110 

120 

137 

100 

105 

110 

107 

103 

105 

80 

S9.25 
11.05 
8.75 
11.75 
11.33 
8.54 
8.35 
9.75 
6.87 
6.00 
5.46 
3.93 
2.88 
3.95 
2.84 
1.48 
3.31 
2.87 
2.60 
2.69 
2.46 
4.14 
4.56 
4.29 
6.30 
6.23 
5.75 
5.51 
8.44 
5.31 
6.22 
3.90 
6.73 
6.40 
5.48 
2.78 
8.00 
9.33 
7.00 
6.93 
5.00 
9.75 
7.00 
11.05 
3.50 
8.00 
1.50 

$22.33 

23.37 

Vermont .     

20.00 

22.40 

Rhode  Island    

21.67 

17.75 

New  York 

17.35 

18. 31 

15.04 

15.00 

Maryland ..     ,. .. 

12.  .54 

Virginia 

8.70 

North  Carolina .  .    

6.33 

South  Carolina 

6.25 

Georgia 

6.18 

Florida 

3.-58 

Alabama ..  

6.26 

Mississippi 

6.36 

Louisiana 

6.86 

Texa.s 

5.92 

Arkansas 

6.00 

Tennessee 

9.23 

West  Virginia 

9.79 

Kentucky 

9.86 

Ohio 

13.68 

Michigan .... ....       

14.78 

Indiana 

12.51 

Illinois . 

12.46 

Wisconsin 

12.83 

Minnesota..  . ..        .    ..  

12.44 

Iowa 

12.89 

Missouri 

9.44 

Kansas 

13.  .'57 

Nebraska 

11.60 

California..    ..  ..         

10. 07 

7.28 

Nevada . .        ...             . 

16.50 

Colorado 

18.  as 

20.00 

Dakota 

13.19 

15.00 

Montana 

19.25 

New  Mexico 

34.00 

Utah 

31.95 

Washington 

8.82 

Wyoming . .             .    

25.00 

Indian  Territory 

5.00 

720 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES, 


The  following  extracts  from  the  recent  report  of  George  B.  Loring,  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture,  of  date  November  10,  IbiS:!.  presents  a  valuable  array  of 
facts  on  this  subject.  The  returns  of  cattle,  calves,  sheep,  and  horses  are  included 
in  order  to  present  comparative  values. 

STOCK  STATISTICS. 

The  Chicago  market. 

The  volume  of  business  in  this  great  stock  market  is  rapidly  increasing.  There 
yrere  1,582,530  cattle,  exclusive  of  calves,  received,  and  H01,5'^l  retained  for  home 
consumption  or  slaughter  and  cutting,  or  shipment  as  dressed  beef.  In  IbTO  the 
difference  between  receipts  and  shipments  was  only  141, 255.  The  receipts  and 
shipments,  and  home  consumption,  for  seventeen  years,  are  thus  presented: 


Cattle. 

Calves.         Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Horses. 

Beceipts        

14,829,013 
9,848,754 

73,913     66,334,665 
43,694     *',  855,706 

5,788,920 
2,641,171 

149,778 

133,655 

Total 

4,780,259 

30,219     43,478,959 

3,147,749 

16,123 

Of  these  receipts,  8,892,253,  or  61  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  cattle,  were 
handled  in  the  last  seven  years.  The  increase  has  been  comparatively  steady, 
amounting  to  nearly  half  a  million  since  1876.  stimulated  by  the  demand  for  the 
packing  and  canning  trade,  and  more  recently  the  dressed-beef  trade.  This 
increase  is  shown  clearly  in  Diagr;:m  D,  which  displays  gi  ai  hicaliy  the  receiptsof 
seventeen  years  and  the  relative  proportions  shipped  and  retained.  The  propor- 
tions year  after  j-ear  run  in  nearly  parallel  lines  until  1870,  when  the  light  shad- 
ing indicating  consumption  suddenly  encroaches  on  the  dark  space  showing 
shipments. 

The  receipts  of  sheep  have  doubled  in  ten  years,  and  the  increase  in  seventeen 
has  been  about  200  per  cent  Formerly  much  the  larger  proportion  w^ere  for  city 
consumption;  now,  while  the  number  retained  has  greatly  increased,  the  ship- 
ments are  about  half  of  the  aggregate. 

The  swine  receipts  have  increased  with  still  more  wonderful  rapidity.  As 
"hogs"  and  •'  com  "  are  in  a  sense  reciprocal  terms,  the  six  years  of  fat  corn  crops 
nearly  doubled  Chicago  receipts.  So  the  poor  corn  year.  1881.  reduced  the  next 
year  8  receipts  657.340.  as  the  bad  crop  of  1874  checked  the  tendency  to  increase 
and  made  the  following  year's  receipts  less  by  346,269. 

Total  receipts  for  seventeen  years. 


Year. 


Cattle.    !  Calves. 


Hogs. 


Sheep. 


Horses. 


1866  (five  days) 

1866: 

1867 

1888 

1888 

1870 

1871 

18T2 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

Total 


613 

393,007 

329,188 

3Zi,5Zi 

408,102 

532,964 

543,050 

684,075 

761,428 

843,966 

920,843 

1,096,745 

1,038,151 

1,083,068 

1,215,732 

1,382,477 

1,498,550 

1,582,530 


>  48, 948 
24,965 


17,764 
961,746 
1,696,738 
1,706,782 
1,661,8«)9 
1,693,1.58 
2.3S0,(»ti3 
3,252,623 
4,4:^7,750 
4,258.379 
3,912,110 
4,190,006 
4,025,970 
6,339,ft54 
6, 448, 330 
7,059,aT5 
6,474.844 
5,817,504 


14,629,013 


73,913  66,334,665 


1,433 

207,987 
180,888 
270,891 
340,072 
349,853 
315,053 
310.211 
291.734 
333,655 
418.948 
364.095 
310.240 
310.430 
325,119 
345,810 
493,624 
628,887 


5,788,930 


1,669 
847 
1,902 
1,524 
8,637 
5,963 
12,145 
20,289 
17,588 
11.346 
8,1.58 
7,874 
9,415 
10,473 
10,398 
12,909 
13.856 


149,778 


>  Prior  to  1881  calves  were  classed  with  cattle. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 
Total  shipments  for  seventeen  years. 


721 


Year. 

Cattle. 

Calves. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Horses. 

1866  

263,693 
203,580 
215,987 
294.717 
391,709 
401,927 
510,025 
574, 181 
622,929 
696,534 
797,724 
703,402 
699. 108 
720,903 
886,614 
938,712 
921,009 

483,875 

758,789 
1,020,329 
1,086,305 

924,453 
1,162,286 
1,835,594 
3,197,557 
2,330,361 
1,583,643 
1,131,635 

9.51,231 
1,266,906 
1,692,361 
1,394,990 
1,289,679 
1,747,722 

75,447 
50,275 
81,634 
108,690 
116, 711 
135,084 
14.5,016 
115,235 
180,555 
243,6(J4 
195,925 
155,354 
156,727 
159,266 
156,510 
253.938 
314,200 

162 

1867                 

387 

1868  

2,185 
1,538 
3,488 
5  488 

1869          .. 

1870 

1871    

1872                                                   

10,625 
18  540 

1873              

1874 

16,608 
11,129 

1875    

1876 

6,839 

1877  ..             

6,598 

1878 

8,176 

1879 

9,289 

1880  .                          .            

8,713 

1881 

>33,465 
10,229 

11,108 

1882 

12,788 

Total 

9,848,754 

43,694 

23,855,706 

2,641,171 

138,655 

*  Prior  to  1881  calves  were  classed  with  cattle. 
THE  FOREIGN  TRADE. 

While  the  domestic  distribution  has  been  rapidly  extending  and  enlarging,  the 
foreign  trade  in  all  farm  animals  has  increased,  and  especially  the  exportation  of 
sheep  and  cattle.  The  cattle  exports  prior  to  1878  were  from  Southern  ports  almost 
entirely.  When  the  transportation  to  Europe  commenced  from  Northern  ports, 
the  numbers  increased  rapidly  and  values  enormously. 

The  following  statement  exhibits  the  progress  of  stock  exportation: 


Cattle. 

Swine. 

Sheep. 

Horses. 

Mules. 

Year. 

Num- 
ber. 

Value. 

Num- 
ber. 

Value. 

Num- 
ber. 

Value. 

"br-p^-i-- 

Num- 
ber. 

Value. 

1870 

27,530 

$439,987 

12,058 

$189,753 

39,570 

$95,193 

2,121  $177,479 

995 

$140,350 

1871 

20,530 

403,491 

8,770 

61,390 

45,465 

86,888 

1,186  1  173,273 

1,930 

265,827 

1873 

28,033 

565,719 

56,110 

548, 1.53 

35,218 

79.  .592 

1,772 

2(58,475 

2,121 

294,408 

1873 

35,455 

695,957 

99,720 

787,4(J2 

66,717 

107.698 

2,814 

255,365 

1,659 

172,173 

1874 

56.067 

1,150,857 

1.58,581 

1,625,837 

124,248 

159,735 

1,432 

169,303 

1,252 

174,125 

1875 

57,311 

1,103,085 

64,979 

739,215 

424.416 

183,898 

3,220 

242,031 

3,802 

356,828 

1876 

51,593 

1,110,703 

68,044 

670,042 

110,312 

171,101 

2,030 

234,964 

1,784 

224,860 

1877 

50,001 

1,593,080 

65,107 

699, 180 

179,017 

234,480 

2,042 

301,134 

3,441 

478,434 

1878 

80,040 

3,896,818 

29,284 

267,209 

Ia3,{t95 

333,499 

4,104 

798,723 

3.860 

501,513 

1879 

136,730 

8,379,200 

75,129 

700,363 

215,680 

1,082,938 

3,915 

770,742 

4,153 

530,989 

1880 

182, 756 

13,344.195 

83,434 

431,089 

209,137 

892,647 

3,060 

675,139 

5,198 

532,362 

1881 

185,707 

14,304,10;^ 

77,4.56 

572, 138 

179,919 

762,933 

2,523 

390,243 

3,207 

353,924 

1882 

108, 110 

7,800,227 

36,3(58 

509,651 

139,676 

603,778 

2,248 

470,183 

2,632 

320,130 

1883 

104,444 

8,341,431 

16,129 

373,516 

337,251 

1,154,856 

2,800 

475,806 

4,237 

486,560 

Exports  of  pork  products. 


Bacon  and  hams. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Pork. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Lard. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


Pounds. 
395,381,737 
347,405,405 
250,286,549 
327,730,172 
460,057,146 
592,814,351 
732,249,576 
759,773,109 
746,944,545 
468, 036, 640 
340,358,670 


$35,033,137 
33,383,908 
28,612,613 
39,664,456 
49,512,412 
51,753,068 
58,074,433 
50,987,623 
61,161,205 
46,675,774 
38,155,953 


Pounds. 
64, 147, 461 
70,483,379 
56,153,331 
54,19.5,118 
69,671,894 
71,889,355 
84,401,676 
95,949,780 
107,928,086 
80,447,466 
63,116,303 


$5,007,035 
5,808,713 
5,671,495 
5,744,032 
6,296,414 
4,913,657 
4,807,568 
5,930,252 
8,272.285 
7,201,270 
6,192,268 


Pounds. 
230,534,207 
205,5;J7,471 
166,869,393 
168,405,839 
234,741,233 
342,766,254 
336,658,686 
374,979,386 
378,142,496 
250,367,740 
234,718,474 


$31,345,815 
19,308,019 
33,900,522 
23,439,485 
35,563,665 
30,033,133 
32,856,673 
27,930,367 
35,226,575 
28,975,902 
26,618,048 


S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4- 


-46 


722 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


VALUE  OF  FARM   ANIMALS. 

The  value  of  farm  animals,  as  reported  in  the  census  of  1880,  was  $1,.')00,464,609. 
This  includes  only  stock  on  farms,  exclusive  of  ranch  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses,  and 
stock  in  towns  and  villages.  The  prices  have  advanced  since  l(«i3.  The  value  of 
stock,  as  estimated  in  January,  18t53,  wofi  as  follows: 


Stock. 


Number. 


Average 
value. 


Value. 


Horsea 

Mules 

Milch  cows  . 
Other  cattle 

Sheep 

Swine 


10.8:».lll 
l.s71,()79 
13,  lij,685 
:.'S.tlHl,077 
4'..,:J!7,291 
43.270,086 


$70.59 

79. 4» 

30.21 

21.80 

2.53 

6.75 


$7^,041,308 
148,732,390 
396,  .557. 405 
611,5«». !(« 

124, :!«.-..»:» 

291,951,221 


This  makes  a  total  value  of  $2,338,197,268.  The  numbers  are  intended  to  include 
all  animals  on  farms,  ranches,  or  public  lands. 

The  increase  in  prices  in  four  years  from  1879,  the  time  of  lowest  depression  in 
twenty  years,  is  very  marked.  According  to  the  Department  re  urns  this  advance 
amounts  to  35  per  cent  for  horses,  41  for  mules.  39  for  milch  cows,  41  for  other 
cattle,  22  for  sheep,  and  112  for  swine.  Besides  the  general  advance  of  values  inci- 
dent to  a  recovery  of  business  prosperity,  there  is  a  powerful  cause  at  woik  in  the 
case  of  swine,  the  unexampled  cheapness  of  corn  in  1H79,  from  consecutive  crops 
of  great  abundance,  and  the  high  prices  now  prevailing  in  consecinence  of  poor 
yields.  This  increase  iu  values,  applied  to  the  census  numbers,  amounts  to 
$2,174,000,000. 

Avemge  price  of  fai'm  animals. 


Year. 

Horses. 

Mules. 

Cows. 

Other 
cattle. 

Sheep. 

Swiue. 

1870             

$81.38 
78.51 
73.37 
74.21 
71.45 
68.01 
64.96 
60.08 
58.16 
62.41 
54.75 
58.44 
58.62 
70.50 

$100.01 
101.. "ig 
94.82 
95.15 
89.22 
80.00 
75.33 
68.91 
63.70 
56.06 
61.26 
69.79 
n.35 
79.49 

$30.12 
37.33 
31.97 
29.72 
27.99 
28.52 
28.89 
27.32 
26.41 
21.73 
23.27 
23.95 
25.89 
30.21 

$22.54 
22.81 
19.61 
20.06 
19. 15 
18.08 
19.04 
17.10 
17.14 
15.39 
16.10 
17.33 
19.89 
21.80 

$2.28 
2.32 
2.80 
2.96 
2.61 
2.79 
2.60 
2.27 
2.25 
2.07 
2.21 
2.39 
2.37 
2.53 

$6.99 
6.19 

1871    

1872 

4.36 

1873     

4.09 

1874 

4.36 

1875 

5.34 

1878 

6.81) 

1877 1 

6.09 

1878    

4.98 

1B79 

1880 

3.18 
4.28 

1881 

4.70 

1888 

5.98 

1883 

6.75 

The  following  tabular  statements  present  the  growth  and  present  magnitude  of 
this  interest: 

Total  number  of  hogs  packed  in  the  West  during  winter  seasons,  according  to  special 

reports,  since  1849. 


Season. 

Number 
packed. 

Cost, 
net. 

Cost, 
gross. 

Season. 

Number 
packed. 

Cost, 
net. 

Cost, 
gross. 

1882-83 

6,132,212 
6,747,760 
6,919,456 
6,950,451 
7,480,648 
6,505,446 
5,101,306 
4,880,135 
5,566,228 
6,466,200 
6,410,314 
4,831,558 
3,695,251 
2,6a5,312 
2,499,873 
2,781.084 
2,490,791 
1,785.965 
2.422,779 
8,281,105 
4.069,620 

$7.86 
7.58 
6.80 
6.22 
3.56 
4.99 
7.18 
8.82 
8.33 
5.43 
4.66 
6.16 
6.68 
11.63 
10.22 
7.95 
7.22 
11.67 
14.32 
6.70 
4.20 

$6.28 
6.06 
4.64 
4.18 
2.85 
3.99 
6.74 
7.05 
6.60 
4.34 
3.73 
4.12 
5.26 
9.22 
8.18 
6.36 
6.78 
9.34 

11.46 
6.36 
8.36 

1861-62         

2,893,666 
2,155,702 
2,350,822 
2,465,5.52 
2,210,778 
1,818,468 
2,489,502 
2,124,4M 
2,634,770 
2,201,110 
1,182,846 
1,332,867 
1,652,220 
1,660,000 
1,710,000 
8(10,000 
900,000 
790,000 
1,245.000 
675,000 

$3.03 
5.67 
5.91 
6.28 
4.80 
5.94 
6.75 
4.21 
4.19 
6.01 
4.45 
3. 75 
2.fi«> 
4.70 
3.25 
3,55 
4.85 
8.30 

$2.42 
4.57 

1881-SS 

1860-61  

1880-81 

1859-60  

4  73 

1879-80 

1858-59 

5. 02 

1878-79 

1857-58 

3  89 

1877-78 

1856-57     

4.75 

1876-77 

1855-56 

4  60 

1876-76 

1854-66 

3.37 

1874-75 

185*^ 

3.35 

1873-74 

1852-63 

1851-52  

4.81 

187»-T3 

3.66 

1871-72 

1850-51 

3.00 

1870-71 

1849-60  

2.13 

1869-70 

1848-49 

3.76 

1868-69  

1847-48        .        ..  . 

2.60 

1867-68 

1846-47 

2.85 

1866-67 

1845-46  

3.90 

1865-fl6 

1844-46 

2.65 

1864-65 

1843-44        

1863-64 

1843-43 

1862-63   

swute  peoduots  of  the  united  states. 


723 


The  following  shows  the  number  of  hogs  packed  in  the  Mississippi  Valley 
during  each  year  ended  March  1  for  the  last  thirty  years,  divided  between 
summer  and  winter  packing,  and  also  the  number  paciced  in  Chicago  during  each 
of  these  years: 


Year  ended 
March  1— 

Number  of  hogs  packed 
March    1   to   Novem- 
ber 1. 

Number  of  hogs  packed 
November  1  to  March  1. 

Total  number  packed 
March  1  to  March  1. 

In  Chicago. 

In  the  West. 

In  Chicago. 

In  the  West. 

In  Chicago. 

In  the  West. 

ia54  

52,849 

73,094 

80,380 

74,000 

99,262 

179,684 

1.51,3.39 

271,805 

505,691 

970,264 

904,659 

760,514 

507,355 

639,332 

796,226 

597,954 

688, 140 

870,380 

1,214,886 

1,425,079 

1,520,024 

1,690,348 

1,592,065 

1,618,084 

2,  .501, 285 

2,943,115 

2,525,219 

2,781,064 

2,368,100 

2,557,823 

2,534,770 
2,124,404 

2,489,503 
1,818,468 
2,210,778 
2,465,552 
2,350,832 
2.155,702 
2,893,666 
4,069,520 
3,261,  ia5 
2,423,779 
l,7a5,955 
2,490,791 
2,781,084 
2,499,173 
2,595,243 
3,717,084 
4,875,560 
5,451,254 
5,462,700 
6,561,236 
4,887,999 
5,068,993 
6,503,446 
7,475,648 
6,946,1.51 
6,914,456 
5,747,760 
6,130,213 

52,849 

73,694 

80,380 

74,000 

99,262 

179,684 

151.339 

271.805 

505,691 

970,264 

904,659 

760,511 

507,  a55 

639,332 

796,226 

597,954 

688,140 

919, 197 

l,225,2f?6 

1,456,650 

1,826,56*) 

2, 136, 716 

2,320,846 

2,933,486 

4,009,311 

4,960,956 

4,680,637 

6,752,191 

5,100,484 

4,222,780 

2,534,770 
2,124,404 
2,489,502 
1,818,468 
2,210,778 
2,465,662 
2,350,822 
2,155,702 
2,893,666 
4,069,620 
3,261,105 
2,422,779 
1,785,955 
2,490,791 
2,781,084 
2,499,173 
2,595,243 
3,832,084 

1855 

1856    

1857 

1858    

1859    .... 

I860    

1861     

1862    

1863 

1864    - 

1865 

imi 

1867 

1868    

1869 

1870    

1871 

48,917 

10,350 

31,571 

306,536 

446,368 

728,781 

1,315,402 

1,508,026 

2,017,841 

2,155,418 

1,971,127 

2,732,384 

115,000 

350,000 

505,000 

1,062,916 

1,200,444 

1,262,343 

2,307,866 

2,543,120 

■   3,378,044 

4,051,248 

6,323,898 

4,803,689 

8,210,787 

1872    

6, 125, 560 

1873 

5, 956, 254 

1874 

6, 226, 616 

1875 

1876 

6,761,670 
6,150,342 

1877 

7,376,858 

1878   

9, 045, 566 

1879 

10,&53,692 

1880 

10, 997, 399 

1881 

12,238,364 

1882           

10,  ,551, 449 

1883 

1,664,957 

9,340,999 

Previous  to  1871  no  reliable  returns  were  made  of  the  summer  packing;  it  waa, 
however,  very  inconsiderable. 

Comparative  statement  of  the  last  ten  packing  seasons,  November  1  to  March  U 


Season. 

Number  of 
hogs. 

Average 
net  weight. 

Aggregate 
weight. 

Seasons. 

Number  of 
hogs. 

Average 
net  weight. 

Aggregate 
weight. 

1873-74.... 

1874^75.... 
187.5-76.... 
1876-77-.-. 
1877-78.... 

5,462,700 
6,561,226 
4,887,999 
6,068,992 
6,503,446 

214.97 
209.97 
217. 71 
215.58 
236.04 

1,174,316,619 
1,166,578,378 
1,0(54,122,270 
1,092,773,295 
1,469,812,893 

1878-79... 
1879-80... 
1880-81... 
1881-82... 

1882-83... 

7,47.5,648 
6,946,151 
6,914,4,56 
6,747,760 
6,130,212 

217.14 
212.94 
207.71 
210.16 
213.62 

1,623,282,206 
1,479,113,493 
1,436,201,656 
1,207,936,077 
1,309,535,887 

The  following  table  from  the  recently  issued  Report  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture presents  the  itemized  hog  products  reported  inclusive  of  1883: 

Exports  of  pork  products. 


Year. 

Bacon  and  hams. 

Pork. 

Lard. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

1873 

Pounds. 

395,381,737 
347,405,405 
250,286,549 
337,730,173 
460,057,146 
593,814,a51 
732,249,576 
759,773,109 
746,944,546 
468,026,640 
340,258,670 

$35,022,137 
33,383,908 
28,613,613 
39,664,456 
49,512,412 
51,752,068 
68,074,433 
50,987,623 
61,161,206 
46,675,774 
38,156,952 

Pounds. 
64,147,461 
70,482,379 
96,152,331 
54,195,118 
69,671,894 
71,889,255 
84,401,676 
95,949,780 
107,928,086 
80,447,466 
62,116,302 

$6,007,035 
5,808,712 
5,  (.71, 495 
5,744,022 
6,296,414 
4,913,657 
4,807,568 
6,930,252 
8,272,285 
7,201,270 
6,192,268 

Pounds. 
230,  .534, 207 
205,537,471 
166,869,393 
168,405,839 
234,741,233 
342,766,254 
326,658,686 
374,979,286 
378,143,4<.K5 
250,367,740 
224,718,474 

$21,245,815 

1874 

19,308,019 

1875      

22,900,532 

1876 

22,429,485 

1877 

25,562,665 

1878 

30,032,133 

1879 

22,856,673 

1880 

37,930,367 

1881 

35,226,575 

1882 

28,975,902 

1883 

26,618,048 

724 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Of  the  45,000,000  hoprs  owned  in  the  United  States,  and  which  are  valued  at 
$:M).000,000,  from  I4.()0<t.00()  to  15,000,000  find  their  wav  into  the  trade  aunually, 
and  are  valued  at  $248,000,000. 

The  following  tables  show  how  the  packing  business  is  distributed  over  the 
country: 

Table  showing  the  distribution  of  swine  in  the  United  States,  of  all  ages,  in 
January,  1883  and  1882. 


Olilo 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

Minnesota 

Wisconsin 

Michigan 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

12  packing:  States 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticat 

New  York 


Department  of  Agri-  \ 
culture. 


1883. 
2,714,112 
2,724.383 
8,970,764 
5,107,445 
8,892,900 
1,9^4,646 
1,528,823 

424,057 
1,162,238 

931.184 
1,916,587 
1,988,753 


28,316,912 

n,416 
54,511 
74,864 
80,908 
14.405 
62.406 
744,238 


1882. 
2,827,200 
2,867,772 
4,136,213 
5,551,571 
4,097.811 
1,787.969 
1,316,227 

389,043 
1,117,537 

915,867 
1,935,946 
2,050,261 


28,993,417 

73,625 
53,971 
75,620 
79,322 
14,362 
61,788 
736,869 


New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania  .. 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia 

West  Virgiira.. 
North  Carolina 
South  Carolina. 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

California 

Oregon  

Nevada 

Colorado 

Territories 

Total 


Department  of  Agri- 
culture. 


1883. 
214,688 
,000,856 
46,740 
3*5.413 
773. ««4 
404.406 
,311.«31 
584.»)01 
,413,«H 

;»i.<i(io 

,225.5:U 
,070.a)9 
5(>4,439 
,95:^189 
,£0,513 
a56,00O 
168,954 
12,000 
12,  KJO 
252,435 


43,270,066 


1882. 

214,688 

1,128,570 

46,740 

332.054 

889,499 

459.552 
1,380.864 

590.506 
1,426,873 

284.180 
1,189,839 
1,163,336 

627,154 
1,8516.300 
1,471,192 

585.443 

160,909 
10,000 
10,000 

165,627 


41,122,300 


The  Department  of  Agi-iculture  reports  of  swine  of  all  ages  in  the  United  States 
in  January  for  the  years  mentioned  show  the  following  totals: 


1883 43,270,086 

1882  44,122,200 

1881 36,227,603 

1880  34,034,100 

1879  4,766,200 

1878  32,262,500 

1877 28,077,100 

1876 25,726,800 


1875 28,062,200 

1874 30,860,900 

1873 32,632,000 

1872  31,796,300 

1871 29,457,500 

1870 26,751,600 

1869  23,316,400 


Receipts  and  shipments  of  hogs  from  187S  to  188S,  inclusive. 


Chicago. 

8t.  Louis. 

Kan.sas  City. 

Peoria. 

Milwaukee. 

1 

Receipts. 

Ship- 
ments. 

Receipts. 

Ship- 
ments. 

Receipts. 

Ship- 
ments. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

Ship- 
ments. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

Ship- 
menta 

187B 

3,252,623 
4,437,790 
4,258,379 
8,912,110 
4,190,006 
4,025,970 
6,339,654 
6,4(8,330 
7,O50,a56 
6.474,844 
5,817,504 

1,835,594 
2,197,557 
2,330,361 
1,582,643 
1,131,635 
9.51,221 
1,206,«06 
1,692,361 
1,394,990 
1,289,679 
1,747,722 

759,076 

973,512 

1,128,  .586 

628,569 

877,160 

896,319 

1,451.634 

1,762.724 

1,840,684 

1,672,153 

188.700 
224.873 
453,710 
126,739 
232,876 
314,287 
528,627 
686.009 
770,769 
889,909 

104,689 
220,9.56 
212,532 
59,413 
153.777 
192,6*5 
427,777 
588,908 
676,477 
1,014,304 

8,5.n3 
33,610 
114,. 569 
15,790 
28, 264 
15,973 
91,671 
208,851 
152,920 
1&5,5:.'4 

171.797 
216.319 
188,224 
139,647 
163,646 
104,830 
2*5,500 
367,669 
304,167 
305,130 
161,989 

119,669 

129.321 

116,646 

93,259 

96,044 

87.470 

207.938 

236,693 

28.5,419 

186,072 

163,797 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 

235,244 
371,985 
585,102 
511,104 
560,830 
598,  .560 
633,508 

53.6«i3 

66.188 
11.5,845 
147.793 
124,813 

75,284 

1883 

133.843 

SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATE8. 


725 


The  total  number  of  hogs  packed  during  twelve  months  ending  March  1,  at 
fifteen  leading  places,  which  pack  in  both  winter  and  summer  seasons,  are  as 
follows: 


l88;;-83. 


1881-82. 


1880-Sl. 


Chicago 

Kansas  City  . 

St.  Louis 

Cincinnati... 
Milwaukee  .. 
Indianapolis . 
Cedar  Rapids 

Cleveland 

St.  Joseph  ... 

Louisville 

Ottumwa 

Omaha , 

Des  Moines . . 

Detroit 

Keokuk  


4,223,780 

813,834 

532, 180 

507,316 

4a5,510 

388,417 

327,163 

218,885 

1.52. 365 

143, 393 

131,554 

1.51,  (KHi 

90,871 

99, 1,55 

60,446 


5,100,484 
800,928 
550,379 
508,548 
486,066 
406,894 
350,900 
337,738 
163, 06f) 
lt)l.f)07 
140.950 
13;i.  781 
112,270 
103, 122 
95,662 


5,752,191 

579,398 
884, 159 
6:32,981 
462, 348 
771, 928 
402.081 
506,997 
126,000 
245,670 
12:i,30<) 

96,149 
144, 707 
107,181 

51,881 


With  a  view  of  indicating  closely  the  total  packing  and  marketing  of  hogs  in  all 
the  sections  of  the  country  during  the  year,  we  submit  the  following  for  twelve 
months  ending  March  1,  1883,  compared  with  the  preceding  year: 


1882-83. 


1881-82. 


Packed  in  the  West 

Packed  at  Buffalo,  Albany,  and  Troy  . .. 
Packed  at  New  Haven,  Providence,  etc. 

Packed  on  Pacific  Coast 

Receipts  at  four  seaboard  cities 

Aggregate  number 

Decrease  in  1882-83 


9,342,999 

10,551,449 

268,734 

297,563 

316,568 

2.50,000 

275,000 

a55,000 

3,264,088 

3,371,810 

13,467,389 

14,825,823 

1,358,433 

The  weight  and  production  of  the  above-reported  supply  of  hogs  for  the  year 
ending  March  1  are: 


1882-83. 


1881-82. 


Net  weight  of  hogs pounds 

Decrease 

Green  meats  of  all  kinds pounds 

Decrease 

Production  of  lard pounds 

Decrease 

Tierces  of  lard 330  pounds 

Decrease 


2, 623, 511,  .584 

215,727,92:i 

1,8:36,458,073 

151,009,517 

421,513,211 

47,415,989 

1,277,313 

143, 684 


2,839,239,457 

1,987,467,620 

4(i8,929,200 

1,420,997 

The  seven  largest  packing  centers  of  the  West,  with  their  business  for  1882-83, 
are  ;is   ollows: 


Chicago  

Kansas  City. 
Cincinnati... 

St.  Louis 

Milwaukee . 
Indianapolis 
Louisville  .. 


Number 
packed. 


4,222,780 
813,8:34 
507,316 
532,180 
405,510 
388,417 
143,;!93 


Value. 


$69,148,000 
13,623.581 
*9,043,a59 
*  8, 207, 313 
6,256,863 
5,911,391 
2,548,460 


*  The  apparent  discrepancy  between  the  number  and  value  of  hogs  at  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 
arises  from  the  larger  average  weight  of  the  hogs  at  the  former  city  and  the  higher  prices  paid. 


726 


8WINE   PRODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATipS. 


The  following  statement  from  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Afn"icnltnre  of 
November  10,  1883,  presents  facts  of  interest  showing  changes  in  the  movements 
of  hogs  to  the  seaboard  cities,  page  285. 

In  the  record  for  swine  the  most  noticeable  change  is  the  remarkable  movement 
to  Boston,  which  is  now  nearly  equal  to  the  aggregate  receipts  of  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore: 

Receipts  of  hogs  at  the  seaboard  cities. 


Year. 

New  York. 

Boston. 

Philadelphia. 

Baltimore. 

TotaL 

1860 

Number. 
901,725 
88!»,625 
1,310,280 
1,923,727 
1,958,389 
1,774.221 
1,388.517 
1,222,657 
1,2»>8,596 
1,794,539 
1.725,537 
1,719,137 
1, 53:^.526 
1,306,848 

Number. 
167,658 
189,830 
351,307 
602,625 
854,  .507 
687,721 
331,989 
361,317 
330,604 
510,4.32 
682.615 
691,839 
708,«<10 
816,535 

Number. 
176.200 
189,600 
199,610 
210,276 
344,:j00 
339,590 
24;i300 
289,900 
242.400 
282.  OJO 
ail. 450 
34<),iH)0 
367, 876 
186.800 

Number. 
2.50.516 
300,  (XK) 
350,  (iOO 
314,2))9 
3!t2.734 
357,  .547 
279.6;31 
25.9.064 
322,945 
260,514 
356,  ,524 
m\.  867 
;«s..551 
268.811 

Number. 
1,495,999 

1870 

1,. 568, 4.55 

1871 

2,211,197 

1872 

3,050,897 

1873 

3.549.  SWI 

1874 

3,05.0,079 

1875 

2, 24:i.  437 

1876 

2,l:i2,it38 

1877 

2, 164,  .545 

1878 

2,847,545 

1879 

a.Odil.  126 

1880.             

3,094.  8(t{ 

1881  

2.948.K.5;i 

18tB 

2,638,f«(4 

The  following  table  presents  the  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  United  States, 
by  countries,  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 1882,  taken  from  Commerce  and  Navi- 
gation Report'of  United  States  for  1882: 


Countries  to  which  exported. 


Pork. 


Bacon. 


Argentine  Republic 

Austria 

Heltfium .... 

Brazil ••...... ....... 

Central  American  States 

Chile  

China 

Denmark 

Danish  West  Indies 

Franco 

French  West  Indies 

French  (J-uiana 

Miquelon,  Langley.and  St.  Pierre  Islands 

French  East  Indies 

French  posses-sions  in  Africa  and  adjacent 
islands 

French  possessions,  all  other 

Germany 

England 

Scotland 

IriWand 

Gibraltar 

Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island 

Quebec,  Ontario,  Manitoba,  and  the  North- 
west Territory 

British  Columbia 

Newfoundland  and  Labrador 

British  West  Indies.   

British  Guiana 

British  Honduras 

Briti.sh  East  Indies 

Hongkong 

British  possessions  in  Africa  and  adjacent 
islands 


Pounds. 


691,4.30 

62,020 

159,421 

20,200 

14,  UK) 

9,000 

372,610 

257,  .574 

429,510 

70, 150 

249,715 


1,500 

60,800 

1,109,000 

27,032,077 

1,993,017 

10,000 


1,979,440 

18,372,222 
35.100 
.5,UI6, 100 
6,435,927 
3,065,5f)0 
481,546 


119,200 
74,600 


Pounds. 


$48,417 

5,640 

14,622 

2,0«7 

1,298 

770 

34,  .570 

22,956 

41,938 

6,672 

22,9.53 


19, 660,  .547 
86.190 
19,480 


3,111 
2,005,440 

2,711 

4,770,689 

1(X) 


123 

4,177 

92,  .54  6 

2,298.241 

170,890 

1,000 


1,803 

3,482,623 

.^59. 840, 448 

24,262,662 


161,730 

1,725,972 

3,435 

411,778 

5!i»>.  .5>7 

289, t 61 

43.510 


1,879 

2,432 

8,674,246 

61.584 

13.603 

260, 629 

9,5:{2 

67,756 


9,312 
6,436 


4,605 


$1,696,1:50 
10,34;i 
1,693 


4S0 
163,  »S2 

320 

381,375 

10 


2.59 

29.5,856 

35,871,720 

2,446,979 


194 
316 

604,8!)7 
8,:K1 
1,493 

28,086 

895 

5,209 


604 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


727 


Countries  to  which  exported. 


Hams. 


Lard. 


Argentine  Republic 

Austria — 

Belgium 

Brazil 

Central  American  States . 
Chile - 


Pounds. 


China 

Denmark 

Danish  West  Indies 

France-  -. 

French  West  Indies 

French  Guiana  

Miquelon,Langley,and  St.  Pierre  Islands 

French  East  Indies 

French  possessions  in  Africa  and  adjacent 
islands 

French  possessions,  all  other 

Germany    

England 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Gibraltar -. 

Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island 

Quebec,  Ontario,  Manitoba,  and  the  North- 
west Territory 

British  Columbia 

Newfoundland  and  Labrador 

British  West  Indies 

British  Guiana 

British  Honduras 

British  East  Indies 

Honj^kong 

British  possessions  in  Africa  and  adjacent 
islands 


767,820 

8,148 

26,744 

3, 289 

34,  W  2 

327 

75,366 

573,622 

65,8()0 

2,950 

8,274 


10,939 

397,733 

27,968,209 

2,968,377 


1,244 

17,814 

2,  ir.6, 605 
51. 928 
144,178 
690,185 
271,796 
26, 573 


11,937 


$83,472 

1,158 

3,839 

516 

5, 405 

40 

8,669 

64,;H4 

8,977 

810 

1,080 


1,695 

44,024 

3,185,044 

331,755 


Pounds. 

3f)2,646 

106,776 

21,200,192 

3,698,462 

189,017 

567,560 

1  940 

6,533^008 

225,817 

31,610,618 

757,288 

17,639 

67,944 

100,000 

2,000 

22,390 

55,467,728 

75,210,227 

5,306,937 


193 

2,295 

220,3;i6 

8,267 

17, 636 

85,284 

29,671 

3,494 


207,700 
343,493 

5, 198, 689 
80, 678 
27,290 

2,589,700 
766,767 
88,500 


1,902 


860 
149,253 


$40,500 

11,640 

2,398,716 

491,252 

24,685 

73,278 

280 

751,416 

25,671 

3,699,876 

78,458 

2,317 

8,749 

13,000 

260 
2,953 

6,255,827 

8,786,923 

620,834 


22,959 

38,795 

609,305 
12,234 
3,188 
268,363 
78,156 
9,795 


105 
20,157 


The  followin?:  statement  shows  the  quantities  of  hog  product  exported  from  the 
United  States  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1883,  and  the  principal  countries 
to  whi(  h  the  same  was  exported,  taken  from  Commerce  and  Navigation  Report  of 
the  United  States  for  1888: 


Countries  to  which  exported. 


Great  Britain: 

Knglanl 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Germany 

Franco  .'. 

Belprium 

Netherlands 

Denmark 

Otlier  countries  in  Europe 

Cuba - 

Haiti  .   

Porto  Rico 

Other  West  India  islands 

Mexico 

British  Guiana 

United  States  of  Colombia 

Central  American  States 

Brazil 


Venezuela 

Other  South  and  Central 
American  couutines . . . 

Quebec.  Ontario,  Manitoba, 
and  Northwest  Territory... 

Canadian  Maritime  Provinces. 

Britisli  Columbia   

China,  Japan,  and  East  Indies 

Africa  and  adjacent  islands... 

Hawaiian  Islands 

All  other  countries  and  islands 

Total  year  ended  June  30 — 

1883 

1882 

1881 

1880 , 

1879 


Pork. 


Pounds.        Value, 


14,770,992 

1,3114,724 

6,000 

l,14(),t)62 

10<),  400 

141,025 

170,400 


$1,398,151 

135,283 

462 

108, 025 

10, 854 

13,566 

17,226 


52, 
915, 

5,463, 

1,828, 

7,263, 

24, 

2,458, 

466, 

177, 

20, 


1,827,212 

17,021,015 
6,127,322 
31,200 
155,700 
148,070 
150,900 
299,615 


63,116,302 
80,447,466 
107,928,086 
95, 949, 780 
84,401,676 


260, 094,  .519 
20,014,434 


5,313 
113,268 
570,061 
206,522 
743,733 

2,911 

247,381 

49, 693 

18,;!04 

2,193 

3,845 

194,229 

1,714,543 

556,  .H64 

3,885 

15,  rm 

15,069 
14,679 
31,110 


6,192,268 
7,2(11,270 
8,372,285 
5, 9;iO,  2,52 
4,807,568 


Bacon  and  hams. 


Pounds.        Value. 


$29,230,372 
2,286,015 


14,708.832 

2.52,891 

12,864,971 

2,9;i5,206 

6,914,231 

5,321,868 

4,43.3,114 

142,497 

644,498 

1,057,503 

243,  .583 

242,645 

197,985 

54,018 

129,805 

175,251 

299,711 

8,  .509, 91 2 
226,092 
410,569 
75.044 
55, 138 
2(J8, 028 
48,325 


340,2.58,670 
468,026,640 
746,944,545 
759,773,109 
732,249,576 


1,469,283 

29,246 

1,298,507 

309,289 

641,545 

563.934 

603,2r)5 

22, 895 

91,163 

146,315 

37,955 

31,866 

31,8,57 

8,093 

17,768 

28,477 

34,863 

1,121,  .519 

27,879 
57,  .549 
13,212 

7,0.59 
a5, 199 

7,837 


38,155,952 
4«, 675, 774 
61,161,205 
50,987,623 
51,074,433 


Lard. 


Pounds.      Value, 


61,982,126 

5,174,940 

11,487 

41,872,915 

31,794,241 

14,384,3.59 

4, 384,  ,553 

5,996.373 

2,078,501 

21,405,360 

1,315.410 

2,340,899 

3,7.5:3,276 

1,392,134 

6.59, 956 

5,a59,185 

288,288 

3,426,275 

2,484,228 

1,467,132 

11,280,6.52 
535, 790 
126,686 
14,400 
354,593 
204,250 
130,515 


224,718,474 
2.50,367,740 
378,142.496 
374,979,286 
326,658,686 


$7,311,925 

628,242 

1,362 

4,867,142 

3,727,926 

1,723,355 

521,873 

684, 410 

248,625 

2,471,774 

181,399 

298, 977 

426,035 

163, 797 

64,865 

729,  ,537 

38,665 

468,874 

322,532 

192,821 

1,363.825 
61,352 
19,000 
2,122 
49,5,58 
30,763 
17,292 


26.618,048 
28,975,902 
;i5.226,575 
27,920,367 
22,8.56,673 


728 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


The  following  table  shows  the  weekly  exports  of  hog  product  from  the  princi 
pal  Atlantic  ports  during  1883,  compiled  from  current  weekly  returns,  but  not 
official: 


Week 

From  New  York. 

From  Boston,  Portland,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, New  Orleans,  and  Montreal 

ended— 

Fork. 

bacon  and 
bams. 

Lard. 

Pork. 

Bacon  and 
hams. 

Lard. 

Barrels. 

PouTids. 

Pounds. 

Barrels. 

Pounds. 

Pounds. 

Jan.    6 

4,590 

11,546,863 

7,346.131 

1,373 

7,706,500 

2,991.748 

13 

6,480 

11,852,117 

3,255,284 

812 

4,198,615 

1,997, 9f«) 

20 

4,831 

9,168,920 

3. 346.  .505 

2,-582 

2,784,276 

8!H.2.54 

27 

8,743 

7,476,379 

4,945,911 

1,456 

4,675,800 

2,235.210 

Feb.    3 

4,477 

6,828,636 

3,784,885 

400 

8,642,483 

1,4<H,345 

10 

4,470 

8,555,488 

3,265,028 

a5o 

4,234.884 

l,ft30,906 

17 

8,5W 

6,  .598, 480 

3,666,013 

608 

l,8i:i-'«i4 

2,797,572 

24 

3,  .5(10 

7,297.641 

2,141,727 

1,706 

2,111,929 

1,612.386 

Mar.   3 

3,176 

6,980,779 

4.. 521, 478 

1,177 

2,080.735 

1,251,&58 

10 

4,056 

7,22«.877 

2.«27.3;« 

850 

3,742,729 

259,601 

17 

4.185 

7.822.210 

4,067.-343 

682 

1,479.406 

465,660 

24 

3,«521 

4,790,481 

2,174,608 

1.026 

3.497,356 

216,977 

31 

2,280 

3,970,060 

3,0:B.()23 

1,032 

1,836.166 

512,798 

Apr.    7 

3,614 

6,377,156 

2.586,074 

1,137 

6,188,879 

810.879 

14 

4,319 

4,810,434 

2,-5.39.182 

1,4.55 

2.-568,027 

306,700 

21 

3,314 

4,«»7,330 

4.167.252 

1,845 

2.993,106 

-512,  (J74 

28 

4,1.>4 

4,4;«,4.53 

4,327,087 

786 

1.386,0iX) 

81-3,418 

Hay    5 

2,401 

3,57(i,8~4 

2,059,772 

488 

2,320.150 

495,601 

12 

3,144 

2,4<56,564 

2,465,679 

1,202 

1,338,539 

643,930 

19 

3,240 

2,  .561, 544 

2,156.875 

611 

1,060,333 

1,709,940 

26 

1,789 

2,587,435 

2,157,028 

893 

1,421,065 

1,565.474 

Jane  2 

1,523 

2,003,804 

2,646.772 

994 

1,407,925 

500.  .526 

9 

2,223 

2,883,515 

2,588,139 

1,181 

2,235,970 

98.5,305 

16 

2,883 

2,l.>19fti 

2,621,648 

362 

908,783 

493,314 

23 

2,094 

3,.'B7,(.W8 

2,766,(88 

167 

2.047.918 

275,813 

30 

3,504 

2.31t!..506 

4,376,733 

994 

2.996.761 

620,699 

July    7 

2,970 

2,8(B,.5:n 

3, 825,  .5:16 

1,411 

2,35-3,600 

2.624,0(i9 

14 

2,950 

3,114.302 

7,628.762 

1,107 

2, 64;'..  907 

5,161,007 

21 

3,272 

3,716,134 

7,184,215 

1,113 

3,3t^.S)5 

7,07-5,946 

28 

3,640 

3,622,784 

6,392,057 

4,015 

6,017,080 

3,221,(Kil 

Ang.   4 

3,955 

5,341.871 

6,788,266 

2,202 

3,978,045 

3,&57.6;R» 

11 

2,171 

4,820,687 

4,836,339 

301 

5,094,019 

2,9:^6,286 

18 

3,089 

5,  .596. 746 

5,630,870 

1,473 

4,677,882 

1,719,875 

25 

2,271 

5,447,195 

5,160,990 

585 

3, 897,  .556 

858,491 

Sept.  1 

2,533 

4,132..'«8 

6,405,538 

1,708 

8,144,025 

766, 761 

8 

1,259 

6.586.981 

4,798,285 

2,235 

2,078,785 

1,67:},  964 

15 

2,643 

8,46.5,752 

3,437,944 

482 

5.273.904 

2,067,887 

22 

3,216 

4.128,479 

4.501,327 

1,230 

2,244,922 

872,208 

29 

8;  559 

4,797,-526 

8,238,472 

964 

2,409,781 

1.500,608 

Oct.     6 

8,430 

3,484,373 

3,083,172 

1,735 

2,31.5,349 

1,327,975 

13 

2,664 

3,778,950 

2,754,110 

1,484 

2,083,335 

430,690 

20 

8,829 

5,626,658 

2,646,620 

1,063 

1,962,993 

357,466 

27 

4,328 

4,803,011 

2,104,206 

1,330 

4,064,256 

608,080 

Kov.   3 

4,420 

4,1.51,073 

2,412,176 

2,110 

2,388,059 

41.5,038 

10 

8,345 

8,693,208 

4,013,180 

1,817 

2,285,827 

457,777 

17 

5,309 

4,6215,850 

6,263,899 

1,495 

2,146,-586 

789,233 

24 

4.961 

4,953,(61 

4,119,020 

672 

2,134,700 

902.499 

Dea    1 

2,262 

7.8a5.103 

5.701,249 

862 

5,612.-313 

669,658 

8 

4,7M 

6..SS7.S33 

4,892,115 

1,992 

4,9U,:»5 

1,520,235 

15 

5,990 

9, 79.5, 311 

9,285,-5.50 

846 

5,64.5.010 

2,36:1.217 

22 

5,424 

8,961,520 

2,  no,  976 

38:1 

2.632,806 

862,119 

29 

3,768 

7,372,085 

2,941,404 

1,250 

3,770,882 

1,825,991 

Total  exports  of  hog  product  from  the  principal  Atlantic  ports  during  the  years 

1879  to  1SS3,  inclusive. 


Year. 

Prom  New  York. 

From  Boston,  Portland,  Philadeljihia.  Balti- 
more, New  Orleans,  and  Montreal. 

Pork. 

Bacon  and 
hams. 

Lard. 

Pork. 

Bacon  and 
hams. 

Lard. 

1883 

1882 

1881 

1880 

1879 

Barrels. 
182,167 
184,049 
2a5,731 
282,261 
8M,880 

Pounds. 

275,670,855 

214,752,919 

849,876,366 

511,317,129 

608,867,149 

Pounds. 

208,334,821 

le0,512,147 

233,23^, 428 

293,745,050 

243,281,844 

Barrels. 
62,5.33 
40,824 
68,782 
58,969 
65,206 

Pounds.    , 
160.616,811 
117,924,128 
265,024,067 
288,069,646 
236,460,063 

Pounds. 

74,fi«!».5*(1 
63, 127.  im 
68,188.9^8 
97,284,391 
84,819,335 

SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


729 


To  show  the  progress  made  in  exportation  of  products  of  agriculture  in  a  half  cen- 
tury or  more,  the  following  figures  from  the  records  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  are 
given,  taken  from  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  1883,  page 
328: 


Year  ended  June  30— 

Value  of  ex- 
ports of  do- 
mestic mer- 
chandise. 

Value  of  ex- 
ports of 

products  of 
domestic 

agriculture. 

Per  cents 
of  prod- 
ucts of 
agricul- 
ture. 

1820  > 

$.51,683,640 
58,524,878 
111,660,561 
134,900,233 
316,242,423 
45.5,208,341 
823,946,353 
883,925,947 
733,239,732 

$41,657,673 
48,095,184 
93,-548,067 
108,605,713 
256,560,972 
361,188,483 
683,010,976 
729,650,016 
552,219,819 

80.60 

18:30" 

82  18 

1840  > 

82.93 

1850 

80.51 

1860 

81.14 

1870 

79.34 

1880 

82.90 

1881 

82. 55 

1882 

75.31 

1  Year  ended  September  30. 

The  increase  in  number  of  farms,  in  improved  (or  tillable)  acres,  and  in  the 
total  area  of  land  in  farms  is  thus  shown  from  the  records  of  the  national  census: 


Year. 

Number  of 
farms. 

Improved. 

Total. 

1850 

1,449,073 

2,044,077 
2,659,9a5 
4,008,907 

Acres. 
113,o:$2,614 
16:3,110,720 
188,921,099 
284,771,042 

Acres. 
293  560  614 

ISiitI 

407, 212, 538 

1870 

407,735,041 

18ti0 

536,081,835 

The  product  of  corn  is  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  in  1849,  while  the  wheat 
aggregate  is  more  than  four  times  as  large.  The  progress  in  grain  growing  has 
entirely  outstripped  the  advance  in  population.  It  is  shown  from  the  census 
exhibits  as  follows,  though  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  corn  crop  in  1869 
was  a  comparative  failure — 25  per  cent  less  than  the  acreage  would  have  yielded 
in  a  good  year: 


Year. 

Com. 

Wbeat. 

1849 

Bushels. 
592,071,104 
838,792,742 
760.944,549 
1.754,591,676 

Bushels. 
1(10, 4^5,944 

18.59 .                     

173, 104, 924 

1869 

287,745,626 

1879 .                 

459, 483, 137 

The  nations  most  affected  by  competitive  exportation  from  the  United  States 
are  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany.  To  show  the  principal  American 
exports  to  those  nations  the  following  tables  have  been  prepared  from  Reports  of 
Commerce  and  Navigation,  excluding  the  minor  articles,  which  might  extend  the 
list  without  enlarging  much  the  volume  of  quantity  or  value. 

In  the  past  ten  years  the  exports  to  France  have  averaged  $58,457,124,  a  trifle 
more  than  the  imports.  The  exports  to  Germany  have  averaged  $57,713,236;  the 
imports,  $44,526,702.  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  (the  "United  Kingdom")  have 
been  the  best  customers,  buying  annually  to  the  value  of  $374,088,:)()0,  and  sending 
in  return  to  the  United  States  goods  worth  $160,627,212,  showing  a  difference  of 
over  $213,000,000  per  annum. 


730 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


An  examination  of  the  details  of  this  trade  will  illnstrate  the  bearing  of  com- 
petition upon  the  agi'iculture  of  these  countries: 


Value  of  all  exports. 

Value  of  all  imports. 

Year. 

Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 

France. 

Germany. 

Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 

France. 

Germany. 

1873 

$316,861,874 
345.^59,584 
317,111,142 
336,(152,050 
345,961,055 
387,43O,rd0 
348,828,439 
453,796,497 
481,135,078 
408,347,155 

$33,781,506 
42,9»M,311 
33,632,727 
39,792.703 
45,139,918 
55,319.138 
89,669,627 

100,063,(»44 
94,197,4.51 
5'J,010,818 

$61,, 590, 047 
62,993,225 
.5<).4ti6,025 
50,6^9,072 
58,107,433 
54,809.845 
57,057,245 
.57,062,2tV) 
70,188.2.52 
54,228,953 

$237,298,218 
180,042,813 
1.55,297,944 
123,:i73.281 
113,734,2.58 
107,290,677 
108,5:}8,812 
210,613,694 
174,493,738 
195,588,692 

$33,977,200 
51,6H1.H<.»6 
.59,773,148 
50. 959,  .577 
47,  .5.56, 292 
43,378.,S70 
50.684,601 
69,  .344, 412 
69,806,375 
88,897,606 

$61,401,756 
43,909,8,52 
40  247  712 

1874 

1875 

Ig76 

;{.■>  319  462 

1877 

32  .Ajf.)  'MiH 

1878 

M,  790, 103 
35,519  818 

187B 

1880 

62,211,237 
52,989,181 
66, 368,  .542 

1881 

1882 

Total... 

3,740,883,604 

584,671,242 

577,132,360 

1,606,272,127 

566,069,977 

445,267,028 

The  following  statistics  from  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture 
for  the  year  188a,  page  '652,  are  necessary  to  a  complete  view  of  this  branch  of  the 
subject: 

The  value  of  agricultural  exports  of  the  past  year  (1883)  is  greater  than  those  of 
any  previous  years  except  1880  and  1881,  The  value  of  manufactures  e.xported  was 
absolutely  greater  than  that  of  any  previous  year.  It  is  a  hopeful  intfication,  as 
the  prosperity  of  the  American  farmer  depends  upon  that  of  American  producers 
in  other  industries,  and  not  upon  the  prosperity  of  foreign  manufacturers.  The 
following  statement  of  progress  in  exportation  is  from  the  records  of  the  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  the  Treasury  Department: 


Year. 


Value  of  ex- 
ports of  do- 
mestic mer- 
chandise. 


Value  of  ex- 
ports of 

products  of 
domestic 

agriculture. 


Value  of  ex- 

DortS  of        r>„_„„_i.^» 

imerchandiseP«'^<=^°'of 

other  than 
products  of 

domestic 
agriculture. 


products 
oi  agri- 
culture. 


1830  > 
1830  > 
1840  > 
18.50. 
1860. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875- 
1876. 
1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
1880. 
1881. 
1882. 


$51, 
68, 
111, 
134, 
316, 
455, 
478, 
476, 
575, 
633, 
5.59, 
.594, 
632, 
695, 
099, 
823, 
883, 
7.33, 
804, 


683,640 
524,878 
660,561 
900,233 
242,423 
208,341 
11.5,292 
421,478 
227,017 
339,  ;%8 
2:^7,638 
917,715 
980,854 
749,930 
538,742 
946,353 
925,947 
239,73:J 
223,632 


$41, 
48, 
92, 
108, 
256, 
361, 


446: 
601 
430. 
456, 
4.59, 
536, 
546, 
685, 
730, 
5.52, 
619, 


fi.57,673 
005, 184 
548,0»»7 
605,713 
560.972 
188,483 
466,011 
796,625 
900,004 
371,. 501 
.306,  .570 
113,  .515 
734,148 
192,873 
476, 708 
961,091 
;»4.943 
219,819 
269,449 


$10,02.5,967 
10,429,694 
19,112,494 
28, 294,. 520 
59,681,4.51 
94,019,8.58 
109,649,281 
107,634,853 
128,327,013 
]:n,967,867 
128,9:11,068 
13.S.804,2()0 
173,246,7(« 
1.59,  .5.57.  (r,7 

i:J7,98o.262 
1.5;?,531,fK)4 
181,019,913 
184,954,183 


80.60 
82.18 
82.93 
80. 51 
81.14 
79.  .34 
77.07 
77.41 
77.69 
79.16 
76.95 
76.67 
72.63 
77.07 
78.13 
8:^.25 
82.  (a 
75.31 
77.00 


•  Year  ended  September  30. 

The  proportions  of  exports  by  classes  of  industry  for  the  past  two  years  are  as 
follows: 


1883. 

188a 

Products  of— 

Value. 

Per  cent 
of  total 

Value. 

Per  cent 
of  total. 

Agriculture 

$5.52,219,810 
103,133,481 
56,278,887 
9,138,934 
6,197.752 
6,271,860 

75.31 

14.07 

7.67 

1.25 

.85 

.85 

$619,269,449 
111,890,001 
61,444,8.57 
9,976,143 
6,276,375 
6,366,807 

77.00 

Manufactures . ... .......... 

13.91 

6.40 

Forestry ........... 

1.24 

The  fisheries 

.78 

All  other  commodities  .. ............. .... 

.67 

Total 

733,239,732 

100.00 

804,223,633 

100.00 

SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE   UliOTED   STATES. 


731 


Value  of  products  of  domestic  agriculture  exported  from  the  United  States  to  for- 
eign countries  during  the  years  ending  June  SO,  1882  and  1883. 


Articles. 


Fiscal  year 
1882. 


Fiscal  year 
1883. 


Animals,  living: 

Hogs , 

Horned  cattle 

Horses - 

Mules 

Sheep 

All  other,  and  fowls 

Bones  and  bone  dust , 

Bread  and  breadstuffs: 

Barley 

Bread  and  biscuits 

Indian  corn... 

Indian-corn  meal 

Oats 

Eye 

Rye  flour 

Wheat 

"Wheat  flour 

Other  small  gjrain  and  pu^se 

Maizena.  farina,  and  all  other  preparations  of  breadstuffs  used 

as  food - 

Cotton,  unmanufactured 

Fruits: 

Apples,  dried 

Apples,  green  or  ripe 

Other  fruit,  green,  ripa,  or  dried 

Preserved,  in  cans  or  otherwise 

Glue 


Hair,  unmanufactured 

Hay.- _ 

Hemp,  unmanufactured 

Hides  and  skins  other  than  fur 

Hops 

Oil  cake 

Oils,  animal: 

Lard 

Neat's  foot,  and  other  animal 

Oils,  vegetable: 

Cotton  seed 

Linseed 

Provisions: 

Bacon  and  hams 

Beef,  fresh 

Beef,  salted  or  cured 

Butter 

Cheese 

Condensed  milk 

Eggs 

Lard 

Meats,  preserved 

Mutton,  fresh... 

Pork 

Onions 

Potatoes 

Other  vegetables,  raw,  prepared,  or  pi'eserved 
Rice 


Seed: 

Cotton ...J 

Clover,  timothy,  garden,  and  all  other 

Sugar,  brown 

Tallow 

Tobacco,  leaf 

Wax  (bees') 

"Wine 

"Wool,  unmanufactured 

Unmanufactured  articles: 

Bladders 

Bri.stles 

Broom-corn , 

Bulbs 

Casings 

Cotton,  in  seed 

Cotton,  short 

Feathers,  crude , 

Flax,  tow  of 

Grasses  and  flowers 

Honey,  unstrained 

Hoofs 

Horns  and  horn-tips 

Mohair ". 

Nuts  of  all  kinds 


$509,651 

7,800,327 
470, 183 
320,130 
603,778 
25,147 
41,266 

151,575 
781,292 

28,845,830 
994,201 
298,349 
946,086 
28,593 
112,929,718 

36,375,055 
664,687 

655,142 
199,812,644 

228,945 

539,543 

322,229 

659,681 

46,274 

267,643 

190,170 

21 

1,449,737 

l,4.56,7cS6 

6,302,828 

434,134 
53,736 

330,260 
35,970 

46,675,774 

6,768,881 

3,902,556 

2,864,570 

14,058,975 

200,490 

28,262 

28,975,902 

4,208,608 

131,641 

7,201,270 

61,299 

441,816 

309,891 

10,109 

114,683 

4,104,917 

4,251 

4,015,798 

19,067,721 

33,325 

67,909 

37,327 

6,906 

12,180 

170,137 

10,834 

271,503 

4,384 


16,476 

120 

2,655 

19,082 

16,505 

35,622 

399 

134 


$272,516 
8,341,431 

475, 806 
486,560 
1,154,856 
58,099 
59,103 

299,137 

829,281 

27,756,082 

980, 798 

233,843 

1,657,998 

25,070 

119,879,341 

54,824,459 

567,013 

987,829 
247,328,721 

786,800 

1,085,230 

447,395 

686,517 

62,210 

438,897 

261,614 

76 

1,220,158 

5,616,370 

6,061,699 

353,184 
64,405 

216,779 
34,468 

38,155,952 

8,342,131 

3,742,283 

2,290,665 

11,134,526 

180,505 

75,080 

26,618,048 

4,578,902 

188,172 

6,192,268 

44,074 

428,478 

222,124 

8,679 

108,491 

4,311,919 

148.957 

3,248,749 

19,438,066 

ir,604 

77,280 

22,114 

5,115 

10,053 

173,468 

332 

359,446 

1.256 

375 

6,312 


286 
27,826 
36,594 
54,374 


691 


732 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    TJiaTED    STATES. 


Value  of  products  of  domestic  agriculture  exported,  etc. — Continued. 


Articles. 


Fiscal  year 
1882. 


Fiscal  year 

im. 


Unmanufactared  articles: 

Plants  and  trees 

Rennets 

Rice-root 

Silk. raw 

Tea.sels 

Vine  cuttings  (grape) 

Manufactured  articles: 

Blood,  prepared 

Butter,  imitation 

Cider 

Cotton-seed  meal 

Cottonseed  foots 

Glucose  (grape  sugar) 

Glue,  liquid 

Grease,  not  elsewhere  specified 

Grease,  pulp 

Honey,  strained 

Horn  strips  and  horn  waste 

Linseed  meal 

Malt 

MiUfeed 

Oil-cake  meal 

Oils:  Oleomargarine  (the  oil)  .. 

Olive  butter 

Poultry,  dressed 

Silk  waste  and  noils 

Sirup 

Soap  stock , 

Bnrar  beet 

Tallow,  scraps 


Total  value  of  exports  of  agricultural  products  . 


$32,705 

1,143 

12,622 


5,606 
88,769 

8,936 

312,  a54 

9,810 

2,921 


181,411 

6(H 

248,768 


30,592 
6,656 


12,295 

30,665 

58,730 

2,703,038 


173 

21,571 

2,763 

44,243 

896 
31,746 


552,219,819 


$21,172 
1,301 
6,900 
7.136 
2,404 
16,804 

2,600 

271,  (il© 

30,466 

247,464 

801 

196,114 


206,432 
4,500 
4.907 


420 

21,208 

39.990 

7,547 

4,273,220 

12,074 


9,265 

1,204 

28,200 


46,790 


619,269,449 


VALUE  OP  THB  COEN  CROP  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  importance  of  this  subject  will  be  apparent  if  we  look  at  it  from  another 
standpoint,  viz,  the  value  of  our  corn  crop. 

The  following  table  from  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of 
1881-82,  page  580,  presents  the  annual  estimates  of  acreage,  product,  and  value  for 
a  series  of  years.  The  abnormal,  extraordinary  increase  of  recent  years  made  it 
difficult  to  keep  pace  with  advancing  production,  as  is  shown  by  the  record  for 
1879,  which  is  widely  at  variance  with  the  census  returns  for  that  year.  In  other 
crops  the  difference  is  usually  slight  between  the  two  records,  but  in  the  corn  esti- 
mate it  is  evident  that  the  Department  figures  are  quite  too  low.  The  table  .should 
be  studied  in  connection  with  the  variable  character  of  the  seasons,  and  with  the 
prices  per  bushel,  as  they  will  in  the  main  bear  close  scrutiny  and  afford  reliable 
evidence  of  comparative  accuracy. 


Calendar  year. 

Total  produc- 
tion. 

Total  area  of 
crop. 

Total  value  of 
crop. 

Average 

value  per 

bushel. 

Average 

yield  per 

acra 

Average 

value  of 

yield  per 

acre. 

1871 

Bushels. 

991,898.000 

1,092,719,000 

932,274,000 

850, 148,  .500 

1,321, 009.  ttX) 

1,28:^.827,500 

1,342,558,000 

1,388,318,7.50 

1,547,901,790 

1,717,434,543 

1,194,910,000 

Acres. 
34,091,137 
a5, 520, 836 
39,197,148 
41,036,918 
44,841,371 
49,033,364 
50,369,113 
51,585,000 
63,085,450 
62,317,842 
64,262,025 

$478,275,900 
435.149,290 
447,18.3,020 
550,043,080 
555,446,930 
475,491,210 
480,643.400 
441.153,405 
680,486,217 
679,714,499 
759,482,170 

Cents. 
48.2 
39.8 
48.0 
64.7 
42.0 
37.0 
35.8 
31.8 
37.5 
39.6 
63.6 

Bushels. 
29.1 
30.7 
23.8 
20.7 
29.4 
26.1 
26.6 
28.9 
29.2 
27.6 
18.6 

$14.02 

1872 

12.24 

1873 

11.41 

1874 

13.40 

1878 

1878 

12.^ 
9.69 

1877 

9.54 

1878 

8.55 

1879 

10.9:) 

1880 

10.91 

1881 

11.82 

Total 

13,662.965,083 

525,346,204 

5,883.068,121 

Annual  average.. 

1,242,087,735 

47,768,746 

634,824,375 

43.1 

26 

11.20 

SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


733 


The  following  table,  from  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for 
1888,  page  266,  presents  the  summary  for  each  State,  showing  the  product,  the 
•  area,  and  the  value,  etc. : 


State  or  Territory. 


Maine 

New  Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts .. - 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia , 

North  Carolina . . 
South  Carolina  .. 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama  .- 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Tennessee 

West  Virginia  ... 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon  

Nevada 

Colorado 

Arizona 

Dakota 

Idaho 

Montana 

New  Mexico, 

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming 

Indian  Territory 


Total 1,617,025,100 


Corn. 


Bushels. 


1. 

i: 

1. 

2i: 

9. 

43: 

3, 
17. 
35, 
34: 

le: 

3«: 

3. 
31, 

30, 

14, 

fi3, 

34, 

75, 

14, 

75, 

93, 

28, 

107, 

182, 

32, 

21, 

175, 

170, 

144, 

82, 

2, 


904,400 
870,700 
930.  .300 
,237,200 
277,900 
155,800 
187,500 
942,800 
518,800 
936,600 
904,700 
904,000 
260,700 
356,200 
617,. 500 
708, 900 
982.  .5^0 
233,600 
636,400 
416,300 
48.5,900 
188,600 
927,000 
500,900 
319,200 
.581,600 
484,300 
336,900 
201,600 
127,600 
487,600 
037,000 
452,600 
478,200 
790,900 
130,000 

18,000 
422,400 

57,000 
6.50,(00 

45.000 

18,000 
905,000 
275,000 

62,0(J0 


Acres. 


30,987 

37, 269 

56, 910 

57,120 

12,100 

57,  .577 

769, 115 

34;?,  536 

1,388,245 

208, 182 

691,542 

1,881,568 

2,446,056 

1,361,256 

2,747,005 

392.073 

2,300,341 

1,798,944 

790,336 

3,280,329 

1.. 596, 672 

3;  119, 371 

588,233 

3,10;},  248 

2,977,080 

929,760 

3,438,332 

7,914,042 

1,117,240 

661,050 

6,777,302 

5,763,102 

4,280,430 

2,364,120 

98,634 

5,450 

830 

21,076 

2,709 

186,247 

1,580 

492 

45,594 

13,208 

2,646 


65,659,546 


Value. 


$832,048 

835,872 

1,814,482 

1,175,340 

2.55,668 

1,109,  .568 

16,314,375 

7,  .556, 528 

30,463,160 

2, 322, 594 

10,384.726 

19,029,120 

18,158,171 

11,122,216 

23,801,375 

2, 967, 120 

19, 188, 500 

16,628,480 

8,781,840 

36,781,454 

1,5,863,514 

31,579,212 

8,607,660 

39,260,468 

57,8.57,904 

16, 863, 144 

51,592,464 

85,698,343 

17,066,848 

9,507,420 

66,685,288 

66,614,430 

53,447,462 

27,217.806 

2,372,265 

104,000 

16,200 

580,160 

62,700 

2, 371,. 500 

47,250 

18,900 

1,061,500 

247,500 

49,600 


783,867,175 


The  following  table  presents  the  acreage,  product,  and  home  value  of  the  corn 
crop  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1880,  as  finally  estimated  by  the  United 
States  Agricultural  Department: 


State. 


Corn. 


Acres. 

Bushels. 

Home  value. 

31,000 

1,108,020 

$853,175 

36,890 

1,401,820 

1,02:1,329 

56,300 

1,801,600 

1,279,136 

55,980 

1,875,330 

1,406,497 

12, 106 

36;i,  180 

326,862 

55,5X10 

1,621,100 

1,215,825 

801,600 

27,895,680 

15, 900,  .538 

347,200 

14,2a5,200 

8,256,416 

1,374,. 500 

55,804,700 

29,576,491 

202,120 

6,467,840 

3,2;«,920 

678,190 

21,702,080 

10,&34,019 

1,809,200 

45,230,000 

18,996,600 

2,253,300 

36,954,120 

19,216,142 

1,263,000 

11,745,900 

9,044,343 

2,384,700 

21,939,240 

16,138,076 

374,700 

3,522,180 

2,993,853 

1,828,980 

22,679,352 

15,195,166 

1,590,300 

23,218,380 

14,627,579 

784,886 

14,912,720 

9.096.759 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts . . 
Rhode  Island  ... 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania. . . 

Delaware 

Maryland ., 

Virginia 

North  Carolina. 
South  Carolina . 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 


734 


8WLNE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


State. 

Corn. 

Acres. 

Bushels. 

Home  valne. 

Texas             .... . 

2,670,180 
1,2!H.010 

2,7*8.8.30 

570,900 
2,9.V),7tlO 
3,198.400 

a55.4:» 
3,421,700 
8,810.180 
1,02:}.  254 

442.230 
6,  .'447,180 
5,050.120 
3,  ((25, 200 
1,919.000 
80,050 
4,8.50 

181,282 

66,754,500 
82,a50,250 
62,469,792 
17.;JO7.000 
80.039.970 
llO.SHd.OfiO 

;«.8io.ooi 

99.529.300 
240.4.52.890 

33,70r,3»2 

15.478.050 
260,192,840 
100,463,408 
106,218.300 

69,.507.0<KI 
2.5H(),800 

ii;{,oa5 

5,274,947 

$a5,379,885 
15,851,622 

Arknnmiff... ..-.        ..        - - 

22,480,125 

West  Virginia 

8,  i:}4,290 

32.t!!).5. 189 

Ohio    

49. 1  r.5,  4<KJ 

Michigan    ....... .... 

10.  (115. ;}()() 

3!»,  (591 .  720 

86,  .50;}.  043 

Wisconsin  .  . . . ............... 

13,  lt)9.279 

5.  .572. 098 

Iowa     .  .  ..' . ........................ 

67.0.50,138 

57. 7(i6. 827 

Kansas .......... 

30,803,324 

14,870,900 

1.961,408 

92,664 

3,811,501 

Total  for  1880 

62,317,842 
5:^085.450 
51,58.5.(100 
50.:i69,113 
49.03:}.  304 
44.,S41.;^71 
41,030,918 
39. 197. 148 
35,52<5,«30 
34,091,137 

1,717,434,543 

1.547,901,790 

1,388,218,750 

1,342.  .558, 000 

1,28;}.  827.  .500 

l,;}21,(Ki!).000 

850,14*(,.5(X) 

932,274,000 

1,092,719,000 

991,898,000 

679,714,499 

1.S79    

580, 480.  ;n7 

1878 

441.i:>:f.4()5 

1877    

4«0.64:},4(I0 

1870 

475,491,210 

1875 

&")5,445,SI80 

1874    

550, 043, 080 

1873 

447,  IK},  020 

1,S72  

4:15,149.290 

1871 

478,275,900 

In  order  to  present  the  comparative  value  of  the  corn  crop,  the  following  table 
is  presented,  showing  the  corn  crop  of  the  United  States  for  the  years  1882  and 
1881.  This  presents  the  estimate  of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Department 
of  the  product  of  corn  grown  in  the  United  States  in  1882,  and  the  final  estimate 
for  the  same  crop  harvested  in  1881: 


State. 

1882. 

1881. 

Wheat. 

Com. 

Oats. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Oats. 

512.100 

148.700 

378,000 

20,100 

904,400 

870, 700 

1,930,300 

1,237,200 

277,900 

1,155.800 

20.687.500 

9,942,800 

41,518,800 

3,936,600 

17,904,700 

35,904.000 

34,280,700 

15,856,200 

29,617,500 

3,708,900 

30,982,500 

28,233,600 

14,636,4ai 

63,416,300 

34,485,900 

73.188,000 

14,927,000 

79,  .500, 900 

93,319,2(J0 

30,081,600 

107,484,300 

187,330,5100 

30,201,600 

21,127,600 

178,487,600 

174,037,000 

150,452,600 

82,478,200 

2,790,900 

101,000 

11.700 

422,400 

7,500,000 

1,776,750 

1,030,000 

8,445,a50 

703,000 

155.800 

1,048,380 

40,068,000 

3.808,880 

34,721,100 

391.840 

l,(i58,!t;}0 

3,5.51.1'JO 

5,713,400 

4,43(1,140 

7,235,800 

617,  (KX) 

175,0(X» 

378,000 

19,000 

260 

39.000 

10,844,(X)0 

2,018.000 

18.797,000 

1,044,000 

7,2i;},000 

7,16.5.000 

4,579.000 

998,000 

2,933,000 

480 

1,479,000 

197,000 

5,350 

3,339,000 

1,017,000 

6,408,000 

4,413,000 

8,625,000 

38,620,000 

21,220,000 

31,35:^(100 

26,822,000 

17,987,000 

35,952,000 

18,248,000 

20,:}99,(I00 

19,909.000 

13,840,000 

28,406,000 

12,673,000 

48,000 

1.310.000 

11,300.000 

1,064.000 

1,202,(XK) 

1,9!XI.0:k). 

1,406,000 
327,000 

1,427,000 
20.086.000 

7,829.000 
34,599,000 

2,940,W)0 
16,277,000 
27,200,000 
26,977,000 

8,809,a)0 
19.745,000 

3,170,(XXJ 
20,250,(J00 
17,640,000 

9,093,000 
33.377,000 
21,028.000 
36,2:}2,000 
12,980,000 
51,024.000 
79,760,000 
25,0(>8,(JO0 
79,018,0(X) 
170,7;}3,000 
29,(^0,000 
10.252.0(10 
17:5,289,000 
93,009,000 
76,377,000 
68,913,000 

2,633,000 

101,000 

13.000 

352,000 

6,761,000 

2  369,000 

New  Hampshire... 

1.030.000 
3, 345. 000 

Massachusetts 

703.000 
1(>4,  (KX) 

Connecticu  t 

43,600 

12,145,200 

2,098.700 

20,300.7(X) 

1.200.000 

8,6.55,000 

8,311,400 

5,494.800 

1,729,000 

3,812,900 

000 

1.700,800 

25f),  100 

7,000 

4,173,700 

1,500,100 

8,971,200 

4,854,300 

17,250,000 

45,4.53,600 

33,31.5.400 

46,401,800 

62,302,900 

20,146,400 

37,030,500 

26,487,200 

27,638,600 

83,248,000 

14,947,200 

84,546,600 

12,039,300 

49,400 

1.598,200 

16,000,000 

i,o;}8,(X)o 

38,160,000 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

4,052,(K)0 

38,  .570, 000 

816,  (lOO 

1,823,0()0 

Virginia 

4,3:^1,000 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

4,081,000 
3,098,000 
6,566,000 

Florida 

392,000 

Alabama 

3,994,900 

3,080,850 

527.800 

9,2;}9,640 

3,131,580 

7,129,f)00 

1,078,400 

7,579,440 

16,732,154 

18,057,000 

18,606,090 

99,141,000 

34,324,400 

29,700,000 

44,5.55,700 

30, 073,  .560 

12,780,840 

9,417,700 

1,548,000 

4,433,520 

193,800 

902,070 

9,000,000 

3,073,000 

Mississippi 

2,185,000 

Louisiana 

364,000 

Texas         

8,324.000 

Arkansas . 

2,337,000 

Tennessee 

West  Virginia 

Kentucky ... 

6,720,000 
2,098,000 
6,531,000 

Ohio...  

Michigran..... ...... 

26,009.000 
18,a)7,000 

15,711,000 

66,094,000 

31,204,0(K) 

23,700,000 

42,434,000 

Missouri...... 

22,78.3,000 

Kansas .. 

8,7.54,000 

6,970,(XK) 

California ..... 

l,548,0fX) 

6,278,«X) 

Nevada  

100.000 

Colorado 

771. (XK) 

The  Territories.... 

7,224,000 

Total 

602,789,300 

1,624,917,800 

475,656,794 

380.280,090 

1,194,916,000 

416,481,000 

SWINE   PEODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


735 


Crops  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1883.  Preliminary  (December  1)  estimate 
of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Department  of  the  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  and 
oats  produced  in  1883. 


State  or  Terri- 
tory. 


Maine 

New    Hamp- 
shire   

Vermont 

Massaclinsetts. . 
Rhode  Island  - .  - 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania... 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia    

North  Carolina. 
South  Carolina . 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama. 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas  

Tennessee 

West  Virginia  .. 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon  

Nevada 

Coloi'ado 

Arizona 

Dakota 

Idaho  

Montana 

New  Mexico 

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming 


Total 36,393,319 


Wheat. 


Acres. 


43,263 

11,500 

21, 573 

1,180 


a,  171 
780,124 
154,000 
1, 518, 474 
93,8(50 
620, 200 
928, 089 
717, 100 
218,500 
504,900 


276,450 
49,500 


500,000 

232, 200 
1,323,000 

425, 7(X) 
1,248,390 
2,588,400 
1,786,506 
2,735,370 
2,215,000 
1,593,9IX) 
2,597,940 
2,4:^5,300 
2,358,350 
1,. 534,  ,350 
1,772,990 
2,794,000 

795,300 
5,424 

114,000 


1,008,000 


57,796 
ft5, 195 
83,  m) 
170,200 


Yield 

per 

acre, 

bush. 


14.2 

15.8 
16.4 
16.7 


15.8 
10.3 
13.4 
13.2 
10.3 
12.1 
9 

5.9 
5.2 
5.1 


5.2 
5 


8.5 
6.1 
5.6 

10 
7.7 

10 

14 

10.4 

10 

12.3 

13 

11.3 

10.1 

17.5 

15.5. 

13 

16.5 

18.3 

21 


Product, 
bushels. 


614,300 

181,700 

853,700 

19,700 


31,300 
8,035,200 
2,063,600 
20,043,800 
966,700 
7,577,UX) 
8,a52,800 
4,230,800 
1,136,200 
2,574,900 


1,437,500 
247,500 


16 


16.3 
15 

19 

18.7 


11.5 


4,301,000 

1,416,400 

7,408,800 

4,257,000 

9,612,600 

2.5,884,000 

25,011,000 

28,447,800 

22,150,000 

19,604,900 

33,773,200 

27,518,800 

23,819,300 

26,861,100 

27,481,300 

36,322,000 

13, 122, 401) 

99,200 

2,394,000 


16,128,000 


942,000 

977,900 

1,579,400 

3,182,700 


Corn. 


Acres. 


30,367 

38,014 

58,623 

58,262 

12,947 

57,001 

761,423 

346,971 

1,402,127 

212,346 

691,. 542 

1,919,199 

2,494,977 

1,388,481 

2,829,415 

399,914 

2,277,;538 

1,870,902 

924, 693 

3,608,362 

1,740,372 

3,212,952 

588,233 

3,258,410 

2,818,480 

911,165 

3,541,482 

8,1.51,463 

1, 122, 826 

727, 1.55 

6,980,621 

5,878,364 

4,708,473 

2,81,3.303 

100,607 

5,504 

847 

21,287 

2,736 

270,0.58 

1,627 

.502 

46,506 

13,340 

2,672 


420, 154,  .5(X)  68, 301, 889 


Yield 

per 

acre, 

bush. 


35 

36 

31 

35 

32 

30 

23 

28 

27 

18 

23.5 

14 

11.5 
8 

8.7 
8.5 

11.5 

13.5 

14.2 

17,5 

17.6 

20 

24.3 

24 

26.1 

23.5 

27 

25 

21 

20.8 

24.3 

27.5 

36.7 

36 

24.5 

23.5 

25 

25 

20 

18.2 

20 

20 

20 

21 

23 


2.27 


Product, 
bushels. 


1,062,800 


1,368 

1,817 

2,039 

414 

1,710, 

17,51 

9,715 

37,857: 

3,822: 

16,2,51 

26,868 

28,69f 

11,107 

24,615 

3, 399 

26,189 

25,;H7 

13,130: 

63, 146 

30,4,56 

64,259 

14, 294 

78,201 

73,  .560: 

21,412: 

95,620 

203,786 

23,579 

15.124: 

169,629 

161,655 

172, 800: 

101,278 

2,464 

129 

21 

532 

54: 

4,915 

32 

10, 

93C 

280: 

61 


,,500 
,300 
,100 
,300 
,  0(X) 
,700 
,100 
,400 
,200 
,200 
,700 
,200 
,800 
,900 
,200 
,300 
,100 
,600 
,;300 
,500 
,000 
,00.1 
,800 
,000 

,;50o 

,000 
,500 
,300 
,800 
,000 
,000 
,900 
,900 
,800 
,300 
,100 
,1(K) 
,700 
,055 
,500 
,040 
,1(X) 
,100 
,400 


1,,551,066,895  20,3:J2,622 


Oats. 


Acres. 


84,579 

29,697 

102,505 

23,098 

5,882 

37,141 

1,344,637 

1.30,873 

1,247,  "" 

21,664 

100,323 

628,434 

593,890 

362,805 

780,682 

51,528 

427,199 

274,236 

34,096 

416,096 

223,961 

586,490 

129,829 

422,628 

871,2.50 

.580, 451 

717,560 

2,848,5.55 

1,331,392 

949,200 

2,005,569 

1,057,422 

699,476 

540,161 

70,8.58 

170,993 

7,344 

41,250 


210,000 
30,450 
32,200 
11,760 
24,050 
62,540 


Yield 

per 

acre, 

bush. 


31.5 

34.8 
34.6 
31.3 
30.4 
29.6 
31.3 
32.6 
30.6 
23.9 
20.2 
10 

8.7 

9. 

9 

9.8 
10.6 
11.5 
13.9 
22.8 
14.4 
11.9 
15.6 
16.3 
33.9 
34.6 
29.7 
36.1 
30.4 
33.1 
34.1 
28.7 
39.4 
40 
25.8 
24.6 
28.9 
29.3 


42.9 
37.4 
37.6 
17 

22.7 
39.7 


28.1 


Product, 
bushels. 


2,665,000 


1, 


0*3,000 
548,600 
724,000 
179,100 
100,700 
071,400 
265,800 
193,200 
517,600 
023,800 
275,600 
142,000 
544,000 
018, 700 
504,  .500 
517,300 
142,400 
475,000 
489,300 
225, 400 
997,700 
02'),  300 
899,900 
.560,000 
061,300 
304,100 
780,000 
502,700 
447,500 
403,600 
374,200 
560,000 
630,000 
826,600 
211,800 
212,100 
209,000 


9,000,000 
1,140,000 
1,210,000 
199,800 
,546,000 
2,480,400 


571,233,400 


736 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


The  foUowinsf  statement  shows  the  number  of  acres  under  cultivation  in  wheat, 
corn,  and  oats  in  the  State  of  Illinois  in  1881,  by  counties,  also  ihe  product  of  each 
county,  in  bucjhels,  by  the  latest  estimate  of  the  State  department  of  agriculture: 


County. 


Winter  wheat. 


Acrea     Basbels. 


Spring  wheat. 


Acres.  Bushels. 


Com. 


Acres.      Ba8hel& 


Oats. 


Acres.     Bushels. 


Adams 

Alexander  ... 

Bond 

Boone  

Brown 

Bureau 

Calhoun 

Carroll 

Cass 

Champaign... 

Christian 

Clark 

Clay 

Clinton 

Coles 

Cook 

Crawford 

Cumberland. 

Dekalb 

Dewltt 

Douglas 

Dupage 

Edgar  

Edwards 

Effingham 

Fayette 

Ford 

Franklin 

Fulton 

Gallatin 

Greene 

Grundy  

Hamilton 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Henderson . . 

Henry 

Iroquois 

Jackson  

Jasper 

Jefferson 

Jersey 

Jo  Daviess.... 

Johnson  

Kane 

Kankakee 

Kendall 

Knox 

Lake. 

Lasalle 

Lawrence 

Lee 

Livingston .. 

Logan ., 

Macon 

Macoupin 

Madison 

Marion 

Marshall  

Mason 

Ma.ssac 

McDonough . 

McHenry 

McLean 

Menard 

Mercer 

Monroe 

Montgomery 

Morgan 

Moultrie 

Ogle 

Peoria 

Perry 

Piatt 

Pike 

Pope 

Pulaski 

Putnam 

Bandolph 


85.125 

6,H53 
32,327 

1,456 
24,4.'>1 

1,553 
22,118 

3,149 
12,9S4 
30,000 
40. IKS 
52,333 
40,  (B» 
88.006 
25,94« 
174 
50,092 
37,353 
375 

8,561 

22,  .^K) 

274 

47,039 

28.689 

50,396 

62,129 

509 

26,955 

26,644 

31,62:{ 

44,l«2 

347 

a5,118 

31.672 

4,801 

3,371 
8(H 

9,823 
48,983 
44,146 
63,456 
51,747 

3.887 

22,164 

157 

2,&'>3 
137 

8,269 
277 

1,777 
55,1123 

2,101 

838 

28, 199 

39,899 

112,271 

152,900 

51,908 

936 

9,456 

17,123 

20,000 

462 

5,000 
18,001 

2,840 
60.048 
89,218 
40,000 

1,052 

2,8:n 

7,450 
44,400 
10,217 
77,446 
16,229 

l,0f7 
84,993 


794,500 

70,814 
210,125 

11,648 
244.540 

12,424 
199,062 

15,745 

84,  on 

322,  .500 
271,051 
260,615 
173,446 
528,396 
207,568 
2,610 
267. 157 
280,147 
1,875 

96,311 
196,875 
4.110 
540,833 
14;i,445 
151, 1«8 
279,580 
5,090 

87,604 
213. 1.52 
189,738 
528.984 
3,470 
105,  a54 
348,392 

33,607 

25,282 
7,236 

88,407 
342,881 
198,657 
203,059 
620,964 

31,096 

166,230 

3. 110 

39,795 
1,370 

90,959 
3,462 

35,  .540 
220,(192 

31,515 

9,218 

334,037 

3«9.015 

1,010,439 

1,834,8(10 

259.515 

12.168 

40.976 

159,815 

133,333 

4,774 

57,300 
168,009 

25,  .560 
780,624 
624,528 
410,000 
5,260 

33.972 

99,3:S 
242,200 
102, 170 
542.122 

81,145 

91. 176 

16. 1.55 
467,461 


178 


1,002 


1.134 

10,206 

6,267 

56,408 

2,015 

18, 1.35 

4.52 

6,7.so 

auo 

2,700 

^1 

2,807 

4 

36 

163 

1,467 

2,422 

31,486 

809 

16,180 

1,591 

7,955 

441 

3,!K59 

574 

8,610 

140 

l,2ii() 

14 

120 

41 

369 

101 

909 

25 

225 

3,300 

19,800 

17 

153 

HI 

999 

23 

2U7 

2,981 

26,829 

7 

«3 

8,172 

1.5, 8(^ 

4,1.51 

37,aT0 

308 

2,772 

85 

765 

1,475 

10,325 

569 

5.121 

360 

4,320 

820 

8,200 

1,130 

9.O40 

1,700 

17,000 

2,781 

27,810 

3,714 

37,140 

121 

1,089 

779 

7,790 

'  "i82 

■""  1.638' 

147 

1,470 

852 

6,816 

9,000 

27,000 

3,495 

41,940 

600 

4.200 

1,064 

9,  .576 

4,172 

37,548 

64 

576 

2,178 

19,602 

78 

702 

1,919 

i5.a->3 

1,600 

16,000 

476 

4,284 

141 

1,269 

1,403 

7,016 

85,230 
6,488 
38.340 
32,  .591 
30,610 
175,577 
13,9«i4 
67,168 
28,984 
200,  (MJO 
145,634 
37,497 
29,171 
45,140 
66.128 
46,  %2 
30,5.53 
25,022 
99,764 
82,060 
75.  aw 
21.237 
70.;_t.'2 

40,125 
47.973 

12.5.834 
19,053 
80,707 
28,803 
41. 175 
68,111 
21.489 

Ue.990 
6,193 

.52.  irz 

191.. *48 

229, 6.5;} 

23,  (v« 

34,7.54 

37.221 

a5.137 

50,:n'5 

16,560 

53,771 

109,732 

73.629 

ia5.05f) 

26.430 

237,  .583 

28,887 

140.146 

268,  .597 

140,  R5n 

127. 8«) 

90,982 

72,500 

31,606 

58. 761 

61,515 

12.911 

100,000 

38,830 

^).000 

77,049 

97,3it7 

16,118 

107..a53 

101,2!»7 

61,540 

l(r7.401 

93.271 

14.196 

66.916 

79,442 

22,001 

11,600 

28,8?i 

23,646 


2,727,648 
77,856 

11.5.020 
1,042,912 

979,  .ViO 
4,088.271 

279. 2S0 
2,015.040 

809,520 
4,400,000 
3,203,948 

262,479 

87,513 

90. 2K) 

1,042,048 

1,01.3,144 

91,659 

100,  OSS 
3,501,504 
2,872.100 
2,031.750 

,5:10.925 

1,476,7(52 

ai..5.T0 

240,750 

14:1.919 
3,397,518 


2,744,038 

374, 4:» 

1,317,600 

1,498.442 

21.489 

2,574,7.')0 

49,544 

1,147,784 

3,444,264 

5,970,978 

118,175 

69,  .508 

37,221 

667.603 

1,612.000 

16.5.  W 10 

l,72f»,(i72 

2,743,300 

1,619,838 

3,916,450 

634.  .5.36 

4,088,911 

57,774 

3,363.504 

6,98.^.522 

5,07(»,924 

3,8.a5.2(XI 

2,547.496 

942,  .5(10 

31,606 

1,762,830 

1,537.875 

90,377 

4,000,000 

931,920 

9,7.50,000 

3,2:16,058 

2,240,131 

241.770 

1,073.  .5-30 

4,1.53.177 

1,415,420 

.3,329,524 

2,425.4^18 

14,196 

2,141,:il2 

1,668,282 

284,012 

127.600 

6a5,184 

189,168 


25,112 
321 

7,900 
25,:i80 

5  U)l 
38,618 

1.119 
SI.  287 

5,(H9 
45,000 
14,976 

4.498 

8,255 
16,056 

8.349 
54,800 

8,764 

6,4.53 
44,890 
16, 172 
12,000 
20,644 

5,315 

1.582 
15.268 
12.398 
19,515 

4,080 
14,494 

1.154 

2,339 
12,  .513 

2,002 
35.968 

i.on 

12,569 

36,420 

46,459 

2,462 

6,758 

8,852 

3,778 

32.184 

1.764 

25.645 

a5,772 

22,721 

43,610 

28,6.59 

61, 178 

2,728 

68,110 

62,667 

20,200 

24,244 

11,112 

14,150 

8,725 

18,087 

6,711 

1,.382 

25,000 

22,422 

80,  (XX) 

10,220 

29,381 

6.0113 

18,728 

10.160 

8,328 

59,475 

25.380 

9.316 

16.132 

6.855 

6,«« 

600 

6,4.30 

U.158 


1,130.040 

6,099 

268,600 

761,400 

175,085 

1,351,630 

;16,927 

1,331,480 

212,058 

1,890,000 

560,088 

71,968 

264. 160 

561.960 

250,470 

1,644,000 

201,572 

1.54,872 

1,346.700 

66:1.052 

384.  (NX) 

825, 760 

L59.450 

49.042 

519.112 

421.. 5:52 

702,510 

81.()0() 

56.5.28(5 

27,696 

70, 170 

462,981 

62.760 

1,007.104 

17,136 

477,622 

1,274.70) 

1,&5S.36) 

51,702 

115,160 

230,004 

120,896 

1,126,440 

44,100 

1,179,670 

1,216,248 

886,119 

1,744,400 

1,146,360 

2,417,120 

54,560 

2,324,400 

2,381,346 

808.000 

1,090,98') 

444,480 

462,800 

218, 125 

669.219 

201,  ant 

34,-550 
800.  OIK) 
896.8811 

3,31)0.000 
4.59.900 

l,02«,ai5 
1.50.075 
730.392 
5.58,800 
333,040 

1,784,^0 

1,016,200 
214,268 
806,600 
2^J6.215 
85,000 
7,800 
257,200 
334.740 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


737 


County. 


Richland 

Rock  Island - 

Saline 

Sangamon... 

Schuyler 

Scott 

Shelby  

Stark. 

St.  Clair 

Sfpphenson  . 

Tazewell 

Union  

Vermilion. .. 

Wabash 

Warrtai 

Washington. 

Wayne 

White 

Whitesides-- 

Will 

Williamson  . 
Winnebago  - 
Woodford  ... 


Winter  wheat. 


Acres.      Bushels. 


40, 

28, 
39, 
29. 
24, 
50. 

158, 

6, 

26, 

26, 
44, 

27. 


,572 
277 
203 
930 
6:32 
.530 
000 
444 
(U3 
2:53 
.565 
181 
;i47 
461 
,847 
.500 
167 
167 
681 
278 
964 
680 
670 


Total  1881 2,951,668 

Same  estimate  for 

■  ISSO 2,970.086 

1879 2,137.063 

1K78 2,0:12,840 

1877  1,736,301 


121, 716 

2,770 

1.5.5,116 

359, 370 

251.872 

220, 770 

1.50.000 

6. 660 

1,0-31,179 

41),  ,514 
2:59.085 
209,448 
44:?,  470 
1.51,035 

27,046 

471,250 

169,  .543 

252,7.51 

3,064 

12,780 
227.829 

33, 600 

75,600 


21,586,483 


Spring  wheat. 


Acres.  Bushels. 


2,178 


769 

3;J6 

89 

1,342 

255 

184 

5,(a5 

1,020 

.50 

623 


2,670 


43; 

1,718 

636 


591 
951 


90,921 


30,492 


6,1.52 

2,934 

801 

12,078 

1,275 

1,&56 

60,420 

12,240 

4.50 

5,607 


16,020 


3,933 
10,308 

5,088 


5,910 
10,461 


784,680 


5.3, 86,5, 5a5  286,264  2,642,804 

42,041,2.53  30:J,736  3.;!76.409 

:!().013,147  291,912  !3, 870, 2.51 

29,510,032  248,458  ;2, 980, 524 


Corn. 


Acres.       Bushels. 


24,  ,338 
52,243 
22  722 

112;  877 
36.074 
30.184 

100,000 
68,240 
.54. 945 
74,2:^1 

106. 767 

20,  mw 

126. 756 
16,876 

123,872 
35,000 
34,208 
38,487 
a5,4fl2 

113. 4.59 
39,827 
65, 6(K5 

112,947 


7,195,674 

7,574.545 
7.918,881 
8,672,088 
8,935,411 


24,338 
1,044,840 

1.59,0.54 
4,627.957 
1,442,960 
1,358.280 
2,000,000 
1,910,720 

714,285 
2,9i!».240 
3,203,010 

300,  CrO 

2,661,876 

84,  ;:i80 

3,344,544 

35,000 


115. 461 

2,194,246 
3,06:i.:i93 
19.t,  1:35 
2,624,240 
3,614,304 

174^995,707 

250,697,036 
.3a5,913.377 
a51.149,230 
269,889,742 


Oats. 


Acres.     Bushels. 


6,108 
14, 789 

1,812 
10,023 

5,086 

1,278 
15, 1.55 
20,713 
12, 610 
41,675 
29, 175 

4,000 
15, 444 

1,425 
36, 731 
25,000 

5.825 

2,404 
31,028 
69,295 

4,327 
45,420 
46,100 


122,160 

473.248 

16,  a-.is 
390,897 
198,;354 

48,  ,564 
6.36, 510 
82.'<,520 
441,350 
1,37.5,275 
875,2.50 

72,  (.KX) 
586.872 

29,y25 

1,28,5,  ,585 

625, 000 

151,450 

43,272 
1,148,036 
2,425,325 

90,  mr 

l,,362,t;00 
1,613,500 


1,922,389 

1,749,391 

1,631,1.39  .54. 664,. 569 
1,7.57,953  53, 424.  ,555 
1,556,194  161,145,983 


68,844,514 
62,709,002 


The  follow  ng  statistics  regarding  the  consumption  and  distribution  of  corn  and 
wheat— the  latter  being  included  in  this  report  for  purposes  of  comparison — is  of 
value  in  the  investigation  of  this  part  of  the  subject,  and  is  taken  from  the  Report 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  IbSJ,  page  310: 

CONSUMPTION  AND  DISTRIBUTION   OF  CORN  AND  WHEAT. 

For  two  years  past  efforts  have  been  made  for  the  first  time  to  ascertain  approx- 
imately the  consumption  of  the  corn  and  wheat  supply  of  the  year  on  the  first  day 
of  March.  The  purpose  is  to  .show  the  rate  of  distribut'on,  and  to  indicate  the 
extent  of  consumption  at  that  date.  The  result  is  exceedingly  interesting  and 
valuable.  It  reveals  facts  so  numerous,  so  various,  and  local  conditions  of  con- 
sumption so  peculiar  and  diverse  as  to  prove  practically  a  revelation  to  local  agri- 
cultural writers  and  to  commercial  editors.  This  is  especially  the  case  as  to  corn. 
Among  the  points  presented  are — 

1 .  That  the  average  stock  of  corn  on  hand  at  this  date  in  a  series  of  years  is  one- 
third,  two-thirds  having  been  consumed  on  the  farm  or  shipped  away. 

2.  That  nearly  five-sixths  of  the  corn  shipped  from  the  county  where  grown  goes 
from  seven  States,  known  as  the  corn-surplus  States;  and  most  of  the  remainder 
from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

3.  That  44  per  cent  of  the  corn  is  fed  to  cattle  and  swine  (for  meat  making)  in 
the  counties  where  grown,  28  per  cent  is  fed  to  work  animals  in  the  operations  of 
the  farm,  and  8  per  cent  used  as  human  food.  Most  of  the  20  per  cent  shipped 
from  the  counties  are  also  used  in  the  East  and  South  for  the  various  purposes 
above  named.    This  would  make  the  distribution  nearly — 

Per  cent. 

For  feeding  for  meat _ 50 

For  feeding  for  work 30 

For  human  food 9 

For  exportation  _ 5 

For  spirits,  glucose,  starch,  seed,  and  waste... 6 

4.  That  in  the  South  about  half  is  used  for  woi-k  animals  and  a  fourth  for  meat, 
while  in  the  West  half  goes  for  making  meat  and  one-fifth  for  farm  work. 

5.  That  the  above  diversities  as  to  use  in  home  consumption  make  large  differ- 
ence in  the  time  of  consumption.  In  the  South  43. .5  per  cent  remained  on  hand 
March  1,  because  of  the  large  crop  and  its  re  luired  use  for  five  months  of  spring 
and  summer  plowing. 

The  smaller  former  average  in  the  South,  35.9  per  cent,  is  not  becaiise  of  a 
change  in  the  usage  as  to  consumption,  but  because  the  smaller  former  supply 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 i7 


738 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


was  earlier  exhausted,  and  purchases  from  the  West  larpje  after  that  date.  In  the 
West  only  a  third  remained  on  hand,  because  the  heaviest  feeding  comes  in  autumn 
and  early  winter. 

Com. 

Proportion  on  hand  March  1. — The  returns  of  March  1, 18S3.  showed  that  about 
86  per  cent  of  the  crop  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  growers,  or  abour, 
558,000,000  bushels  of  1,617,000,00^  bushe's  representing  the  crop  of  1883.  Nearly 
two-thirds  of  this  amonnt  was  in  the  Western  States,  and  about  three  tenths  in 
the  Southern  States. 

Comparing  with  an  average  of  the  five  preceding  years,  one  of  which  (1881)  was 
a  year  of  great  scarcity,  we  find  that  New  England  had  less  than  that  average; 
the  Middle  States  37.4  per  cent,  the  average  being  36.7;  the  Southern  States  43.5 
per  cent  instead  of  35.9;  the  Western  States  only  a  fraction  more  than  such  aver- 
age, or  33.8  per  cent  in  place  of  33.9  per  cent;  the  Pacific  coa^t  25.1,  the  average 
being  24.5  per  cent,  and  the  Territories  35  per  cent,  a  very  lar^e  increase  due  to 
the  development  of  corn  culture  in  Dakota.  The  following  statement  shows  these 
percentages  and  the  quantities  they  represent: 


Sections. 


Production. 


Busholj. 


Stock  on  band 
Mar.l,  J883. 


Per 

cent. 


Bastaels. 


Average 

per  cont 

for  five 

years. 


New  England 

Middle 

Southern 

Western 

Pacific 

Nevada,  Colorado,  and  Territories 

Total 


6,376,300 

78,585,700 

394,605,300 

l,l:i7, 1134, 500 

a.Rio.wio 

6,  .512, 400 


29.8 
37.4 
4;j.5 

as.  8 

25.1 
35.0 


1,898,701 

29,:?J7.288 

171.551,063 

381,tJOO.ti06 

741.908 

2,282,553 


1,617,035,100 


30.3 


587,473,117 


82.6 
86.7 
35.9 
32.9 
24.6 
25.5 


83.7 


It  is  seen  that  the  only  stocks  contributing  api)reciably  to  the  aggregate  are 
those  of  the  West,  South,  and  the  Middle  States.  The  statement  by  States  and 
Territories  is  as  follows: 


States. 


Product  in 
1882. 


Bushels. 


Stock  on   hand 
Mar.  1, 1883. 


Bushels. 


Per 

cent. 


.22 


Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachu.setts . . 
Rhode  Island  ... 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania ... 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia 

North  Carolina  . 
South  Carolina.. 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Tennetisee 

West  Virginia  .. 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 


904,400 
870. 700 

l,9:i(),300 

1,237,200 
277,900 

1,155,800 
21,187,500 

9.942,800 
43,518,800 

3,936,600 
17,904,700 
85,904,000 
34,280,700 
16,356,200 
36, 617,  .500 

3,708,900 
31.982,500 
30, 233, 600 
14,636,400 
63,4ie,300 
34,485,900 
75,188.fi00 
14,927,awt 
75,500.900 
9.3,319,300 
28,581,600 
107,484.300 
182,336,900 
32,201,600 
21, 127,  WW 
175,487,600 


253, 
281, 
6.56, 
346, 
60, 
313, 

7,627, 

8,778, 
16,101. 

],889, 

8,057, 
15,797, 
15.759, 

6,860, 
18,674, 

1,694. 
15,3.il, 
14,209, 

5,708, 
23,464, 
14,484, 
31,579, 

6.269. 
30,95.5, 
27,063, 

8,574, 
38,694, 
67,464, 

9,660, 

6,127, 
53,616, 


28 
30 
34 
28 
25 
27 
36 
38 
37 
48 
45 
44 
46 
42 
61 
43 
48 
47 
39 
37 
43 
43 
43 
41 
29 
30 
36 
37 
30 
29 


27 


SWINE   PE0DUCT8    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


739 


states. 


Product  in 

1883. 


Bushels. 


Stock  on  hand 
Mar.  1. 1883. 


Bushels. 


Per 

cent. 


a  9 


Missouri... 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon 

Nevada 

Colorado 

Arizona 

Dakota 

Idaho 

Montana 

New  Mexico 

Utah 

Washington 

Wyoming 

Indian  Territory- 
Total  


170,037,000 

144,452,600 

82, 478, 200 

2,790,900 

130,000 

18,000 

422.400 

57,000 

4,650,000 

45, (XM) 

18,000 

965,000 

275,000 

63,000 


51,011, 

47,6fiJ): 

35,465: 

725, 

13, 

3, 

160. 

20, 

1,720. 

13, 

5, 

270. 

6!i: 

22, 


1,617,025,100 


587,468,843 


36.3 


33.7 


The  largest  proportions  on  hand  are  those  of  the  Soiithern  States.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  intelligent  expectation,  not  because  there  is  any  surplus  for  ship- 
ment, nor  because  more  is  consumed  than  in  the  West.  On  the  contrary  the 
requirements  of  that  region  are  far  smaller  than  of  the  States  where  pork  and  beef 
are  made.  The  larger  portion  is  used  for  feeding  the  horses  and  mules  emp'oyed 
so  constantly  in  plowing  during  the  spring  and  early  summer.  Pork  is  not  made 
for  shipment,  and  only  a  partial  supply  for  home  consumption  from  mast,  and  the 
run  of  the  pea  field,  and  a  limited  supply  of  corn  toward  killing  time.  These  con- 
ditions are  reflecte  i  in  the  results  of  this  inquiry,  showing  a  great  contra.st  with 
Western  practice. 

CV)7i.';vn//()i(/o». ^Inquiry  was  made  as  to  proportions  used  for  specific  purposes, 
to  illustrate  the  rural  economy  of  different  sections  of  the  country,  under  the  fol- 
lowing heads,  viz:  (A)  Human  food;  (B)  feed  for  work  animals;  (C)  feed  for 
crttle  and  swine;  (D)  shipped  out  of  country  where  produced. 

In  the  first  inquiry  the  percentage  would  be  expected  to  vary,  from  two  causes — 
the  amount  produced  per  capita,  and  the  comparative  use  of  maize  for  human 
food,  which  differs  greatly  in  the  different  States.  In  New  England  its  use  is  quite 
limited  and  not  confined  to  the  home  product;  but  very  little  is  grown,  so  that  the 
percentage  is  larger,  though  the  quantity  is  not.  In  the  South  the  quantity  is 
greater,  but  less  than  in  the  West,  so  that  16  per  cent  is  required  in  the  former 
and  but  5  in  the  latter  States,  though  the  aggregate  Southern  requirement  is  not 
very  greatly  in  excess  of  Western— 63,000,000  bushels  against  56,000,000  bushels. 
The  quantity  of  native  corn  reported  as  used  for  food  in  the  South  is  4.6  bushels 
per  capita;  in  the  West  nearly  3  bushels.  In  the  Middle  States  and  in  New  Eng- 
land the  native  supply  is  supplemented  by  corn  from  other  States,  increasing  the 
consumption  as  reported;  the  population  is  largely  in  cities  and  towns  and  the  rural 
population  small.  The  total  reported  as  used  for  food  in  the  country,  of  nearly 
130.000.000  bushels,  may  iirobably  be  increased  by  20,00:), 000  more  from  the  column 
which  reports  com  "shipped  out  of  the  county"  in  which  it  is  grown,  making  an 
aggregate  of  150,000. OUO  bushels,  or  nearly  3  bushels  per  capita.  This  is  very 
unequally  distributed,  some  communities  using  twice  this  average,  and  others  a 
scarcely  appreciable  quantity. 

In  the  use  of  corn  for  feed  of  work  animals  is  seen  a  marked  difference  between 
Western  and  Southern  usages  and  rural  methods.  The  per  cent  of  corn  used  for 
this  purpose  in  the  Southern  States  is  placed  at  47.2.  As  the  supplies  brought 
from  the  West  are  almost  entirely  used  for  work  animals  or  human  food,  the  real 
proportion  of  corn  consumption  is  fully  one-half  for  such  feeding.  In  the  West  it 
is  one-fifth,  or  20.9  per  cent.  Yet  the  quantity  used  is  235.000.000  bushels.  The 
larger  relative  use  of  corn  for  work  animals  in  the  South  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
plowing  is  almost  continuous  from  March  to  July,  inclusive:  that  more  horses  and 
mules  are  required  in  proportion  to  work  done,  and  corn  is  the  principal  feed.  In 
the  West  there  is  less  cultivation,  wheat  ta'dng  the  place  of  cotton,  and  requiring 
no  culture  after  planting,  while  horses  leed  upon  hay  as  well  as  corn,  and  use  oats 
much  mo  e  extensively  than  in  the  South.  Everything  in  crop  and  cultivation, 
in  work  and  rations  of  animals,  conspires  to  widen  the  relative  requirement  of 
corn  for  work  animals  of  these  two  belts  of  States. 


740 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


The  consolidation  of  returns  makes  the  proportion  nsed  for  feeding  work  animals 
28  per  cent.  Taking  into  account  receipts  from  be)-ond  county  (and  State)  lines 
the  proiiortion  may  be  stated  at  ;iU  per  cent. 

The  third  branch  of  consumption  relates  to  meat  production.  It  also  includes 
to  a  limited  extent  milk  production.  Beef,  pork,  and  mutton  all  require  an 
increasing  proportion  of  corn,  supplementary  to  grass  products  and  rougher  for- 
age in  summer  droughts  and  winter  severities,  especially  in  the  finishing  process. 
Egi,'8  and  poultry  demand  a  share  of  the  maize  .supply.  Half  of  thecrop  in  the  West 
appears  to  be  used  as  feed  for  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine.  Applying  the  percentage 
to  the  present  crop,  the  grand  volume  of  .j.")7, 000.000  bushels  is  indicated.  Asonl)' 
one-fourth  is  shipped  from  counties  where  grown,  and  little  more  than  one-fifth 
can  be  traced  to  Chicago,  Toledo,  New  York,  and  all  other  distant  markets,  it  is 
evident  that  the  other  fourth  is  ample  for  working  animals  and  home  food.  When 
we  recount  the  various  uses  of  corn  in  every  staire  of  cattle  life,  and  for  ripening 
12,')00.000  swine  (more  or  less)  for  the  packing  trade,  and  some  millions  more  for 
farmere"  use  and  a  further  requirement  for  sheep  and  poultry,  it  would  seem  that 
50  per  cent  of  the  Western  crop  might  be  used  for  these  purposes.  The  use  of  com 
for  spirits  has  not  been  mentioned,  because  it  is  usually  only  about  1  per  cent  of  the 
crop.  Seed  reijuires  not  more  than  1  per  cent.  In  this  calculation  it  is  proper  to 
say  that  the  entire  crop  is  accounted  for.  Yet  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
farmers'  cribs  were  bare  of  corn  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  and  that  they  will 
not  be  so  thoroughly  exhausted  at  its  end.  However  short  the  stock  may  be  which 
Chicago  is  able  to  drain,  there  will  be  scattered  through  20  States  many  million 
bushels  more  than  existed  there  at  the  beginning  of  the  year.  Tlie  actual  con- 
sumption (exc  uding  exportation,  seed,  etc.)  will  not  much  exceed  1.4")0,0(H)  bush- 
els. This  is  more  than  an  average  consumption,  even  of  recent  years:  but  with 
rapidly  increasing  population,  a  large  export  demand,  and  the  necessity  for  beef 
of  earlier  maturity  and  better  qual  ty,  it  will  not  be  too  large  a  quantity  for  the 
future. 

Shipped  from  the  county. — As  the  returns  were  made  by  counties,  the  portion 
shipped  does  not  necessarily  mean  shipped  ti  >  the  seaboard  or  beyond  State  lines. 
It  must  include,  however,  all  such  shipments.  The  aggregate  of  this  branch  of  the 
inquiry  is  about  3:30,000. (KJO  bushels,  which  is  ample  to  account  for  exportation, 
eastern  and  southern  shipments,  ami  leave  a  margin  for  shipments  short  dis- 
tances for  local  supply  of  towns  and  cities  and  the  requirements  of  neighboring 
feeders.  Seven-eighths  of  this  county  surplus  is  in  the  West.  The  largest  quan- 
tity is  in  Illinois,  and  Kansas,  low  i,  and  Mis.souri  follow  in  order.  Iowa's  portion 
is  greatly  reduced  by  the  very  poor  crop  of  la  t  ye  :r.  Kentuckj'  and  Tennessee 
have  a  much  larger  surplus  than  usual. 

The  stiitement  of  this  division  of  local  consumption,  according  to  specific  uses, 
is  thus  made: 


Sections. 

Human  food. 

Feed  for  work 
animals. 

Feed  for  cattle 
and  swine. 

Shipped  from 
county. 

P.ct 

Bushels. 

P.ct. 

Bushels. 

P.ot 

Lu«hels. 

P.ct. 

Bushels. 

New  England 

14 

9.2 
16 

5 
30.8 

15.3 

894.089 

7,224.526 

63,1K5.261 

56,499,363 

898,979 

996,397 

29.4 
32.7 
47.2 
20.9 
24.3 

43.1 

1,873,651 
25.7.W.430 

186.:«li).!»s7 

235,227,078 

701,625 

2,806,844 

54.2 
47.3 
26.3 
49.4 
34.6 

29.2 

3.457,579 

37,144,801 

103,953,517 

557,2:^7.300 

1,016,506 

1,966,745 

2.4 

10.8 
10.5 
24.7 
10.3 

11.4 

1.50,981 

8,4<>(l,943 

41.249,535 

Middle 

Southern 

Western 

278,970.SV9 
303,790 

742  414 

Pacific 

Nevada,  Colorado,  and 
Territories 

Total 

8 

L29,e98,615 

23 

452,671,615 

43.6 

704,776,348 

20.4 

329,878,522 

Allowing  for  the  export  reserve  and  for  a  moderate  filling  of  the  usual  stocks 
held  over  (which  were  so  depleted  last  year),  and  for  the  requisite  c  nversion  of 
corn  into  spirits,  glucose,  starch,  and  the  seed  for  65,000,000  acres  or  more  to  be 
planted,  the  actual  consumption  of  the  j'ear  for  man  and  beast  may  thus  be  stated, 
after  distribution  of  the  remnant  of  the  county  surplus  not  required  for  the  mis- 
cellaneous uses  indicated  above: 

Bushels. 

For  human  food 150,000.000 

For  feed  of  work  animals 520.000,000 

For  feed  for  meat-producing  animals 780,000,000 

Total 1,450,000,000 

Ijeaving  for  export,  seed,  spirits,  and  surplus 167, 025, 100 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


741 


The  returns  by  States  are  as  follows: 


states. 


Human  food. 


Bushels.     P.  ct 


Food  for  work 
animals. 


Bushels. 


P.ct. 


Food  for  cattle 
and  swine. 


Bushels. 


P.ct. 


Shipped  from 
county. 


Bushels. 


P.ct. 


Maine 

New  Hampshire . 

Vermont 

Ma.ssachusetts  .  - . 

Rhode  Island 

Connectifut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia.. 

North  Cai'olina . . 
South  Carolina  _ . 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama .-. 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas  

Arkansas  

Tennessee 

West  Virginia  ... 

Kentucky  

Ohio 

Michigan 

Indiana 

Illinois 

"Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Mi8.90uri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon 

Nevada 

Colorado 

Arizona 

Dakota 

Idaho 

Montana 

New  Mexico 

Utah 

Washington 


198, 

i;^o, 
2:^. 

1(H), 
*!, 

138, 
2,118, 

795, 
3,916, 

393, 
1,611, 
5, 744, 
6, 8.52, 
4, 089, 
8,788, 

927, 
7,036, 
6,349, 
2,927, 
7,609, 
4,48:5, 
6,766, 
1,791, 
6,040, 
5,  .599, 
2,572, 
5,374, 
7,293. 
2, 576, 
1,478, 
7,019, 
8,  .501, 
5,778, 
2,474, 

8(S, 
33, 


721, 

235, 

540, 

420, 

10:5, 

300, 

6,  ,3.56, 

3,778, 

14,361, 

1.2.59, 

6,445. 

13,643, 

13,704, 

9, 1,59, 

16,844, 

2, 114, 

16.311, 

16,()2;{, 

8,781. 

36, 147, 

19,312, 

27,819, 

5,970. 

24,160. 

25,196, 

8,860, 

25, 796, 

32,820, 

7,084, 

5,704, 

28,078, 

34,007, 

36,0;)1, 

11,546, 

697, 

3, 


416, 

487. 

1,080, 

643, 

im, 

693, 

11,65;?, 

3,977, 

20.018, 

1,495, 

5,908, 

11,130, 

9,9a5, 

3,944, 

8,0.55, 

519. 

6,716, 

6,a51, 

2,341, 

15,219, 

8,966, 

25,564, 

6,120, 

32,465, 

46,659, 

15,434, 

52,667, 

8;$,  874, 

18,354, 

11,408, 

96, 518, 

91,819, 

66,448, 

35, 465. 

948, 

67, 


50,688 

17,100 

604,500 


215,424 

28..5(X) 

1,999,500 


80,2.56 

11,400 

1,534,500 


18,088 

17,414 

77,212 

12,373 

2,779 

2;i,116 

1,059.375 

l,391,9<.t2 

5,232,2.56 

787,320 

3,939,034 

5,385,600 

3,768,677 

163,562 

2,929,400 

148,;}.56 

1,918,950 

1,209,;344 

585, 4.56 

4,4;»,141 

1,724,295 

15,037,720 

1,044,890 

12,835,153 

15,804,2(54 

1,714,896 

Zi,  646, 546 

58,347.808 

4,186,208 

3,5;i5,312 

43,871,909 

a5, 707, 770 

46,224,8:12 

32,991,280 

279,090 

24,700 


76,032 
'5ii,"506' 


4 

1 

1 

2 

5 

14 

12 

20 

22 

15 

11 

1 

8 

4 

6 

4 

4 

7 

5 

20 
7 
17 
17 
6 
22 
32 
13 
12 
25 
21 
32 
40 
10 
19 


250,900 

aj,()00 

37,200 


46:1,200 

85,3.50 

6,200 


154,400 

113,750 

6,200 


96,500 
44,0t]0 
12,400 


The  corn-surplus  States. 

Practically  we  have  only  to  consi(3er  the  surplus-corn  States  in  an  inquiry  con- 
cerning the  corn  of  commerce  or  current  and  prospective  prices.  Commercial 
prices  are  ma(3e  by  the  production  of  seven  States.  In  addition  to  these,  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  usually  add  something  to  this  surplus,  ordinarily  not  enough  to 
affect  prices.  In  two  of  these  seven.  Illinois  and  Iowa,  the  crop  of  1882  was  not 
much  superior  to  that  of  1881,  and  theavailable  supply  of  the  present  year  actually 
less  than  that  of  last  year,  which  had  a  larger  stock  left  over  from  the  previous 
year's  supply.  The  lo.al  prices  in  those  States  are  therefore  comparativeiy  high. 
The  following  statement  shows  the  proportion  and  quantity  on  hand  in  those 
States  March  1,  1883: 


States. 

Crop. 

Stock. 

Per 
cent. 

Ohio - 

Bushels. 
93,319,200 

107,484,;^00 
182,;{36,900 
175,487.600 
170,037,000 
144,453,6(10 
82,478,200 

Bushels. 

27,062,568 
38,694,348 
67, 4«i4, 653 
52,646,280 
51,011,1(K) 
47,669,3.58 
35, 465, 626 

29 

36 

37 

Iowa      . ■      - 

30 

30 

Kansas    ...            .        

33 

Nebraska , 

43 

Total 

955,595,800 

320,013,933 

33 

742 


8W1NE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


The  proportion  of  Illinois  on  hand  at  this  date  is  ordinarily  much  larger  than 
that  of  other  States.  In  18Sl  it  was  45  per  cent,  or  35,000,000  to  40,000,000  bushels 
more  than  the  present  remainder.  The  percentage  is  about  the  same  as  that  of 
188:?.  Iowa  has  a  smaller  proportion  on  hand  than  last  year,  and  less  than  half 
the  number  of  bushels  remaining  on  the  1st  of  March,  issi.  The  comparison  of 
the  stock  on  hand  in  the  seven  States  is,  in  round  nuujbers,  as  follows: 

Bushels. 

Marchl,18S3 320.000.000 

March  1,1882 200,000.000 

March  1,1881 413,000,000 

PORK  TR.\DE  AT   THE   PACKING  CENTERS. 

Nearly  one-third  of  all  the  hogs  which  go  into  the  trade  of  this  country  are 
packed  at  Chicago,  therefore  a  thorough  study  has  been  made  of  all  that  pertains 
to  the  handling  of  hogs  for  this  mari^et  from  the  time  they  are  purchased  in  the 
country  until  the  meat  is  cured,  packed,  and  shipped  to  the  seaboard. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  jiresent  here  some  caretully-prepared  statements 
of  the  provision  business  at  Chicago: 

Receipts  and  shipments  of  hogs  (at  Chicago)  for  twenty  years. 


Years. 


1864 
1^65 
1866 
J867 
1868 
186d 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


Received. 


Live. 


Dressed 


92, 

av5, 

26(1, 
281, 
190, 
260. 

m, 

245, 
233, 
213, 
173, 
148, 
iiA 
W,'. 
91, 
89. 
52. 
36 
66, 


Total. 


1.  .575, 328 

849,:{ll 

l,386,;i26 

1.987,  IfcO 

1.988,  .515 
1.8i52,382 
1,953,372 
2, 6.53,  .549 
3, 488,. 528 
4,  .570, 906 
4,472,(i«7 
4,085,122 
4,3:J8,(i28 
4,li)0,309 
6, 442,  \m 
6,  .5:5!),  344 
7,14S,457 
6,527,679 
5,8.54,282 
5, 697, 163 


Shipped. 


Live. 


561,277 

575,511 

484, 793 

760,  .547 

1,020,812 

1,086,305 

924,483 

1,162,2S6 

],8;i5.594 

2,197,557 

2,330,661 

1,582,643 

1,131,635 

951,221 

1,266,9(X5 

1,692.361 

1,904,990 

1,289,679 

1,747,722 

1,319,392 


Dressed. 


98,115 
69,034 
91.  aw 
15«),()!tl 
221),  901 
199,650 
171,188 
169. 473 
145,701 
200,906 
197,747 
153,523 
T9,Qp4 
94,648 
26.a{9 
40,(KJ4 
3;},  194 
46,849 
40,196 
44,367 


Total 


659,392 
644,  .545 
576,  (KW 
916,  tilts 
1,247,713 
1,28.5,9.55 
1,095.671 
l,3:il.7.59 
1,981,295 
2,398,46;} 
2,528,1(18 
l,73»),16(i 
1,211,;.'89 
l,04.5,«(i9 
1,292,945 
1,7:32,385 
1,428,184 
1,336,  ,528 
1,787.918 
1,363,759 


Statement  of  bacon,  liavis,  and  dry-salted  meats,  pork,  and  lard  inspected  at 
Chicago  for  ten  years  ending  18S1. 


Years. 

Bacon,  haras, 

and  dry-salted 

lueats. 

Pork. 

Lard. 

1872    

Pounds. 

24.5,  a88, 404 

34;t,  986,(121 

2(i2,!«1.4t52 

302,141,943 

467,289,109 

479,926,231 

747,269,774 

8:15,629,540 

958,036,113 

782,993,729 

Barrels. 
206,664 
191.144 

23i;;i5o 

313,713 
319,344 
296,45(i 
346,366 
354,2.55 
367,324 
316,999 

Pounds. 
86,040.785 

ig^a  .                           

89,847,680 

82,200,887 

1874 

1875  

115,616,093 

1876 

138,216.376 

1877 

147,000,616 

1878    

244,323,933 

1879 

251,020,295 

1880 

333,539,138 

1881 

278,631,733 

SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


743 


PorTi  packing  in  Chicago  for  the  last  twenty  years,  March  1  to  March  1, 


Season. 

Number  of 
hogs  packed. 

Season. 

Number  of 
bogs  packed. 

1863-64     - 

904.  &59 
760,514 
507,  aT5 
6;».332 
796.226 
597,954 
688.140 
919. 197 
1,22.5,236 
1,456,650 

1873-74 

1,826.560 

1864-65 

1874-75 

2, 136, 716 

18&5-66 

1875-76.. 

2,320,846 

1866-67                       ... 

1876-77 

2,933,488 
4, 009, 311 

1867-68 

1877-78 

1868-69                       

1878-79 

4,960,956 
4, 680, 637 

1869-70  

1879-80 

1870-71         ..                

1880-81 

5, 752, 191 

1871-72 

1881-82.... 

5,100,484 

187^-73 

1882-83 

4,222,780 

A  special  investigation  has  also  been  made  of  the  methods  and  conditions  which 
obtain  at  each  of  the  large  packing  centers  of  the  country,  and  as  our  facts  for 
each  of  these  have  been  drawn  from  different  sources,  and  the  statements  care- 
fully compared,  it  is  believed  that  they  are  entirely  reliable. 

The  members  of  the  commission  have  made  a  personal  inspection  of  the  stock 
yards,  the  principal  slaughterhouses,  the  stock  trains  in  transit,  and  as  they  reach 
the  respective  stock  yards.  Carefully  prepared  sets  of  interrogatories  were  fur- 
nished the  railroad  companies,  the  stock-yard  corporations,  and  the  packers,  which 
covered  instructions  to  rai'road  agents,  stock  contracts,  and  care  of  hogs  in  transit, 
their  care  and  condition  at  the  stock  yards,  and  the  slaughter,  curing,  inspec- 
tion, and  packing.  The  information  thus  obtained  from  different  parties  has  been 
compared  and  confirmed  by  careful  reports  from  the  oiJicers  of  the  boards  of  health 
exercising  supervision  at  the  respective  districts  where  are  located  the  stock  yards 
and  packing  houses  and  the  intelligent  inspectors  of  the  humane  association.  A 
special  agent  familiar  with  the  trade  has  also  been  employed  to  follow  it  through 
all  its  intricate  ramifications.  In  order  to  obtain  full  and  trustworthy  informa- 
tion on  the  many  important  points  connected  with  this  subject,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  gather  the  facts  from  different  sources  and  through  various  channels 
and  to  confirm  and  extend  our  own  knowledge  thus  acquired  by  the  aid  of  experts 
who  have  long  been  familiar  with  the  various  branches  of  this  business. 

In  all  cases  the  statements  of  interested  parties  have  been  controlled  by  our  own 
obt-ervations  or  by  the  investigations  of  other  disinterested  persons,  and  generally 
by  both. 

Interrogatories  were  prepared  to  cover  the  respective  subjects  of  investigation, 
copies  of  which  are  inserted  with  their  respective  topics. 

TRANSPORTATION   OF  HOGS  FROM  SHIPPINa  POINTS  TO  STOCK  YARDS. 

The  following  interrogatories  on  railroad  transportation  were  personally  pre- 
sented to  the  several  railroad  companies,  and  information  covering  the  various 
points  of  investigation  was  in  all  cases  fully  and  cheerfully  granted: 

1.  Are  dead  hogs  ever  allowed  to  be  transported? 

2.  Are  diseased  hogs  allowed  to  be  transported? 

3.  If  transported,  to  what  points  are  they  carried? 

4.  It  has  been  stated  that  "  hogs  which  have  died  of  cholera  have  been  shipped 
to  Chicago  to  be  cured  and  packed."    Are  you  aware  of  such  being  the  fact? 

5.  Does  the  station  agent  examine  hogs  as  to  their  condition  before  receiving 
them? 

6.  Has  he  authority  to  reject  any  hogs? 

7.  Would  hogs  in  following  condition  ordinarily  be  received  for  transportation? 

a.  Diseased. 

b.  Bruised. 

c.  Over-fatigued,  feverish. 

d.  Piggy  (pregnant)  sows. 

e.  Hogs  evidently  needing  food  or  water. 

8.  What  is  the  rule  as  to  the  number  of  hogs  to  be  loaded  into  a  car? 

9.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  bill  of  lading  given?    Please  give  blank  form. 

10.  Is  the  condition  of  the  hogs  usually  specified  in  bill  of  lading? 

11.  Do  your  railroad  regulations  compel  your  employees  to  look  after  the  hogs 
in  transit? 

12.  What  care  do  hogs  have  while  in  transit? 

13.  Does  the  owner  or  shipper  accompany  the  hogs? 

14.  What  are  the  regulations  regarding  this? 


744 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    TTNITED   STATES, 


15.  What  examinations  of  the  bogs  are  made  in  transit  for  injury,  bruising, 
smothering,  and  death? 

16.  What  food  is  given  them? 

17.  How  frequent? 

18.  Of  what  quality? 

19.  How  much? 

20.  What  care  is  taken  as  to  condition  or  quality  of  water  given? 

21.  How  often  are  they  watered? 

22.  What  quantity  is  given? 

23.  Is  water  ever  used  for  cooling  the  hogs? 

24.  Under  what  circumstances,  and  what  regulations  and  arrangements  have 
you  therefor? 

25.  What  is  the  ordinary  length  of  journey  allowed? 

26.  How  are  the  cars  prepared  for  transporting  hogs? 

27.  How  often  are  the  cars  cleansed? 

28.  How  are  they  cleansed? 

29.  Is  any  special  care  taken  to  disinfect  cars  in  which  diseased  hogs  have  been 
carried? 

The  important  relations  which  the  railroads  bear  to  the  subject  under  investi- 
gation will  appear  from  the  following  statement  from  page  284  of  the  recent 
report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  dat-d  November  10,  1883: 

The  Chicago.  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  transported  about  one-third  of 
the  cattle  to  Chicago.  It  runs  through  a  corn  belt  perhaps  unsurpassed  in  the 
United  States,  which  continues  to  maintain  its  superiority  as  a  source  of  cattle 
supply.  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  still  maintains  second  rank  as  a  feeder 
to  the  great  cattle  mart.  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  is  third,  and  Chicago 
and  Alton  fourth,  as  in  the  previous  year,  while  the  Wabash  has  changed  places 
with  the  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  during  the  last  year.  The  receipts  come  by  the 
following  routes: 

Total  receipts  by  raUtcay  lines  for  1882. 


Road. 


Cattle. 


Calvea 


Hogs. 


Sheep. 


Horses. 


Baltimore  and  Ohio 

Chicago  and  Alton 

CbicaKO,  Bnrlinpton  and  Qnincy 

Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois 

Chicago  and  Grand  Trunk 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 

Chicago  and  Northwestern 

Chici^;o.  Rock  Island  and  Pacific 

Illinois  Central 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  . 
Louisville,  New  Albany  and  Chicago 

Michigan  Central 

New  York,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis 

Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis.. 
Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  an<l  Chicago. 
Wabash,  St  Louis  and  Pacific 


Number. 

1,260 

199,  UI 

491, »00 

26.4<8 

1,951 

l.>t,873 

223,678 

212,884 

95,41.5 

4,474 

7,611 

3,030 

24 

5,127 

3,286 

146,104 


Jfumber. 
853 
296 

2.174 
636 
8(12 

4.067 

5,420 
6U1 
9«7 

4,527 
388 

1,549 

3 

373 

1,834 
373 


Number. 

22,891 

335,723 

1,555.688 

98,4:« 

12,575 

r3.5,203 

1,061,616 

8.59,381 

592,212 

54,2:i5 

18,976 

39,279 

2,761 

46,595 

29,071 

351,961 


Number. 

8.. 528 

66,639 

168, 181 

15,013 

1,300 

94,044 

111,344 

42.460 

36,:%8 

11,362 

3,418 

7,804 


Number. 

176 

1,723 

2,416 

ao) 

542 

866 

880 

l.ffJl 

1,032 

1.764 

59 

728 


4,506 
2,763 
54,590 


301 

159 

1,259 


Total  shipments  by  railtcay  lines  for  188S. 


Railroad. 


Cattle. 

Calves. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Number. 

Number. 

Number. 

Number. 

46,002 

3 

27,794 

I,0:i5 

7.  .349 

837 

514 

2,052 

5,257 

1,678 

114 

6,0^ 

8,858 

212 

«2 

14 

47,fl»l 

40 

22,241 

47,158 

13,642 

1,082 

280 

6,957 

16,764 

1,795 

3,825 

6,445 

21,780 

1,342 

2.334 

10,424 

1,410 

2,965 

3,283 

272,778 

831 

865.074 

137,602 

7f)6 
207,901 

i;b 

28 

263 
559,4.59 

5,037 

342 

.5.698 

510 
222 

384 

IHO 

84 

^S.2H0 

75 

264,302 

94,016 

2,&57 

673 

87 

1,654 

Horses. 


Baltimore  and  Ohio 

Chicago  and  Alton 

Chicago.  Burlington  and  Quincy 

Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois 

Chicago  and  Grand  Trunk 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 

Chicago  and  Northwestern 

Chicago.  Rock  Island  and  Pacific 

Illinois  Central 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  . 
Louisville,  New  Albany  and  Chicago 

Michigan  Central 

New  York,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis 

Pittsburjt,  Cincinnati  and  .St.  Louis.. 
Rttsbnrg.  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago. 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific 


Number. 

290 

61 

198 

48 

290 

3,654 

2,560 

181 

95 

8,035 

.^5 

1,017 

ioo 

1,191 
33 


BWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


745 


Shipments  eastward. 

The  shipments  eastward  have  augmented  more  rapidly  than  population.  Phila- 
delphia has  made  the  largest  relative  gain  in  cattle,  though  the  absolute  increase 
in  numbers  is.  of  course,  made  by  New  York.  The  receipts  of  veals  in  New  York 
have  increased  from  91.529  in  18i)9  to  190,582  in  1882. 
The  New  York  Produce  Exchange  record  of  these  shipments  is  as  follows: 
In  the  record  for  swine  the  most  noticeable  change  is  the  remarkable  movement 
to  Boston,  which  is  now  nearly  equal  to  the  aggregate  receipts  of  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore. 

Receipts  of  hogs  at  the  seaboard  cities. 


Year. 

New  York. 

Boston. 

Philadelphia. 

Baltimore. 

Total. 

1869 

Num  ber. 
901,725 
889,625 
1,310,280 
1,923,727 
1,9.58,389 
1,774,221 
1,388,517 
1,222,657 
1,268,596 
1,794,  .539 

1, -a-),  .5:37 

1,'.1'.M37 
l,5;j:i,526 
l,3(i(j,848 

Number. 
167,558 
189,330 
a51,307 
602,625 
854,507 
587,721 
3:31,989 
361,317 
330,604 
510,432 
582,815 
691,839 
708,900 
816, 5a5 

Number. 
176,200 
189,500 
199.610 
210,276 
344,300 
339,590 
243,300 
289,900 
242,400 
282,060 
341,4.50 
346,960 
367,876 
186,800 

Num  ber. 
250,  .516 
300,000 
350,000 
314,269 
392,734 
a57,547 
279,631 
259,064 
322,945 
260,514 
a56,524 
336,867 
338,551 
268,811 

Number. 
1,495,999 
1  .568  455 

1870    

1871 

1872    .  .             

2,211,197 
3,050,897 
3, 549, 930 

1873 

1874 

3, 059, 079 

1875 

2,243,437 
2,132,938 
2, 164,  .545 

1876 

1877 

1H78... 

1879 

1880     ..                

2, 847,  .545 
3,006.126 
3,094, 81 « 

1,-81 

2.948,a53 

1882  ..                  

2,638,994 

Hogs  for  the  trade  are  gathered  together  at  the  various  shipping  points  on  the 
railway  lines.  When  loaded  into  the  cars,  if  any  have  died  from  any  cause  while 
awaiting  shipment,  which  seldom  occurs,  the  dead  animals  are  placed  in  the  cars 
and  the  railroad  agent  notes  on  the  way-bill  the  number  of  "  live"  and  the  numler 
of  "  dead  hogs."  Some  railroad  companies  state  that  such  dead  hogs  would  not  be 
carried  by  them;  others  would  carry  them  only  to  points  where  there  are  offal- 
rendering  establishments.  We  have  been  unable  to  learn,  after  careful  investiga- 
tion, of  any  special  shipment  of  hogs  which  have  died  from  disease  to  any  of  the 
cities  where  hogs  are  packed,  or  even  from  country  districts  to  city  offal-rendering 
works.  Some  roads,  however,  provide  for  the  transportation  of  hogs  which  have 
died  from  disease,  provided  they  are  solidly  frozen. 

We  herewith  append  the  "Classification  on  dead  hogs"  in  use  by  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  Railway  Company. 

By  this  classification  less  than  carload  lots  of  dead  hogs  are  placed  in  third  class, 
the  same  as  in  the  case  of  live  hogs;  but  in  carload  lots  live  hogs  go  in  class  4, 
while  carload  lots  of  20,000  pounds  dead  hogs  are  placed  in  Class  C.  The  differ- 
ence in  rates  may  be  understood  by  the  foUowingexample:  Between  Huron  (S.  Dak.) 
and  Chicago  the  rate  for  class  3  is  90  cents  per  hundred;  for  class  4,  70  cents,  and 
for  C,  35  cents. 

In  connection  with  the  classification  on  hogs  that  have  died  from  disease,  it  may 
be  desirable,  for  general  information,  to  give  the  special  rates  on  live  hogs  from 
Western  to  principal  Eastern  points.  They  are  made  on  carload  lots,  either  ordi- 
nary or  refrigerator  cars;  in  the  latter  case  the  through  rates  being  5  cents  higher 
per  hundred  pounds.  The  minimum  weight  of  hogs  per  carload  by  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  classification  is  22,000  pounds  per  double-decked  car,  and  16,000  pounds  per 
single-decked  car.    The  winter  rates  (December)  of  this  company  are  as  follows: 


To  Baltimore  from— 

To  Philadelphia  f rom— 

0 

6 
a 

Articles. 

0 

3 
0 

11 

a 

IB 

5z; 

0 

1 

1 

u 

Hogs: 

Dressed,  refrigerator  cars,  O.  R. 

.per  100  lbs. - 

66 

64 

52 

49+ 

67 

65 

53 

oOi- 

Dressed,  ordinary  cars 

do.... 

61 

.59 

47 

Ui 

62 

60 

48 

4H 

746 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


To  New  York  from— 

To  Boston  from— 

k 

6 

a 

Articles. 

1 

s 

2*' 

1 

m 

3 

■a 

1 

!Z5 

Hogs: 

Dressed, refrigerator  cars,  O.  B. 

per  100  lbs.. 

G9 

67 

55 

62* 

74 

72 

60 

57* 

Dressed,  ordinary  cars 

do... 

61 

0^ 

SU 

m 

m 

67 

65 

6ai 

The  Pennsylvania  Company's  rates  for  December  are  as  follows: 


Chicago  to— 

East  St.  Lonis  to— 

s 

a 

ti 

d 

Articles. 

b 

2 

% 

« 

-a 

t 

^ 

o 

o 

o 

a 
o 

tH 

■a 

n 

2 

§ 

t» 

"s 

^ 

'2 

1 

"2 

04 

& 

1 

1 

0) 

1 

1 

1 

Hogs:                                           _    _ 

Dressed,  common  cars.  O.  B.,  C. 

L per  100  lbs.. 

64 

64 

62 

61 

61 

74 

74 

72 

n 

71 

Dressed,  common  cars,  O.  B.,  L. 

C.L per  100  lbs.. 

64 

64 

62 

61 

61 

74 

74 

72 

71 

71 

O.  E.— Owner's  risk;  C.  L.— Carload;  L.  C.  L.— Less  than  carload. 

In  inserting  these  and  other  tables  the  coramiss-on  h;tve  deemed  it  important 
that  all  regulations  relating  to  transportation  of  animals,  to  the  health  of  the  com- 
mimity,  should  be  laid  before  the  public  in  condensed  and  available  form. 

[1882-G.  F.  D.  No.  398.] 

Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company, 

General  Freight  Department, 

Chicago,  December  14,  JS82. 
To  agents: 
The  following  will  be  classification  on  dead  hogs: 

Hogs  that  have  died  from  disease,  when  frozen  solid Third  class. 

In  carloads  of  20,000  pounds , Class  C. 

Do  not  receive  them  for  shipment  unless  frozen  solid. 

William  S.  Mellen, 

General  Freight  Agent, 
Henry  C.  Wicker, 

Freight  Traffic  Manager. 

(Fill  up  this  Form  and  return  it  at  once.    Do  not  wait  to  be  asked  for  it.) 


Station,  No. 


[1882.— P.  G.  D.  No.  398.] 
-,  1882. 


Received  copy  of  G.  F.  D.  No.  398,  dated  December  14,  1882. 


-,  Agent, 


To  William  S.  Mellen, 

General  Freight  Agent,  C.  &  N.  W.  Rwy.,  Chicago. 

Where  hogs  have  died  in  considerable  numbers,  as  they  have  sometimes  done  in 
country  districts  from  swine  plague,  etc..  they  are  either  disposed  of  to  be  ''ren- 
dered as  oflfal  '■  in  the  localit.v  or  are  buried.  Diseased  hogs  offered  for  shipment,  if 
discovered,  would  be  refused  by  some  transportation  companies.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  hogs  in  such  condition  are  seldom  ofifered  for  shipment,  as  they  would  be 
nearly  certain  to  die  before  reaching  the  end  of  the  route,  and  would  cause  the 
whole  lot  to  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion  and  greatly  reduce  the  amount  real- 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


747 


ized  from  them.  While,  therefore,  it  is  probable  that  hogs  in  the  first  stages 
of  disease  might  be  and  possibly  at  times  are  shipped  in  railway  lines,  it  must 
seldom  occur,  for  the  reason  it  does  not  pay.  The  animal  would  be  either  dead  or 
too  obviously  sick  to  deceive  buyers,  even  before  it  reached  the  city  stock  yards. 

The  following  (juestion.  being  No.  4  of  the  interrogatories  in  the  foregoing  list, 
has  been  asked  of  the  several  railroad  companies,  agents  of  the  humane  societies, 
and  1  oards  of  health,  and  employees  of  the  stock  yards,  viz: 

"It  has  been  stated  that 'hogs,  having  died  of  cholera,  have  been  shipped  to 
Chicago  to  be  cviied  and  packed.'    Are  you  aware  of  such  Reing  the  fact?" 

This  question  has  uniformly  been  answered  in  the  negative.  The  skin  and  flesh 
of  such  hogs  is  very  much  discolored,  and  if  slaughtered  and  attempted  to  be 
cured  the  meat  from  them  would  be  easily  and  at  once  detected.  Our  special 
agent,  inspectors  of  the  humane  and  health  boards,  and  the  packers  deem  it 
impossible  for  such  animals  to  be  .slaughtered.  The  flesh  would  not  cure  without 
that  incipient  putrefaction  taking  place  which  produces  what  is  known  in  the 
trade  as  "sour  meat." 

As  a  rule,  tlie  station  agents  of  the  different  railroads  do  not  examine  hogs  for 
diseases,  bruises,  etc.,  beiore  receiving  them  for  transportation:  if  discovered, 
however,  they  have  specific  instructions  to  reject  them  for  these  causes.  The 
quality  and  condition  of  the  hogs  and  number  to  be  loaded  into  the  car  are  left 
almost  exclus  vely  to  the  judgment  of  the  shipper,  who  is  generally  the  owner  of 
the  hogs,  subject  to  the  rules  of  the  railroad  companies.  The  number  shipped  in 
a  car  varies  with  the  size  of  the  hogs  and  also  o:  the  car  from  4.3  to  70  head,  but 
as  a  rule  is  from  50  to  05.  The  condition  of  the  hogs  is  not  c! early  specified  in  the 
bill  of  lading,  and  if  the  shipper  or  his  agents  accompany  the  stock  the  care  of 
this  is  not  assumed  by  the  railroad  employees.  On  some  roads  the  shipper  seldom 
avails  himselt  of  the  privilege  granted  k)y  all  railway  companies  of  allowing  trans- 
l)oi  tatioii  for  one  man  to  accompany  every  two  cars  of  stock.  On  other  roads  the 
shii)per  usually  accompanies  the  animals  and  cares  for  them.  Some  companies 
instrucb  their  employees  to  be  particular  in  examining  the  hogs  when  stops  are 
made,  but  such  is  not  true  of  all  the  roads. 

There  are  here  inserted  the  ordinary  forms  of  "live-stock  contracts"  in  use  by 
the  several  railroads  in  this  country. 

[Form  1131— 8— '83— lOOM.    The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company  and  leased  and  operated  lines. 
Rules  and  regulations  for  the  transportation  of  live  stock.] 

No  station  agent  of  this  company  has  any  power  or  authority  to  bind  this  company  in  regard 
to  the  shipment  of  live  stock  except  by  written  contract  in  the  following  form;  neither  has  such 
agent  any  power  or  authority  to  contract  to  have  cars  at  his  or  any  other  station  for  the  ship- 
ment of  live  stock  at  any  given  or  named  date,  or  to  agree  to  furnish,  under  any  circumstances, 
any  particular  class  or  kind  of  cars. 

Live  stock  of  all  kinds  at  the  following  estimated  weights,  first-class  rates:  One  horse,  mule, 
or  horned  animal,  2,000  pounds;  two  horses,  mules,  or  horned  animals,  3,.5iiO pounds;  three  horses, 
mules,  or  hornedanimals,5,(K)0  pounds;  each  additional  animal  to  be  rated  at  1,500  pounds;  jacks 
or  stallions,  4,000  pounds  each;  calves,  hogs,  and  sheep,  each  300  pounds. 

In  case  the  owner  or  consignor  agrees  to  save  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company  from 
liability  for  any  or  all  the  causes  enumerated  in  the  following  contract,  and  also  agrees  to  load, 
unload,  feed,  water,  and  attend  to  the  stock  himself,  &c.,  as  specified  therein,  the  rates  agreed 
upon  and  -specified  in  the  contract  will  be  given. 

The  said  The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company,  as  aforesaid,  will  not  assume  any  liability 
over  the  actual  value,  but  in  no  case  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  per  head  on  horses  and 
valuable  live  stock,  except  by  special  agreement. 

For  the  purpose  of  taidng  care  of  the  stock,  the  owner  or  men  in  charge,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  cars  as  indorsed  hereon,  will  be  passed  on  the  train  with  it,  and  all  persons  thus 
passed  are  at  their  own  risk  of  any  personal  injury  whatever,  and  will  agree  to  sign  release  to 
that  effect  indorsed  on  contract. 


Way- 
bill. 


Live-stock  contract  executed  at  ■ 


■  station. 


-,  188—. 


This  agreement,  made  between  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company  of 
the  first  part  and of  the  second  part,  witnesseth: 

That  whereas  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company  transports  live  stock 
as  per  above  rules  and  regulations,  all  of  which  are  Hereby  made  a  part  of 
this  contract  by  mutual  agreement  between  the  parties  hereto;  now,  there- 
fore, for  the  considerations  and  the  m.utual  covenants  and  conditions  herein 
contained,  the  said  first  party  will  transport  for  the  said  second  party  live 

stock,  and  the  persons  in  charge  thereof  as  hereinafter  provided,  from 

station,  to station,  at  the  rate  of  per ,  the  same  being  a 

special  rate,  lower  than  the  regular  rates,  or  a  rate  mutually  agreed  upon 
between  the  parties  hereto,  for  and  in  consideration  of  which  the  said 
second  party  hereby  covenants  and  agrees  as  follows: 

First.  That  he  hereby  releases  the  party  of  the  first  part  from  the  liability 
of  a  common  carrier  in  the  transportation  of  said  stock  and  agrees  that  sncn. 
liability  shall  be  only  that  of  a  mere  forwarder  nr  private  carrier  for  hire, 
and  also  hereby  agrees  to  waive  and  release,  and  does  hereby  release,  said 
first  party  from  any  and  all  liability  for  or  on  account  of  any  delay  in  ship- 
ping said  stock  after  the  delivery  thereof  to  its  agent,  and  from  any  delay 
in  receiving  the  same  after  being  tendered  to  its  agent. 


748 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Second.  That  said  second  party  hereby  agrees  to  accept,  and  does  accept, 
for  the  transportation  of  his  said  stock,  the  cars  tendered  him  by  the  said 
first  party,  and  ajfrees  that  he  will  see  that  they  are  in  goad  and  safe  <'ondi- 
tion,  and  that  they  are  securely  fastened  so  as  to  ijrevent  the  escape  of  said 
stock  therefrom,  and  that  he  will  not  hold  said  first  party  responsible  for 
any  loss  or  damage  which  may  result  from  neglect  or  failure  on  his  part,  or 
of  his  agents  or  employes,  to  do  so;  and  also  agrees  to  a.ssuuie,  and  does 
hereby  assume,  all  risks  of  injiiry  or  loss  to  his  8to<'k  Ixjcause  of  any  defect 
in  said  cars,  of  their  being  wild,  unruly,  weak,  or  maiming;  each  other  or 
themselves,  or  of  heat,  suffocation,  or  other  results  of  being  crowded  in  the 
cars,  or  of  being  injured  or  destroyed  by  fire  on  any  account  whatever,  and 
especially  because  of  bumini:  hay,  straw,  or  other  materials  used  for  bedding 
the  cars,  or  feeding  the  stock,  or  for  any  other  purpose. 

Third.  That,  at  his  own  risk  and  expense,  he  is  to  take  care  of,  feed,  water, 
and  attend  t-o  said  stock,  while  the  same  may  lie  in  the  stock  yards  of  the 
said  first  party,  or  elsewhere,  awaiting  shipment,  and  while  the  same  is 
being  loatied,  transported,  unloaded  and  reloaded,  and  to  kiad  and  unload, 
and  reload  the  same  at  feeding  and  transfer  points,  and  wherever  the  same 
may  be  unloaded  and  reloaded,  for  any  purpose  whatever,  and  hereby  cove- 
nants and  agrees  to  hold  said  first  i)arty  harmless  on  account  of  any  and  all 
losses  or  damages  to  his  said  stfx;k  while  being  so  in  his  charge,  and  so  cared 
for,  and  attended  to,  by  him  or  his  agents  or  employes,  a.>*  aforesaid. 

Fourth.  That  he,  the  said  second  party,  for  the  considerations  aforesaid, 
hereby  assumes,  and  releases  said  first  party  from  all  risks  of  injury  or  loss 
which  may  be  sustained  by  rea,son  of  any  delay  in  the  transportation  of  his 
said  stock,  caused  by  any  mob,  strike,  threatened  or  actual  violence  to  per- 
sons or  property,  from  any  source,  failure  of  machinery  or  car.s,  injury  to 
track  or  yards,  storms,  fioods,  escape  or  robbery  of  any  of  said  stock,  over 
loading  cars,  fright  of  animals,  or  crowding  one  upon  another,  or  any  and 
all  causes,  except  the  gross  negligence  of  the  said  first  party. 

Fifth.  That  in  all  cases,  when  said  first  party  shall  furni.sh,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  said  second  party,  laborers  to  assist  in  loading  or  unloading  his 
stock,  they  shall  be  entirely  subject  to  his  orders  and  deemed  his  own  em- 

I)loy6s  while  so  engaged:  and  he  hereby  agrees  to  hold  saidflrst  iiarty  harm- 
eas  on  account  of  their  acts. 

Sixth.  That  for  the  considerations  aforesaid,  said  second  party  further  ex- 
pressly agrees  that,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  his  right  to  any  damages  for 
any  loss  or  injury  to  his  said  stock  during  the  transportation  thereof  or  pre- 
vious to  loading  thereof  for  shipment,  he  will  give  notice,  in  writing,  verified 
by  affidavit  of  nis  claim  therefor,  to  some  general  officer  of  said  first  party 
or  to  its  nearest  station  agent,  l)efore  said  stock  is  removed  from  the  point 
of  shipment  or  from  the  place  of  destination,  and  l)efore  such  stock  is  min- 
gled with  other  stock,  within  one  day  after  the  delivery  of  such  stock  at  its 
point  of  destination,  and  before  the  same  shall  have  been  removed,  slaugh- 
tered, or  intermingled  with  other  stot'k,  to  the  end  that  such  claim  may  be 
fully  and  fairly  investigated,  and  that  a  failure  to  fully  comply  with  the 
terms  of  this  clause  shall  be  a  complete  bar  to  any  recovery  of  any  and  all 
such  claims. 

Seventh.  The  said  second  narty  further  agrees,  for  the  considerations 
aforesaid,  that  in  case  of  total  loss  of  any  of  his  said  stock  from  any  <'ause 
for  which  the  said  first  party  will  be  liable  to  pay  for  the  same,  the  actual  ca-sh 
value  at  the  time  and  place  of  shipment,  but  in  no  case  to  exceed  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  head,  shall  be  taken  and  deemed  as  a  full  compensation 
therefor,  and  in  case  of  injury  or  partial  loss  the  amount  or  damages  claimed 
shall  not  exceed  the  same  proportion. 

Eighth.  That  this  contract  does  not  entitle  the  holder  thereof,  or  any  other 
person,  to  ride  on  any  train  except  for  the  purposes  and  in  accordance  with 
the  rales  and  instructions  printed  on  the  back  hereof,  all  of  which  are  hereby 
expressly  accepted  and  agreed  to  be  made  a  part  of  this  contract. 


■s 

6 

1 

Way- 
bill. 

1 

1 

1 

i 

s 

1 

0 
O" 

£ 

I 

.... 

.... 

.... 

B 

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s 

a 

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i 

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g 
£ 

Ninth.  This  contract  does  not  entitle  the  holder  or  other  parties  to  ride  In  the  cars  of  any 
train  except  the  train  in  which  his  stock,  referred  to  herein,  is  drawn  oi  taken.  Neither  does 
it  entitle  him  (and  the  party  of  the  second  part  named  in  thLs  contract  so  expressly  stipulates, 

admits,  and  agrees)  to  return  passage  from to unless  this  said  contract  is  presented 

within  15  days  from  the  date  hereof  to  the  properly  authorized  agent  of  this  company  for 
return  pass,  which  pass,  when  obtained,  shall  be  used  by  those  only  whose  names  are  written 
herein  within  Si  hours  after  the  date  and  hour  issued.  Nor  does  it  entitle  any  person  except 
the  party  of  the  second  part  and  parties  who  accompany  him  in  charge  of  said  stock,  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  him  in  taking  care  of  the  same,  as  specified  in  and  upon  this  contract 
(and  does  not  include  women,  infants,  or  other  persons  unable  to  do  and  perform  the  services 
required,  as  expre.ssed  in  this  contract),  to  such  return  pa.s.sage  within  the  said  15  days;  the 
object,  purpose,  and  intent  of  the  return  pa.ss  being  to  enable  the  said  party  of  the  second  part 

hereto  or  his  men  in  charge,  as  expressed  in  contract,  and  no  other  person,  to  return  to 

thereon,  at  any  time  withiu  15  days  from  date  hereof,  and  not  thereafter. 

Tenth.  For  the  considerations  aforesaid  the  said  second  party  hereby  further  agrees  that  the 
said  persons  in  charge  of  said  8tot;k  under  this  contract  shall  remain  in  the  calK)ose  car  attached 
to  the  train  while  the  sam^  is  in  motion,  and  that  whenever  such  persons  shall  leave  the  caboose 
car  or  pass  over  or  along  the  cars  or  track,  they  shall  do  so  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury 
from  every  cause  whatever,  and  that  the  said  first  party  shall  not  be  required  to  stop  or  start 
its  caboose  cars  from  dejwts  or  platforms  or  to  furnish  lights  for  the  accommodation  or  safety 
of  such  persons. 

Eleventh.  In  consideration  of  the  rates  herein  named  and  the  aforesaid  covenants  the  shipper 
hereby  releases  and  does  waive  and  bar  any  and  all  cause  of  action  for  damages  that  has  accrued 
to  him  by  any  written  or  verbal  contract  prior  to  the  execution  hereof. 

Twelfth.  And  it  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  in  case  the 
live  stock  mentioned  herein  is  to  be  transt)orted  over  the  road  or  roads  of  any  other  railroad 
company  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  shall  be  relea.sed  from  liability  of  every  kind  after  said 
live  stock  shall  have  left  its  road,  and  the  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  so  expressly  stipa- 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


749 


lates  and  agrees;  the  understanding  of  both  parties  liereto  being  that  the  party  of  the  first  part 
shall  not  be  held  or  deemed  liable  for  anything  beyond  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway 
Company,  excepting  to  protect  the  through  rate  of  freight  named  herein. 

Thirteenth.  No  ijerson  other  than  the  owner  of  the  stock  shipped,  or  his  duly  authorized  agent, 
in  the  name  of  the  owner,  shall  be  allowed  to  sign  this  contract. 

Fourteenth.  Tlie  evidence  that  the  said  second  party,  after  fiilly  understanding  and  accepting 
all  the  terms,  covenants,  and  conditions  of  this  contract,  including  the  printed  rules  and  regu- 
lations at  its  head  and  on  the  back  thereof,  and  that  they  all  con.stitute  a  part  hereof,  fully 
assents  to  each  and  all  of  the  same,  is  his  signature  hereto. 

■ ,  Af/ent 

for  the  ■ Pailno!/  Company. 

,  tihipper. 

Witness: 

To  be  other  than  either  of  the  contractors. 


[Form  123.    Wabash,  Saint  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway  Company.    Live  stock  contract, 
and  regulations  for  the  transportation  ot  live  stock.] 


Rules 


Live  stock  in  quantities  less  than  a  full  carload  will  be  rated  as  follows: 

One  horse,  mule,  or  horned  animal.- 2,000 pounds,  first  class. 

Two  horses,  mules,  or  horned  animals 3.500  pounds,  first  class. 

Three  horses,  mules,  or  horned  animals 5,000  pounds,  first  class. 

Each  additional  horse,  mule,  or  horned  animal 1,000  pounds,  first  class. 

Stallions  (be  sure  and  take  release) 4,tK)0  pounds,  first  class. 

Calves,  though  in  no  case  less  than  To  cts.  each ea.  500  pounds,  once  and  half  flr.st  class. 

Sheep,  though  in  no  case  less  than  75  cts.  each ea.  200  pounds,  once  and  half  first  class. 

Pigs  and  store  hogs,  actual  weight once  and  half  first  class. 

This  line  will  not  assume  any  liability  over  one  hundred  dollars  on  horses  and  valuable  live 
stock  except  by  special  agreement. 

Agents  are  not  allowed  to  receive  and  ship  such  valuable  horse  or  other  animal  until  a  proper 
contract  or  release  is  signed  by  the  owner  or  shipper  thereof. 

When  live  stock  is  shipped  the  owner  or  his  agent  is  to  feed,  water,  and  take  care  of  his  stock, 
at  his  own  expense  and  risk,  and  is  to  as-iume  all  risk  of  injury  or  damage  that  the  animals  may 
do  to  themselves  or  each  other,  or  which  may  arise  from  delay  of  trains. 

Stock  will  only  be  taken  by  the  carload  at  the  prices  fixed  under  the  table  of  "special  rates," 
when  a  contract  is  executed  by  the  station  agent  and  shipper,  to  be  loaded  and  unloaded, 
watered,  and  fed  by  the  owner,  and  at  his  risk  in  all  respects,  except  as  specified  in  form  of  con- 
tract on  receipt  below. 

Shii)pers  in  charge  of  stock  will  be  passed  on  freight  trains,  on  stock  contract  as  follows: 

One  (1)  man  for  two  (2)  or  three  (3)  cars:  two  (2)  men  for  tour  (4)  to  seven  (7)  cars;  and  three 
(3)  men  for  eight  (8)  cars  or  more,  which  is  the  maximum  number  that  will  be  passed  with  stock 
for  one  owner.  All  per.sons  thus  passed  are  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury  from  any  cause 
whatever. 

Men  in  charge  of  stock  will  not  be  allowed  to  ride  on  passenger  trains  on  their  stock  contract. 

Mixed  shipments  of  stock  will  not  be  allowed  except  by  special  authority  of  the  general  freight 
algent. 

Agents  of  the  company  are  not  authorized  to  agree  to  forward  live  stock  to  be  delivered  at 
any  specific  time,  nor  are  they  authorized  to  agree  to  furnish  cars  for  shippers  to  load  at  any 
stated  time;  they  will  make  requisition  on  train  master  for  cars  in  the  order  in  which  shippers 
have  applied  for  them,  and  when  cars  are  received,  will  distri))ute  them  in  like  manner. 

Agents  will  ask  train  master  for  instructions  as  to  when,  and  for  what  train,  stock  should  be 
loaded,  and  will  not  allow  shippers  to  load  their  stock  until  such  instructions  have  been  received. 

Stock  pens,  at  stations  on  the  line,  are  provided  for  the  use  and  convenience  of  live  stock  ship- 
pers; but  it  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  company  does  not  assume  any  liability  for 
live  stock  while  remaining  in  such  pens;  and  no  agent  oi.  the  company  will  receipt  for  or  in  any 
way  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  live  stock  while  in  the  pens,  and  will,not  execute  contract  until 
stock  is  loaded. 


No.  of 
cars. 


This  agreement,  made  this day  of  ,  A.  D.  18—,  between  the  "Wabash,  Saint 

Louis  and  Pacific  Railway  Company,"  party  of  the  first  part,  and ,  wit- 

nesseth: 

That  the  party  of  the  first  part  will,  in  consideration  of  the  agreement  herein  con- 
tained, forward  to  the  party  of  the  .second  part, men  and  the  following  freight, 

to  wit: from to .  at  the  rate  of  per  ,  which  is  a  reduced 

rate  expressly  agreed  upon  between  the  parties  hereto,  and  in  consideration  of  which 
rate  the  party  of  the  second  part  stipulates  and  agrees  as  follows:  First.  The  party  of 
the  second  part  agree  to  take  care  of  said  freight  while  the  same  is  being  transported, 
and  load  and  unload  the  same  at  his  or  their  own  risk  and  exi)ense.  Second.  The  party 
of  the  second  part  expressly  agrees  that  neither  the  party  of  the  first  part  nor  any  con- 
necting line  or  lines  over  which  .'-aid  freight  may  i)ass,  shall  be  responsible  for  any  loss, 
damage,  or  injury  which  may  happen  to  said  freight,  or  be  sustained  by  it,  while  being 
loaded,  forwarded,  or  unloaded.  Tliird.  The  party  of  the  second  part  agrees  that  as 
soon  as  said  live  stock  is  placed  in  said  cars,  he  will  see  that  all  the  doors  and  ojienings 
in  said  cars  are  closed  and  so  fastened,  and  afterwards  kept  so  closed  and  fastened i|is 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  said  stock  therefrom,  and  the  party  of  the  second  part  in  con- 
sideration of  this  agreement,  hereby  releases  the  party  ot  the  first  part  and  all  con- 
necting lines  from  all  claims  tor  damage  or  loss  sustained  by  the  party  of  the  second 
part  in  consequence  of  the  escape  of  any  of  said  live  stock  through  the  doors  and  open- 
ings in  said  cars.  Fourth.  It  is  agreed  that  neither  the  party  of  the  first  i>art  nor  any 
connecting  line  shall  be  responsible  for  any  damage  or  injury  sustained  by  said  live 
stock  from  suffocation  whilj  m  faid  cars,  or  lor  any  injury  caused  by  overloading 
cars,  or  from  fright  of  animals,  or  from  the  crowding  of  one  upon  or  against  another. 
Fifth.  It  is  agreed  that  neither  the  party  of  the  first  part  nor  any  connecting  line  shall 


750 


SWENE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Naof 
cars. 


be  re8pon^ible  for  any  delay  cansed  by  storm,  failure  of  inacbiiierjr  or  cars,  or  from 
obstmctions  of  track  from  any  caase.  or  for  any  injury  caused  bj'  fare  from  any  cause 
whatever.  Sixth.  In  consideration  of  tbis  agreement,  tbe  party  of  tbe  second  part 
hereby  releases  the  party  of  the  first  part  and  connectiniif  line.s  from  all  claims  for  dam- 
age that  may  be  occasioned  by  the  burning  of  liay,  straw,  or  other  material  placed  in  said 
car,  or  cars,  for  the  purposeof  feeding  or  i>ed  ding  said  8t<->ck.  StfVfuth.  The  party  of  the 
second  part,  in  consideration  of  the  rate  named  in  this  contract,  further  agrees  to  water 
and  feed  said  stock  at  his  or  their  own  risk  and  expen.si-  while  tbe  same  is  in  thecarsof 
said  first  j)arty  or  connecting  lines,  and  in  theeventof  any  unusual  delay  or  detention  of 
.said  live  stock  while  on  said  trip  from  any  cause  whatever,  the  party  of  the  second  part 
agrees  to  accept  as  full  com ()eusation  for  all  loss  or  damage  sustained  in  consequence  of 
soch  delay,  the  amount  actually  expended  by  him  or  them  in  the  purchase  of  fond  and 
water  for  the  stock  aforesaid.  Eighth.  The  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  asrees  to 
assume  all  risk  of  injury  or  damage  to,  or  escape  of  the  live  stock  aforesaid,  which 
may  happen  to  it  while  in  the  stock  yards  of  the  said  first  part^  awaiting  shipment  at  any 
point  on  any  line  of  railroad  owned  or  operated  by  it.  J^inth.  It  is  hereby  further 
agreed  by  and  between  the  parties  hereto,  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  and  the  con- 
necting lines  over  which  said  freight  may  pass,  shall  be  deemed  merely  forwarders, 
and  they  shall  only  be  responsible  for  such  injuries  to  said  live  stock  as  may  be  cau.scd 
by  gross  negligence.  Tenth.  In  consideration  of  the  rate  aforesaid  it  is  further  agreed 
that  no  claim  for  damages  which  may  accrue  to  the  party  of  the  second  part  under  this 
contract,  shall  be  allowed  or  paid  by  the  party  of  the  first  part,  or  sued  for  in  any  court, 
by  the  party  of  the  second  part,  unless  aclaim  tor  such  loss  or  damage  shall  be  made  in 
writing,  verified  by  the  affidavit  of  the  party  of  the  second  part  or  his  or  their  agent, 
and  delivered  to  the  general  freight  agent  of  the  party  of  the  first  part  at  his  office,  in 
the  city  of  Saint  Louis  within  five  (5)  days  from  the  time  said  stock  is  removed  from 
said  cars:  and  it  is  also  agreed  that  if  any  loss  or  damage  occurs  up>on  a  connecting  line, 
then  sach  line  shall  not  be  liable  unlessa  claim  shall  be  made  in  like  manner,  and  delivered 
in  liKe  time,  to  some  officer  or  general  agent  of  the  lineon  which  the  lo.ssor  injury  occurs, 
but  it  is  expressly  agreed  between  tbe  parties  hereto,  that  said  first  party  shall  not  \ie 
responsible  for  any  damage  or  injury  to,  or  loss  or  detention  of  said  live  stock  after 
the  same  shall  have  left  ttie  line  of  railroad  operated  by  said  first  party,  and  that  all 
responsibility  of  said  first  party  under  this  contract  shall  cease  after  said  live  stock 
shall  have  been  delivered  to  a  connecting  line  to  be  forwarded  to  its  destination. 
Eleventh.  It  is  agreed  that  neither  the  party  of  the  first  part,  nor  any  connecting  line, 
shall  be  liable  for  more  than  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  on  account  of  the  loss  or 
injury  of  any  one  horse  or  other  animal  received  or  carried  by  the  party  of  the  first 
part  under  this  contract.  The  party  of  the  second  part  further  agrees  to  i-elease,  and 
does  hereby  release  the  party  of  the  first  part  and  connecting  lines,  from  all  claims  for 
damage  or  injury  to,  or  loss  of  said  live  stock,  from  any  defects  in  the  doors  of  said 
cars  or  their  fastenings,  and  also  from  any  injury  to  said  stock,  caused  from  defects  in 
the  slats  on  said  cars,  or  from  the  manner  in  which  said  slats  are  placed  on  said  cars, 
and  from  all  injuries  which  said  stock  may  sustain  from  kicking  or  goring  each  other 
while  in  said  cars,  or  from  kicking  their  feet  through  the  slats  or  sides  of  said  cars.  It  is 
further  agreed  that  the  person  or  persons  accompanying  said  stock  under  this  con- 
tract to  take  care  of  tbe  same,  shall  be  inside  tbe  caboose  car  attached  to  the  train 
whenever  said  train  or  caboose  car  shall  be  in  motion,  and  that  whenever  such  person 
or  persons  shall  leave  the  caboose  or  pass  over  or  along  the  cars  or  track  of  said  first 
party  or  connecting  lines  they  shall  do  so  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury  from 
every  cause  whatever,  and  neither  the  party  of  the  first  p>art  nor  <;onnecting  lines  • 
shall  be  required  to  stop  or  start  its  trains  or  caboose  cars  at  or  from  depots  or  plat- 
forms or  furnish  lights  for  the  accomodation  or  safety  of  the  persons  accompanying 
said  stock  to  take  care  of  the  same  under  this  contract. 

Witness  our  hands in  dnn'icate. 

Wabash,  Saikt  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway  Co. 
By ,  AgenL 

Owner  or  shipper. 


Two  copies  of  this  contract  will  lie  signed  by  both  the  agent  of  the  company  and  the  owner  or 
shipper— one  copy  to  be  retained  by  the  shipper  and  one  copy  to  be  retorned  to  general  freight 
office. 

(Across  the  face:}  Not  negotiable. 


(2,50a) 

[The  Missonri  Pacific  Railway;  Central  Branch  U.  P.  R.  R;  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Rail- 
way; Saint  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway;  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway;  Inter- 
national and  Great  Northern  R.  R. ;  Wabash,  Saint  Lotiis  and  Pacific  Railway.  Total  mileage, 
9,757  miles.] 

[The  Missonri  Pacific  Railway  Comnany  and  Wabash,  Saint  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway.  Office 
of  freight  traffic  manager.  Circular  No.  20,  Rules  for  passing  men  in  charge  of  shipments  of 
live  stock*  1 

Saint  Louis,  December  S3, 188S. 
To  Agents: 

The  following  rales  will  govern  the  transptortation  of  men  in  charge  of  and  accompanying  live 
stock  shipped  under  contract  over  the  lines  within  this  system.  No  person  will  be  allowad  to 
go  free  with  less  than  two  cars  in  one  shipment  from  one  consignor  to  one  consignee.  One  per- 
son may  be  allowed  to  go  free  with  two  or  three  cars:  two  persons  with  four  to  seven  cars,  and 
three  persons  with  eight  cars  or  more  in  one  shipment.  One  person  only  will  be  allowed  with 
any  number  of  cars  of  hogs  or  sheep. 

BETCRNINO. 

No  return  pass  will  be  given  for  less  than  two  cars  in  one  shipment  from  one  consignor  to  one 
consignee.    One  man  may  return  free  for  two  or  three  cars,  two  men  for  four,  five,  six,  or  seven. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UKITED   STATES.  751 

and  three  men  for  eight  cars  or  more  in  one  shipment.    Only  one  return  pass  will  be  given  for 
two  or  more  oars  of  hogs  or  sheep.    These  rules  will  not  apply  on  shipments  between  points  gov- 
erned by  the  Southwestern  Railway,  Iowa  Trunk  Line,  or  Colorado  Traffic  Associations. 
This  cancels  all  previous  instructions. 

Gko.  Olds,  Freight  Traffic  Manager. 

[Circular  No.  20.] 
J.  J.  Rogers,  General  Freight  Agent: 

Circulars,  numbered  as  above,  received ,  188 — . 

,  Agent, 

Station  No.  — i 
Agents  receiving  will  detach,  date,  sign,  and  return  this  receipt  to  G.  P.  O.  by  first  train. 
Note.— The  agent  must  in  all  cases  enter  plainly  the  name  and  number  of  his  station  in  proper 
place  above. 

[The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway;  Central  Branch  U.  P.  R.  R.;  Mi.ssouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Rail- 
way: Saint  Louis.  Iron  Mountain  and  Southern  Railway;  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway;  Inter- 
national and  Great  Northern  R.  R.;  Wabash,  Saint  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway.    Total  mileage, 

9,7.57.] 

[The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company  and  Wabash,  Saint  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway.    Circular 
No.  Kiil— G.    Rules  for  passing  men  in  charge  of  shipments  of  live  stock.] 

Saint  Louis,  October  31, 1883. 
To  Agents: 

The  following  rules  will  govern  the  transportation  of  men  in  charge  of  and  accompanying  live 
stock  shipped  under  contract  over  the  lines  within  this  system.  One  person  will  be  allowed  to 
go  free  with  one,  two,  or  three  cars:  two  persons  with  four  to  seven  cars,  and  three  persons 
with  eight  cars  or  more  in  one  shipment.  One  person  only  will  be  allowed  with  any  number  of 
cars  of  hogs  or  sheep. 

RETURNINQ. 

No  return  pass  will  be  given  for  less  than  two  cars  in  one  shipment  from  one  consignor  to  one 
consignee.  One  7nan  may  return  free  for  two  or  three  cars,  two  men  for  four,  five,  six,  or 
seven,  and  throe  men  for  eight  cars  or  more  in  one  shipment.  Only  one  return  jjass  will  be  given 
for  two  or  more  cars  of  Iiors  or  sheep.  These  rules  will  not  apply  on  shipments  between  points 
governed  by  the  Southwestern  Railway,  Iowa  Trunk  Line,  or  Colorado  Traffic  Association. 

Geo.  Olds,  Freight  Traffic  Manager. 

[Circular  No.  1C2-G.] 
J.  J.  Rogers,  General  Freight  Agent: 
Circular,  numbered  as  above,  received ,  18.S3. 

Agents  receiving  will  detach,  sign,  and  return  this  receipt  to  G.  F.  O.  by  first  train. 
Note.— The  agent  must  in  all  cases  enter  plainly  the  name  and  number  of  his  station  in  proper 
place  above. 

[The  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company.    Circular  No.  90.    Transyiortation  of  stock.] 

Atchison,  Kans.,  December  22, 188S. 
To  Agents  and  Conductors: 

You  will  give  your  personal  attention  to  the  handling  of  live  stock,  both  at  stations  and  while 
in  transit. 

Agents  are  requested  to  see,  personally,  to  loading  stock  at  their  respective  stations;  to  exam- 
ine all  cars  before  and  after  loading,  and  know,  from  personal  examination,  that  cars  are  in 
good  condition,  and  that  doors  are  securely  fastened  and  sealed  on  both  corners  or  side  of  each 
door  as  soon  as  cai-s  are  loaded. 

Conductors  are  required  to  notice  condition  of  stock  when  taken  into  train  and  while  in 
transit;  to  see,  personally,  to  watering  same  when  the  weather  requires,  and  to  know,  from  a 
personal  examination,  that  all  doors  are  securely  fastened  and  sealed.  In  all  cases  where  seals 
are  not  perfect  make  special  report  to  this  office,  giving  car  number  and  station  billed  from, 
keeping  record  of  such  report  in  your  book  for  future  refcreac<!. 

W.  W.  Fagan,  Superintendent. 
L.  A.  Emerson, 

General  Western  Freight  Agent. 

[Circular  No.  90.] 
L.  A.  Emerson, 

General  Western  Freight  Agent.  Atchison: 

Circular,  numbered  as  above,  received ,  188—. 

,  Agent. 

Station. 

A  gents  receiving  will  detach,  sign,  and  return  this  receipt  by  first  train. 

Note.— The  agent  must  in  all  cases  enter  plainly  the  name  of  his  station  in  proper  place  above. 

[1-9-84-10  M.    37.    Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company.    Live-stock  contract.] 

Live  stock  in  full  carloads  will  be  waybilled  as  follows: 

Horses,  mules,  and  cattle 30,000  pounds  per  car. 

Hog.s ]6,()00  pounds  per  car. 

Sheep  and  calves 13,000  pounds  per  car. 

Less  than  carloads  at  rates  and  weights  given  in  classifications. 


752 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


No  liability  will  be  assumed  on  horsesor  valuable  live  sti>ok  for  more  than  one  hundred  dollars 
I)er  head,  uiileRS  by  sjiecial  agreement  noted  hereon,  and  agents  are  not  permitted  to  receive  or 
ship  such  valuable  animals  until  a  proper  contract  or  release  is  sijrned  by  the  owner  or  shijiper 
thereof.  And  it  is  agreed  between  the  owner  and  shipper  of  these  animals  and  the  said  railway 
companv  that  in  case  of  accident,  resulting  in  injury  to  said  animal.".,  the  value  thereof  shall  in 
no  case  be  estimated  at  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  animal  so  injured. 

Shipments  of  live  stock  in  carloads  or  less  than  carhA-ids  will  only  be  taken  at  the  rates  named 
herein,  after  this  contra<;t  or  ajn^eement  shall  have  been  signed  by  the  company's  station  agent 
and  the  owner  or  shinper,  by  which  it  is  agreed  and  understood  that  such  owner  or  shippershall 
load,  feed,  water,  ana  take  care  of  such  stock  at  his  own  expense  and  risk,  and  will  assume  all 
risk  of  injury  or  damage  that  the  animals  may  do  to  themselves  or  each  other,  or  which  may 
arise  by  delay  of  trains. 

Different  kinds  of  live  stock  mnst  not  be  loaded  together  in  the  same  car  ("except  as  provided 
for  in  cla'-siflcations  or  by  special  instructions).  Agents  are  not  authorized  to  agi  ee  to  forward 
live  stock  to  be  delivered  at  any  specific  time. 

Persons  in  charge  of  live  stock  will  be  pas.«ed  on  the  trains  with  and  to  take  care  of  it  as  fol- 
lows: One  man  with  two  or  three  cars:  two  men  with  four  to  seven  cars:  three  men  with  eight 
cars,  which  is  the  maximum  number  that  will  be  passed  for  one  owner.  No  return  passes  will 
be  given  on  account  of  shipments  of  stock  cattle  west  bound. 

No  person  will  be  passed  with  one  car  of  live  stock,  except  that  one  car  of  horses,  mules,  or 
emigrant  movables  containing  live  stock  will  entitle  the  owner  or  mtin  in  charge  to  jwiss  one  way 
on  the  same  train  to  take  care  of  it,  but  these  are  the  only  two  instances  in  which  a  conductoris 
authorized  to  pass  any  one  with  a  single  carload.  Parties  so  passed  must  accompany  the  stock 
on  the  same  train. 

Agents  will  permit  only  the  signatures  of  ownei-s  or  bona  fide  employes  who  accompany  the 
stock  to  be  entered  on  back  of  contract,  without  regard  topas.ses  allowed  by  number  of  cars,  and 
run  a  pen  through  remaining  lines 

Such  entry  of  persons  in  charge,  and  certificate  of  billing  agent  to  that  effect,  will  be  the 
authority  for  conductors  to  pass  them  with  the  stock. 

All  persons  are  thus  passed  only  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury  from  whatever  can.se. 

William  S.  Mellen,  General  Freight  Agent. 

Henry  C.  Wicker. 

Freight  Traffic  Manager. 


^  I 


t 

8 
S 

a  ** 

S  » 

0  a; 
6 

Received  of 


Fhkioht  Office, 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company, 

station. ,  }8S—. 

,  to  be  delivered  at Station,  at  special  rates,  being— 

dollars  per  car  for  horses  or  mules. 

■ dollars  per  car  for  cattle  or  hogs. 

dollars  per  car  for  sheep. 

In  consideration  of  which,  and  for  other  valuable  considerations,  it  is  hereby 
mutually  agreed  that  said  companv  shall  not  be  liable  for  loss  by  jumping  from 
the  cars,  delay  of  trains  not  caused  by  negligence  as  aforesaid,  or  any  dainai^esaid 
property  may  sustain,  except  such  as  may  result  from  a  collision  of  the  train  with 
other  trains,  or  when  the  cars  are  thrown  from  the  track  in  course  of  transporta- 
tion, and  in  this  case  the  company  upon  whose  road  the  sccident,  loss,  or  damage 
shall  occur  shall  be  liable  therefor,  and  no  suit  shall  be  brought  or  claim  made 
against  any  other  company  forming  a  part  of  the  route  for  such  loss  or  damage  ( it 
being  expressly  understnod  and  agreed  that  the  responMbility  of  this  railway  com- 
pany shall  cease  upon  delivery  of  said  property  to  it.scouiiecting  line,  unlessotljer- 
wise  agreed  to  in  writing  and  signed  oy  the  respective  parties  hereto),  and  that 
the  rules  and  regulations  printed  a>x>ve  are  au  esbential  part  of  this  contract. 


Agent. 


Owner. 


(Across  the  face:)  Read  this  contract. 


[Form  282.] 
Live.  Ktock  contract. 

Nonennmerative  live  stock,  of  all  kinds,  not  shipped  nnder  contract,  will  be  charged  first- 
class  rates. 

Enumerative  live  stock,  in  quantities  less  than  carloads,  will  be  charged  as  follows:  One  horse 
(except  stallions),  mule,  or  horned  animal,  2,0U(l  pounds  each;  two  animals,  3.500  pounds:  three 
anlmalB,  5,000  ponnds;  each  additional  animal.  l.U)0  pounds,  first-cla.ss  rates;  stallions  or  jacks, 
1,000  pounds  each,  first-class  rates;  colts,  when  with  their  dam,  500  pounds  each,  flr8t-<Tla.s8  rates. 

Live  hogs,  calv^and  sheep,  in  boxes,  actual  weight,  once  and  a  half  first  class:  loose,  for  any 
distance,  calves,  500  pounds,  nogs  and  shee]),  3lJi)  pounds  each,  once  and  a  half  first  class,  but  not 
less  than  75  cents  each  for  an  V  distance;  if  no  partition  in  car,  or  not  otherwise  secured,  at  carload 
rates,  of  pric«  fixed  under  the  table  of  "  Special  rates." 

At  the  above  rates  the  owner  is  to  feed,  water,  and  take  care  of  his  stock  at  his  own  expense 
and  risk,  and  if  he  fails  so  to  do,  the  company  may,  without  notice,  do  the  same  if  it  thinks 
proper,  and  charge  the  expense  as  additional  freight;  and  the  owner  is  also  to  assume  all  risk  ot 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


753 


njury  or  damage  that  the  animals  may  do  to  themselves  or  to  each  other,  or  which  may  arise 
from  delay  of  trains. 

Two  or  three  cars  will  entitle  the  owner  or  driver  to  pass  on  the  train  with  the  stock,  to  take 
care  of  it.  Four  to  seven  cars,  inclusive  (one  owner),  two  men  in  charge,  eight  cars  or  more, 
three  men  in  charge,  to  pass  on  stock  train,  which  is  the  maximum  number  that  will  be  passed 
on  any  train  from  one  consignor  or  party.  All  persons  thus  passed  are  at  their  own  risk  of  per- 
sonal injury  from  any  cause  whatever.  On  shipments  of  hogs  only  one  man  will  be  passed  with 
any  number  of  cara 

No  passes  will  be  granted  on  shipment  of  single  cars. 

The  company  reserves  the  right  of  refusing,  at  the  discretion  of  their  agents,  passes  to  any 
parties  accompanying  stock,  without  regard  to  quantity  shipped. 

No  agent  is  authorized  to  make  an  agreement  for  the  shipment  of  live  stock,  fresh  provisions, 
or  slaughtered  hogs  at  any  particular  time.  Due  diligence  will  be  observed  in  sending  them 
forward. 


No.  of 
cars. 


CHICAGO  AND  ALTON   RAILWAY  COMPANY. 


Station, 


— ,  188-. 

Memorandum  of  an  agreement  made  and  concluded  this  day  by  and  between  the  Chi- 
cago and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  of  the  first  part,  by  the  station  agent  at  the  above- 
named  station,  and ,  of  the  second  part,  witnesseth: 

That  whereas  the  said  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  transport  cattle,  hogs, 
horses,  pigs,  sheep,  lambs,  calves,  or  other  live  stock,  only  as  per  tariff  in  use  at  this 
date  for  stock,  per  carload,  or  when  taken  less  than  carloads  as  per  special  rates  pub- 
lished on  the  tarifiE  of  prices: 

Now,  in  consideration  that  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  will  transport  for  the  party 

of  the  second  part  such  live  stock  at  the  rate  of dollars  per  carload,  or cents 

per  100  pounds,  and  advanced  charges and  other  valuable  considerations,  the  said 

party  of  the  second  part  does  hereby  agree  to  take  the  risk  of  injuries  which  the  ani- 
mals, or  either  of  them,  may  receive  in  consequence  of  any  of  them  being  wild,  unruly, 
weak,  escaping,  or  maiming  each  other,  or  from  delays,  or  in  consequence  of  heat,  suf- 
focation, or  other  ill  effects  of  being  crowded  in  the  cars,  or  on  account  of  being  injured 
by  the  burning  of  hay,  straw,  or  any  other  material  used  by  the  owner  for  feeding  stock 
or  otherwise,  and  for  any  damage  occasioned  thereby,  and  also  all  risks  for  damages 
which  may  be  sustained  by  reason  of  any  delay  in  such  transportation,  and  that  he  will 
see  to  it  that  the  cattle,  &c.,  are  securely  placed  in  the  cars  furnished,  and  that  the  cars 
are  properly  and  securely  fastened,  so  as  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  live  stock  there- 
from. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  between  the  parties  that  the  first  party  shall  in  no  case  be 
held  liable  for  damages  to  stock  shipped  under  this  contract  in  a  greater  sum  than  $100 
for  each  horse,  $75  for  each  bull,  cow,  or  ox,  $2.5  for  each  sheep,  calf,  or  other  animal. 

And  it  is  further  mutually  agreed  that  should  loss  or  damage  of  any  kind  occur  to  the 
property,  or  any  part  thereof,  specified  in  this  agreement,  while  such  property  is  in 
the  possession  of  said  first  party  under  this  agreement,  said  second  party  shall,  within 
five  days  after  such  loss  or  damage  has  occurred,  make  out  and  send  to  the  general 
freight  agent  of  said  first  party  a  written  statement  of  his  claim  for  damages,  if  said 
second  party  shall  have  any  such  claim;  and  unless  such  written  statement  is  so  made 
and  sent  within  said  period  of  five  days  the  amount  of  such  loss  or  damage,  or  any  part 
thereof,  shall  not  be  payable  or  recoverable,  and  a  suit  thereupon  shall  be  forever 
barred,  and  the  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  so  expressly  stipulates  and  agrees. 

And  It  is  further  mutually  agreed  that  any  suit  or  action  against  said  first  party  for 
the  recovery  of  any  claim  by  virtue  of  this  agreement  for  loss  or  damage  to  the  prop- 
erty, or  any  part  thereof  herein  specified,  shall  be  commenced  within  sixty  days  next 
after  such  loss  or  damage  shall  have  occurred,  or  be  thereafter  forever  barred;  and 
should  any  suit  or  action  be  commenced  against  said  first  party  after  the  expiration  of 
the  aforesaid  sixty  days,  the  lapse  of  time  shall  be  taken  and  deemed  as  conclusive  evi- 
dence against  the  validity  of  such  claim,  any  statute  of  limitations  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding, and  the  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  so  expressly  stipulates  and 
agrees. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  is  to  load  and  unload 
said  stock  at  his  own  risk,  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  furnishing  labor- 
ers to  assist,  who  will  be  subject  to  the  order  of  the  owner  or  the  agent  while  in  that 
service;  and  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  will  assume  all  risk  for  damage  or 
injury  to,  or  escajje  of,  the  live  stock,  which  may  happen  to  them  while  in  the  stock 
yards  awaiting  shipment.  And  that  the  said  second  party  will  assume  the  charge  of 
feed  and  water,  and  take  care  of  the  stock  enumerated  herein,  at  his  own  expense  and 
risk  while  the  same  is  in  the  stock  yards  of  the  first  party  awaiting  shipment  on  board 
the  cars. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  the  person  or  persons  riding 
free,  to  take  charge  of  the  stock,  do  so  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury,  from  what- 
ever cause,  and  that  the  said  person  or  persons  shall  sign  the  indorsement  on  the  back 
of  this  agreement. 

And  it  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  in  case  the 
live  stock  mentioned  herein  is  to  be  transported  over  the  road  or  roads  of  any  other 
railroad  company,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  shall  be  released  from  liability  of 
every  kind  after  said  live  stock  shall  have  left  its  road:  and  the  party  of  the  second 

Eart  hereby  so  expressly  stipulates  and  agrees;  the  understanding  of  both  parties  hereto 
eing  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  shall  not  be  held  or  deemed  liable  for  anything 
beyond  the  line  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  excepting  to  protect  the 
through  rate  of  freight  named  herein. 

And  this  agreement  further  witnesseth,  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  has 
this  day  delivered  to  said  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company to  be  trans- 
ported to station  on  the  conditions  above  expressed. 

Station  Agent. 


Agents  will  enter  the  names  of  parties  entitled  to  passes  on  the  back  of  this  contract, 
sented  by  other  than  per.son  named,  conductor  will  collect  fare. 


If  pre- 


S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4- 


-48 


754  SWINE   PBODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

CAEE  OF  HOGS  IN  TRANSIT. 

When  the  transit  reqnires  more  than  one  day  the  ho^^s  are  fed  at  intervals  of  16 
to  36  hours,  always  receiving  com  of  good  quality  at  the  rate  of  2  to  4  bushels  to 
each  carload.  They  are  watered  at  the  same  time  with  as  much  good,  fresh  water 
from  the  company's  tank  as  they  will  drink.  A  careful  examination  shows  that 
the  water  given  the  stock  transported  on  the  railroads  is  of  good  quality,  being 
taken  from  the  tanks  from  which  the  locomotives  are  supplied,  for  which  purpose 
the  purest  quality  is  secured.     The  corn  supplied  is  invariably  of  good  quality. 

During  hot  weather  the  hogs  on  all  roads  are  cooled  with  water,  for  which  pur- 
pose there  are  special  arrangements  at  their  tanks  by  which  as  much  as  50  barrels 
per  minute  is  poured  over  them  as  the  train  moves  slowly  past.  The  maximum 
distances  that  hogs  are  carried  varies  with  different  roads  from  150  to  500  miles, 
the  time  reijuired  being  usually  less  than  30  hours. 

The  cars  are  not  always  as  clean  as  they  should  he  when  the  hogs  are  loaded  into 
them;  in  warm  weather  they  are  not  bedded  but  have  simply  a  layer  of  sand 
sprinkled  over  the  floor,  but  in  winter  they  are  bedded  with  sawdust,  straw, 
or  hay. 

Sufficient  care  is  not  given  to  cleaning  the  cars;  with  most  companies  the  rule 
is  to  remove  the  filth  at  the  end  of  each  trip.  In  no  case  is  any  special  disinfection 
practiced  with  cars  on  which  diseased  animals  may  have  been  shipped. 

The  following  letter  from  C.  H.  Cbappell,  esq.,  general  manager  of  the  Chicago 
and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  in  reply  to  interrogations  (copy  of  which  are  given 
above)  addressed  to  him,  regarding  the  transportation  of  hogs  and  their  care  in 
transit,  is  here  given: 

Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company, 

General  Manager's  Office, 

Chicago,  January  24, 1884. 
E.  W.  Blatchford,  Esq., 

American  Pork  Commission. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  questions  respecting  the  regulations  governing  the  transporta- 
tion of  hog^s  on  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  will  be  answered  as  numbered, 
and  in  the  order  asked. 

Ist  question.  The  company  does  transport  dressed  hogs,  and  I  suppose  the  com- 
pany will  transport  dead  hogs  for  short  distances  to  rendering  establishments. 
The  company  has  no  tariff  rate  for  such  transportation,  and  if  such  transportation 
is  desired  it  will  be  furnished  upon  special  contract,  having  in  view  the  circum- 
stances, but  no  such  hogs  are  ever  transported  to  market,  or  undt-r  circumstances 
which  can  in  any  way  affect  the  hog  product  of  the  country.  It  not  unfrerjuently 
happens  that  one  or  more  hogs  die  in  transit  to  market,  and  such  hogs  are  uni- 
formly sent  to  a  rendering  establishment.  For  this  purpose  cars  of  this  company 
may  be  employed,  but,  in  fact,  I  am  not  aware  that  they  have  ever  been  so  em- 
ployed. 

2d  question.  The  company  never  transports  hogs  or  any  other  animals  apparently 
having  a  contagious  or  infectious  disease.  Neither  this  company  nor  any  other, 
to  my  knowledge,  has  an  inspector  to  determine  whether  animals  are  diseased  or 
not,  but  if  apparently  infected  with  a  contagious  or  infectious  disease  the  agent 
would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  reject  them. 

3d  question.  The  company  would  carry  them  to  rendering  establishments  only. 

4th  question.  The  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  has  not  transported  any 
hogs  that  have  died  of  cholera  to  Chicago  or  any  other  market. 

5th  question.  The  staticm  agent  assists  the  shipper  to  pen  and  load  his  hogs,  and 
would  notice  anything  unusual  in  their  condition  before  receiving  tliem. 

6th  question.  He  has  authority  to  observe  the  law  of  the  land,  which  I  under- 
stand requires  him  not  to  be  instrumental  In  spreading  contagious  or  infectious 
diseases. 

7th  question.  Shippers  load  their  own  hogs  into  cars  furnished  to  them  for  that 
purpose.  The  company  does  not  Inspect  hogs  any  further  than  to  know  that  they 
are  not  diseased  and  are  In  fit  condition  for  transportation.  The  company  is  sup- 
posed to  receive  hogs  for  transportation  in  good  order.  As  common  carriers  the 
company  considers  it  is  not  at  liberty  to  spread  infectious  or  contagious  diseases, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  self-protection,  It  does  not  take  property  which,  in  the  exercise 
of  reasonable  judgment,  will  perish  in  transit.  Hogs  are  frequently  driven  long 
distances  to  a  shipping  station.  If  they  are  heavy  with  fat,  they  will  arrive  over- 
fatigued  and  feverish.  If  loaded  into  a  car  and  cooled  frequently  with  water 
thrown  from  a  hose,  their  condition  will  improve  in  transit.  As  a  common  carrier, 
the  company  would  not  t)e  protected  in  refusing  hogs  in  this  condition,  as  shippers 
under  their  live-stock  contracts  with  this  company  assume  all  risks  of  loss  or  dam- 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


755 


age,  except  that  for  which  employes  of  this  company  may  be  responsible.  It  is 
for  their  interest  to  provide  all  needed  food  and  water. 

8th  question.  Hogs  vary  so  much  in  size  that  no  fixed  rule  can  be  profitably 
enforced. 

If  a  car  is  crowded  the  shipper  is  notified  that  they  will  not  ride  well,  and  he 
must  take  out  some  before  starting. 

9th  question.  Please  see  contract  with  this. 

[Extracts  from  special  instructions  to  agents  and  conductors  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad.  ] 

57.  Before  loading  live  stock,  examine  the  cars  and  see  that  the  crossbars  and  doors  are  in 
proper  order.  Count  the  stock  as  it  is  being  loaded,  so  as  to  know  the  number  of  animals  loaded 
into  each  car.  While  our  rules  require  the  owner  to  load  and  unload  his  stock,  agents  will  ren- 
der all  the  assistance  they  can,  consistent  with  their  other  duties.  See  that  the  crossbars  are  in 
their  proper  places  and  the  doors  securely  fastened  before  the  cars  leave  the  station.  Agents 
will  not  julow  hogs  or  sheep  to  be  loaded  in  the  same  car  with  cattle  or  horses.  This  is  imper- 
ative. 

73.  In  waybilling  live  stock,  be  particular  to  note  on  the  waybill  the  number 
of  animals  in  the  car;  also  note  the  kind  of  stock  (whether  horses,  cattle,  hogs, or 
sheep).  If  fine  or  blooded  stock,  note  on  the  face  of  the  waybill,  "Company 
released  from  liability  above  the  value  of  common  stock,"  as  per  stipulation  in  the 
live-stock  contract. 

[10  M.    10-36-83. .  Form  283.    Live-stock  contract.] 

Nonenumerative  live  stock,  of  all  kinds,  not  shipped  under  contract,  will  be  charged  first-class 
rates. 

Enumerative  live  stock,  in  quantities  less  than  carloads,  will  be  charged  as  follows:  One 
horse  (except  stallions),  mule,  or  horned  animal,  2,0i)0  lbs.  each;  two  animals,  3,500  lbs.;  three 
animals,  5,000  lbs. ;  each  additional  animal,  1,01)0  lbs.,  first  class  rates;  stallions  or  jacks,  4,000 lbs. 
each,  flrst-class  rates;  colts,  when  with  their  dam,  500  lbs.  each,  first  class  rates. 

Live  hogs,  calves,  and  sheep,  in  boxes,  actual  wjeight,  once  and  a  half  first  class;  loose,  for  any 
distance,  calves,  500  lbs.,  hogs  and  sheep,  300  lbs.  each,  once  and  a  half  first  class;  but  not  less 
than  75  cents  each  for  any  distance;  if  no  partition  in  car,  or  not  otherwise  secui'ed,  at  carload 
rates  of  price  fixed  under  the  table  of  "  special  rates." 

At  the  above  rates  the  owner  is  to  feed,  water,  and  take  care  of  his  stock  at  his  own  expense 
and  risk,  and  if  he  fails  so  to  do  the  company  may,  without  notice,  do  the  same  if  it  thinks 
proper,  and  charge  the  expense  as  additional  freight;  and  the  owner  is  also  to  assume  all  risk 
of  injury  or  damage  that  the  animals  may  do  to  themselves  or  to  each  other,  or  which  may  arise 
from  delay  of  trains. 

Two  or  three  cars  will  entitle  the  owner  or  driver  to  pass  on  the  train  with  the  stock  to  take 
care  of  it.  Four  to  seven  cars,  inclusive  (one  owner),  two  men  in  charge,  eight  cars  or  more, 
three  men  in  charge,  to  pass  on  stock  train,  which  is  the  maximum  number  that  will  be  passed 
on  any  train  from  one  consignor  or  party.  All  persons  thus  passed  are  at  their  own  risk  pf  per- 
sonal injury  from  any  cause  whatever.  On  shipments  of  hogs  only  one  man  will  be  passed  with 
any  number  of  cars. 

No  passes  will  be  granted  on  shipment  of  single  cars. 

The  company  reserves  the  right  of  refusing,  at  the  discretion  of  their  agents,  passes  to  any 
parties  accompanying  stock,  without  regard  to  quantity  shipped. 

No  agent  is  authorized  to  make  an  agreement  for  the  shipment  of  live  stock,  fresh  provisions, 
or  slaughtered  hogs  at  any  particular  time.  Due  diligence  will  be  observed  in  sending  them 
forward. 


No.  of 
cars. 


Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company, 

— Station, 188-. 

Memorandum  of  an  agreement  made  and  concluded  this  day,  by  and  between  the  Chi- 
cago and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  of  the  first  part,  by  the  station  agent  at  the  above 

named  station,  and ,  of  the  second  part,  witne-sseth: 

That  whereas  the  said  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  transport  cattle,  hogs, 
horses,  pigs,  sheep,  lambs,  calves,  or  other  live  stock,  only  as  per  tariff  in  use  at  this 
date  for  stock,  per  carload,  or  when  taken  less  than  carloads,  as  per  spe<;ial  rates,  pub- 
lished on  the  tariff  of  prices: 
Now,  in  consideration  that  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  will  transport  for  the  party 

of  the  second  part  such  live  stock  at  the  rate  of dollars  per  carload,  or cents 

per  ItX)  pounds,  and  advanced  charges and  other  valuable  considerations,  the  said 

party  of  the  second  part  does  hereby  agree  to  take  the  risk  of  injuries  which  the  ani- 
mals, or  either  of  them,  may  receive  in  consequence  of  any  of  them  being  wild,  unruly, 
weak,  escaping,  or  maiming  each  other,  or  from  delays,  or  in  consequence  of  heat,  suf- 
focation, or  other  ill  effects  of  being  crowded  in  the  cars,  or  on  account  of  being  injured 
by  the  burning  of  hay,  straw,  or  any  other  material  used  by  the  owner  for  feeding 
stock  or  otherwise,  and  for  any  damage  occasioned  thereby,  and  also  all  risks  for 
damages  which  may  be  sustained  by  reason  of  any  delay  in  such  transportation,  and 
that  he  will  see  to  it  that  the  cattle,  etc.,  are  securely  placed  in  the  cars  furnished, and 
that  the  cars  are  properly  and  safely  fastened,  so  as  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  live 
stock  therefrom. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  between  the  parties  that  the  first  party  shall  in  no  case  be 
held  liable  for  damages  to  stock  shipped  under  this  contract  in  a  greater  sum  than $100 
fo<  each  horse;  $75  for  each  bull,  cow,  or  ox;  |25  for  each  sheep,  calf,  or  other  animal. 

And  it  is  further  mutually  agreed  that  should  loss  or  damage  of  any  kind  occur  to  the 
property,  or  any  part  thereof  specified  in  this  agreement,  while  such  property  is  in  the 
possession  of  said  first  party  under  this  agreement,  said  second  party  shall  within  five 
days  after  such  loss  or  damage  has  occurred  make  out  and  send  to  the  general  freight 


756 


8WINE   PRODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


No.  of ' 
cars. 


agent  of  said  flmt  party  a  written  statement  of  his  claim  for  damagces,  if  said  second 
party  shall  have  any  such  claim;  and  unless  such  written  statement  is  so  made  and  sent 
within  siiid  i>erl(»d  of  9ve  days  the  amount  of  such  loss  or  damage,  or  any  part  thereof, 
shall  not  be  payable  or  recoverable,  and  a  suit  thereuuon  shall  be  forever  barred,  and 
tbe  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  so  expressly  stipulates  and  agrees. 

And  it  is  farther  mutually  agreed  that  any  suit  or  action  against  said  first  party,  for 
the  recovery  of  any  claim  by  virtue  of  this  agreement  for  loss  or  damage  to  the  prop- 
erty, or  any  part  thereof  herein  specified,  shall  be  commenced  within  sixty  days  next 
after  such  loss  or  damage  shall  have  occurred,  or  Ije  thereafter  forever  barred:  and 
should  any  suit  or  action  be  commenced  against  said  first  party  after  the  expiration  of 
the  aforesaid  sixty  days  the  lapse  of  time  shall  be  taken  and  deemed  as  conclusive  evi- 
dence against  the  validity  of  such  claim,  any  statute  of  limitation  to  the  contrary  not- 
witlistanding,  and  the  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  so  expressly  stipulates  and 
agrees. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  is  to  load  and  unload 
said  stock  at  his  own  riskT  tlie  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  furnishing  laVjor- 
ers  to  assist,  who  will  be  subject  to  the  order  of  the  owner  or  the  agent  while  in  that 
service;  and  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  will  as.sume  all  risk  for  damage  or 
injury  to.  or  escape  of,  the  live  stock,  which  may  happen  to  them  while  in  the  stock 
yards  awaiting  shipment.  And  that  the  said  second  party  will  jussume  the  charge  of 
feed  and  water,  and  take  care  of  the  stock  enumerated  herein,  at  his  own  expense  and 
risk,  while  the  same  is  in  the  stock  yards  of  the  first  party  awaiting  shipment  on  board 
the  cars. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  the  person  or  persons  riding 
free,  to  take  charge  of  the  stock,  do  so  at  their  own  risk  of  personal  injury,  from  what- 
ever cause,  and  that  the  said  person  or  persons  shall  sign  the  indorsement  on  the  back 
of  this  agreement. 

And  it  is  further  stipnlated  and  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  in  case  the 
live  stock  mentioned  herein  is  to  lie  transported  over  tno  road  or  roads  of  any  other 
railroad  company,  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  shall  be  released  from  liability  of 
every  kind  after  said  live  stock  shall  have  left  its  road;  abd  the  party  of  the  second 
part  hereby  soexpressly  stipulates  and  agrees:  the  understanding  of  both  parties  hereto 
oeing  that  the  party  of  the  first  part  shall  not  Ijo  hi-ld  or  deemed  liable  for  anything 
beyond  the  line  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  (.Company,  excepting  to  protect  the 
through  rate  of  freight  named  herein. 

And  this  agreement  further  witnesseth  that  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  has 

this  daydelivered  to  said  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company to  be  transported 

to station,  on  the  conditions  above  expressed. 

Station  Agent. 


Agents  will  enter  the  names  of  parties  entitled  to  passes  on  back  of  this  contract.  If  pre- 
sented by  other  than  p»erson  named,  conductor  will  collect  fare. 

10th  question.  Condition  not  specified  unless  there  is  doubt  as  to  their  riding 
welL 

11th  question.  The  regulations  of  the  company  require  ihe  trainmen  in  charge 
of  trains  transporting  hogs  to  see  that  they  do  not  suffer  from  heat,  crowding,  or 
lack  of  food  and  water. 

12th  question.  They  are  cooled  and  watered  during  warm  weather  as  often  as 
they  reijuire  it,  and  food  is  given  to  them  daily. 

13th  question.  The  owner  or  his  agent  atten  Is  to  the  loading  of  the  hogs,  and 
in  case  they  are  billed  to  Chicago  or  East  St,  Louis  markets  the  owner  or  his  agent 
accompanies  them.  If  billed  to  some  Eastern  point,  each  company  generally  takes 
care  of  the  hogs  while  in  transit  over  its  lines. 

14th  question.  The  owner  can  go  or  send  them  in  charge  of  employes  as  he  may 
select. 

15th  question.  Each  time  tbe  train  comes  to  a  stop  the  hogs  are  looked  over  to 
see  if  they  are  riding  well  or  need  any  care. 

16th  question.  Com  in  the  ear. 

17th  question.  Always  daily,  often  more  frequently. 

18th  question.  Good  as  can  be  obtained. 

19th  questi'm.  As  much  as  they  need. 

20th  question.  The  water  given  comes  from  the  fresh-water  lakes  of  the  com- 
pany, where  it  is  collected  from  grass-c^overed  lands,  and  is  kept  perfectly  pure  lor 
use  in  the  locomotives  of  the  company. 

21st  question.  Daily  in  winter;  as  often  as  they  need  it  at  other  seasons. 

22d  question.  As  much  as  they  recjuire. 

23d  question.  Wat«r  is  frequently  used  for  coolmg,  all  of  the  water  stations  of 
this  company  are  fitted  for  cooling  hogs,  and  as  they  are  but  20  miles  apart  the 
conductor  can  comply  with  his  instructions.  *•  During  warm  weather  cool  fre- 
quently."' As  a  check  on  the  conductors,  he  is  obliged  to  note  in  the  billing  sta- 
tions at  which  he  has  cooled  the  hog.-<. 

24th  question.  The  company  has  fitted  two  hose  connections  to  each  water  tank 
on  the  line  and  two  large  streams  are  thrown  into  each  car  loaded  with  hogs. 

25th  question.  Twenty-four  hours  is  the  limit. 

26th  question.  The  floor  of  each  car  in  summer  is  covered  with  6  inches  of  clean 
sand.    In  winter  straw  and  hay  is  used. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  757 

27th  question.  At  the  end  of  each  trip. 

28th  question.  As  these  cars  are  used  on  the  return  trip  for  the  transportation 
of  many  articles  that  would  be  damaged  by  filth,  they  are  thoroughly  cleaned. 

29th  question.  Not  having  transported  diseased  hogs,  we  have  not  disinfected 
cars. 

Yours,  truly,  C.  H.  Chappell, 

General  Manager  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad. 

CONDITION  AND  TREATMENT  OF  ANIMALS  AT  STOCK  YARDS. 

To  the  officers  of  the  stock  yards  there  were  personally  presented  the  follow- 
ing interrogatories,  to  which  full  replies  were  in  all  cases  given,  and  every 
possible  facility  offered  for  the  frequent  and  thorough  personal  examinations 
which  have  been  made: 

Interrogatories  concerning  the  receipt,  condition,  care,  and  disposition  of  hogs  at 
the  Slock  yards,  with  construction,  conveniences  care,  and  inspection  of  the  yards. 

1.  Is  any  examination  made,  before  unloading  from  cars,  to  detect  diseased 
or  injured  hogs? 

2.  If  so,  what  regulations  govern  such  examination? 

3.  When  does  "delivery"  by  railroad  company  take  place? 

4.  Are  any  special  instructions  given  in  regard  to  care  in  unloading? 

5.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  to  be  sick,  diseased,  bruised,  or  crippled? 

6.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  smothered? 

7.  What  is  done  with  hogs  dead  from  disease? 

8.  Are  they  sold? 

9.  To  whom? 

10.  For  what  purpose? 

11.  Where  are  they  sent? 

12.  How  are  they  transported? 

13.  What  is  done  with  healthy  hogs  on  their  arrival? 

14.  When  are  they  fed? 

15.  What  kind  of  food  is  given  them? 

16.  What  quantity? 

17.  How  is  it  furnished  to  them? 

18.  Are  they  watered? 

19.  When? 

20.  How  is  the  water  furnished  to  them? 

21.  What  quantity? 

22.  In  the  absence  of  orders  by  owners  or  consignees  of  hogs,  have  you  any  reg- 
ulations authorizing  the  feeding  and  watering  of  hogs? 

23.  How  are  the  hogs  cared  for  in  bad  weather? 

24.  How  many  hogs  die  in  the  yards? 

25.  From  what  cause? 

26.  What  is  done  with  them? 

27.  What  is  done  with  diseased  hogs  if  discovered  in  the  pens? 

28.  How  are  these  hogs  disposed  of? 

Construction, 

29.  How  arranged  to  receive  hogs  from  cars? 

30.  What  is  the  size  of  the  pens? 

31.  How  are  they  protected? 

32.  Are  they  drained? 

33.  How  can  they  be  cleaned? 

34.  What  are  the  regulations  in  regard  to  keeping  the  pens  clean? 

35.  What  measures  are  adopted  to  disinfect  pens  where  diseased  hogs  have  been? 

36.  Is  there  any  inspection  made  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  yards,  or  the 
condition  and  care  of  the  hogs? 

37.  If  so,  under  what  authority? 

38.  Is  such  inspection  sufficient  and  effective  to  secure  the  sanitary  condition 
of  the  premises,  and  prevent  any  hogs,  diseased  or  in  improper  condition,  going 
into  food? 

39.  What  is  the  amount  of  business  done  annually? 

40.  What  are  your  total  receipts? 

41.  What  is  the  average  weight  of  hogs  for  the  year? 

42.  What  is  total  value  of  hogs  received? 


758 


SWINE   PBODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


43.  Please  state  what  system  of  sxipervision  is  adopted  to  prevent  any  diseased 
hogs  going  into  food,  and  under  what  authority  such  supervision  is  exercised, 
whether  municipal,  State,  or  the  national  or  local  humane  society. 

ARRIVAL  AT  STOCK   YARDS. 

When  the  loaded  trains  draw  up  to  the  platforms  at  the  stock  yards  "  delivery" 
by  the  railroad  companies  tabe^  place.  There  is  no  special  examination  before 
unloading  to  detect  diseased  or  injured  hogs.  There  are  more  or  less  dead  hogs 
on  nearly  every  train,  the  most  of  which  have  been  smothered  in  transit.  The 
number  varies,  but  will  reach  from  o.'-i  to  1  per  cent,  and  such  animals  are  always 
sent  to  the  ohal-rendering  works.  We  find  no  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The  stock- 
yard companies  being  also  interested  in  the  offal-rendering  establishments,  are 
very  particular  to  prevent  any  dead  animals  escaping  them.  The  State  and  munici- 
pal boards  of  health  have  also  men  .'Stationed  continually  in  the  stock  yards  of  Chi- 
cago and  most  other  cities  to  see  that  no  animals  nnfit  for  food  shall  enter  into 
consumption. 

The  entrances  of  these  stock  yards  are  at  all  times  carefully  guarded,  and  no 
animals  are  allowed  to  pass  through  without  a  ticket,  properly  signed  and  certi- 
fied to,  being  given  up.  These  tickets  specify  the  animal,  its  condition,  and  the 
exact  division  and  pen  from  which  it  has  come  or  to  which  it  is  being  driven. 

The  following  is  a  blank  form  of  the  tickets  used  in  the  Chicago  stock  yards: 


Driven  into  Div. 


By- 


For- 


Block.  Pen. 


-Cattle. 


-Calves. 


Hogt. 

Sheep. 


-188 


(Stamped:)  U.  B. 
Y.  &  T.  Co., 
Jan.  10,1884. 


WM.  FALLON,"? 
Div.  Sapt       c 


GATE  ORDER.  Uivk^ion  D. 


Pas*  out  for 

B.        P.     CbiUe 


Cattle. 

Hogg. 

Cow*. 


—  Calve$. 

Sheep. 

■  Deliverer. 


DISPOSITION   OF   DEAD  OR  INJURED  HOGS. 

The  dead  hogs  at  Chicago  are  loaded  into  box  cars  and  sent  to  the  Union  Render- 
ing Company's  offal  establishment  at  Globe  Station.  At  Kansas  City  they  are 
Bent  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  Kansas  City  Desiccating  and  Refining  Company. 
At  Cincinnati  they  go  to  fertilizer  companies,  and  at  other  points  they  are  dis- 
posed of  in  a  similar  manner.  Such  dead  animals  are  cut  up,  put  into  tanks,  and 
heated  by  steam  for  about  eighteen  hours,  when  the  grease  is  drawn  and  the 
residuum  pressed. 

There  are  several  qualities  of  grease  made  which  in  the  trade  are  known  as 
"white,'"  "yellow. "and  "  brown"  grease.  All  qualities  of  grease  are  put  into  old 
tierces  and  sold  upon  their  merits.  The  bulk  of  this  grease  is  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  lubricating  oi;s,  candles,  and  soap.  The  remainder  of  the  carcass  is 
manufactured  into  fertilizers. 

At  Chicago  and  other  points  the  animals  which  are  bruised  or  crippled  are 
carted  to  slaughterhouses  and  killed.  They  are  then  examined  by  the  city  health 
officer,  who  decides  whether  they  are  fit  for  food. 

If  condemned  they  are  rendered  into  grease.    Such  animals,  if  nsed  for  food, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  759 

generally  enter  into  local  consumption.  The  meat  of  animals  at  all  feverish  is 
liable  to  become  "  sour."  Sick  hogs  are  always  condemnod  and  tanked  with  the 
olial. 

DISPOSITION  OF  HEALTHY  HOGS. 

The  healthy  hogs  when  unloaded  from  the  cars  are  driven  across  the  platform 
and  down  a  guarded  inclined  plane  into  the  yards.  They  are  then  put  mto  cov- 
ered pens  which  in  most  yards  are  floored.  At  Chicago  the  pens  allow  500  square 
feet  to  each  car  load  of  hogs.  At  Kansas  City  they  are  is  by  28  feet,  and  24  feet 
square;  at  St.  Louis  they  are  16  by  44  feet,  and  32  by  44  feet;  at  Indianapolis  they 
are  30  by  40  feet;  and  at  Cincinnati,  24  feet  square. 

Each  pen  is  furnished  with  a  watering  trough,  which  at  most  places  is  partly 
covered  to  prevent  hogs  from  lying  in  it.  The  pens  are  cleaned  by  a  force  of  men, 
with  horse  carts  kept  constantly  at  work,  who  go  over  each  pen  once  in  one  or  two 
weeks.  No  disinfection  is  practiced  beyond  cleaning  and  occasionally  washing 
out  the  pens, 

OARE  OF  HOGS  IN  THE  YARD. 

The  hogs  are  fed  on  corn  at  the  request  of  the  owner,  or  if  the  owner  does  not 
accompany  them,  they  are  fed  by  the  stock-yard  company.  This  is  seldom  neg- 
lected, as  the  corn  is  furnished  by  the  companies  at  a  price  considerably  above 
miirket  rates,  and  it  is  to  their  interest  to  see  that  the  animals  are  properly  sup- 
plied. If  for  any  reason  the  animals  are  not  fed  within  a  reasonable  time  the 
agent  of  the  Humane  Society  has  power  to  order  that  this  be  done.  As  a  rule  the 
hogs  are  fed  as  soon  as  yarded  with  good  sound  corn,  at  the  rate  of  2  bushels 
to  a  car  load.  They  are  also  watered  at  the  same  time  with  a  plenty  of  good  fresh 
water  which  is  run  into  the  troughs  from  hydrants.  In  winter  men  are  employed 
in  some  yards  to  keep  the  hogs  irom  crowding  upon  and  smothering  each  other. 
The  deaths  in  the  yards  are  very  few,  not  amounting  to  more  than  one  in  a  thou- 
sand hogs  handled,  and  these  are  mostly  from  overheating,  smothering,  or  acci- 
dents. 

If  sick  hogs  are  discovered  in  the  yard  s  at  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  or  Kansas  City, 
the  health  officer  has  power  to  kill  them  at  once.  At  a  few  points  they  are  kept 
in  pens  by  themselves,  to  await  results;  or  are  sold  to  farmers  at  a  low  price,  who 
buy  them  on  the  chance  of  their  recovery.  The  hogs  that  die  or  are  killed  as 
above  in  the  yards  at  once  become  the  property  of  the  offal  rendering  companies, 
who  pay  a  nominal  price  for  them,  and  they  are  immediately  taken  to  the  render- 
ing establishments. 

Replies  received  from  the  stock-yard  companies  at  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Jersey  City,  New  York,  West  Albany,  Buffalo,  and  Boston  confirm  the  informa- 
tion obtained  in  the  West  as  to  the  condition  of  the  hogs  when  they  arrive,  the 
small  mortality  in  transit  (less  than  1  per  cent),  and  the  good  care  of  the  animals. 

SANITARY  SUPERVISION. 

At  Chicago  there  are  both  State  and  city  health  oflBcers  stationed  in  the  yards- 
at  Cincinnati  there  are  city  health  ollficers;  the  Indianapolis  yards  are  visited  occa- 
sionally by  ofhcers  of  the  board  of  health;  at  the  City  of  Kansas  an  officer  is  sta; 
tioned  at  the  yards,  who  has  power  to  kill  diseased  animals;  at  St.  Louis  and  East 
St.  Louis  there  is  no  effective  supervision  at  present;  but  one  is  about  being  estab- 
lished. At  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  and  City  of  Kansas  it  is  believed  that  this  inspec- 
tion is  sufficient  to  prevent  any  diseased  animals  from  being  used  for  food  products. 
At  Indianapolis,  and  particularly  at  St.  Louis,  the  inspection  is  not  at  present 
sufficient.  We  have  no  facts,  however,  showing  that  diseased  hogs  have  been 
packed  at  any  place,  though  we  have  made  very  particular  inquiries  in  this  direc- 
tion; and  from  the  general  opinion  among  packers  that  the  meat  of  sick  animals 
can  not  be  cured  without  '"souring,"  and  the  great  care  exercised  by  all  the 
packing  companies  to  buy  none  but  good  hogs,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  this  has  not  occurred.  At  the  same  time  a  more  rigid  inspection  at  some  of 
these  points  is  greatly  to  be  desired. 

To  show  the  care  and  scrutiny  which  is  exercised  in  this  department  in  this 
country  by  the  State  and  municipal  health  boards,  there  are  here  inserted  the  fol- 
lowing laws  and  ordinances,  with  the  penalties  for  their  infringement.  These 
include  only  the  reports  obtained  up  to  the  date  of  making  this  report. 


760  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   l^HE    UNITED   STATES. 

ILLINOIS. 
City  of  Quincy,  State  of  Illinois — Ordinance  No.  8S. 

DCTIES  OF  SANITARY  OFFICER. 

Sbction  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  sanitary  oflBcer  to  keep  a  correct  and  com- 
plete record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  board  of  health;  to  issue  all  permits  author- 
ized by  the  board;  to  direct  and  see  that  the  duties  of  the  scavenger  are  performed 
as  the  board  shall  have  provided;  to  report  to  the  board  all  nuisances  coming 
under  his  notice:  to  examine,  at  the  request  of  said  lioard,  or  the  mayor,  any  boat 
or  vessel  landing  at  the  harbor  in  this  city,  the  officers,  crew,  or  passengers  which 
may  be  supposed  to  be  affected  by  any  contagious  or  infectious  disease;  and  in  all 
cases  when  it  shall  come  to  his  knowledge  that  any  one  is  afflicted  with  smallpox, 
he  shall  have  placed  upon  or  near  the  house  occupied  by  such  person  a  written  or 
printed  notice,  viz,  "No  admittance— Smallpox  here;"  and  shall  perform  such 
other  duties  as  pertains  to  his  office. 

POWERS  OF  BOARD. 

Section  6.  The  board  of  health  shall  have  full  power  to  take  aU  steps  and  use 
all  means  necessary  to  promote  the  cleanliness  and  general  health  of  the  city,  or 
any  part  thereof;  to  order  the  abating  of  all  nuisances  on  public  or  private  prop- 
erty, but  this  shall  not  be  construed  to  give  the  board  of  health  any  power  to  spend 
money  not  provided  for  in  the  annual  appropriation  for  the  health  department, 
unless  by  special  order  of  the  council;  to  use  any  measure  the  board  may  see  fit  to 
adopt  to  prevent  the  introduction  or  spread  of  any  malignant,  contagious,  or 
infectious  diseases  in  the  city;  to  enter  or  permit  its  officers  to  enter  and  examine, 
with  reference  to  the  abatement  of  any  nuisance,  all  premises  and  all  parts  thereof 
within  the  city  limits,  and  direct  any  bedding,  clothing,  or  unsound  meat,  beef, 
pork,  fish,  hides  or  skins  of  any  kind  there  found  to  be  destroyed,  when  dangerous 
to  the  health  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city. 

Adopted  July  19, 1880. 

Ordinance  No.  160, 

AN  ORDINANCE  concemine  dead  animals. 

Section  1.  Be  it  ordained  by  the  city  council  of  the  city  of  Quincy,  That  every 
person  having  within  his  possession  or  control,  or  upon  any  premises  owned  or 
occupied  by  him,  any  dead  animal  not  proper  for  food,  and  liable  to  become  nox- 
ious and  detrimental  to  health  if  not  disposed  of  as  provided  in  and  by  section  7  of 
article  3  of  Chapter  XII  of  the  Revised  Ordinances  of  said  city,  entitled  health 
department,  shall,  within  three  hours  after  the  death  of  said  animal,  give  notice 
thereof  to  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  police  station,  and  such  officer  shall  at  once 
cause  notice  thereof  to  be  given  to  the  board  of  health. 

Sec.  2.  That  no  person  other  than  the  officers  of  the  board  of  health  or  depart- 
ment of  police,  or  person  or  persons  thereto  authorized  by  the  board  of  health,  by 
contract  or  otherwise,  shall  in  any  way  interfere  with  such  dead  animals  in,  or 
remove  the  same  from,  any  street  or  place  (unless  as  provided  by  section  1) ;  and 
for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  or  removing  any  such  animal  any  person  so  author- 
ized by  the  board  of  health  shall  be  pennitted  at  idl  times  during  the  day  to  enter 
into  or  upon  any  premises  in  said  city. 

Sec.  3.  The  Quincy  Fertilizing  and  Rendering  Company,  or  any  person,  copart- 
nership of  persons,  or  corporation  who  shall  remove  the  carcass  or  carcasses  or  any 
dead  animal  or  animals  not  slain  for  human  food,  shall  give  good  and  satisfactory 
bond  of  two  thousand  doUai-s  as  a  guarantee  that  none  of  the  product  of  any  such 
carcass  or  carcasses  shall  be  employed  or  utilized  for  human  food:  and  that  all 
grease  or  other  products  rendered  or  manufactured  or  packed  for  use  or  transpor- 
tation, to  or  from  market  in  the  city  of  Quincy  or  elsewhere,  shall  be  branded  with 
a  burning  brand  as  follows:  ''Product  of  dead  animals,  Quincy,  Ills."  And  no 
rendering  of  the  aforesaid  carcass  or  carcasses  shall  be  done  within  the  city  limits 
of  the  city  of  Quincy. 

Sec.  4.  Any  person  violating  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  ordinance  shall,  upon 
conviction  thereof,  be  fined  in  a  sum  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars  nor  more 
than  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  and  every  offence. 

Adopted  September  1 7, 1883. 

Henry  A.  Dix,  City  Clerk. 

Approved,  September  19, 1883. 

D.  F.  Deaderick^  Mayor, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  761 

IOWA. 
Health  laws  of  1880. 

FRAUDULENT  LARD. 

[Chapter  137,  Laws  of  1880.] 

AN  ACT  to  prevent  fraud  in  the  sale  of  lard  in  certain  cases. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  That  all 
persons  or  associations  who  shall  engage  in  the  business  of  selling  lard  rendered 
from  swine  that  have  died  of  hog  cholera,  or  other  diseases  shall  selling  or  offer- 
ing to  sell  any  such  lard,  plainly  stamp,  print,  or  write  upon  the  cask,  barrel,  or 
other  vessels  containing  such  lard  the  words  "Lard  from  hogs  which  have  died 
from  disease:"  or,  if  sold  without  such  cask,  barrel,  or  other  receptacles,  the  pur- 
chaser shall  be  informed  that  the  lard  is  from  hogs  which  have  died  of  disease." 

Sec.  2.  For  a  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  foregoing  section  the  offender 
shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  five  dollars  nor 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  not  exceeding 
thirty  days. 

Rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  local  boards  of  health  in  the  State  of 

Iowa. 

DISEASED  ANIMALS. 

Rule.  13.  No  animal  affected  with  an  infectious  or  contagious  disease  shall  be 
bought,  sold,  or  kept  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  board.  And  any  animal  affected 
with  glanders  shall,  after  notice  from  this  board,  be  immediately  killed  and 
buried  deep,  without  removing  the  hide  from  the  carcass.^ 

Rule  13.  No  diseased  animal,  or  its  flesh  and  no  decayed,  diseased,  or  unfit 
meat,  fish,  vegetables,  or  fruit,  nor  diseased,  impure,  or  adulterated  milk,  nor 
other  impure,  diseased,  or  adulterated  article  used  for  food  shall  be  sold  or  offered 
for  sale  as  food.* 

WISCONSIN. 

[Prom  the  city  charter  of  the  city  of  La  Crosse,  State  of  Wisconsin,  Laws  of  1882.] 

19th.  To  establish  public  markets  and  make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  con- 
duct and  the  government  of  the  same;  to  appoint  suitable  officers  for  overseeing 
and  regulating  such  markets,  and  to  punish  and  restrain  all  persons  from  inter- 
rupting or  interfering  with  the  due  observance  of  such  rules  and  regulations;  to 
license  and  regulate  butchers'  stalls,  shops,  and  stands  for  the  sale  of  game,  poul- 
try, meats,  fish,  and  other  provisions,  and  to  regulate  the  sale  or  traffic  in  mer- 
chandise in  the  city  of  La  Crosse  as  they  may  see  fit,  and  have  power  to  grant 
license  for  the  sale  or  traffic  in  merchandise  on  such  terms  as  they  may  deem 
proper. 

[Prom  the  city  ordinances  of  February,  1881.] 

Section  4.  If  any  person  shall  expose  for  sale  any  emaciated,  tainted,  measly, 
or  putrid  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  or  provisions  of  any  kind,  or  the  flesh  of  any  sick 
or  diseased  animal  whi  h  from  these  or  other  causes  shall  be  deemed  unwhole- 
some, the  person  so  offering  them  for  sale  shall  forfeit  the  penalty  of  five  dollars 
for  each  offense;  and  such  unwholesome  meat  or  provisions  so  exposed  for  sale 
shall  be  destroyed  by  the  chief  of  police  without  delay. 

Section  7.  Whoever  shall  kill  or  cause  to  be  killed  for  the  purpose  of  sale  any 
calf  less  than  four  weeks  old,  or  shall  have  in  his  or  her  possession,  with  intent 
to  seil  the  same,  the  meat  of  any  calf  killed  when  less  than  four  weeks  old,  shall, 
upon  conviction  thereof,  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty  dollars;  and 
all  such  meat  exposed  for  sale  or  kept  with  intent  to  make  sale  thereof  may  be 
seized  and  destroyed  by  the  board  of  health,  or  by  the  chief  of  police,  or  by  any 
policeman  or  health  officer  acting  under  his  orders. 

>  See  Code  of  1873,  sees.  4054,  4055,  4046,  4057,  4058. 
«  See  Code  of  1873,  sees.  4035,  4036-4057,  eta 


762  8WINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   8TATE8, 

MINNESOTA. 
City  of  Saint  Paid,  State  of  Minnesota, 

[From  the  health  ordinance  of  October  17, 1883.1 

Sec.  96.  That  every  butcher,  gjocer,  and  milk  dealer  and  their  agents  shall  allow 
the  parties  authorized  bj'  the  health  officer  to  freely  and  fully  inspect  their  cattle 
and  milk,  meats,  fish,  and  vegetables  held,  offered,  or  intended  for  sale,  and  will 
be  expected  to  answer  all  reasonable  and  proper  (luestiona  asked  by  such  persons 
relative  to  the  condition  thereof  and  of  the  places  where  such  articles  may  be. 

MISSOUBI. 

[From  the  act  establishing  the  State  board  of  health.] 

Sec.  15.  The  said  lx)ard  of  health  shall  take  cognizance  of  any  fatal  disease  which 
may  be  prevalent  amongst  the  domestic  animals  of  this  State  and  ascertain  the 
nature  and  causes  of  such  disease,  and  shall  from  time  to  time  publish  the  result 
of  their  Investigations,  with  suggestions  for  the  proper  treatment  of  such  animals 
as  may  be  affected  and  the  remedy  or  remedies  therefor. 

Approved,  March  29th,  1883. 

KANSAS. 

ORDINANCES  OF  CITY  OF  KANSAS. 

[Compiled  and  revised  in  1883  from  ordinance  No.  84.] 

Sec.  VIII.  The  owner  or  possessor  or  agent  of  the  owner  of  any  dumb  animal 
which  may  die  in  this  city  shall,  within  twelve  hours  thereafter,  cause  the  same  to 
be  removed  beyond  the  city  limits,  under  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  every  addi- 
tional twelve  hours  he  shall  allow  the  same  to  remain  in  the  city,  or  dispose  of  the 
same  as  otherwise  provided  for  in  this  ordinance;  and  no  person  or  persons  shall 
sell,  expose,  or  offer  for  sale  in  this  city,  to  be  used  as  food  or  for  culinary  pur- 
poses, any  unwholesome  meat,  or  the  flesh  of  any  dead  animal  that  was  sick,  over- 
heated, or  run  down  by  dogs,  or  trampled  upon  or  injured  by  any  animal  or  ani- 
mals, or  injured  by  railroad  cars  or  otherwise  Lefore  the  same  was  butchered  or 
slain,  or  which  died  a  natural  death,  or  was  killed  by  accident,  casualty,  or  other 
means  than  the  usual  manner  of  slaying  or  butchering  animals  for  market  or  food; 
nor  shall  any  person  or  persons  sell  or  offer  to  sell,  to  be  used  as  food,  any  aniniais 
while  living  which  may  be  sick  or  suflfering  from  any  of  the  causes  above  enumer- 
ated or  from  any  other  cause  whatever.  And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  and  every 
owner  or  other  person  interested  in  any  such  animal  or  meat  to  see  that  such  ani- 
mal or  animals  or  meat  does  not  pass  into  the  hands  of  any  person  or  dealer  in  meats 
who  will  or  shall  sell  or  offer  to  sell  the  same  for  food  or  culinary  purposes,  and  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  owner,  agent,  or  person  above  specified  to  see  to  and 
jirovide  that  said  animal,  animals,  or  meat  above  specified  is  properly  disposed  of 
where  and  in  such  manner  that  said  meat  or  animal  will  not  and  shall  not  be  used 
for  food  or  culinary  purposes  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  ordi- 
nance. The  sale  of  any  such  animal  or  meat  as  herein  specified  by  any  person  or 
persons  to  a  dealer  in  meats  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence,  in  any. suit  brought 
for  the  violation  of  this  ordinance,  against  the  person  so  selling  the  same,  and  the 
selling  of  any  such  meat  by  a  dealer  in  meats  to  any  i)erson  shall  likewise  be  prima 
facie  evidence  against  said  dealer  in  any  suit  brought  for  the  violation  of  this  ordi- 
nance; and  any  animal  or  animals  heretofore  mentioned  that  has  or  have  died  or 
l[)een  maimed  or  bruised  so  as  to  be  unfit  for  use  shall  be  turned  over  to  the  person 
appointed  by  the  mayor  (which  appointment  is  herein  provided  for)  for  such  pur- 
poses, and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  party  so  appointed  to  see  that  said  animal  or 
animals  or  meat  passes  into  proper  and  safe  hands,  so  that  it  may  not  be  offered 
for  sale  for  food  or  for  culinary  purposes,  as  herein  prohibited,  and  any  owner, 
agent,  or  person  interested  in  such  meat,  animal,  or  animals  shall  receive  just  and 
sufficient  recompense  for  the  same  before  such  person  appointed  by  the  mayor,  as 
l)rovided  for  herein,  shall  take  or  attempt  to  take  such  meat,  animal,  or  animals, 
snch  price  or  compensation  for  the  same  to  be  determined  by  the  agreement  of  the 
owner  or  agent  of  such  animal,  animals,  or  meat  and  the  party  appointed  by  the 
mayor;  otherwise,  and  upon  the  failure  of  both  the  parties  aforesaid,  or  either  of 
them,  to  agree  upon  a  price  or  compensation  for  such  animal,  animals,  or  meat 
and  the  terms  of  payment  therefor,  said  owner,  agent,  or  person  interested  in  the 
same  shall  immediately  cause  the  same  to  be  removed,  as  heretofore  provided  for 
in  this  section  and  ordinance.    The  mayor  shall  appoint  some  suitable  person  whose 


SWIISTE   PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UlSnTED   STATES.  763 

duty  it  shall  be  to  see  that  the  provisions  of  this  section  of  this  ordinance  are  car- 
ried into  effect,  and  such  person  shall  receive  as  compensation  or  remnneration  for 
his  services  half  of  each  and  every  fine  which  may  be  assessed  against  any  person 
found  guilty  of  violating  the  provisions  of  this  section  when  the  person  is  arrested 
and  convicted  on  the  complaint  of  the  said  person  appointed  by  the  mayor.  Such 
person  shall  hold  his  office  or  position  until  his  successor  shall  have  been  appointed, 
or  until  the  mayor  shall  remove  him,  and  in  no  case  shall  the  city  be  liable  for  any- 
thing except  as  specially  herein  provided  for.  Any  person  or  persons  violating 
the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall, 
upon  conviction,  be  fined  any  sum  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars  for  each  offense. 

******* 

Sec.  XI.  No  person  shall  slaughter  any  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  or  other  animals 
within  this  city,  except  it  be  in  a  slaughterhouse,  under  a  penalty  of  three  dollars 
for  each  and  every  offense,  and  no  person  shall  erect  or  maintain  any  slaughter- 
house in  this  city  without  first  obtaining  a  license  therefor  from  the  city  council, 
under  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  every  day  any  house,  structure,  or  building  is 
used  for  that  purpose. 

Sec.  XII.  Whenever  any  nuisance  shall  ezist,  or  be  found  on  any  premises  or 
elsewhere  in  this  city,  the  mayor,  city  marshal,  or  his  deputies  may  order  the 
owner  or  occupant  of  such  premises,  or  the  person  occasioning  such  nuisance,  to 
remove  or  abate  the  same;  and  if  the  person  so  notified  fail  or  refuse  to  remove 
and  abate  the  same,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  ordinance,  then  the  said 
officers,  or  either  of  them,  may  abate  or  remove  the  same  at  the  expense  of  the 
party  so  failing  or  refusing;  but  if  the  owner,  occupant,  or  agent  of  such  prem- 
ises is  unknown,  or  can  not  be  found,  then  the  said  officers  shall  remove  the  same 
at  the  expense  of  the  city;  provided,  however,  that  nothing  in  this  section  shall 
be  so  construed  as  to  conflict  with  or  prevent  prosecution  under  any  other  section 
or  under  this  ordinance. 

Sec.  XIII.  That  if  any  person  permit  any  nuisance  or  substance  not  herein- 
before mentioned  to  remain  upon  his  premises,  or  upon  any  private  or  public 
grounds  within  this  city,  or  shall  be  guilty  of  any  violation  of  any  of  the  provi- 
sions of  this  ordinance,  such  person  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall,  on 
conviction,  be  fined  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars. 

Sec.  XIV.  This  ordinance  to  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  pas- 
sage and  publication  in  the  Wyandotte  Gazette. 

Approved  this  the  21st  day  of  February,  1878. 

Eli  Teed,  Mayor. 

Attest: 

A.  H.  Deppjb,  City  Clerh, 

City  of  Kansas — Additional  ordinances — Ordinance  No.  S16, 

[First  published  December  8th,  1883.] 

AN  ORDINANCE  providing  for  an  elevated  roadway,  viaduct,  or  stock  drive  from  the  corner 
of  Seventh  and  James  streets  to  the  stock  yards  of  Piankiuton  and  Armonrs,  on  the  north  side 
of  Railroad  alley. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  mayor  and  councilmen  of  the  city  of  Kansas.  Kansas: 

Section  I.  That  it  is  deemed  necessary  and  for  the  public  good  to  build,  erect, 
construct,  and  maintain  an  elevated  roadway,  viaduct,  or  stock  drive,  commenc- 
ing at  a  point  far  enough  west  of  James  street  in  stock  yard  or  lot  to  make  a 
practical  stock  drive  over  James  street,  to  be  not  less  than  sixteen  (16)  feet  above 
the  established  grade  of  said  street;  thence  east  on  the  south  side  of  Seventh 
street  to  a  point  opposite  the  alley  between  James  and  Ewing  streets;  thence 
northerly  over  Tth  street  not  less  than  sixteen  (16)  feet  above  the  established  grade 
of  7th  street;  thence  through  the  alley  to  6th  street;  thence  over  6th  street  not  less 
than  sixteen  (16)  feet  above  the  established  grade  of  said  street  to  Railroad  alley; 
thence  over  Railroad  alley,  at  the  same  grade,  into  the  lot  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  Plankinton  and  Armours  as  a  stock  yard. 

Sec.  II.  That  the  stock  drive,  when  built,  shall  not  be  less  than  twelve  (12)  feet 
nor  more  than  sixteen  (16)  feet  wide,  and  shall  not  have  any  more  than  two  spans 
from  curb  to  curb  in  crossing  any  street,  which  shall  rest  upon  iron  columns  not 
less  than  ten  inches  square,  in  center  of  street,  which  shall  stand  on  large,  flat 
stones,  laid  at  least  two  feet  below  the  grade  of  the  street,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  posts  TJiay  be  of  pine  or  oak,  not  less  than  eight  by  ten  inches  square.  The 
floor  shall  be  laid  in  two  thicknesses,  joints  broken,  one  of  one  inch  and  one  of  two 
inches,  to  prevent  dust  and  filth  dropping  upon  the  people  when  passing  on  the 


764  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

streets;  and  the  sides  shall  not  be  less  than  five  (5)  feet  high,  made  of  two-inch 
plank,  surfaced  on  the  outside. 

Sec.  III.  All  the  material  used  in  the  construction  of  the  roadway  or  stock  drive 
shall  he  of  good,  sound  lumber,  free  from  large  knots  or  other  defects,  and  the 
work  shall  be  done  in  a  good,  substantial,  and  workmanlike  manner,  and  all  mate- 
rial standing  in  or  over  6th,  James,  and  Tth  streets  shall  be  dressed,  and  shall  be 
painted  with  at  least  two  coats  of  mineral  paint. 

Sec.  IV.  The  entire  cost  of  building,  constructing,  and  maintaining  the  elevated 
railway  or  stock  drive  shall  be  borne  and  paid  for  by  the  firm  of  Plankinton  & 
Armours,  and  shall  be  constructed  without  any  material  hindrance  or  obstruction 
to  the  traveling  public,  and  they  shall  hold  the  city  harmless  from  all  damages  to 
person  or  property  caused  by  any  negligence  on  their  part  while  building  said 
work  or  operating  the  same. 

Sec.  V.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  parties  using  the  railway  or  stock  drive  to  at 
all  times  to  keep  the  same  free  from  offal,  mud,  or  other  filth,  and  to  prevent  the 
same  from  becoming  a  nuisance  or  damage  to  adjoining  property. 

Sec.  VI.  The  above  work  shall  be  commenced  within  ninety  days  and  be  com- 
pleted within  one  year  from  the  passage  and  publication  of  this  ordinance. 

Sec.  VII.  This  ordinance  shall  take  eifect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  pas- 
sage and  publication  in  the  Kansas  City  Globe. 

Approved  Dec.  5th,  1883. 

R.  W.  Hilliker,  Mayor. 

Attest: 

H.  C.  Stout,  City  Clerk. 
Ordinance  No.  S17. 

[First  published  December  8, 1883.] 

AN  ORDINANCE  to  prohibit  bringing;  into  this  city,  or  keeping  therein  for  sale,  selling,  or 
offering  to  sell,  for  any  other  than  tanking  purposes,  any  diseased  or  unwholesome  meat,  or 
any  animal  or  carcass  not  in  a  fitting  condition  to  be  used  as  food  or  for  culinary  purposes  as 
therein  described,  and  to  provide  for  the  inspection  of  the  same. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  mayor  and  councilmen  of  the  city  of  Kansas,  Kansas: 

Section  I.  No  person  shall  bring  into  this  city,  or  cause  to  be  brought  into  it, 
in  any  manner,  or  sell  or  offer  to  sell,  or  keep  on  hand  with  a  view  to  sell,  or 
expose  for  sale  (except  for  tanking  purposes),  any  unwholesome  meat,  or  the  flesh 
of  any  dead  animal  that  was  sick,  overheated,  or  run  down  or  trampled  upon,  or 
injured  by  any  animal  or  animals,  or  injured  in  transportation  on  the  cars,  or 
otherwise,  before  the  same  was  butchered  or  slain,  or  which  died  a  natural  death, 
or  was  killed  by  accident,  casualty,  or  other  means  than  the  usual  manner  of  slay- 
ing or  butchering  animals  for  market  or  food,  or  any  cattle  with  enlarged  upper 
or  lower  jaws,  having  ulcers  or  running  sores,  commonly  called  big-jawed  cattle, 
or  any  animal  fevered  or  emaciated  from  any  known  or  unknown  disease,  or  suf- 
fering from  any  disease  whatever;  hogs  suffering  from  cholera,  or  any  animal  or 
animals,  or  the  carcass  of  any  animal  of  whatsoever  kind  in  a  condition  unfit  for 
food  or  culinary  purposes:  Provided,  however,  That  sows  heavy  with  pigs  may  be 
brought  into  this  city  and  sold  under  the  supervision  of  the  inspector. 

Sec.  II.  All  such  meat  and  animals  described  in  the  previous  section  brought 
into  or  found  at  any  point  in  this  city  shall  be  inspected  by  the  inspector  appointed 
by  the  city  of  Kansas,  immediately  after  their  arrival  or  discovery,  and  if  found, 
on  such  inspection,  to  be  unfit  for  food  or  culinary  purposes,  the  owner  or  the  per- 
son claiming  to  own  the  same,  or  the  person  in  charge  thereof,  shall  immediately, 
on  the  order  of  the  inspector,  remove  and  sell  said  meat,  carcass,  animal,  or  ani- 
mals to  any  tanking  or  rendering  establishment  exclusively  engaged  in  such  busi- 
ness, and  if  no  person  can  be  found  to  own  or  claim  to  own  or  be  in  charge  of 
such  meat,  carcass,  or  animals,  then  the  inspector  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  sold 
to  the  highest  bidder  and  removed,  and  the  price  received  after  deducting  expense 
of  removal  shall  be  subsequently  paid  to  the  owner  or  his  agent:  Provided,  how- 
ever. That  said  inspector  may  kill  cattle  found  at  any  stock  yards  or  other  place 
with  large  upper  or  lower  jaws,  commonly  called  big-jawed  cartle.  having  ulcera 
or  running  sores  on  them,  cattle  emaciated  from  any  known  or  unknown  diseases; 
hogs  affected  with  the  cholera  or  other  diseases,  or  animals  with  broken  limbs, 
that  have  become  fevered,  on  the  refusal  of  the  owner,  or  the  person  in  charge,  or 
the  person  on  claiming  to  own  the  same,  to  dispose  of  them  and  cause  them  to  be 
removed  after  inspection,  condemnation,  and  order  of  removal  to  a  tanking  or 
rendering  establishment  by  the  inspector,  as  herein  provided,  and  after  being 
killed  the  carcasses  shall  be  removed  as  in  other  cases. 

Sec.  III.  When  said  meat.or  any  of  the  said  animals  or  carcasses  above  described, 
shall  be  conveyed  into  this  city,  or  from  any  point  in  this  city  to  any  stock  yards 


SWINE   PEODU0T8   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  765 

therein,  no  such  meat,  animals,  or  carcasses  shall  be  taken  from  any  such  stock 
yards  before  inspection,  and  any  meat,  carcasses,  or  animals  condemned  by  the 
inspector  as  unfit  for  food  or  culinary  purposes  shall  be  transported  by  cars  or 
other  means  to  a  rendering  establishment  as  soon  as  practicable,  and  in  a  manner 
to  conceal  them  and  render  their  removal  as  inoffensive  as  possible  to  the  public. 
And  every  stock  yard  doing  business  now  in  this  city  shall,  within  three  days 
from  the  publication  of  this  ordinance,  designate  the  gates  or  passageways,  under 
instruction  of  the  inspector,  through  which  only  said  meat,  animals,  or  carcasses 
shall  be  taken  to  said  cars  or  conveyances,  and  by  them  conveyed  from  the  yards 
after  inspection,  when  the  same  are  ordered  to  the  tanking  establishment.  And 
no  stock  yards,  or  person  or  employe  having  authority  to  issue  an  order  for  the 
removal  of  any  animal  or  carcasses  from  the  yards,  shall  issue  any  such  order  for 
removal,  or  permit  any  such  meat,  carcass,  or  animals  as  in  the  first  section 
described,  to  be  removed  or  taken  from  the  yards  without  first  having  the  written 
or  printed  statement  or  certificate  of  the  inspector  that  the  same  were  inspected, 
and  when  such  meat,  animals,  or  carcasses  are  condemned,  no  stock-yard  agent, 
officer,  or  employe  thereof  shall  permit  or  allow  the  same  to  be  taken  from  the 
stock  yards  in  any  manner  except  as  hereinbefore  provided.  And  when  said 
meat,  carcasses,  or  animals  shall  pass  through  and  from  the  stock  yards,  they 
shall  immediately  and  directly  be  conveyed  to  a  rendering  establishment. 

Sec.  IV.  The  mayor  and  council  shall  annually  appoint  an  inspector  of  meats 
and  animals  usually  offered  or  sold  for  food  or  culinary  purposes,  who  shall  be  a 
practical  butcher  or  skilled  in  diseases  of  animals.  Such  inspector  shall  hold  his 
office  for  the  period  of  one  year,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  appointed  and 
qualified,  unless  sooner  removed  for  cause.  He  shall  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  one 
thousand  dollars  (§1,000),  with  sureties  to  be  approved  by  the  council,  and  shall 
perform  the  following  duties,  viz:  He  shall  daily  attend  all  stock  yards  and  other 
places  in  this  city  where  meats  are  sold  or  offered  for  sale,  and  where  animals  used 
for  food  or  culinary  purposes  are  slaughtered  or  kept  for  slaughter  or  for  sale,  or 
suspected  to  be  kept,  and  shall  make  diligent  inspection  of  ail  meats,  carcasses, 
and  animals  so  kept,  found,  or  offered  for  sale  at  any  point  in  the  city;  and  any 
such  meat,  carcasses,  or  animals  found  unfit  for  food  or  culinary  purposes  he  shall 
condemn  and  order  to  a  tanking  or  rendering  establishment;  and  in  an  especial 
manner  is  it  made  his  duty  to  make  diligent  search  at  the  stock  yards  and  other 
places  in  the  city  for  the  classes  of  meat,  carcasses,  and  animals  in  this  ordinance 
described,  and  to  inspect  the  same,  and  make  the  proper  disposition  thereof  as 
provided  by  this  ordinance  to  prevent  the  same  from  being  sold  or  used  for  food  or 
culinary  purposes,  through  avarice,  fraud,  or  connivance  of -any  parties.  The 
said  inspector  shall  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  become  interested  in  any  such  meat 
or  animals,  as  owner  or  otherwise,  nor  shall  he  receive  any  fee  or  reward  from 
any  owner  or  person  interested  in  the  disposition  of  such  carcasses,  meats,  or 
animals. 

Sec.  V.  The  said  inspector  shall  receive  for  his  services  an  annual  salary  of  nine 
hundred  dollars  ($900),  payable  monthly  in  the  scrip  of  the  city  at  its  face  value. 
He  shall  have  free  access  to  all  places,  yards,  packing  houses,  or  other  places  where 
such  meat,  carcasses,  or  animals  may  be  foiand;  and  the  stock  yards,  its  agents, 
officers,  and  servants,  when  any  such  meat,  carcasses,  or  animals  are  at  its  yards, 
shall  be  diligent  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  inspector  to  them  for  inspection,  and 
to  give  information  of  any  failure  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  to  the  mayor  of  the 
city;  and  it  is  made  its  duty  to  hang  up  at  three  or  more  of  the  most  public  places 
in  its  yards  framed  copies  of  this  ordinance. 

And  the  said  inspector  is  hereby  authorized  to  make  arrests  on  view  for  any  vio- 
lation of  this  ordinance,  with  full  special  police  powers  and  authority  as  though 
he  were  specially  appointed  and  commissioned  therefor,  and  shall  bring  all  parties 
arrested  before  the  police  judge  for  trial  as  soon  as  may  be. 

Sec.  VI.  All  persons  violating  any  provision  of  this  ordinance,  either  by  a  posi- 
tive act,  or  a  failure,  refusal,  or  neglect  to  act,  or  violating  any  of  its  provisions  in 
any  manner  in  which  they  or  any  of  them  may  be  violated,  shall  be  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor  and  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  (.$100)  or 
by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  three  months,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprison- 
ment. 

And  the  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards,  as  far  as  in  its  province,  scope,  and  sphere 
lies,  is  charged  with  the  enforcement  of  the  provisions  hereof. 

Sec.  VII.  This  ordinance  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  its  pas- 
sage and  publication  in  the  Kansas  City  Globe. 

Approved  December  5th,  1883. 

R.  W.  Hiu.iKEE,  Mayor. 

Attest:  ' 

H.  C.  Stout,  City  Clerk. 


766  SWINE   PBODUOTS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

MICHIGAN. 

Ijato8  relating  to  the  public  health,  1875. 

[Chapter  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  of  Bevised  Statutes  of  1846.] 

(133)  Section  1.  If  any  person  shall  knowingly  sell  any  kind  of  diseased,  cor- 
rnpted,  or  unwholesome  provisions,  whether  for  meat  or  drink,  without  making 
the  same  fully  known  to  the  buyer,  he  shall  be  puui.shed  by  imprisonment  in  the 
county  jail  not  more  than  six  months  or  by  fine  not  exceeding  two  hundred  dollars. 
(J  77^0.) 

A  BILL  to  incorporate  the  Butchers'  81aniirht«rins,  Melting,  and  Cattle  Yard  Association  of 
Detroit,  and  for  other  purposes. 

Sec.  10.  Said  board  of  health,  mayor,  and  controller  of  the  city  of  Detroit  are 
hereby  authorized  to  make  whatever  regulations  may  seem  to  them  fit  in  order  to 
prevent  the  slaughter  and  sale  of  animals  unfit  for  human  food. 

Seo.  11.  Any  meat  brought  to  the  city  of  Detroit  for  sale,  except  from  the 
slaughterhouse  of  said  corporation,  shall  be  first  taken  by  the  owner  thereof  to 
the  central  market  for  inspection  by  the  proper  officer  before  the  same  shall  be 
sold  or  offered  for  sale.  The  penalty  for  violation  of  this  section  shall  not  be 
less  than  one  hundred  dollars  nor  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisonment 
in  the  Detroit  house  of  correction  not  less  than  thirty  nor  more  than  sixty  days. 

Sec.  17.  The  meat  inspector  and  members  of  the  police  of  said  city  shall  cooper- 
ate with  said  board  in  ail  matters  pertaining  to  the  abatement  of  nuisances  and 
the  preservation  of  the  public  health,  and  upon  the  requisition  of  said  board  the 
superintendent  of  police  shall  cause  the  notices  of  said  board  to  be  served  and 
complaints  to  be  made  for  violations  of  the  health  ordinances  of  said  city. 

[From  the  first  annual  report  of  the  board  of  health  of  the  city  of  Detroit,  1882.] 

INDIANA. 

Iaiws  passed  at  the  fifty-second  regular  session,  1881, 

Sec.  193.  Whoever  overdrives,  overloads,  tortures,  torments,  deprives  of  neces- 
sary sustenance,  or  unnecessarily  or  cruelly  beats,  or  needlessly  mutilates  or  kills 
any  animal,  or  impounds  or  confines  any  animal  in  any  place  and  fails  to  supply 
the  same  during  such  confinement  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  good,  wholesome 
food  and  water,  or  carries  in  or  upon  any  vehicle  or  car,  or  otherwise,  any  animal 
in  a  cruel  manner,  or  feeds  cows  on  food  that  produces  impure  or  unwholesome 
milk,  or  abandons  to  die  any  maimed,  sick,  infirm  or  diseased  animal,  or  being  a 
person  or  corporation  engaged  in  transporting  live  stock,  detains  such  stock  in 
railroad  cars  or  compartments  for  a  longer  continuous  period  than  twenty-eight 
hours,  afier  the  same  are  so  placed,  without  supplying  the  same  with  necessary 
food,  water  and  attention,  or  permits  such  stock  to  be  so  crowded  together  as  to 
overlie,  wound,  crush  or  kill  each  other,  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred 
dollars  nor  less  than  five  dollars. 

Sec.  194.  Whoever  knowingly  permits  any  horse,  mare,  or  gelding,  affected  with 
the  glanders  to  be  taken  from  his  or  her  premises  or  to  run  at  large,  shall  be  fined 
not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  nor  less  than  five  dollars. 

Sec.  195.  Whoever  drives  or  in  any  manner  brings  Texas  or  Cherokee  cattle  into 
this  State  at  any  time  before  the  first  day  of  October  and  after  the  first  day  of 
April  in  any  year,  and  whoever  purchases  such  cattle  so  driven  or  brought,  shall 
be  fined  not  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  nor  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  to 
which  may  be  added  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  not  more  than  one  year;  but 
nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  the  tran.sit  of  any 
cattle  through  this  State  on  the  railroads  to  other  States,  nor  shall  the  provisions 
of  this  section  apply  to  any  cattle  that  shall  have  been  during  all  the  previous 
winter  north  of  the  thirty -eighth  degree  of  latitude,  and  in  all  prosecutions  under 
this  section  the  legal  presumption  shall  be  that  such  cattle  had  not  been  during 
all  the  previous  winter  north  of  the  thirty -eighth  parallel  of  latitude. 

Sec.  220.  Whoever  packs,  brands,  or  sells,  or  cau.ses  to  be  packed,  branded,  or 
sold,  any  salt,  beef,  pork,  flour,  tobacco,  or  hay  in  barrels  or  packages,  as  full  bar- 
rels or  packages  when  such  barrels  or  packages  do  not  contain  the  weight  which 
by  law  they  are  re<iuired  to  contain,  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars  nor  less  than  ten  dollars. 

Sec.  221.  Whoever  alters  or  erases  any  brand  or  mark  of  any  inspector  appointed 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  767 

by  proper  authority,  placed  on  any  barrel  of  salt,  flour,  beef,  pork,  or  hogshead  of 
tobacco,  or  other  article  authorized  by  law  to  be  inspected  and  branded,  shall  be 
fined  not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  nor  less  than  five  dollars. 

OHIO. 

[From  the  sixteenth  annual  report  of  the  health  department  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  Septem- 
ber, 1882. 1 

AN  ORDINANCE  to  amend  an  ordinance  entitled  "An  ordinance  supplementary  to  an  ordinance 
to  provide  for  the  abatement  of  nuisances,"  passed  June  14, 18C7. 

Section  1.  Slaughtering,  and  slaughtering  pens;  hoio  regulated. — Be  it  ordained 
by  the  city  council  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any 
butcher  or  any  other  person  to  kill  or  slaughter  any  beeves,  calves,  sheep,  hogs, 
or  other  animals  within  said  city,  except  in  the  house,  yard,  pen,  or  place  where 
killing  shall  take  place  shall  have  a  perfectly  water-tight  floor,  in  which  there 
shall  be  no  breaking  of  joints  nor  openings  of  any  kind  for  any  purpose,  excepting 
such  as  shall  have  a  water-tight  tube  with  grating,  one-half  inch  holes,  making  a 
direct  connection  with  the  sewers,  and  the  earth  beneath  it  made  suJBSciently  solid 
to  prevent  its  becoming  the  receptacle  of  filth  and  offensive  matter;  also,  no  hog  or 
any  other  animal  shall  be  permitted  to  run  or  remain  under  any  slaughterhouse; 
and  moreover,  the  whole  shall  be  washed  and  cleansed  at  the  end  of  each  day;  and 
further,  that  each  slaughterhouse  or  place  occupied  for  killing  of  animals,  as  afore- 
said, shall  be  whitewashed  at  least  once  every  month  between  the  first  of  April 
and  the  first  of  November  in  each  year. 

Sec.  8.  No  person  shall  kill  any  cow,  sheep,  or  hog  that  is  pregnant,  nor  shall 
any  animal  be  slaughtered  while  it  is  in  an  overheated  or  feverish  condition;  and 
the  meat  of  any  such  animal  shall  not  be  held  or  sold  or  offered  for  sale  for  human 
food  in  any  market  or  elsewhere  in  this  city. 

Sec  4.  No  person  shall  bring  into  the  city,  or  sell,  or  offer  for  sale,  any  cattle 
unfit  for  use,  or  cattle  which  has  been  exposed  to  or  that  are  liable  to  communicate 
the  "cattle  disease,"  nor  the  meat  nor  milk  of  any  such  cattle.  All  such  cattle, 
meat,  and  milk  shall  be  confiscated  and  destroyed. 

Sec  5.  No  cased,  blown,  plaited,  raised,  stuffed,  putrid,  impure,  or  unhealthy 
or  unwholesome  meat,  or  the  meat  of  any  animal  that  may  have  died  of  disease  or 
accident,  or  fish,  or  birds,  or  fowls,  shall  be  held,  bought,  or  sold,  or  offered  for 
sale  for  human  food,  or  held  or  kept  in  any  market,  public  or  private,  in  this  city. 

Sec  6.  No  calf,  pig,  or  lamb,  or  the  meat  thereof,  shall  be  bought,  held,  or 
offered  for  sale  for  human  food  in  this  city,  which  when  killed  was  less  than  one 
month  old. 

Sec  15.  No  cattle  shall  be  kept  in  any  place  of  which  the  water,  ventilation, 
and  food  is  not  sufficient  and  wholesome  for  the  preservation  of  their  health  and 
safe  condition  for  food. 

Sec.  2137.  Penalty  for  violating  order  of  board  of  health. — Whoever  violates  any 
provision  of  this  chapter,  or  any  order  of  the  board  of  health  made  in  pursuance 
thereof,  or  obstructs  or  interferes  with  the  execution  of  any  such  order,  or  will- 
fully and  illegally  omits  to  obey  any  such  order,  shall  be  fined  in  any  sum  not 
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisoned  for  any  time  not  exceeding  ninety 
days,  or  both;  but  no  person  shall  be  imprisoned  under  this  section  for  the  first 
offense. 

For  a  failure  to  comply  with  any  or  all  of  the  foregoing  rules  and  regulations, 
the  superintendent  of  the  sanitary  police  is  directed  to  cause  the  arrest  of  the  per- 
son or  persons  so  offending,  either  on  view  or  by  warrant  from  the  police  court  of 
the  city  of  Cincinnati. 

Passed  by  the  board  of  health  November  3,  1881. 

A.  J.  Miles,  M.  D.,  Health  Officer. 
W.  O.  Williams,  Clerk. 

[Prom  the  sanitary  ordinances  of  the  city  of  Cleveland,  1882.] 

Sec  70.  No  person  or  persons  shall  bring  into  the  city,  or  sell  or  offer  for  sa'e 
for  human  food  in  any  market,  public  or  private,  any  cattle,  sheep,  hog,  or  lamb, 
nor  any  meat,  fish,  game,  or  poultry  that  is  diseased,  unsound,  unwholesome,  or 
that  for  any  other  reason  is  judged  to  be  unfit  for  human  food.  The  fact  that  any 
cattle,  sheep,  hog,  or  lamb  being  in  any  stock-yard  or  slaughterhouse  pen  shall  be 
considered  sufficient  evidence  that  the  same  is  being  exposed  there  for  sale;  and 
the  fact  that  the  carcass  of  any  cattle,  hog,  sheep,  or  lamb,  or  any  part  thereof,  is 
found  in  any  slaughterhouse  or  any  public  or  private  market  or  place,  dressed  and 


768  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

prejared  as  such  meats  usnally  are  for  market,  shall  be  deemed  suflBcient  evidence 
that  the  same  is  for  sale  for  human  food;  and  no  animal  nor  any  part  there-^f,  nor 
any  fish,  game,  or  poultry  that  has  beeu  examined  and  condemned  by  the  inspector 
or  his  assistants,  shall  be  held,  sold,  or  offered  for  sale  for  human  food  iu  any 
market  or  place  in  the  city. 

Sec.  T1.  No  jiersou  or  persons  shall  kill  for  human  food  any  cow.  sheep,  or  hog 
that  is  pregnant,  nor  shall  any  animal  be  .slaughtered  for  human  food  while  it  is 
in  an  overheated  or  feverish  condition:  and  the  meat  of  any  such  animal  sliall  not 
be  held  or  sold  or  offered  for  sale  for  human  food  in  any  market  or  elsewhere  in 
the  city. 

Sec.  72.  No  person  or  persons  shall  bring  into  this  city,  or  sell  or  offer  for  sale, 
any  cattle  unfit  for  use  for  human  food,  or  cattle  which  have  been  exposed  to  or 
that  are  liable  to  cotumuuicate  the  cattle  disease,  nor  the  meat  or  milk  of  any  such 
cattle. 

Sec.  73.  No  cased,  blown,  plaited,  raised,  stuffed,  putrid,  impure  or  heated  or 
unwholesome  meat,  or  the  meat  of  any  animal,  fish,  bird,  or  fowl,  that  may  have 
died  of  disease  or  accident,  shall  be  held,  bought,  or  sold,  or  offered  for  sale  for 
human  food,  or  held  or  kept  in  any  market,  public  or  private,  in  the  city. 

Sec.  74.  No  calf,  pig,  or  lamb,  or  the  meat  thereof,  shall  be  bought,  held,  sold, 
or  offered  for  sale  for  human  food  in  the  city  which,  when  killed,  was  less  than 
one  month  old. 

Sec.  81.  Upon  any  cattle,  meats,  birds,  fowl,  fish,  vegetable,  or  other  substances 
and  materials  used  for  human  food  being  found  by  any  inspector  or  other  officer 
of  said  board  in  a  condition  which  is,  in  his  opinion,  unwholesome  and  unfit  for 
human  food,  or  in  a  condition  or  of  a  quality  in  any  ordinance  or  section  of  an 
ordinance  of  the  city  condemned  or  forbidden,  he  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  exam- 
ined by  two  reputable  persons,  reasonably  competent  to  judge  in  respect  thereto. 
whom  he  may  conveniently  find;  and  if  both  said  persons  disagree  with  him  in 
opinion  in  respect  thereto,  he  shall  take  no  action  and  give  no  order  relative  to 
the  same  till  he  has  been  instructed  by  the  health  officer;  and  if  one  of  said  per- 
sons agree  with  him  in  respect  to  said  articles,  then  such  inspector  or  officer  may 
forbid  the  same  being  offered  or  exposed  for  sale,  or  being  sold  for  human  food 
till  the  owner  or  party  in  charge,  or  other  proper  person,  has  obtained  the  consent 
of  the  health  officer,  or  of  said  board,  to  their  being  so  offered,  used,  or  sold.  If 
both  such  persons  agree  with  him  in  opinion,  he  may  order  the  same  to  be  removed, 
and  thereupon,  or  if  said  board  or  health  officer  shall  have  approved  the  judgment 
of  said  inspector,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  owner  or  party  in  charge  to  speedily 
remove  such  articles,  materials,  or  substances  from  any  market,  street,  or  place, 
public  or  private,  and  not  sell  or  dispose,  or  offer  to  sell  and  dispose  thereof  lor 
the  purpose  of  human  food.  In  default  of  such  removal,  and  also  in  case  of  dis- 
obedience of  such  order,  and  also  in  all  cases  where,  in  the  opinion  of  the  inspector 
of  such  articles,  materials,  or  substances,  by  reason  of  their  being  in  a  damaged 
or  offensive  condition  would,  if  allowed  longer  to  remain,  be  dangerous  to  health, 
the  same  may  be  caused  to  be  removed  by  any  inspector  or  officer  of  said  board  to 
some  suitable  place,  at  the  expense  of  the  party  who  should  have  removed  the 
same. 

Sec.  82,  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  or  persons  to  molest  or  resist  any 
member  of  said  board  or  their  deputies,  or  its  health  officer,  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties. 

Sec.  109.  Upon  the  death  of  any  animal  in  the  city,  the  same  not  having  been 
killed  for  human  food,  the  owner  or  keeper  thereof,  or  person  killing  the  same, 
shall  report  the  same  to  one  of  the  police  stations  of  this  city  within  eight  hours 
after  the  death  of  such  animal. 

NEW  YOBK. 
City  of  Buffalo— Ordinances,  1889, 

§  10.  Every  person  who  shall  keep  fresh  meat  for  sale  shall  keep  the  place  at 
which  the  same  shall  be  exposed  for  sale  in  a  cleanly  and  wholesome  condition, 
and  free  from  all  noxious  or  offensive  odors;  and  every  person  offending  against 
the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  ten  dollars  for  each 
and  every  offense. 

^11.  Every  person  who  shall  sell  or  expose  for  sale,  or  cause  to  be  sold  or  exposed 
for  sale,  in  this  city  any  unwholesome,  stale,  emaciated,  blown,  stuffed,  tainted, 
bruised,  putrid,  or  measly  meat,  poultry,  or  provisions,  shall  forfeit  and  pay  a 
penalty  of  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  and  every  offense. 

i;  12.  Every  person  who  shall  sell,  offer,  or  expose  for  sale,  or  cause  to  be  sold, 
offered,  or  exposed  for  sale  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  any  bruised  or  diseased  cow. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  769 

heifer,  ox,  steer,  bullock,  hog,  sheep,  lamb,  or  calf,  shall  forfeit  and  pay  a  penalty 
of  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  and  every  offense. 

45  35.  The  board  of  health  shall  appoint  a  scavenger  and  a  cattle  inspector.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  scavenger  to  remove  to  such  place  or  places  as  the  board 
of  health  shall  designate,  all  dead  animals  that  may  be  found  in  the  streets,  alleys, 
or  public  grounds  of  the  city,  and  for  this  purpose  he  shall  report  to  the  street 
commissioner's  office  and  at  police  headquarters  once  each  day,  Sundays  excepted, 
to  receive  such  orders  as  may  there  be  given  him  for  the  removal  of  carcasses  from 
the  streets.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  cattle  inspector  to  be  present  at  the  arrival 
of  all  cattle  trains  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable. 

^  36.  He  shall  immediately  notify  the  owner,  agent,  or  consignee  of  any  dead 
cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  or  lambs  that  may  arrive  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  to  take  the 
same  to  some  bone  yard  within  four  hours  after  the  train  upon  which  they  arrived 
is  unloaded.  In  case  any  such  owner,  agent,  or  consignee. shall  refuse  or  neglect 
to  so  take  the  same  within  the  time  herein  prescribed,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
cattle  inspector,  and  he  shall  have  power  to  forthwith  remove  the  same  to  some 
bone  yard  and  dispose  of  the  same  to  the  best  advantage. 

i^  3/.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  owner,  agent,  or  consignee  of  any  diseased  or 
injured  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  or  lambs  which  may  arrive  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  and 
are  unfit  to  be  sold  in  the  market,  to  cause  the  same  to  be  immediately  killed  in 
some  slaughter  house  adjoining  the  cattle  yards,  and  sent  to  some  bone  yard. 

§  38.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  owner,  agent,  or  consignee  of  any  injured  cat- 
tle, sheep,  hogs,  or  lambs  which  may  arrive  in  the  city  of  Buffalo  and  are  fit  to  be 
sold  in  the  market,  to  be  immediately  slaughtered,  dressed,  and  prepared  in  one  of 
the  slaughter  houses  adjoining  the  cattle  yards  when  in  the  judgment  of  the 
cattle  inspector  it  is  deemed  necessary. 

^  80,  Any  person  violating  any  of  the  provisions  of  sections  twenty-five,  twenty- 
six,  twenty-seven,  twenty-eight,  and  twenty-nine  of  this  chapter,  shall  forfeit  a 
penalty  to  the  city  of  Buffalo  of  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  twenty-five  dollars. 

[From  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  of  health,  city  of  Albany,  April,  1882.] 

§  7.  No  meat,  fish,  birds,  or  fowl,  or  vegetables,  nor  any  milk  not  being  then 
healthy,  fresh,  sound,  wholesome,  and  safe  for  human  food,  nor  any  meat  or  fish 
that  shall  have  died  by  disease  or  accident,  shall  be  brought  within  the  city  of 
Albany,  or  offered  or  held  for  sale  in  any  public  or  private  market  anywhere  in 
said  city. 

g  9.  No  cattle  shall  be  killed  for  human  food  while  in  an  overheated,  feverish, 
or  diseased  condition;  and  all  such  diseased  cattle,  and  the  place  where  found 
and  their  disease  shall  be  at  once  reported  to  this  board  by  the  owner  or  custodian 
thereof. 

fi  15.  The  word  "cattle"  when  occurring  in  any  section  or  phrase  of  these  ordi- 
nances, shall  be  held  to  include  all  animals  except  birds,  fowl,  and  fish,  of  which 
the  body  or  any  part  thereof  is  used  for  food.  The  word  "butcher  "  shall  be  held 
to  include  whoever  is  engaged  in  the  business  of  keeping,  driving,  or  slaughtering 
any  cattle,  or  in  selling  any  meat. 

45  14.  The  keeping  and  slaughtering  of  all  catt'e,  and  the  preparation  and  keep- 
ing of  all  meat  and  fish,  birds  and  fowls,  shall  be  in  that  manner  which  is,  or  is 
generally,  reputed  or  known  to  be  best  adapted  to  secure  and  continue  their  safety 
and  wholesomeness  as  food.  No  slaughtering  of  cattle  shall  be  permitted  in  the 
city  of  Albany  without  a  special  permit  from  this  board. 

tj  50.  Every  person  who  violates  or  refuses  to  comply  with,  or  who  resists  any 
of  the  provisions  of  this  Code  of  Sanitary  Ordinances,  or  any  of  the  rules,  orders, 
sanitary  regulations,  or  ordinances  established  or  declared  by  this  board  under  or 
pursuant  to  any  of  the  provisions  of  chapter  431  of  the  Session  Laws  of  1881,  will 
be  liable  to  the  arrest,  suit,  penalty,  fine  and  punishment  in  said  law  provided 
and  declared,  of  all  of  which  notice  must  be  taken. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

[From  the  Manual  for  the  use  of  boards  of  health  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts.    Prepared  by 
direction  of  the  State  board  of  health,  lunacy,  and  charity.] 

INSPECTION  AND  SALE  OF   PROVISIONS  AND  ANIMALS  INTENDED    FOR    SLAUGHTER. 

103.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities,  and  the  selectmen  of  towns,  may  annu- 
ally appoint  one  or  more  persons  to  be  inspectors  of  provisions  and  of  animals 
intended  for  slaughter.  Such  inspectors  shall  be  sworn  faithfully  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  their  office,  and  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  the  city  council 
or  the  selectmen  shall  determine. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 49 


770  SWINE    TRODUOTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

103.  Said  inspectx>r8  may  inspect  all  animals  intended  for  slaughter,  and  all 
meats,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  fruits,  and  provisions  of  all  kinds,  found  in  said 
cities  or  towns,  or  exposed  for  sale  or  kept  with  intent  to  sell  therein:  and  may  for 
this  purpose  enter  into  all  buildings  or  int-losures  where  said  animals,  meats,  fish, 
vegetable  produce,  fruits,  or  provisions  are  kept,  stored,  or  exposed  for  slaughter 
or  sale.  When  such  animals,  meats,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  fruit,  or  jirovisions 
are  found  on  such  inspection  to  be  tainted,  diseased,  corrupted,  decayed,  or 
unwholesome  from  any  cause,  said  inspectors  shall  seize  the  same  and  cause  them 
or  it  to  be  destroyed  or  disposed  of  otherwise  than  for  food;  but  if  at  the  time  of 
the  seizure  the  owner  of  the  property  seized  notifies,  in  writing,  the  inspector 
seizing  the  same,  of  his  desii*e  to  appeal  to  the  board  of  health,  said  inspector  shall 
cause  said  animals,  meat.  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  fruit,  or  provisions  to  be 
inspected  by  said  board  of  health,  or  by  a  committee  thereof  consisting  of  not  less 
than  two  members;  and  if  said  board  or  committee  find  the  same  to  be  tainted, 
diseased,  corrupted,  or  unwholesome,  they  shall  order  the  same  to  be  destroyed  or 
disposed  of  otherwise  than  for  food;  if  said  board  or  committee  do  not  so  find, 
they  shall  order  said  animals,  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  fruits,  or  provisions 
to  be  forthwith  returned  to  the  owner  thereof.  AH  moneys  received  by  said 
inspectors  cfr  board  of  health  for  property  disposed  of  as  aforesaid  shall,  after 
deducting  all  expenses  incurred  by  reason  of  such  seizure,  be  i)aid  to  the  owner  of 
Buch  property. 

105.  When  complaint  is  made  on  oath  to  any  police,  district,  or  municipal 
court,  or  to  a  magistrate  authorized  to  issue  warrants  in  criminal  cases,  that  the 
complainant  believes  that  any  diseased  animals,  or  any  tainted,  diseased,  cor- 
rupted, decayed,  or  unwholesome  meat.  fish,  vegetable,  produce,  fruit,  or  provi- 
sions of  any  kind,  or  any  veal  of  a  calf  killed  under  four  weeks  old,  are  kept  or 
concealed  in  a  particular  house  or  place  with  the  intent  to  kill,  sell,  or  offer  the 
same  for  sale  for  food,  the  court  or  magistrate,  if  satisfied  there  is  reasonable 
cause  for  such  belief,  shall  issue  a  warrant  to  search  for  such  animals  or  articles, 
and  all  such  warrants  shall  be  directed  and  executed  as  provided  in  section  three 
of  chapter  two  hundred  and  twelve  of  the  public  statutes.  If.  upon  hearing,  said 
court  or  magistrate  determines  that  said  animals  or  articles  or  any  of  them  were 
kept  or  concealed  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  the  same  shall  be  destroyed  or  dis- 
posed of  by  the  inspector,  or  by  any  officer  designated  by  the  court  or  magistrate 
according  to  the  i)receding  provisions;  if  the  court  or  magistrate  does  not  so  deter- 
mine, said  animals  or  articles  shall  be  returned  to  the  owner. 

106.  Whoever  knowingly  sells,  or  offers  or  exposes  for  sale,  or  has  in  his  posses- 
sion with  intent  to  sell  for  food,  any  diseased  animal,  or  any  tainted,  diseased, 
corrupted,  decayed,  or  unwholesome  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  produce.  Iruit.  or  pro- 
visions of  any  kind  whatever,  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  jail  for  not 
more  than  sixty  days,  or  by  fine  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars. 

109.  Whoever  knowingly  sells  any  kind  of  diseased,  corrupted,  or  unwholesome 
provisions,  whether  for  meat  or  drink,  without  making  the  same  fully  known  to 
the  buyer,  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  the  jail  not  exceeding  six  months, 
or  by  fine  not  exceeding  two  hundred  dollars. 

[The  gist  of  the  offense  under  this  section  consists  in  the  guilty  knowledge  or 
evil  intent  of  a  party  in  selling  what  he  knows  to  be  unfit  for  food.  The  sale,  of 
itself,  is  not  made  criminal;  but  it  is  the  sale  coupled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
diseased  state  of  the  thing  sold  which  constitutes  the  offense.] 

CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  AMONG  CATTLE. 

143.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  the  selectmen  of  towns,  in  case  of 
the  existence  in  this  Commonwealth  of  the  disease  called  pleuro  pneumonia  among 
cattle,  or  farcy  or  glanders  among  horses,  or  any  other  contagious  or  infections 
disease  among  domestic  animals,  shall  cause  the  animals  in  their  respective  cities 
and  towns,  which  are  infected,  or  which  have  been  exposed  to  infection,  to  be 
secured  or  collected  in  some  suitable  place  or  places  within  their  cities  or  towns, 
and  kept  isolated;  and.  when  taken  from  the  possession  of  their  owners,  one-fifth 
of  the  expense  of  their  maintenance  shall  be  paid  by  the  city  or  town  wherein  the 
animal  is  kept,  and  four-fifths  by  the  Commonwealth:  such  isolation  to  continue 
so  long  as  the  existence  of  such  disease  or  other  circumstances  may  render  it 
necessary. 

144.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  and  selectmen,  respectively,  when  any  such  ani- 
mal is  adjudged  by  a  veterinary  surgeon  or  physician  by  them  selected  to  be 
infected  with  any  contagious  disease,  may  in  their  discretion  order  such  diseased 
animal  to  be  forthwith  killed  and  buried  at  the  expense  of  such  city  or  town. 

145.  They  may  cause  all  such  animals  to  be  appraised  by  three  competent  and 


SWIKE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  771 

disinterested  men  tinder  oath,  at  the  value  thereof  at  the  time  of  the  appraisement, 
and  the  amount  of  the  appraisement  shall  be  paid  as  provided  above. 

146.  They  may,  within  their  respective  cities  and  towns,  prohibit  the  departure 
of  animals  from  any  inclosure,  or  exclude  animals  therefrom. 

147.  They  may  make  regulations,  in  writing,  to  regulate  or  prohibit  the  passage 
from,  to.  or  through  their  respective  cities  or  towns,  or  from  place  to  i)lace  within 
the  same,  of  any  cattle  or  other  domestic  animals,  and  may  arrest  and  detain,  at 
the  cost  of  the  owners  thereof,  all  animals  found  iiassing  in  violation  of  such  regu- 
lations, and  may  take  all  other  necessary  measures  for  the  enforcement  of  such 
prohibition,  and  also  for  preventing  the  spread  of  any  disease  among  the  animals 
to  their  respective  cities  and  towns,  and  the  immediate  vicinity  thereof. 

148.  Such  regulations  shall  be  recorded  upon  the  records  of  their  cities  and 
towns  respectively,  and  shall  be  published  in  such  cities  and  towns  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  provided  in  such  regulations. 

149.  They  may  cause  every  animal  infected  with  any  such  disease,  or  which 
has  been  exposed  thereto,  to  be  forthwith  branded  tipon  the  rump  with  the 
letter  P;  and  no  animal  so  branded  shall  be  sold  or  disposed  of  except  with  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  such  mayor  and  aldermen  and  selectmen.  A  person 
who,  without  such  knowledge  and  consent,  sells  or  disposes  of  an  animal  so 
branded,  or  sells  or  disposes  of  an  animal  known  to  be  affected  with  such  dis- 
ease, or  to  have  been  exposed  thereto  within  one  year  previous  to  such  sale  or 
disposal,  shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or  by 
imprisonment  not  exceeding  one  year. 

150.  Any  person  disobeying  the  orders  of  the  mayor  and  aldermen  or  select- 
men, made  in  conformity  with  the  preceding  provisions,  or  driving  or  trans- 
porting any  animals  contrary  to  the  regulations  made,  recorded,  and  published 
as  aforesaid,  shall  be  i)un'shed  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or 
by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  one  year. 

151.  Whoever  knows  or  has  reason  to  suspect  the  existence  of  any  such  dis- 
ease among  the  animals  in  his  possession  or  under  his  care  shall  forthwith 
give  notice  thereof  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  or  selectmen  of  the 
town  where  such  animals  are  kept,  and  for  failure  so  to  do  shall  be  punished 
by  fine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
one  year. 

ir)'3.  A  city  or  town  whose  officers  neglect  or  refuse  to  carry  into  effect  the 
preceding  provisions  shall  forfeit  a  sum  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  for 
each  day's  neglect. 

153.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  selectmen  of  towns,  when  in  their 
judgment  it  is  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  purposes  of  this  chapter,  may, 
within  their  respective  cities  and  towns,  take  and  hold,  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing one  j'ear,  any  land,  without  buildings  other  than  barns  thereon,  upon  which 
to  inclose  and  isolate  any  animals;  and  they  shall  cause  the  damages  sustained 
by  the  owner  in  conseiuence  of  such  taking  and  holding  to  be  appraised  by 
the  assessors  of  the  city  or  town  wherein  the  lands  so  taken  are  situated;  and 
they  sliall  further  cause  a  description  of  such  land,  setting  forth  the  bounda- 
ries thereof,  and  the  area  as  nearly  as  may  be  estimated,  together  with  said 
appraisement,  to  be  entered  on  the  recorde  of  the  city  or  town.  The  amount 
of  said  appraisement  shall  be  paid,  as  before  provided,  in  such  sums  and  at  such 
times  as  the  mayor  and  aldermen  or  selectmen  respectively  may  order.  If  the 
owner  of  land  so  taken  is  dissatisfied  with  said  appraisement,  he  may,  by  action 
of  contract,  recover  of  the  city  or  town  wherein  the  lands  lie  a  fair  compen- 
sation for  the  damages  sustained  by  him;  but  no  costs  s-hall  be  taxed  unless 
the  damages  recovered  in  such  action,  exclusive  of  such  interest,  exceed  said 
appraisement;  and  the  Commonwealth  shall  reimburse  to  the  city  or  town  four- 
fifths  of  any  sum  recovered  of  it  in  any  such  action. 

154.  The  governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  council,  may  appoint 
a  board  of  cattle  commissioners  of  not  more  than  three  members,  when  in  his 
judgment  the  public  safety  may  require  it,  and  may  terminate  their  commis- 
sions when  in  his  judgment  the  public  safety  may  permit  it.  The  compensa- 
tion of  such  commissioners  shall  not  exceed  four  dollars  per  day  for  actual 
service,  in  addition  to  their  traveling  expenses  necessarily  incurred. 

155.  When  such  commissioners  make  and  publish  any  regulations  concerning 
the  extirpation,  cui'e,  or  treatment  of  animals  infected  with,  or  which  have  been 
exposed  to.  any  contagious  disease,  such  regulations  shall  supersede  those  made 
by  mayors  and  aldermen  and  se  ectmen;  and  mayors,  aldermen,  and  selectmen 
shall  carry  out  and  enforce  all  orders  and  directions  of  the  commissioners  to  them 
directed. 

15(5.  Such  commissioners  shall  have  all  the  power  and  authority  herein  conferred 
upon  mayors,  aldermen,  and  selectmen;  and,  in  addition,  taay  establish  a  hospital 


772  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

or  quarantine,  with  proper  accommodations,  wherein  any  cattle  selected  hy  them 
maj'  1)6  detained  and  treated  by  veterinary  snrjieons  or  physicians.  And  for  this 
purpose  the  commi^isioners  may  take  any  land  and  buildings  in  the  manner  before 
provided. 

157.  Mayors  and  aldermen  and  selectmen,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  they 
have  notice  that  any  domestic  animal  in  their  respective  cities  and  towns  are 
infected  with  or  have  been  exposed  to  any  such  disease,  shall  give  notice  thereof  in 
writing  to  the  commits  oners. 

158.  The  commissioners  may  make  all  necessary  regulations  for  the  treatment, 
cure,  and  extirpation  of  such  disease,  and  may  direct  mayors,  aldermen,  and 
selectmen,  respectively,  to  enforce  and  carry  into  effect  all  such  regulations  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  made  for  that  end,  and  any  such  oflBcer  who  refu.ses  or 
neglects  to  enforce  and  carry  out  any  regulation  of  the  commi.ssloners  shall  be 
punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  for  every  such  offense. 

159.  The  commissioners,  when  in  their  judgment  the  public  good  requires  it, 
may  cause  to  be  killed  and  buried  any  domestic  animals  which  are  infected  with 
or  have  been  exposed  to  such  disease;  and,  except  as  provided  in  the  following 
sect  on,  shall  cause  such  animals  to  be  appraised  in  the  manner  provided  above, 
and  the  appraised  value  of  such  animals  shall  he  paid,  one-fifth  by  the  cities  or 
towns  in  which  such  animals  were  kept,  and  the  remainder  by  the  Commonwealth, 

160.  In  all  cases  of  farcy  or  glanders,  the  commissioners,  having  condemned  the 
animal  infected  therewith,  shall  cause  such  animal  to  be  killed,  without  an 
appraisement,  but  may  pay  the  owner  an  equitable  sum  for  the  killing  and  burial 
thereof. 

161.  A  person  who  fails  to  comply  with  a  regulation  made  or  an  order  given  by 
the  commissioners  shall  be  punished  by  tine  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or 
by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  one  year. 

162.  Prosecutions  under  the  precetling  section  may  lie  maintained  in  any  county. 

163.  All  appraisements  made  shall  be  in  \sTiting  and  signed  by  the  appraisers  and 
certified  by  the  mayors  and  aldermen  or  selectmen  or  commissioners,  respectively, 
to  the  governor  and  council  and  to  the  treasurers  of  the  several  cities  and  towns 
wherein  the  cattle  appraised  were  kept. 

164.  The  commissioners  may  examine  under  oath  all  persons  believed  to  posuess 
knowledge  of  material  facts  concerning  the  existence  or  dissemination  or  danger  of 
dissemination  of  diseases  among  domestic  animals,  and  for  this  purpose  shall  have 
all  the  powers  vested  in  justicas  of  the  peace  to  take  depositions  and  to  compel 
witnesses  to  attend  and  testify,  bj' chapter  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  of  the  Pub- 
lic Statutes.  All  costs  and  expenses  incurred  in  procuring  the  attendance  of  such 
witnesses  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  to  the  commissioners  from  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth  upon  being  certified  to  and  approved  by  the  governor  and  council. 

165.  Whenever  animals  exposetl  to  contagious  diseases  are  killed  by  order  of  the 
commissioners,  and  upon  a  post-mortem  examination  are  found  to  have  been  entirely 
free  from  disease,  the  commissioners  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  sold  under  their 
direction,  first  giving  to  the  purchaser  notice  of  the  facts;  and  if  the  said  purchaser 
or  anyother  person  shall  sell  sad  slaughtered  animals,  or  any  part  thereof,  he  shall 
in  like  manner  give  notice  to  the  p.irties  to  whom  such  sales  are  made,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  made  by  order  of  the^ommissiouers  shall  be  applied  in  payment 
of  the  appraised  value  of  said  animals. 

166.  Whoever  violates  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section  shall  be 
punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution. 

167.  Cattle  commissioners,  now  or  hereafter  appointed,  shall  keep  a  full  record  of 
their  doings,  and  report  the  same  to  the  legislature  on  or  before  the  tenth  day  of 
January  in  each  year,  unless  sooner  recjuired  by  the  governor;  and  an  abstract  of 
the  same  shall  be  printed  in  the  annual  report  of  the  State  board  of  agriculture. 

City  of  Boston,  State  of  Massachusetts. 

[From  the  statutes  and  ordinances  relating  to  the  pnblic  healths,  1878.] 

INSPECTION  OF  PROVISIONS. 

99.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  the  selectmen  of  towns  may  annually 
appoint  one  or  more  persons  to  be  inspectors  of  provisions,  who  shall  be  sworn  to 
faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  their  office,  and  who  shall  receive  such  compensa- 
tion as  the  city  council  of  cities  or  the  selectmen  of  towns  shall  determine. 

100.  Said  inspectors  shall  have  power  to  inspect  all  meats  fish,  vegetables,  i)rod- 
uce,  and  provisions  of  all  kinds  brought  into  said  cities  or  towns,  or  exposed  for 
sale  or  kept  with  intent  to  sell  therein,  and  may  for  this  purpose  enter  into  all 
buildings  where  said  meats,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  or  provisions  are  stored  or 


A 


8 WINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  778 

exposed  for  sale.  When  such  meats,  fish,- vegetables,  produce,  or  provisions  are 
found  on  such  inspection  to  be  tainted,  diseased,  corrupted,  decayed,  or  unwhole- 
some from  any  cause,  said  inspectors  shall  seize  the  same  and  cause  it  to  be 
destroyed  or  disposed  of  otherwise  than  for  food:  Provided,  however.  That  if  the 
owner  of  the  property  seized  shall  at  the  time  of  seizure  notify  said  inspector  in 
writing  of  his  desire  to  appeal  to  the  board  of  health,  said  inspector  shall  cause 
said  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  or  provisions  to  be  inspected  by  said  board  of 
health  or  by  a  committee  thereof,  consisting  of  not  less  than  two  members,  and  if 
said  board  or  committee  shall  find  the  same  to  be  tainted,  diseased,  corrupted,  or 
unwholesome,  they  shall  order  the  same  to  be  destroyed  or  disposed  of  otherwise 
than  for  food.  All  moneys  received  by  said  inspector  or  board  of  health  for  prop- 
erty disposed  of  as  aforesaid  shall,  after  deducting  all  expenses  incurred  by  reason 
of  said  seizure,  be  paid  to  the  owner  thereof. 

101.  Said  inspectors  shall  have  power  to  inspect  all  veal  brought  into  said  cities  or 
towns,  or  offered  or  exposed  for  sale  or  kept  with  intent  to  sell  therein,  and  if  said 
veal  is.  in  the  judgment  of  the  inspector,  that  of  a  calf  killed  under  four  weeks  old, 
he  shnll  t^eize  the  same  and  cause  it  to  be  destroyed  or  disposed  of,  as  provided  in 
the  preceding  section,  subject,  however,  to  the  same  provisions  concerning  appeal 
and  the  disposal  of  moneys  that  are  therein  contained. 

10*.  When  complaint  is  made  on  oath  to  any  police  court  or  magistrate  author- 
ized to  issue  warrants  in  criminal  cases,  that  the  complainant  believes  that  any 
tainted,  diseased,  corrupted,  decayed,  or  unwholesome  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  prod- 
uce, or  provisions  of  any  kind,  or  any  veal  of  a  calf  killed  under  four  weeks  old  is 
kept  or  concealed  in  any  particular  house  or  place  with  the  intent  to  sell  or  ofl'er 
the  same  for  sale,  the  court  or  magistrate,  if  satisfied  there  is  reasonable  cause  for 
such  belief  shall  isstie  a  warrant  to  search  for  such  articles,  and  all  such  warrants 
shall  be  directed  and  executed  as  provided  in  the  third  section  of  chapter  one 
hundred  and  seventy  of  the  General  Statutes. 

lOy.  Whoever  knowingly  sells,  or  offers  or  exposes  for  sale,  or  has  in  his  posses- 
sion with  intent  to  sell  as  articles  of  food  any  tainted,  diseased,  corrup  ed,  decayed, 
or  unwholesome  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  produce,  or  provisions  of  any  kind  what- 
ever, shiiU  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  jail  not  exceeding  sixty  days,  or  by 
fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars. 

MANAGEMENT  OF  STOCK- YARDS. 

The  time  that  hogs  are  held  by  the  owner  or  consignee  in  the  stock  yards,  before 
sold  to  the  packers,  is  usually  very  short.  Frequently  they  are  sold  on  the  day  of 
their  arrival,  but  are  often  held  for  better  pricf  s.  The  cost  of  keeping  animals  at 
the  yards  is  fo  high  that  they  can  not  be  profitably  kept  for  any  length  of  time. 
No  animals  can  enter  or  leave  the  yards  without  a  "  gate  order"  from  the  company 
as  previously  stated. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  system  of  receipt  and  care  of  hogs  in  the  stock  yards, 
the  municipal  regulations  and  modes  of  inspection,  and  also  the  methods  adopted 
by  the  Illinois  Humane  Society  in  enforcing  the  laws  regarding  cruelty  to  animals, 
the  following  questions  were  addressed  to  George  Titus  Williams,  esq.,  the  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  Union  Stock  Yards:  to  John  G.  Shortall,  esq.,  president 
of  the  Illinois  Humane  Society,  and  Willam  Mitchell,  agent  of  the  same  society, 
and  to  Oscar  De  Wolf,  M.  D.,  commissioner  of  health  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
Matthew  Lamb,  the  meat  inspector  of  the  health  department,  stationed  at  the 
stock  yards: 

QUESTIONS. 

1.  Is  any  examination  made  before  unloading  from  cars  to  detect  diseased  or 
injured  hogs? 

2.  If  so.  what  regulations  govern  such  examination? 

3.  When  does  •  "delivery  "  by  raiiroad  company  take  place? 

4.  Are  any  special  instructions  given  in  regard  to  care  in  unloading? 

5.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  to  be  sick,  diseased,  bruised,  or  crippled? 

6.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  smothered? 

7.  What  is  done  with  hogs  dead  from  disease? 

8.  Are  they  sold? 

9.  To  whom? 

10.  For  what  purpose? 

n.  Where  are  they  sent? 

12.  How  are  they  transported? 

1  '6.  What  is  done  with  healthy  hogs  on  their  arrival? 

14.  When  are  they  fed? 


774  8WLNE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

15.  What  kind  of  food  is  given  them? 
Ifi.  What  quantity? 

17.  How  is  it  furnished  to  them? 

18.  Are  they  watered? 

19.  When? 

20.  How  is  the  water  furnished  to  them? 

21.  What  quantity? 

22.  In  the  absence  of  orders  by  owners  or  consigncor^  of  hogs,  have  you  any  reg- 
ulations authorizing  the  feeding  and  watering  ot  hoj^s.' 

23.  How  are  the  hogs  cared  for  in  bad  weather? 

24.  How  many  hogs  die  in  the  yards? 

25.  From  what  cause? 

26.  What  is  done  with  them? 

27.  What  is  done  with  diseased  hogs  if  discovered  in  the  pens? 
2S.  How  are  these  hogs  disposed  of? 

29,  How  arranged  to  receive  hogs  from  cars? 

30,  What  is  the  size  of  the  pens? 

31,  How  are  they  protected? 

32,  Are  they  drained? 

33,  How  can  they  be  cleaned? 

34,  What  are  the  regulations  in  regard  to  keeping  the  pens  clean? 

35,  What  measures  are  adopted  to  disinfect  pens  where  diseased  hogs  have  been? 

36,  Is  there  any  inspection  made  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  yards  or  the 
condition  and  care  of  the  hogs? 

37,  If  so,  under  what  authority? 

38,  Is  such  inspection  sufficiently  effective  to  secure  the  sanitary  condition  of 
the  premises  and  prevent  any  hogs,  diseased  or  in  improper  condition,  going  into 
food? 

39,  What  is  the  amount  of  business  done  annually? 

40,  What  are  your  total  receipts? 

41,  What  is  the  average  weight  of  hogs  for  the  year? 

42,  What  Is  total  value  of  hogs  received? 

43,  Please  state  what  system  of  supervision  is  adopted  to  prevent  any  diseased 
hogs  going  into  food,  and  under  what  authority  such  supervision  is  exercised, 
whether  municipal,  State,  or  the  national  or  local  humane  society. 

Replies  of  O.  Titus  Williams,  superintendent  of  the  Union  Stock  Yards. 

Question  1,  In  answer  to  your  first  (juestion  I  have  to  say  there  isno  examination 
made  in  cars.  But  city  and  State  health  officers  are  here  to  examine  stock  after 
taken  from  cars. 

Question  2.  No  regulations  for  examination  in  cars. 

Question  3.  When  stock  is  taken  from  cars. 

Question  4.  Yes.  Employees  are  directed  to  handle  all  stock  with  care,  and 
State  and  city  humane  officers  are  constantly  in  the  yards  to  see  that  all  stock  is 
properly  treated. 

Question  5,  State  and  city  health  officers  condemn  all  diseased  animals  and  kill 
them,  and  they  are  turned  over  to  the  Rendering  Company  and  sent  to  Globe,  24 
miles  from  here,  where  they  are  rendered  into  gi  ease. 

Question  G,  Hogs  found  smothered  are  all  sent  to  Globe  for  the  purposes  afore- 
said. 

Question  7.  Hogs  dying  from  disease  are  treated  the  same  way  as  6, 

Question  8.  Yes. 

Question  9,  To  Union  Rendering  Company  at  Globe. 

Question  10.  To  be  rendered  into  soap  grease  and  oil  grease. 

Question  11.  To  Globe. 

Question  12.  In  box  cars. 

Question  13.  Yarded  in  covered  and  floored  pens. 

Question  14.  As  soon  as  yarded. 

Question  15.  Com. 

Question  16.  About  2  bushels  to  a  carload. 

Question  17.  Union  Stock-Yard  Company  delivers  it  in  pens  from  wagons. 

Question  18,  Yes. 

Question  19.  Soon  after  arrival. 

Question  20.  There  is  a  hydrant  and  trough  in  each  pen,  with  plentiful  supply 
of  pure  water. 

Question  21.  Unlimited  quantity. 

Question  22.  Yes;  all  stock  is  fed  and  watered  by  the  company  when  no  one  in 
charge,  or  when  neglected  by  owner  or  consignee. 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  775 

Question  23.  Hogs  are  kept  in  covered  pens  with  plank  flooring  in  good  and  bad 
weather  alike. 

Question  24.  Not  to  exceed  1  in  10,000. 

Question  25.  Mostly  from  being  overheated,  and  other  accidents. 

Question  26.  All  sent  to  Globe,  where  all  dead  animals  are  sent  by  authority  of 
the  board  of  health. 

Question  27.  When  diseased  animals  are  discovered  in  the  pens,  the  health  officers 
condemn  and  kill  them  as  above  described.  A  diseased  hog  is  rarely  seen  in  the 
pens.    I  have  not  known  of  a  single  diseased  hog  being  in  these  yards  in  two  years. 

Question  28.  If  any ,  would  be  disposed  of  as  above  stated  in  37,  and  sent  to  Globe. 

Question  29.  Cars  are  sent  to  a  platform  even  with  the  car,  and  a  bridge  fitted 
in  the  doorway,  and  hogs  and  other  animals  driven  over  platform  down  an  inclined 
plane  into  the  yards. 

Question  80.  Pens  vary  in  size;  to  accommodate  from  1  to  5  carloads  of  hogs, 
allowing  500  square  feet  to  each  carload. 

Questional.  By  plank  floor  and  roof . 

Question  32.  Yes. 

Question  33.  They  are  cleaned  by  men  with  carts  and  teams. 

Question  34.  A  sufficient  force  of  men  are  kept  constantly  at  work  cleaning  the 
pens. 

Question  35.  If  diseased  hogs  should  be  discovered  in  any  pen  it  would  be 
thoroughly  cleaned  before  other  hogs  would  be  allowed  to  be  put  in. 

Question  3(3.  A  State  agent  is  stationed  at  the  yards,  appointed  by  the  governor 
for  that  purpose:  also  city  officers. 

Question  ;jr.  By  authority  of  State;  and  city  of  Chicago. 

Question  3S.  Yes. 

Question  39.  Annual  report  shows  for  1883,  $201,252,772. 

Question  40.  For  1883,  1,878,944  cattle,  30,223  calves,  5,640,625  hogs,  749,917 
sheep,  15,255  horses. 

Question  41.  For  1883,  247  pounds. 

Question  42.  For  1883,  $84,609,375. 

Question  43.  Police  officers  are  stationed  at  all  the  gates  of  the  yards  during 
business  hours,  at  all  times  while  the  gates  are  open,  and  prevent  any  person  tak- 
ing dead  animals  from  the  yards,  and  compel  all  such  animals  to  be  taken  to  the 
said  rendering  comiany's  platform,  when  they  are  taken  by  cars  to  Globe.  No 
dead  animal  is  allowed  to  be  taken  to  any  other  place.  The  police  officers  are 
appointed  by  the  Union  Stock- Yard  and  Transit  Company,  and  act  in  coqiunclion 
with  the  State  agent,  who  is  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State,  and  with  the 
health  officers  who  are  appointed  by  the  city  of  Chicago  and  the  officers  appointed 
by  the  Illinois  Humane  Society. 

G.  Titus  Williams, 
Superintendent  of  Union  Stock-Yards  and  Transit  Company. 

Reply  of  John  O.  Shortall,  president  of  the  Illinois  Humane  Society. 

Chicago,  January  25, 1884. 
Dear  Sir:  Herewith  please  find  the  answer  of  this  society's  officer,  Mitchell,  in 
reply  to  your  inquiries. 

I  have  traversed  the  subject  with  him,  and  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  his 
reliability  and  .iudgment. 

Very  truly,  yours,  John  G.  Shortall, 

President  Illinois  Humane  Society. 
E,  W.  Blatchford,  Esq., 

Of  the  American  Pork  Commission  of  Department  of  Agricidture 

of  the  United  States;  George  B,  Loring,  esq.,  Chairman, 

Replies  of  William  Mitchell,  agent  of  the  Illinois  Humane  Society. 

1  and  2.  There  is  no  examination  made  of  any  hogs  that  are  shipped  into  the 
Union  Stock  Yards  before  they  are  unloaded  from  the  cars. 

3.  The  different  railway  companies  consider  their  delivery  perfect  as  soon  as 
their  cars  stop  at  the  platfornl  in  the  yards. 

4.  There  are  special  instructions  given  to  the  men  who  unload  the  cars  by  John 
B.  Sherman,  the  vice-president  and  general  manager  of  the  yards.  They  must 
not  use  any  clubs  or  poles  with  spikes  in  them  upon  the  cattle,  and  any  person 
that  I  find  using  them  I  immediately  place  under  arrest  and  bring  them  before  the 
police  justice,  and  charge  them  with  the  violation  of  our  State  laws  covering 
cruelty  to  animals,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  found  below,  and  which  I  am  specially 
detailed  at  the  yards  to  enforce  by  the  Illinois  Humane  Society. 


776  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Extracts  from,  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois  concerning  cruelty  to  animals.    Crivnr 
inal  code,  chapter  38,  section  50. 

Whoever  shall  be  ffnilty  of  cruelty  to  any  animal  in  any  of  the  ways  mentioned 
in  this  section,  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  $3,  nor  more  than  $200,  viz: 

First.  By  overloading,  overdriving,  overworking,  cruelly  beating,  torturing, 
tormenting,  mutilating,  or  cruelly  killing  any  animal,  or  causing  or  knowingly 
allowing  the  same  to  be  done. 

Second.  By  cruelly  working  any  old,  maimed,  infirm,  sick,  or  disabled  animal, 
or  causing  or  knowingly  allowing  the  same  to  be  done. 

Third.  By  unnecessarily  failing  to  provide  any  animal  in  his  charge  or  custody, 
as  owner  or  otherwise,  with  proper  food,  drink,  and  shelter. 

Fourth.  By  abandoning  any  old,  maimed,  infirm,  sick,  or  disabled  animal. 

Fifth.  By  carrying  or  driving,  or  causing  to  be  carried  or  driven  or  kept,  any 
animal  in  an  unnecessarily  cruel  manner.  (L.  1869,  p.  115,  g,^  1,  2,  3,  4;  p.  116. 
sec.  11.    See  "Animals,"  ch.  8,  t;§  33-36.) 

Skc.  51.  By  railroads  and  carriers.  No  railroad  company  or  other  common  car- 
rier in  the  carrying  or  transportation  of  any  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  or  other  animals 
shall  allow  the  same  to  be  confined  in  any  car  more  than  twentj'-eight  consecutive 
hours  (including  the  time  they  shall  have  been  upon  another  road),  without 
unloading  or  rest,  water  and  feeding  for  at  least  five  consecutive  hours,  unless 
delayed  by  storm  or  accident,  when  they  shall  be  so  fed  and  watered  as  soon  after 
the  expiration  of  such  time  as  may  reasonably  be  done.  When  so  unloaded  they 
shall  be  properly  fed,  watered,  and  sheltered  during  such  rest  by  the  owner,  con- 
signee, or  person  in  custody  thereof,  and,  in  case  of  their  default,  then  by  the  rail- 
road company  transporting  them,  at  the  expense  of  said  owner,  consignee,  or 
person  in  custody  of  the  same,  and  such  person  shall  have  a  lien  upon  the  animals 
until  the  same  is  paid. 

A  violation  of  this  section  shall  subject  the  offender  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $3 
nor  more  than  $200.     [L.  1869,  p.  115,  ij^  5, 6;  p.  116,  ^  7.] 

5.  All  hogs  that  arrive  at  the  yards  that  are  not  dead  are  carted  off  to  the  differ- 
ent slaughterhouses,  inside  and  outside  of  the  yards,  and  killed.  The  duty  of  the 
city  health  officer  is  to  examitie  the  meat,  and,  if  found  unsound,  to  condemn  the 
same.    Condemned  meat  is  rendered  at  establishments  for  that  purpose. 

6.  They  are  sent  to  the  Union  Rendering  Company's  establishment. 

7.  Sent  to  the  same  place. 

8.  Yes. 

9.  Union  Rendering  Establishment. 

10.  To  be  made  into  grease,  fertilizers,  etc. 

11.  Union  Rendering  Establishment,  situated  at  Globe  Station,  111.,  24  miles  from 
the  yards. 

12.  By  rail,  in  box  cars  for  the  purx)ose. 

13.  They  are  immediately  placed  in  covered  pens,  with  plank  floors. 

14.  As  soon  as  practicable  after  arrival. 

15.  (Jood  com. 

16.  Two  bushels  to  carload,  a  carload  being  from  \'y  to  70  hogs. 

17.  Hauled  in  a  cart  to  the  pens,  and  left  on  the  floor  for  them. 

18.  Each  pen  in  the  yards  is  supplied  with  a  water  trough.  There  are  pipes 
leading  from  the  waterworks,  supplied  from  two  artesian  wells  (which  are  situated 
in  the  yards),  to  each  trough,  so  that  the  water  can  be  turned  on  or  off  at  each  pen 
without  interfering  with  any  other,  and  each  trough  is  supplied  with  a  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  it.  and  a  plug,  so  that  the  dirty  water  can  be  allowed  to  run  off  and  the 
trough  filled  with  clean  water.    This  water  is  pure  and  good. 

19.  When  they  come  in,  and  afterwards  when  needed. 

20.  By  pipes  from  the  waterworks  into  their  trough. 

21.  All  they  can  use. 

22.  There  are  two  officers— one  the  agent  of  the  Illinois  Humane  Society  and  one 
agent  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State — constantly  in  the  yards,  looking 
after  the  feeding  and  watering  of  stock.  Any  stock  that  comes  in  without  some 
person  in  charge,  these  officers  order  feed  for,  and  in  case  of  the  absence  of  the 
officers  the  stock  yard  company  will  feed  them. 

23.  They  are  put  into  good,  covered  pens,  with  plank  floors. 

24.  A  small  percentage:  can  not  answer  exactly. 

25.  From  injuries  received  in  transportation,  and  from  different  diseases  not 
known  to  me. 

26.  Sent  to  the  Union  Rendering  Establishment. 

27.  If  1  find  hogs  diseased  in  the  pens  I  report  the  fact  to  the  city  health  officer, 
stationed  at  the  yards.    My  duties  end  there. 

28.  If  the  health  officer  condemns  them,  he  sees  that  they  are  put  into  a  tank 
and  rendered  into  grease. 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  777 

29.  The  landing  platforms  around  the  yards  are  built  the  same  distance  from  the 
ground  as  the  car  doors,  so  that  the  hogs  can  walk  from  the  cars  to  the  pliitform, 
a  little  bridge  bein^  placed  from  each  car  door  to  the  platform,  so  that  the  hogs' 
legs  can  not  get  in  between  the  car  and  the  platform.  They  are  then  driven  into 
the  pens. 

30.  There  are  two  sizes  of  pens — 1 ,500  surface  feet,  and  500. 

31.  Fenced  all  around,  roofed,  and  boarded  floor. 

32.  Yes. 

33.  Scraped  and  cleaned  by  men. 

34.  They  are  always  kept  reasonably  clean,  and  there  are  thirty  carts  used  daily 
for  hauling  the  dirt  from  the  pens.  Each  cart  hauls  3  yards  of  dirt  at  a  load,  and 
each  cart  hauls  12  loads  per  day. 

35.  Washed  out  with  water  from  the  trough  supply  pipe. 

36.  There  are  three  health  officers  in  the  yards  who  attend  to  the  sanitary 
condition. 

37.  The  board  of  health  of  Chicago. 

38.  There  are  three  officers  of  the  board  of  health  detailed  to  look  after  diseased 
animals  here,  but  I  do  not  think  the  force  large  enough  to  detect  all  diseased  hogs 
that  arrive  at  the  yards.  It  is  true,  further,  that  a  large  number  of  sows  with 
young,  "piggy  sows,"  as  they  are  called,  are  sold  here  for  food.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  where  animals  are  in  that  condition  some  time  should  be  determined  upon 
after  which  their  being  used  for  food  should  be  prohibited. 

39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 

For  answers  to  these  questions  see  the  annual  report  of  the  Union  Stock  Yards 
Company,  which  I  send  herewith. 

No  hogs  of  any  description  are  allowed  to  be  driven  into  or  out  of  the  yards 
without  an  order,  so  it  is  impos.sible  for  any  hogs,  whether  sick  or  sound,  to  get 
into  or  out  of  the  yards  without  being  seen  by  some  connected  with  the  yards,  for 
they  are  ail  counted.  Orders  have  to  be  given  (of  which  I  inclose  forms)  to  the 
officer  stationed  at  the  gates  before  they  are  allowed  to  pass  in  or  out  of  the  yards. 
If  hogs  come  in  diseased,  if  alive  they  are  sold  by  the  owners  or  consignees  to  who- 
ever will  buy  them;  if  they  die  in  the  yards  they  go  to  the  rendering  establishment. 
No  dead  animals  are  allowed  to  be  taken  out  of  the  yards  for  food. 

William  Mitchell, 
Agent  Illinois  Humane  Society,  stationed  at  Union  Stock  Yards 

to  Enforce  the  Laws  Regai'ding  Cruelty  to  Animals. 

Replies  of  Oscar  De  Wolf,  M.  D.,  commissioner  of  health  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
Matthew  Lamb,  meat  inspector. 

Chicago,  February  4,  I884. 
Mr.  E.  W.  Blatchford, 

Of  American  Pork  Commission. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  circular  letter  of  the  2l8t  ult.  only  came  to  my  hand  yesterday 
on  my  return  from  the  East. 

In  reply  1  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  was  appointed  commissioner  of 
health  in  February,  1877,  and  have  been  in  sole  charge  of  the  department  since 
that  date;  that  it  is  made  by  law  my  duty  to  supervise  the  meat  supply  of  the  city, 
and  that  1  might  properly  perform  this  duty  it  became  necessary  to  extend  the 
supervision  to  an  examination  of  live  stock  arriving  at  the  stock  yards.  For  this 
purpose  there  are  three  officers  of  this  department  on  duty  at  the  yards — all  of 
them  experienced  judges  of  stock — who  are  directed  to  vigorously  cull  out  and 
condemn  all  stock  which,  from  any  cause,  is  unfit  for  food. 

The  stock-yard  authorities  and  large  packers  doing  business  at  the  yards  have 
always  honorably  and  actively  cooperated  with  this  department  in  this  work. 
They  have  placed  pens  and  yards  at  our  disposal,  over  which  the  health  officers 
have  absolute  control  and  into  which  the  authorities  place  all  animals  condemned 
by  the  officers,  such  animals  being  slaughtered  by  the  officers  and  turned  over  to 
the  Union  Rendering  Company,  as  explained  by  officer  Lamb.  Whenever  the 
force  of  officers  on  duty  at  the  yards  has  been  inadequate  for  the  work,  I  am  per- 
mitted to  employ  more  men  of  my  own  selection,  for  which  service  the  packers 
and  stock-yard  authorities  cheerfully  pay. 

The  statute  under  which  we  are  authorized  to  act  in  this  direction  is  section  7, 
chapter  38,  "Revised  Statutes  of  Illinois,"  1874,  as  follows: 

"Whoever  *  *  *  shall  sell  or  otter  to  sell  or  keep  for  sale  any  flesh  of  any 
diseased  animal,  or  other     *    *    *    unwholesome  provision  shall  be  confined  in 


778  SWINE    PEODUOTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

the  county  jail  not  exceeding  one  year,  or  be  fined  not  exceeding  $1,000,  or  both, 
in  the  d  scretion  of  the  court; "  and  also  section  i;Ji»9  of  the  revised  code  of  the  city 
of  Chicago,  as  follows: 

1;J8  >.  That  no  cattle  shall  be  killed  for  human  food  while  in  an'overheated,  fever- 
ish or  diseased  condition;  and  all  such  diseased  cattle  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
the  place  where  found  and  their  dise.ise,  shall  be  at  once  reported  to  the  commis- 
sioner of  health  by  the  owner  or  custodian  thereof,  that  the  proper  order  may  be 
made  relative  thereto. 

Respectfully  yours,  Oscar  C.  De  Wolf,  M.  D., 

Coniinissioner  of  Health. 

By  ordinance  the  word  "cattle"  includes  all  animals  used  for  food. 

Oscar  C.  De  Wolf, 

Commissioner  of  Health. 

Replies  of  Matthew  Lamb,  meat  inspector,  Chicago. 

1.  Is  any  examination  made  before  unloading  from  cars  to  detect  diseased  or 
injured  hogs? 

No. 

2.  If  80,  what  regulations  govern  such  examinations? 
None. 

3.  When  does  "  delivery  "  by  railroad  company  take  place? 
Immediately  after  arrival  at  stock  yards. 

4.  Are  any  special  instructions  given  in  regard  to  care  in  unloading? 

There  are  strict  orders  from  the  superintendent  of  the  stock  yards  company  as 
to  care;  also,  not  to  use  any  poles  with  spears.  Should  any  employee  disobey  those 
orders  he  is  forthwith  discharged. 

5.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  to  be  sick,  diseased,  bruised,  or  crippled? 
Those  that  are  unfit  for  human  food  are  condemned  by  health  officer  and  con- 
signed to  rendering  tanks. 

6.  What  is  done  with  hogs  found  smothered? 
They  are  used  for  grease. 

7.  What  is  done  with  hogs  dead  from  disease? 
They  are  also  used  for  grease. 

8.  Are  they  sold? 
Yes 

9.  To  whom? 

The  Union  Rendering  Company. 

10.  For  what  purpose? 
For  rendering  purposes. 

1 1 .  Where  are  they  sent? 

They  are  sent  to  the  Union  Rendering  Company's  establishment  at  Globe  Sta- 
tion, 111.,  24  miles  from  Chicago. 

12.  How  are  they  transported? 
By  railroad,  in  tight  boxed  cars. 

Vii.  What  is  done  with  healthy  hogs  on  their  arrival? 

They  are  put  in  covered  pens;  said  pens  have  a  floor  composed  of  planks. 

14.  When  are  they  fed? 
Generally  on  arrival. 

15.  What  kind  of  food  is  given  them? 

Corn  of  the  best  quality,  which  is  inspected  by  a  com  inspector. 

16.  What  quantity? 

As  much  as  they  can  constmie.  It  is  a  gain  to  feed  them,  as  all  hogs  are  sold  by 
weight. 

17.  How  is  it  furnished  to  them? 
It  is  fed  to  them  in  the  pens. 

18.  Are  they  watered? 

They  are;  also  the  water  is  good,  healthy,  and  a  large  amount  of  it,  as  the  yards 
have  a  big  supply  from  five  artesian  wells. 

19.  When. 

The  water  is  turned  on  when  the  hogs  enter  the  pen. 

20.  How  is  the  water  furnished  to  them? 

There  is  a  stand  pipe  in  the  pen;  also  a  tight  trough  with  a  plug  inserted  in  said 
trough,  so  when  the  hogs  are  after  drinking,  the  plug  is  withdrawn  and  fresh 
water  again  supplied,  if  needed. 

21.  What  quantity? 

22.  In  the  absence  of  orders  by  owners  or  consignees  of  hogs,  have  you  any  reg- 
ulations authorizing  the  feeding  and  watering  of  hogs. 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  779 

Yes;  there  are  two  humane  officers  at  the  yards  who  attend  to  such  tbinjrs:  one 
is  a  State  officer,  the  other  is  an  officer  of  the  Chicago  Humane  Society;  also  the 
stock  yards  company  attend  to  such  matters, 

23.  How  are  th6  hogs  cared  for  in  bad  weather? 
They  are  well  cared  for. 

24.  How  many  hogs  die  in  the  yards? 
A  very  small  percentage. 

25.  From  what  cause? 

From  overloading  in  some  cases,  and  a  few  from  disease,  also  some  piggy  sows, 
which  in  my  opinion  should  not  be  shipped  to  market. 

26.  What  is  done  with  them? 

They  go  to  the  Union  Rendering  Company's  tanks,  for  grease  purposes. 

27.  What  is  done  with  the  diseased  hogs  if  discovered  in  the  pens? 

When  killed  they  are'inspected  by  me,  the  health  officer,  and  if  unfit  for  human 
food  they  are  condemned  and  put  into  rendering  tanks  for  grease  and  fertilizing 
purposes. 

28.  How  are  these  hogs  disposed  of? 

Condemned  and  put  in  tanks  for  grease  and  fertilizing  purposes. 

29.  How  arranged  to  receive  hogs  from  cars? 
The  arrangements  are  perfect  in  all  divisions. 

30.  What  is  the  size  of  the  pens? 

The  pens  vary  in  size  from  500  s  juare  feet  to  2,000  square  feet.  The  first  size 
will  contain  one  carload  and  the  latter  size  four  carloads. 

31.  How  are  they  protected? 

They  are  roofed  over  and  well  protected. 

32.  Are  they  drained? 

They  are  well  and  thoroughly  drained. 

33.  How  can  they  be  cleaned? 

By  a  two-horse  cart  being  driven  into  them  and  the  refuse  matter  loaded  into 
said  cart  and  it  taken  therefrom. 

34.  What  are  the  regulations  in  regard  to  keeping  the  pens  c>an? 
To  be  cleaned  when  needed. 

3"),  What  measures  are  adopted  to  disinfect  pens  where  diseased  hogs  have  been? 
Thoroughly  washed  out  wih  water. 

3r>.  Is  there  any  inspection  made  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  yards  or  the 
condition  and  care  of  the  hogs? 
There  are  three  sanitary  policemen  assigned  to  do  duty  at  said  yards. 

37.  If  so,  under  what  authority? 

Those  officers  belong  to  the  Chicago  health  department. 

38.  Is  such  inspection  sufficient  and  effective  to  secure  the  sanitary  condition  of 
the  premises  and  prevent  any  hogs,  diseased  or  in  improper  condition,  going  into 
food? 

It  is. 

39.  Please  state  what  system  of  supervision  is  adopted  to  prevent  any  diseased 
hogs  going  into  food,  and  under  what  authority  such  supervision  is  exercised, 
whether  municipal.  State,  or  the  national  or  local  humane  society. 

I  am  stationed  at  the  Union  Stock  Yards  from  7  a.  m.  until  6  p.  m.  each  day,  to 
see  that  no  diseased,  crippled,  emaciated,  or  bruised  animal  is  used  for  human 
food;  to  condemn  and  confiscate  forthwith  such  animal  or  animals,  and  have  them 
consigned  to  the  rendering  tanks.  I  am  under  the  supervision  of  Oscar  C.  De  Wolf, 
M.  D.,  commissioner  of  health  of  Chicago,  111. 

Matthew  Lamb, 
Meat  Inspector  at  Union  Stock  YardSf  Chicago,  III. 
January  21, 1884. 

(See  blank  form  of  order  of  health  officer  herewith.) 

Health  Department,  City  Hall, 

Chicago,  January  21,  1881. 
Matthew  Lamb,  sanitary  inspector,  is  authorized  to  condemn  and  remove 


at ,  No. street,  as  being  detrimental  to  health  and  unfit  for  human 

food. 

penalty  for  the  selling  op  unsound  meats,  etc. 

For  the  further  maintenance  of  the  public  health  it  is  ordered  that,  if  any  per- 
son shall,  on  and  after  June  10,  1858,  sell,  or  expose  for  sale,  in  any  market  house 
or  elsewhere  in  said  city  any  emaciated,  tainted  or  putrid  meat  or  provisions, 
which  for  these  or  other  causes  may  be  deemed  unwholesome,  such  person  shall, 


780  8 WINE   PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

on  conviction,  be  fined  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  five  hnndred  dollars  for 
each  and  every  offense;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  sanitary  sii]  erintendent  or 
health  officer  to  forthwith  seize  and  confiscate  all  .suirli  meat  or  provisions. 
By  order  of  the  commissioner  of  health. 

OscAB  C.  De  Wolf,  Health  Officer. 

THE  HOG  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  THE  PACKERS;   THE  MODE  OF  PURCHASE,  SLAUGHTER- 
ING, AND  CURING. 

The  following  questions  were  addressed  to  all  the  principal  packers  of  the  coun- 
try, either  personally  or  by  mail,  and  the  replies  were  made  accordingly. 

Questions  submitted  to  packers, 

1.  Where  and  how  are  the  hogs  purchased? 

2.  How  do  you  buy  your  hogs? 

3.  In  selecting  hogs  do  you  reject  the  following,  viz: 

4.  Diseased? 

5.  Bruised  or  abused  hogs? 

6.  Ruptured? 

7.  Still-fed? 

8.  Piggy  sows? 

9.  Stags? 

10.  Crippled  hogs? 

11.  Are  nogs  usually  rejected  for  these  reasons? 

12.  Is  it  customary  to  buy  hogs  from  the  general  appearance,  weight,  and  even- 
ness of  a  lot? 

13.  What  is  done  with  rejected  hogs? 

14.  How  long  are  the  hogs  kept  in  your  pens  before  slaughtering? 

15.  Why  are  they  kept  this  length  of  time? 

16.  How  do  you  care  for  them  in  your  pens? 

17.  How  are  these  pens  constructed? 

18.  Do  any  die  in  the  pens? 

19.  If  so,  how  many  and  fiom  what  causef 

20.  What  is  done  with  the  dead  hogs? 

21.  How  are  the  hogs  prepared  for  slaughtering? 

22.  How  are  hogs  taken  from  the  pens  to  the  slaughtering  room? 

23.  If  hogs  are  unable  to  be  driven  to  the  slaughtering  room,  wluit  is  done  with 
them? 

24.  What  mode  of  slaughter  do  you  adopt? 

25.  What  time  is  allowed  the  hog  to  bleed? 

26.  Is  an  examination  made  whether  life  is  extinct  before  scalding? 

Treatment  of  carcass  of  hag  after  slaughter. 

27.  What  is  the  next  process  with  the  carcass? 

28.  What  time  is  allowed  the  carcass  to  cool  before  cutting  up? 

2!).  Is  the  carcass  thoroughly  cooled  before  going  to  the  cutting  bench? 

30.  Is  this  rule  strictly  carried  out? 

31.  Why  is  the  thorough  cooling  of  the  carcass  important  before  cutting  up  and 
commencing  to  cure? 

32.  Is  there  any  inspection  made  to  ascertain  that  it  is  thoroughly  cooled? 

33.  What  is  the  rule  for  cutting? 

34.  Is  inspection  of  meat  had  at  time  of  cutting  up,  and  for  what? 

35.  Is  such  inspection  sufficiently  thorough  to  detect  disease  or  bruises? 

36.  After  cutting  up  the  carcass,  how  are  the  parts  treated  to  effect  a  cure? 

37.  How  are  they  piled  to  secure  thorough  curing? 

38.  What  is  the  temperature  of  the  room? 

39.  What  time  is  re(iuired  for  curing? 

40.  Is  meat  ever  shipped  before  being  cured? 

41 .  Is  it  desirable  to  effect  a  cure  in  as  short  time  as  possible? 

42.  Is  not  the  curing  of  the  meat  often  forced  for  purpose  of  making  it  salable 
and  deliverable  in  as  short  time  as  possible? 

43.  Do  you  ascertain  by  inspection  the  soundness  of  your  cured  meat? 

44.  To  what  causes  do  you  attribute  unsound  or  ''sour  "  meat? 

45.  Do  you  attribute  it  to  diseased  carcass? 

46.  Do  you  attribute  it  to  a  faiilty  treatment? 

47.  What  quality  of  "sour  "  meat  do  you  have? 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  781 

48.  What  is  done  with  it? 

49.  What,  if  any  changes  in  modes  of  curing  are  adopted  for  meats  (^esLinel  to 
markets  in  different  climates? 

.")0.  Can  as  reliable  results  of  curing  be  had  in  summer  as  in  winter? 

.11.  What  kind  or  kinds  of  salt  are  used? 

52.  Why  do  you  give  this  kind  or  kinds  preference? 

')'d.  How  is  meat  packed  for  shipment? 

54.  What  is  the  quality  of  the  packages  used? 

55.  What  is  the  size  of  packages? 

56.  What  weight  of  meat  is  put  in  each  box? 

57.  Is  any  salt  put  in? 

58.  How  much  to  each  box  of  meat? 

59.  What  is  the  rule? 

60.  Is  this  rule  strictly  adhered  to? 

61.  Is  not  less  salt  used  than  the  rule  calls  for  to  save  expense? 

62.  What  is  the  character  of  the  salt  used? 

63.  Is  any  care  taken  that  the  salt  be  clean? 

64.  What  is  your  rule  for  cutting  mess  pork? 

65.  How  many  pieces  in  each  barrel? 

66.  What  is  the  weight  of  meat  in  each  barrel? 

67.  What  kind  of  salt  is  used? 

68.  What  quantity  of  salt  is  used? 

69.  How  is  the  quality  tested? 

70.  Where  is  mess  pork  stored? 

71.  What  are  the  regulations  regarding  its  storage? 

72.  What  is  the  temperature  of  the  warehouse? 

73.  What  examinations  are  made  as  to  its  conditions  from  time  to  time? 

74.  What  number  of  hogs  do  you  kill  annually? 

75.  What  is  their  average  weight? 

.    76.  What  parts  of  the  hog  do  you  use  for  lard? 

77.  What  do  you  include  as  offal? 

78.  What  is  done  with  the  head? 

79.  What  is  done  with  the  feet? 

80.  What  is  done  with  the  entrails? 

81.  What  is  done  with  the  heart? 

82.  What  is  done  with  the  liver  and  lights? 

83.  What  is  done  with  the  blood? 

84.  What  is  done  with  the  refuse  from  tanks? 

85.  Is  all  meat  inspected  before  being  shipped? 

86.  By  whom? 

87.  Under  what  authority? 

88.  Is  meat  ever  packed  and  shipped  without  being  inspected? 

89.  Under  what  circumstances? 

90.  Do  you  ever  guarantee  inspection? 

91.  If  so,  under  what  circumstances  and  to  what  extent? 

92.  What  course  does  the  inspector  take  in  examining  meat? 

93.  Does  he  examine  each  piece? 

94.  What  tests  are  made? 

95.  For  fully  or  properly  cured? 

96.  For  stags? 

97.  For  piggy  sows? 

98.  For  "soiir"  meat? 

99.  For  bruised  meat? 

100.  For  what  causes  is  meat  rejected? 

101.  What  is  done  with  meat  rejected  by  the  inspectors? 

PURCHASE  OF  HOGS. 

Those  packing  companies  which  do  business  in  the  large  cities  purchase  their 
hogs  in  the  stock  yards  from  the  shippers,  owners,  or  consignees.  Packers  in  the 
smaller  cities  of  the  country  buy  directly  from  the  farmers.  In  all  cases  the  buy- 
ing is  done  by  experts,  who  are  selected  because  of  their  ability  to  judge  of  the 
condition  and  health  of  the  hogs.  Barrows  and  spayed  sows  are  preferred;  "stags" 
and  "piggy  "  sows  are  I'e'ected  by  some,  by  others  they  are  bought  at  a  reduction 
of  60  to  80  pounds  on  the  former  and  40  pounds  on  the  latter,  and  cured  for  domes- 
tic markets.  Diseased,  bruised,  crippled,  and  ruptured  hogs,  with  very  few  excep- 
tions, are  rejected.  Still-fed  hogs  (distillery  swill)  are  also  generally  rejected,  the 
meat  being  too  soft  and  oily. 


782  SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

DISPOSITION  OF  REJECTED  HOOS. 

The  rejected  hogs  are  generally  tanked  for  grease,  but "  stags  "  and  "piggy  "  sows 
often  go  into  consumption  as  secoml-quality  pork.  Bruised  and  crippled  hogs 
which  do  not  seem  feverish  are  also  at  times  cured  after  slaughter,  provided  the 
meat  passes  inspection  as  fit  for  food,  but  the  injured  parts  are  always  rejected. 
As  a  rule  the  larger  establishments  refuse  crippled  and  bruised  hogs,  and  these 
find  their  way,  when  not  tanked,  into  the  hands  of  the  city  butchers,  and,  unless 
condemned  by  the  health  officers,  are  sold  for  local  consumption. 

HOGS  IN  THE   PACKERS'  PENS. 

All  the  packers  hold  the  hogs  alive  for  from  twelve  to  forty-eight  hours  before 
killing  in  order  that  the  excitement  of  the  journey  may  be  allayed,  and  tliat  they 
may  have  time  to  rest  and  cool.  If  killed  sooner  than  this  the  animals  are  more 
or  less  feverish  and  overheated,  and  the  meat  can  not  be  cured  without  danger  of 
a  large  proportion  becoming  "  sour,"  particularly  about  the  joints  of  the  hams  and 
shoulders.  During  this  time  the  animals  are  kept  in  covered  and  floored  pens, 
with  good  water  constantly  before  them,  as  this  greatly  assists  the  "  cooling."  and 
they  are  fed  with  corn  until  within  twenty-four  hours  of  the  time  of  slaughter. 
Very  few  hogs  die  in  the  packers'  pens,  and  these  mostly  from  crowding  and 
smothering  each  other,  but  the  proportion  is  extremely  small,  varying  from  1  in 
5,000  to  1  in  1,000  handled.    Such  dead  hogs  go  to  the  tanks  for  grease. 

SLAUGHTERING. 

The  animals  to  be  slaughtered  are  driven  from  the  pens  up  an  inclined  way  to 
one  of  the  upper  floors  of  the  packing  house-.  Those  fit  to  be  killed  and  too  fat  or 
from  other  cause  unable  to  walk  are  hoisted  up  to  the  slaughter  pen.  In  most  of 
the  larger  houses  the  anima's  are  then  lifted  up  by  the  hind  legs,  and  killed  by 
sticking  with  the  head  hanging  down.  A  considerable  number  of  companies,  how- 
ever, knock  the  hog  on  the  head  before  sticking  or  hoisting,  as  they  think  better 
meat  is  made  from  bogs  killed  in  this  way,  the  struggles  of  the  animal  after  being 
stuck  by  the  other  method  being  supposed  at  times  to  cause  injuries  to  the  joints. 
In  any  case  they  are  allowed  to  hang  and  bleed  from  three  to  ten  minutes,  or  until 
dead,  when  they  are  dx-opped  into  the  scalding  vat.  then  scraped,  and  the  entrails 
removed,  when,  after  washing,  they  go  to  the  cooling  room. 

COOLING  AND  CUTTING. 

The  carcasses  are  allowed  to  hang  in  the  cooling  room  from  twenty-four  to 
forty-eight  hours  before  cutting,  and  hams  and  shoulders  are  frequently  cooled 
twelve  to  twenty-four  hours  longer  before  salting.  The  necessity  of  thorough 
cooling  is  well  understood  by  all  packers,  and  they  are  extremely  particular  in 
regard  to  this  part  of  the  process.  Some  test  the  meat  with  a  thermometer,  others 
rely  upon  hourly  tests  of  the  temperature  of  the  room,  but  all  agree  that  the  cool- 
ing must  be  thorough  or  the  meat  can  not  be  cured  without  "  souring;"  a  careful 
inspection  is  generally  made  before  cutting  to  determine  if  this  has  been  carried  to 
the  proper  point.  The  cutting  and  trimming  differs  somewhat  according  to  the 
directions  of  the  boards  of  trade  in  their  respective  cities  and  the  market  for 
which  the  meat  is  intended. 

The  rules  established  by  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  Stat©  of 
Illinois,  September  1,  1883,  are  here  inserted: 

REQUIREMENTS.  AS  TO  CUT  AND  PACKING  OF  HOG  PRODUCTS. 

Barbelbd  Pork. 

Mess  pork. 

Standard  mess  pork  should  be  made  from  sides  of  well  fatted  hogs,  split  through 
or  on  one  side  of  the  back-bone,  and  equal  proportions  on  lx)th  sides,  cut  into  slrips 
of  reasonably  uniform  width,  properly  flanked  and  not  backstrai)ped. 

One  hundred  and  ninety  (190)  pounds  of  green  meat,  and  between  March  1  and 
November  I  two  hundred  (200)  pounds,  numbering  not  over  sixteen  (Ifi)  pieces, 
including  the  regular  proportion  of  flank  and  shoulder  cuts,  placed  four  layer .;  on 
edge,  without  excessive  crowding  or  bruising,  shall  be  packed  in  each  barrel,  with 
not  less  than  thirty  (30)  pounds  of  coarse  salt,  and  barrel  filled  with  brine  of  full 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  783 

strength,  or  thirty  (30)  pounds  of  coarse  salt,  and  in  addition  thereto  fifteen  (15) 
pounds  of  salt,  and  barrel  filled  with  cold  water. 

Prime  mess  pork. 

Prime  mess  pork  should  be  made  from  the  shoulders  and  sides  of  hogs  weighing 
from  one  hundred  (100)  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  (175)  pounds  net.  to  be 
cut  as  near  as  practicable  into  square  pieces  of  four  (4)  j)ounds  each,  the  shank  of 
the  shoulder  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

One  hundred  and  ninety  (190)  pounds  of  green  meat,  in  the  proportion  of  twenty 
(20)  pieces  of  shoulder  cuts  to  thirty  (30)  pieces  of  side  cuts,  shall  be  properly 
packed  in  each  barrel,  with  not  less  than  twenty  (30)  pounds  of  coarse  salt  and 
barrel  filled  with  brine  of  full  strength,  or  twenty  (20)  pounds  of  coarse  salr.  and 
in  addition  thereto  fifteen  (15)  pounds  of  salt  and  barrel  filled  with  water.  There 
shall  also  be  put  into  each  barrel  twelve  (12)  ounces  of  saltpeter. 

Extra  prime  pork. 

Extra  prime  pork  should  be  made  from  heavy,  untrimmed  shoulders,  cut  into 
three  (3)  pieces,  the  leg  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  breast,  and  in  all  other  respects 
to  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  as  mess  pork. 

Light  mess  pork. 

Light  mess  pork  should  be  made  from  sides  of  reasonably  well-fatted  hogs,  and 
in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  same  as  mess  pork,  except  that 
as  many  as  twenty-two  (22)  pieces  may  be  put  into  each  barrel. 

Back  pork. 

Back  pork  should  be  made  from  backs  of  hogs  after  bellies  have  been  taken  off, 
cut  into  pieces  of  about  six  (G)  pounds  each,  and  in  all  other  resi^ects  to  be  cut, 
selected,  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Extra  shoulder  pork. 

Extra  shoulder  pork  should  be  made  from  heavy  trimmed  shoulders,  cut  into 
three  (3)  pieces,  the  leg  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  t)reast.  and  in  all  other  respects 
to  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Extra  clear  pork. 

Extra  clear  pork  should  be  made  from  the  sides  of  extra  heavy,  well-fatted 
hogs,  the  backbone  and  ribs  to  be  taken  out,  the  numbei-  of  pieces  in  each  barrel 
not  to  exceed  fourteen  (14),  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut,  selected,  and 
packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Clear  pork. 

Clear  pork  should  be  made  from  the  sides  of  extra  heavy,  well-fatted  hogs,  the 
backi)one  and  half  the  rib  next  the  backbone  to  be  talccn  out,  the  number  of  pieces 
in  each  barrel  not  to  exceed  lour  teen  (14),  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut, 
selected,  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Clear  back  pork. 

Clear  back  pork  should  be  made  from  the  backs  of  heavy,  well-fatted  hogs  after 
bellies  have  been  taken  off  and  backbone  and  ribs  taken  out,  cut  into  pieces  of 
about  six  (0)  pounds  each,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  packed  in  the  same 
manner  as  mess  pork. 

Rumps. 

Rumps  should  be  trimmed  with  only  enough  taken  off  to  make  them  neat  and 
smooth,  the  tails  to  be  cut  off  close,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut,  selected, 
and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Pickled  Meats. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  hams. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  hams  should  be  cut  short  and  well  rounded  at  the  butt, 
properly  faced,  shank  cut  in  or  above  the  hock  joint;  to  be  reasonably  uniform  in 


784  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

size,  and  to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  sixteen  (1&)  pounds.  Three  hundred 
(300)  pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce,  with  either  twenty-four 
(24)  pounds  of  salt,  three  (3)  ciuarts  of  good  sirup,  twelve  (12)  ounces  of  saltpeter, 
and  tierces  filled  with  water;  or  tierce  filled  with  sweet  pickle,  made  according  to 
above  standard. 

Standard  swcet-picJcled  shoulders. 

Standard  sweet-pickled,  shoulders  should  be  well  cut  and  trimmed,  reasonably 
uniform  in  size,  and  to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  sixteen  (16)  pounds.  Three 
hundred  (300)  pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce.  Pickle  the 
same  as  used  for  hams. 

New  York  shoulders. 

New  York  shoiilders  should  be  made  from  small,  smooth  hog^,  shank  cut  off  1 
inch  above  knee  joint,  trimmed  close  and  smooth,  reasonably  uniform  in  size,  and 
to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  fourteen  (14)  pounds.  Tliree  hundred  (300) 
pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce.  Pickle  the  same  as  used  for 
hams. 

Sweet-picJcled  bellies. 

Sweet- pickled  bellies  should  be  made  from  nice,  smooth  hogs,  well  cut  and 
trimmed,  to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  fourteen  (14)  pounds.  Three  hundred 
(300)  pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce.  Pickle  the  same  as 
used  for  hams. 

Branding. 

The  packer's  name,  location,  n amber  of  pieces,  and  date  of  packing  shall  be 
branded  on  the  head  of  each  package  of  pickled  meats  at  the  time  of  packing. 

Uniformity  of  pickled  meats. 

All  pickled  meats  should  be  sized  when  packed,  the  light,  medium,  and  heavy 
separately,  as  nearly  as  practicable. 

Cut  Heats. 

Hams. 

Hams  should  be  cut  short,  well  rounded  at  the  butt,  properly  faced,  cut  in  or 
above  the  hock  joint. 

Shoulders. 

Shoulders  should  be  cut  as  close  as  possible  to  the  back  part  of  the  forearm  joint, 
butted  off  square  on  top;  neck  bone  and  spareribs  taken  out,  blood  vein  lifted  and 
cut  out,  breast  tiap  to  be  trimmed  off,  and  foot  to  be  cut  off  in  or  above  the  knee- 
joint. 

Bladed  slioulders. 

Bladed  shoulders  should  be  cut  the  same  as  standard  shoulders,  excepting  the 
shoulder  blade  to  be  taken  out  and  the  corners  rounded. 

Rough  sides. 

Rough  sides  should  be  made  by  slitting  the  hog  through  or  on  one  side  of  the 
backbone,  and  an  equal  proportion  of  both  sides  must  be  delivered  on  sales  to 
make  them  standard. 

Short  dear  sides. 

To  make  short  clear  sides  the  back-bone  and  ribs  should  be  taken  out,  hench-bone 
or  breast-bone  sawed  or  cut  down  smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side;  feather 
or  blade  bane  not  to  be  taken  out,  and  sides  not  to  be  backstrapped  or  flanked. 

Short-rib  sides. 

To  make  short-rib  sides,  the  back-bone  should  be  taken  out,  hench-bone  and 
breast-bone  sawed  or  cut  down  smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side;  feather 
of  blade-bone  not  to  be  taken  out,  and  sides  not  to  be  backstrapped  or  flanked. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  785 

Long  clear  sides. 

To  make  long  clear  sides,  the  back-bone,  shoulder-bones,  and  ribs  must  be  taken 
out,  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  brisket,  hench-bone  and  breast  bone  sawed  or  cut  down 
smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side,  and  sides  not  to  be  backstrapped  or 
flanked. 

Cumberland  sides. 

To  make  Cumberland  sides,  the  side  and  shoulder  should  be  left  together  in  one 
piece,  leg  cut  off  below  the  knee-joint;  shoulder-ribs,  neck-bone,  and  back-bone 
taken  out;  blood- vein  lifted  and  cut  out;  hench-bone  and  breast-bone  sawed  or  cut 
down  smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side,  and  sides  not  to  be  backstrapped 
or  flanked. 

Long-rib  sides. 

Long-rib  sides  should  be  made  same  as  Cumberlands,  except  that  the  shou'der- 
bones  must  be  taken  out  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  brisket. 

Stretford  sides. 

Stretford  sides  should  be  made  from  hogs  weighing  about  140  to  160  pounds  net; 
back-bone  and  half  of  the  ribs  taken  out,  blade-bone  taken  out,  knuckle  left  in, 
and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

Birmingham  sides. 

Birmingham  sides  should  be  made  from  hogs  weighing  about  170  pounds  net; 
back-bone,  ribs,  and  blade-bone  ta'<en  out,  pocket-piece  cut  oiit  and  pocket  nicely 
rounded,  knuckle- bone  left  in,  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

South  Staffordshire  sides. 

South  Staffordshire  sides  should  be  made  the  same  as  Birmingham,  except  loin 
taken  out  full  to  top  of  shoulder-blade,  leaving  only  a  thin  strip  of  lean  along  the 
back;  knuckle  left  in,  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

Yorkshire  sides. 

Yorkshire  sides  should  be  made  the  same  as  Cumberlands,  with  ribs  out  and  leg 
cut  off  about  two  inches  above  the  knee. 

Irish  cut  sides. 

Irish  cut  sides  should  be  made  the  same  as  long  clear,  except  top  of  the  pocket 
cut  off,  knuckle-bone  left  in. 

Long  hams. 

Long  hams  should  be  cut  from  the  side  by  separating  with  a  knife  the  hip-bone 
from  the  rump,  properly  rounded  out,  foot  unjointed  at  first  joint  below  the  hock- 
joint. 

South  Staffordshire  hams. 

South  Staffordshire  hams  should  be  cut  short,  hip-bone  taken  oat  at  socket-joint, 
hock  unjointed  at  first  joint  below  the  hock-joint. 

Uniformity  of  boxed  meats. 

In  packing  meats  in  boxes  the  pieces  should  be  classified,  the  light,  medium,  and 
heavy  separately,  as  nearly  as  practicable,  in  packages  made  to  suit  the  different 
sizes. 

Lard. 
Choice  lard. 

Choice  lard  to  be  made  from  leaf  and  trimmings  only,  either  steam  or  kettle  ren- 
dered, the  manner  of  rendering  to  be  branded  on  each  tierce, 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 50 


786  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UMTED   STATES. 

Prime  steam  lard. 

Prime  steam  lard  shall  be  standard  when  made  from  the  head,  gut,  leaf,  and 
trimmings,  in  the  proportion  in  which  the  same  came  from  the  hog,  but  shall  not 
inclade  any  material  which  has  been  salted. 

The  rules  established  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  are 
here  inserted: 

BULES  FOE  THE  CUT  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  THE  HOO  PRODUCT. 

Bakkeleo  Pokk. 

Mess  pork. 

Mess  pork  shall  be  cut  and  packed  from  sides  of  well-fatted  hogs,  in  strips:  the 
hog  to  be  first  split  througli  the  lackbone.  or,  if  split  on  one  side,  then  an  equal 
proportion  of  hard  and  soft  sides,  as  they  are  termed,  must  be  packed,  properly 
flanked,  and  not  backstrapped.  One  hundred  and  ninety  pounds  of  green  meat, 
numbering  not  over  sixteen  pieces,  including  the  regular  proportion  of  flank  and 
shoulder  cuts, four  layers  placed  on  edge  without  excessive  crowding  or  bruising, 
must  be  packed  into  each  barrel,  with  not  less  than  thirty-five  pounds  of  good  for- 
eign, or  forty  pounds  of  good  domestic,  coarse  salt,  and  filled  up  with  good  clear 
brine,  as  strong  as  salt  will  make  it.  The  pork  to  be  cut  reasonably  uniform  in 
width.  The  packer's  name  and  location,  the  date  of  packing,  and  the  number  of 
pieces  and  pounds  of  green  meat  in  each  barrel  must  be  branded  on  the  head  with 
a  metallic  brand,  marking  iron,  or  stencil  brand,  at  the  time  of  packing. 

Prime  m^ss  pork. 

Prime  mess  pork  shall  be  made  of  the  shoulders  and  sides  of  nice,  smooth,  fat 
hogs,  weighing  from  100  to  160  pounds,  net,  regularly  cut  into  square  pieces,  aa 
near  four  pounds  each  as  possible,  the  shank  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  breast;  each 
barrel  to  contain  one  hundred  and  ninety  pounds  of  green  meat,  in  the  proportion 
of  twenty  pieces  of  shoulder  and  thirty  pieces  of  side  cuts,  and  to  be  packed  with 
twenty  pounds  of  good,  coarse  salt,  with  the  addition  of  eight  ounces  of  saltpeter. 
The  prime  pieces  should  be  cut  clear  of  the  blade-bone;  the  shoulder -pieces  not  to 
exceed  eighty-five  pounds  in  each  barrel. 

Extra  primje  pork. 

Extra  prime  pork  shall  be  made  from  heavy,  untrimmed  shoulders,  cut  into 
three  pieces,  the  leg  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  breast,  to  be  packed  one  hundred  and 
ninety  pounds  of  green  meat  into  each  barrel,  with  the  same  quantity  and  quality 
of  salt  as  mess  pork. 

Light  mess  pork. 

Light  mess  pork  shall  be  made  from  the  sides  of  reasonably  well  fatted  hogs, 
and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  the  same  as  mess  pork 
except  that  as  many  as  twenty-two  pieces  may  be  put  into  each  barrel. 

Family  mess  pork. 

Family  mess  pork  shall  be  made  from  backs  of  hogs,  after  bellies  have  been 
taken  off,  cut  into  pieces  about  six  pounds  each,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be 
selected  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Extra  shoulder  pork. 

Extra  shoulder  pork  shall  be  made  from  heavy,  trimmed  shoulders,  cut  into 
three  pieces,  the  leg  to  be  cut  off  close  to  the  breast,  and  in  all  other  respects 
selected  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  extra  prime  pork. 

Extra  clear  pork. 

Extra  clear  pork  shall  be  made  from  the  sides  of  extra  heavy,  well-fatted  hogs, 
the  backbone  and  ribs  to  be  taken  out,  the  number  of  pieces  in  each  barrel  not  to 
exceed  fourteen,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  in  the 
same  manner  as  mess  pork. 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  787 

Clear  pork. 

Clear  pork  shall  be  made  from  the  sides  of  extra  heavy,  well-fatted  hogs,  the 
backbone  and  half  the  rib  next  to  the  backbone  to  be  taken  out,  the  number  of 
pieces  in  each  barrel  not  to  exceed  fourteen,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  cut, 
selected,  and  packed  in  the  same  manner  as  mess  pork. 

Clear  family  mess  pork. 

Clear  family  mess  pork  shall  be  made  from  the  backs  of  heavy,  well-fatted  hogs, 
after  bellies  have  been  taken  off  and  backbone  and  ribs  taken  out,  cut  into  pieces 
of  about  six  pounds  each,  and  in  all  other  respects  to  be  packed  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  mess  pork. 

Rumps. 

Rumps  shall  be  trimmed  with  only  enough  taken  off  to  make  them  neat  and 
smooth,  the  tails  cut  off  close,  each  barrel  to  contain  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds  of  green  meat,  packed  in  the  same  quantity  and  quality  of  salt  as  mess 
pork,  and  the  number  of  pieces  to  be  similarly  branded  on  each  barrel  at  the  time 
of  packmg. 

Pickled  Meats. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  hams. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  hams  shall  be  cut  short  and  well  rounded  at  the  buttj 
properly  faced,  shank  cut  just  in  or  above  the  hock  joint,  to  be  reasonably  uniform 
in  size  and  average.  Three  hundred  pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  placed  in 
each  tierce. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  shoulders. 

Standard  sweet-pickled  shoulders  shall  be  well  cut  and  trimmed;  shank  cut  in 
or  above  the  kneejoint.  to  be  reasonably  uniform  in  size.  Three  hundred  pounds, 
block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce. 

New  York  shoulders. 

New  York  shoulders  shall  be  made  from  small,  smooth  hogs,  shank  cut  off  one 
inch  above  kneejoint,  trimmed  close  and  smooth,  reasonably  uniform  in  size,  and 
to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  fourteen  pounds.  Three  hundred  pounds,  block 
weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce. 

Sweet-pickled  bellies. 

Sweet-pickled  bellies  shall  be  made  from  nice,  smooth  hogs,  well  cut  and 
trimmed,  to  average,  in  lots,  not  to  exceed  fourteen  pounds.  Three  hundred 
pounds,  block  weight,  shall  be  packed  in  each  tierce. 

Branding. 

The  packer's  name,  location,  number  of  pieces,  and  date  of  packing  shall  be 
branded  on  the  head  of  each  package  of  pickled  meats  at  the  time  of  packing. 

Uniformity  of  pickled  m^ats. 

All  pickled  meats  shall  be  sized  when  packed,  the  light,  medium,  and  heavy 
separately,  as  near  as  practicable. 

Cut  Meats. 

Hams. 

Hams  shall  be  cut  short,  well  rounded  at  the  butt,  properly  faced,  cut  just  in  or 
above  the  hock  joint. 

Shoidders. 

Shoulders  shall  be  cut  at  right  angles  to  the  side,  and  as  close  as  possible  to  the 
back  part  of  the  forearm  joint,  butted  off  square  on  top.  neck  bone  and  short  ribs 
taken  out,  blood  vein  lifted  and  cut  out,  breast  flap  to  be  trimmed  off,  and  foot  to 
be  cut  off  in  or  above  the  kuee-joint. 


788  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Bladed  shoulders. 

Bladed  shoulders  shall  be  cnt  the  same  as  "  standard"  shoulders,  excepting  the 
shoulder  blade  to  be  taken  out  and  the  corners  rounded. 

Rough  sides. 

Rough  sides  shall  be  made  by  splitting  the  hog  through  one  side  of  the  backbone, 
and  an  equal  proportion  of  both  sides  must  be  delivered  on  sales,  to  make  them 
"standard." 

Short  clear  sides. 

To  make  short  clear  sides  the  backbone,  breastbone,  and  ribs  shall  be  taken  out, 
and  bench  bone  savved  down  smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side,  feather  of 
blade  bone  not  to  be  taken  out,  edges  to  be  left  smooth,  sides  not  to  be  back  strapped 
or  flanked. 

Short-rib  sides,    ■ 

To  make  short-rib  sides  the  backbone  should  be  taken  out,  bench  bone  and  breast- 
bone sawed  or  cut  down  smooth  and  even  with  the  lace  of  the  side,  feather  of  blade 
bone  not  to  be  taken  out,  and  side  not  to  be  back  strapped  or  flanked. 

Long  clear  sides. 

To  make  long  clear  sides  the  backbone,  shoulder  bones,  ribs,  and  breastbone  must 
be  taken  out,  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  brisket,  bench  bone  sawed  down  smooth  and 
even  with  the  face  of  the  side,  and  the  sides  not  to  be  back  strapped  or  flanked. 

Cumberland  sides. 

To  make  Cumberland  sides  the  side  and  shoulder  should  be  left  together  in  one 
piece:  foot  cut  off  in  or  above  kneejoint;  shoulder  ribs,  neck  bone,  and  backbone 
taken  out:  blood  vein  lifted  and  cut  out;  bench  bone  and  breastbone  sawed  or  cut 
down  smooth  and  even  with  the  face  of  the  side,  and  sides  not  to  be  back  strapped 
or  flanked.    Ribs  must  not  be  scribed. 

Long-rib  sides. 

Long-rib  sides  to  be  made  same  as  Cumberlands,  except  that  the  shoulder  bones 
must  be  taken  out  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  brisket. 

Stretford  sides. 

Stretford  sides  shall  be  made  from  hogs  weighing  about  140  to  160  pounds,  net; 
backbone  and  half  the  ribs  taken  out,  blade  bone  taken  out,  knuckle  left  in,  and 
leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

Birmingham  sides, 

Birmingham  sides  shall  be  made  from  hogs  weighing  about  170  pounds,  net; 
backbone,  ribs,  and  blade  bone  taken  out,  pocket  piece  cut  out.  and  pocket  nicely 
rounded,  knuckle  bone  left  in,  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

South  Staffordshire  sides. 

South  Staffordshire  sides  shall  be  made  the  same  as  Birmingham,  except  loin 
taken  out  full  to  top  of  shoulder  blade,  leaving  only  a  thin  strip  of  lean  along  the 
back;  knuckle  left  in  and  leg  cut  off  close  to  the  breast. 

Yorkshire  »ides. 

Yorkshire  sides  shall  be  made  the  same  as  Cumberlands,  with  the  ribs  out,  the 
leg  cut  off  about  two  inches  above  the  knee. 

Irinh  cut  sides. 

Irish  cut  sides  shall  be  made  the  same  as  long  clear,  except  top  of  the  pocket  cut 
off,  knuckle  bone  left  in. 


SWINE   PE0DUCT8    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  789 

Long  hams. 

Lon^j;  hams  shall  be  cut  from  the  side  by  separating  with  a  knife  the  hip  bone 
from  the  rump,  properly  rounded  out,  foot  unjointed  at  first  joint  below  the 
hock  joint. 

South  Staffordshire  hams. 

South  Staffordshire  hams  shall  be  cut  short,  hip  bone  taken  out  at  the  socket 
joint,  hock  unjointed  at  first  joint  below  the  hock  joint. 

Uniformity  of  boxed  meats. 

In  packing  meats  in  boxes,  the  pieces  shall  be  classified — the  light,  medium,  and 
heavy  separately,  as  nearly  as  practicable,  in  packages  made  to  suit  the  different 
sizes. 

Lard. 

Choice  lard. 

Choice  lard  to  be  made  from  leaf  and  trimmings  only,  either  by  steam  or  kettle 
rendered,  the  manner  of  rendering  to  be  branded  on  each  tierce. 

Prime  steam  lard. 

Prime  steam  lard  shall  be  standard,  made  from  head,  gut  fat,  leaf  and  trim- 
mings, in  the  proportion  in  which  the  same  come  from  the  hog. 

Current  make  lard. ' 

Current  make  lard  shall  be  standard,  made  from  head,  gut  fat,  leaf,  and  trim- 
mings in  the  proportion  in  which  the  same  come  from  the  hog;  white  and  sweet; 
steam  rendered. 

Rides  for  the  regidation  of  the  trade  in  cooperage. 

Rule  1.  The  board  of  officers  (directors)  shall  annually  appoint  a  competent 
inspector  of  cioperage,  who  shall  inspect  all  such  cooperage  as  he  may  be  called 
upon  to  examine  according  to  these  rules,  determining  with  a  wind  bellows  the 
tightness  of  packages  to  hold  li(iuids,  lard,  or  pickled  meats. 

Rule  2.  The  certificate  of  such  inspector  shall  be  binding  in  the  settlement  of 
any  differences  as  to  quality  that  may  arise  between  the  buyer  and  seller,  but,  in 
the  event  of  either  party  feeling  dissatisfied  with  such  inspection,  an  appeal  may 
be  made  to  the  committee  on  provisions  or  whiskj'  inspection,  as  the  article 
inspected  may  properly  belong  to  one  or  the  other,  and  the  decision  of  such  com- 
mittee shall  be  final. 

Rule  3.  The  fees  to  be  allowed  the  inspector  shall  be  as  follows: 
For  seventy-five  (75)  or  a  less  number  of  barrels,  half  barrels,  kegs,  or 

tierces $1 

For  lots  exceeding  seventy-five  (75)  packages  of  the  same, per  package..  1^  cents. 
For  hogsheads,  half  hogsheads,  or  boxes,  per  package 3    cents. 

Rule  4.  The  fees  shall  in  all  cases  be  paid  by  the  party  employing  the  inspector. 

Packages. 
Cooperage  shall  be  made  of  well-seasoned  white  oak,  free  from  objectionable  sap. 

Poi^k  barrels. 

For  pork  barrels,  staves  shall  be  five-eighths  (|)  of  an  inch  thick,  thirty  (30)  inches 
long;  heads  made  in  an  eighteen  flS)  inch  tress,  one  (1)  inch  thick  in  center  and 
three-eighths  f^)  of  an  inch  at  bevel;  hoops  of  hickory,  not  more  than  ten  on  an 
end;  barrel  to  be  hooped  not  less  than  eleven-sixteenths  {\^). 

Tierces. 

Tierces  for  hams,  shoulders,  or  lard  shall  be  thirty-two  (33)  to  thirty-three  (38) 
inches  long,  heads  made  in  twenty-one  (21)  inch  tress  hoops  and  same  thickness 

'  Adopted  August  6,  1875. 


790  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES, 

as  for  barrels:  staves  mayor  may  not  be  chamfered  at  the  head,  as  may  be  agreed 
upon  by  the  buyer  and  seller:  shall  be  three-quarters  (Ji  of  an  inch,  quality  of 
staves  and  hoops  to  lie  same  as  for  barrels.  Tierces  to  be  hooi«d  eleven-sixteenths, 
and  to  have  not  more  than  ten  hoops  to  an  end.  Iron-bound  tierces,  for  pickled 
hams  and  shoulders,  shall  be  classed  as  '"Standard"  if  made  in  compliance  with 
the  requirements  of  this  rule  as  to  heading  and  staves,  and  hooped  with  not  less 
than  three  (3)  good  hoops  on  each  end:  the  chime  hoops  to  be  1|  inches  in  width, 
the  quarter  and  bilge  hoops  to  be  U  inches  in  width,  and  to  weigh,  per  set,  not 
less  than  ten  (10)  pounds  to  the  tierce. 

Lard  kegs. 

Lard  kegs  shall  be  made  of  same  quality  of  timber  as  pork  barrels  and  lard 
tierces;  staves  to  be  16^  inches  long  and  f  of  one  inch  thick,  to  be  made  in  lU- 
inch  tress  hoops;  hoops  to  be  hickory,  and  the  packages  to  be  folly  two-thirds 
hooped. 

Half  barrels. 

Half  barrels  for  pork,  beef,  and  lard  shall  be  made  of  same  quality  of  timber  as 
barrels  and  lard  tierces:  staves  to  be  24  inches  long  and  I  to  i  of  an  inch  thick, 
and  the  packages  to  be  made  in  15-inch  tress  hoops;  all  hoops  to  be  hickory,  and 
packages  to  be  fully  two-thirds  hooped. 

Beef  tierces. 

Beef  tierces  shall  be  made  the  same  as  lard  tierces,  but  to  be  entirely  free  from 
sap,  and  the  second  hoop  from  each  end  to  be  l^-inch  iron,  oiled  or  painted. 

Slack  ham  tierces. 

Slack  ham  tierces  shall  be  made  in  22-inch  tress  hoops:  staves  to  be  33  inches 
long,  good  hickory  hoops,  3  hoops  at  the  end  and  3  at  the  bilge. 

Slack  and  fly-tight  hogsheads. 

Slack  and  fly-tight  hogsheads  shall  be  made  in  32-inch  tress  hoops:  good  hickory 
hoops:  staves  to  be  42  inches  long.  Slack  hogsheads  to  be  hooped  with  12  hoops 
and  quarter  bound,  middle  headpiece  to  be  pine  or  oak.  Fly-tight  hogsheads  to 
be  same  as  slack,  but  to  be  hooped  with  16  hoops  instead  of  12. 

Half  hogsheads. 

Half  hogsheads  shall  be  made  in  28-inch  tress  hoops;  staves  to  be  34  inches  long; 
good  hickory  hoops;  packages  to  be  quarter  bound  (12)  hoops;  middle  headpiece 
to  be  of  pine  or  oak. 

BOXES. 

Boxes  should  be  made  of  sound,  common  boards,  reasonably  dry,  one  (1)  inch 
thick,  dressed  on  one  side,  not  over  two  (2)  strips  at  each  end,  and  three  (3)  strips 
to  each  side,  bottom,  or  top;  to  have  good,  strong,  hard  wood,  wlntewood  or  sap- 
pine  stays  inside  each  corner;  shall  be  well  nailed,  and  strapped  with  birch,  oaks,  or 
hickory  straps  aroimd  each  end,  to  lap  three  (3)  inches  on  the  cover.  All  boxes 
to  contain  five  hundred  (500)  pounds,  net,  shall  have  three  straps.  Boxes  shall 
be  nailed  together  with  tenpenny  nails,  and  the  stays  nailed  in  with  eightpenny 
nails. 

INSPECTION  OP  CARCASS  WHEN  CUT. 

At  the  time  of  cutting  there  is  generallya  rigid  inspection  by  the  superintendent 
of  the  cutting  room  of  the  packing  companies,  when  all  objectionable  pieces — 
bruised  and  unmerchantable  meat— is  rejected  and  either  sent  to  the  rendering 
tanks  or  put  by  itself  and  classed  as  second  quality.  It  is  believed  by  the  packers 
that  this  inspection  is  sufficiently  thorough  to  detect  any  diseases  or  bruises  that 
may  have  escaped  notice  before  the  hog  was  slaughtered,  and  it  certainly  would 
be  more  profitable  to  tank  the  meat  at  this  stage,  if  such  diseased  or  bruised  meat 
were  discovered,  rather  than  attempt  to  carry  it  through  the  process  of  curing,  to 
'*  sour  "  in  the  end,  or  be  detected  by  subsequent  inspections  and  injure  the  repu- 
tation of  the  company.  The  cut  meats  are  either  packed  in  barrels  with  salt  and 
these  filled  with  strong  brine,  or  they  are  well  rubbed  with  salt  and  piled  with 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  791 

layers  of  salt  between.  At  first  they  are  only  piled  2  or  3  deep,  each  lot  is  dated, 
and  they  are  rehandled  as  necessary  an'd  afterwards  piled  4  or  5  deep,  and  finally 
the  piles  are  made  6  to  10  layers  high.  The  pressure  must  not  be  too  great,  or  the 
curing  is  retarded.  The  temperature  of  the  room  is  kept  at  35^  to  45  Fahrenheit. 
If  too  cold,  the  meat  does  not  take  salt  well.  The  time  for  curing  varies  from 
twenty  to  ninety  days,  according  to  the  kind  of  meat,  the  market  for  which  it  is 
put  up,  and  the  season  of  the  year.  Meats  free  from  bone  cure  quicker  than  those 
containing  bone;  those  for  Southern  markets  require  more  curing  than  those  lor 
markets  farther  North,  and  less  curing  is  necessary  in  winter  than  in  summer. 

Again,  English  and  French  consumers  prefer  meats  with  less  salt  than  is  used 
for  home  consumption  or  for  shipment  to  the  South  or  the  West  Indies,  while  cer- 
tain brands  of  hams  receive  as  little  salt  as  possible. 

SHIPPING  WHEN  PARTLY  CURED. 

Meat  is  frequently  shipped  before  it  is  fully  cured,  but  it  is  believed  the  age  is 
correctly  given  by  the  seller.  If  thoroughly  cooled  before  cutting,  it  can  be  shipped 
within  ten  days  in  winter.  Barreled  pork  can  be  shipped  freshly  packed,  and 
cures  in  transit.  Meats  are  also  shipped  when  partly  cured  in  boxes  with  salt  and 
also  in  bulk,  packed  in  cars  in  the  same  way,  and  the  curing  goes  on  during 
transportation. 

There  are  also  said  to  be  compounds  for  accomplishing  the  same  object,  but 
according  to  our  information  they  are  seldom,  if  ever,  used.  As  a  rule,  it  is  not 
considered  desirable  to  hasten  the  curing,  and  all  meat  put  up  to  be  transported 
long  distances  is  fully  cured. 

INSPECTION   OF  CURED  MEATS. 

A  thorough  inspection  is  always  made  of  meats  when  they  are  taken  from  the 
curing  floors  for  packing.  Some  packers  make  a  double  inspection  at  this  time — 
that  is,  it  is  inspected  when  it  is  taken  from  the  curing  floors  and  again  when 
packed. 

The  object  of  this  inspection  is  to  detect  any  pieces  that  may  have  become  un- 
sound or  •'  sour '"  during  the  process  of  curing.  Ail  houses  reject  more  or  less 
meats  at  this  time,  the  quantity  rejected  varying  from  0.05  to  1  per  cent  of  the 
whole. 

UNSOUND  MEAT. 

Unsound  or  "  sour  "  meat-is  the  result  of  various  causes.  If  animals  are  slaugh- 
tered too  soon  after  arrival  in  the  yards:  or  if  for  any  other  cause  they  are  fever- 
ish; or  if  the  carcass  is  not  sufiiciently  cooled  before  cutting;  or  if  there  is 
negligence  in  curing,  or  careless  handling;  or  if  there  is  an  excess  of  moisture  in 
the  atmosphere,  a  portion  of  the  meat  becomes  tainted  or  "sour."  If  very  bad, 
this  rejected  meat  is  tanked,  but  otherwise  it  is  sold  on  its  merits,  and  is  marketed 
in  the  South  or  in  the  West  Indies,  where  it  is  said  to  bring  nearly  as  much  as 
sound  meats. 

SUMMER   CURING. 

Some  establishments  pack  only  in  winter,  but  many  others  are  operated  the 
whole  year.  Where  there  are  proper  facilities  the  summer  curing  not  only  equals 
that  done  in  winter,  but  it  is  believed  by  some  to  be  even  more  reliable,  as  by  the 
use  of  the  "refrigerator  rooms"  the  temperature  can  be  better  controlled. 

SALT  USED  IN  PACKING. 

The  salts  most  generally  used  in  packing  in  the  United  States  are  the  Syracuse 
solar  salt,  of  which  2.000.000  bushels  were  manufactured  last  year;  Michigan  solar 
salt,  of  which  50,000  bushels  were  manufactured  last  year,  and  Turks  Island  salt. 

For  rubbing  hams,  either  the  ground  solar  salt  or  the  Syracuse  factory-filled 
dairy  salt  is  employed. 

Some  years  ago  the  War  Department  of  the  United  States  Government  caused 
some  practical  tests  to  be  made  by  having  meats  packed  with  Turks  Island  and 
Syracuse  solar  salt.  The  meats  were  afterwards  sent  to  the  different  ports  on  the 
seacoast,  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  interior. 

The  result  of  the  experiment  demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  Syracuse  solar  salt 
is  equali  n  every  respect  for  packing  purposes  to  the  imported  Turks  Island  sea 
salt,  and  since  that  time  the  United  States  Government  has  required  that  beef 
and  pork  packed  for  the  Army  and  Navy  shall  be  packed  with  Turks  Island  or 
Syracuse  solar  salt. 


792 


8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


American  packers  fully  appreciate  the  importance  of  good  salt,  and  are  very 
Ciirefnl  in  securing  the  best  brands. 

The  following  analyses  of  American  and  European  salts  show  that  the  salts  used 
in  this  country  compare  very  favorably  with  those  of  Europe. 

Analyses  of  salt  lused  in  the  United  States. 


1.  Tnrks  Island  sea  salt  

2.  Syracuse.  N.  Y.,  solar  salt 

3.  Saginaw,  Mich., solar  salt 

4.  Lincoln,  Nebr..  solar  salt 

6.  Kansas  solar  salt , 

6.  Hocking  Valley,  Ohio,  solar  salt 

7.  Petite  Anse.  La.,rock  salt 

8.  Syracuse, N.Y.,"factory-filled  dairy" 


Sodium 
chloride. 


96.rao 

96.004 
9.5.  a31 
98.i:J0 
9.3.060 
97.  .513 
98.882 
97.832 


Calcium     Magnesium     Sodium 
chloride,    j   chloride.    '  sulphate. 


0.092 
.356 


.234 
.004 


0.140 
.089 
.140 
.fWO 
.240 
.089 
.003 
.037 


0.640 


.390 
.a50 


.026 


Calcium     Maenesium 
sulphate,      sulphate. 

Insoluble 
matter. 

Water. 

1.  Turks  Island  sea  salt 

1.560 

1.315 

.316 

.250 

1.220 

0.900 

2.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  solar  salt 

2.500 

3.  Saginaw,  Mich.,  solar  salt 

3  344 

4.  Lincoln.  Nebr.,  solar  salt .... .. 

1  800 

0.180 

4  950 

6.  Hocking  Valley.  Ohio,  solar  salt 

2.130 

7.  Petite  Anse,  La.,  rock  salt 

.782 
1.363 

.330 

8.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  "  factory-filled  dairy  " 

.023 

0.130 

.700 

Analyses  of  European  salt. 


Sodium     Magnesium 
chloride.       chloride. 


9.  Lisbon,  Portugal,  first-crop  sea  salt 97.075 

10.  Li-sbon,  Portugual,  second-crop  sea  salt '  94.033 

11.  Aveirro,  Portugal,  first-crop  sea  salt 97.251 

12.  Aveirro,  Portugal,  second-crop  sea  salt 98.618 

13.  St.  Felice  sea  salt I  94.072 

14.  VelicKa,  Galicia,  rock  salt !  90.23 

15.  Hall-Tyrol  rock  salt i  91.78 

16.  Schonebec,  Prussian,  Saxony '■  95.40 

17.  Dttrrenberg.  Saxony '  92.642 

18.  Artern.  Saxony 1  94.8.^5 

19.  Halle,  Saxony '  92.773 

20.  Erfm-th,  Saxony 96.941 

2L  Louisenthal 96.866 


0.777 
2. 151 
l.VU 

.141 

.45 

.09 

.08 

.719 

.616 

.865 

.017 

.060 


Sodium 
sulphate. 


0.307 

.488 


.049 


Potassium 
sulphate. 


l.do 

1.35 

.41 


9.  Lisbon,  Portugal,  first-crop  sea  salt 

10.  Lisbon,  Portugal,  second-crop  sea  salt . 

11.  Aveirro,  Portugal,  first-crop  sea  salt... 

12.  Aveirro,  Portugral,  second-crop  sea  salt 

13.  St.  Felice  sea  salt 

14.  Velicka,  Galicia,  rock  salt 

15.  Hall-Eyrol  rock  salt 

16.  SchOnebec,  Prussian,  Saxony 

17.  Dttrrenberg,  Saxony 

18.  Artern,  Saxony 

19.  Halle.  Saxony 

20.  Erfurth.  Saxony 

21.  Louisenthal 


Calcium 
sulphate. 


1.538 

1.471 

.645 

.640 

.373 

.72 

1.19 

72 

L632 

1.061 

1.296 

2.098 

.964 


Magnesium 
sulphate. 


0.565 
2.337 
.903 
.165 
.060 
.61 
1.21 
.47 


Insoluble 
matter. 


0.045 
.0f)8 
.067 
.396 
.116 
5.88 
2.49 


.466 

".iio 


Water. 


5.073 
.86 
1.89 
2.90 
4.700 
3.000 
4.600 
.900 
2.000 


AUTHORITIES  FOR  ANALYSES. 


Analyses  numbered  1  to  8  of  salts  used  in  the  United  States  were  made  by  C.  A. 
Goessmann.  Ph.  D..  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, and  published  in  a  lecture  on  salt  and  its  uses  in  agriculture,  delivered  before 
the  State  de  artment  of  agriculture  in  Massachusetts. 

Analyses  9,  10,  U,  and  12,  of  Portuguese  salt  are  from  the  Mechanics'  Magazine. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  793 

No.  13  is  by  Von  Stolba,  and  is  from  Oesterr-Zeitschrift  fiir  Berg-u.  Hiitten- 
wesen,  186T. 

Nos.  1-i  and  15  are  by  Von  Stolba,  and  are  from  Die  chemische  Mittheilungen, 
Prag,  1880. 

No.  16  is  by  Heine,  and  is  taken  from  Knapps  Lehrbuch  der  chemischen  Tech- 
no'ogie.  3d  ed. 

Nos.  17. 18. 19,  20,  and  21  are  by  Enders,  and  are  from  the  Archiv  der  Pharmacie. 
vol.  143,  p.  20. 

PACKING  THE   PORK. 

Mess  pork  is  packed  in  barrels  with  layers  of  salt  around  and  between  the  pieces. 
The  salt  used  for  this  is  usually  one  of  the  domestic  brands,  but  the  harrel  is 
"capped"' either  with  Turks  Island  or  a  very  tine  quality  of  coarse  salt  which 
comes  from  Louisiana.  The  barrel  is  then  filled  with  brine  of  full  strength.  From 
35  to  40  pounds  of  salt  is  used  to  each  V)arrel,  exclusive  of  that  contained  in  the 
brine.  For  box  meats  about  10  per  cent  of  salt  is  used  for  curing  and  6  per  cent 
for  packing,  A  few  packers  are  said  to  have  their  salt  tested  by  chemists,  but  the 
maiority  rely  upon  the  brand  and  appearance. 

The  size  and  quality  of  the  packages  are  generally  regulated  by  the  boards  of 
trade.  Barrels  contain  from  12  to  16  pieces,  or  190  pounds,  of  meat,  boxes  from 
400  to  750  pounds,  and  tierces  from  325  to  350  pounds.  The  boxes  are  made  of 
pine,  th"  barrels  and  tierces  of  oak. 

The  following  are  the  rules  regulating  packages  in  force  by  the  Chicago  Board 
of  Trade: 

Packages. 

Cooperage. 

Cooperage  shall  be  made  of  well-seasoned  white  or  burr  oak,  free  from  objes- 
tionable  sap. 

Barrels. 

For  barrels,  staves  should  be  five-eighths  (|)  of  an  inch  thick,  twentj'-nine  (29) 
or  thirty  (30)  inches  long:  heads,  eighteen  (18)  inches,  one  (1)  inch  thick  in  center 
and  three-eighths  (|)  at  bevel;  hoops,  hickory  or  white  oak,  to  be  hooped  not  less 
than  eleven-sixteenths  (xi)« 

Tierces. 

Tierces  for  hams,  shoulders,  beef,  or  lard,  should  be  thirty-two  (32)  inches  long 
wi.h  a  twenty-one  (21)  inch  head,  or  thirty-three  (33)  inchps  long  with  a  twenty 
and  one-half  (20|)  inch  head;  staves  to  be  chamfered  at  the  head.  Quality  of 
staves  and  hoops  to  be  the  same  as  for  barrels;  staves,  three-fourths  (J)  of  an  inch 
thick;  heads,  same  thickness  as  for  barrels;  hooded  eleven  sixteenths  (\^).  Iron- 
bound  tierces  for  lard,  hams,  or  shoulders  shall  be  classed  as  standard  if  made  in 
compliance  with  the  requirements  of  this  rule  as  to  heading  and  staves,  and 
booped  with  not  less  than  four  good  hoops  on  each  end. 

Boxes. 

Boxes  should  be  made  of  sound  common  boards,  reasonably  dry,  one  inch  thick, 
dressed  on  one  side,  not  over  three  strips  to  each  end,  side,  bottom,  or  top:  to  have 
!COod,  strong  hard  wood,  whitewood.  or  sap  pine  stays  inside  each  corner;  should 
be  well  nailed  and  strapped  with  birch,  oak,  or  hickory  straps  around  each  end,  to 
ap  three  inches  on  the  cover.  Boxes  should  be  nailed  together  with  tenpenny 
nails,  and  the  stays  nailed  in  with  eightpenny  nails. 

Mess  pork  is  stoi*ed  in  warehoiises  at  a  temperature  of  40°  to  50°  F.  In  cold 
weather  it  is  often  left  out  of  doors. 

INSPECTION   OF  PACKED  MEATS. 

The  owners  of  pork  have  examinations  made  from  time  to  time  by  rolling  the 
barrels  from  time  to  time  to  learn  if  there  has  been  leakage  and  loss  of  pickle. 
The  boards  of  trade  provide  for  an  inspection  of  all  hog  products  at  time  of  sale,  and 
this  is  made  either  by  the  regular  board  of  trade  or  city  inspectors,  or  by  a  private 
inspector  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  to  the  transaction.  In  all  cases  it  is  the 
privilege  of  the  party  purchasing  to  have  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  goods,  and 
in  the  regular  trade  this  inspection  is  always  made  by  skilled  experts.  Very  fre- 
quently the  buyer  prefers  the  inspection  of  the  packers  to  that  of  public  authori- 


794  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

ties  and  the  meats  are  gnaranteed  down  to  the  consumer.  If  in  this  case  they  are 
in  any  way  defective  from  the  negligence  of  the  packer,  deductions  are  allowed  or 
the  goods  can  be  returned. 

Generally  bat  2  per  cent  of  the  pork  in  barrels  is  actually  inspected  at  this  time, 
though  the  buyer  can  have  all  inspected  if  he  desires.  Meats,  either  in  boxes  or 
in  bulk,  are  examined  piece*  by  piece.  A  steel  tryer  is  forced  into  every  piece  and 
its  soundness  determined  by  the  appearance  and  odor  of  the  instrument  on  its 
withdrawal. 

Inspection  is  also  made  at  this  time  for  irregularly  cut  or  oily  meats,  for  bruises, 
for  the  meat  of  "stags "  and  "  piggy  '  sows,  and  for  any  form  of  unsoundness,  and 
all  such  meats  are  rejected. 

The  meat  from  diseased  animals  almost  invariably  "  sours"  in  curing,  and  can 
not  be  made  into  first  quality  goods. 

The  meat  of '"stags"  is  distinguished  by  the  thickness  and  coarseness  of  the 
skin,  and  that  of  "piggy"  sows  by  the  size  of  the  teats  and  the  general  appearance. 

The  inspector  is  paid  by  the  buyer,  and  the  inspection  is  made  according  to 
rules  and  prices  adopted  by  the  boards  of  trade  in  all  the  larger  cities. 

The  regulations  for  the  inspection  of  provisions  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade 
in  force  September  1,  1883,  are  as  follows: 

Regulation  1.  For  the  examination  of  provisions  sold  as  standard  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  any  inspector  properlj-  appointed  by  the  association,  on  receiving 
notice,  to  go  to  any  packing  house  or  warehouse  in  the  city  to  examine  provisions, 
in  such  quantities  as  may  be  required,  se  ecting  the  same  in  such  a  manner  from, 
the  lots  specified  as  in  his  judgment  will  give  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole. 

Reo.  2.  If  upon  examination  the  property  is  found  in  a  1  rt  spects  up  to  the 
requirements  of  the  classification  of  the  grades  adopted  by  the  association,  he  shall 
issue  a  certificate  to  that  effect,  which  certificate  shall  state  the  number  of  pack- 
ages, pieces,  or  pounds  examined,  and  also  the  number  of  pa -kages.  pieces,  or 
pounds  in  the  lot  to  which  the  examination  is  intended  to  apply,  and  that  the 
packages  (if  any)  are  in  good  merchantable  order  and  condition.  In  the  case  of 
lard  no  certificate  for  inspection  shall  be  issued  unless  every  package  is  examined. 
but  on  request  of  the  owner  or  person  ordering  the  inspection  the  inspector  may 
examine  a  part  of  a  lot  and  issue  a  certificate  of  such  examination,  stating  the 
number  of  packages  examined,  and  also  the  whole  number  of  packages  in  the  lot. 

Reo.  3.  When  necessary  to  remove  property  for  the  convenience  of  e.xamina- 
tion,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  send  for  the  same  that  a  fair  sample 
may  be  obtained.  In  no  case  should  a  certificate  be  granted  on  samples  delivered 
by  the  seller. 

Reo.  4.  Tne  fees  for  inspection  are  established  as  follows:  For  inspection  by 
sampling— including  repacking  and  coopering— beef  and  pork,  for  the  first  five 
barrels,  eighty  (80)  cents  per  barrel,  and  for  each  additional  barrel,  twenty-five  (25) 
cents;  for  inspecting  S.  P.  meats,  for  the  first  five  tierces,  one  (1 )  dollar  per  tierce, 
and  for  each  additional  tierce,  twenty-five  (25)  cents;  for  inspecting  boxed  meats, 
for  the  first  five  boxes,  one  ( 1 )  dollar  per  box,  and  for  each  additional  box,  fifty  ( 50) 
cents.  When  the  whole  of  a  lot  is  inspected— labor  and  coopering  to  be  furnished 
by  the  seller— for  beef  and  pork,  ten  (10)  cents  per  barrel;  for  S.  P.  meats,  in  lots 
of  fifty  (50)  tierces  or  more,  twelve  and  a  half  (12i)  cents  per  tierce;  in  lots  of  one 
hundred  (100)  tierces  or  more,  ten  (10)  cents  per  tierce;  for  bulk  or  boxed  meat,  in 
carload  lots  or  more,  fifteen  (15)  cents  per  one  thousand  (1.000)  pounds:  for  lard,  in 
lots  of  one  hundred  (100)  tierces  or  more,  four  (4)  cents  per  tierce;  for  tallow  and 
grease,  five  (5)  cents  per  tierce.  The  fees  for  weghing,  not  including  breaking  down 
andrepiling.  are  established  as  follows:  Lard  and  grease,  in  lots  of  one  hundred  (100) 
packages  or  more,  four  (4)  cents  per  package:  tallow,  in  half  hogsheads  or  smaller 
packages,  five  (5)  cents  per  package;  in  hogsheads,  ten  (10)  cents  each;  bulk 
meats,  not  including  labor,  ten  (10)  cents  per  one  thousand  (1,0(X))  pounds;  for 
stripping  lard  or  grease  at  reg^ilar  warehouses,  not  less  than  five  (5)  packages, 
fifty  (50)  cents  per  package.  For  the  labor  of  breaking  down  and  repiling  the 
inspector  shall  be  paid  three  (3)  cents  per  package,  the  same  to  be  paid  to  the 
warehouseman  if  replied,  or  to  the  party  shipping  the  property  if  shipped  without 
repiling. 

Reo.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  when  re  luested  by  the  owner,  either 
at  any  packing  house,  warehouse,  or  in  yards  provided  by  the  inspector,  to  over- 
haul and  inspect  provisions,  according  to  the  ciualificaiions  and  classifications 
authorized;  two  hundred  pounds  of  meat,  with  abundance  of  good  salt,  to  be 
repacked  into  each  barrel,  and  cooperage  to  be  put  in  good  order;  each  barrel 
of  provisions  that  is  sound,  sweet,  and  free  from  any  and  every  defect  to  have 
grade  and  date  of  inspection  branded  thereon,  and  the  word  "  re-iacked."  as  here- 
inafter specified;  and  any  portion  that  is  defective  to  be  branded,  in  like  manner, 


SWIKE   PEODtJCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  795 

rusty,  sotir,  or  tainted,  as  the  case  may  be;  the  said  brand  to  be  placed  with  the 
inspector "s  brand  across  the  regular  packer's  brand;  such  provisions,  according 
to  the  grade  or  quality,  to  be  classed  as  "repacked  200  lbs." 

Reg,  6.  The  inspectors  shall  use  metallic  letters  and  figures,  marking  iron,  or 
stencil  for  their  dates  and  class  of  inspection. 

Reg.  7.  It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  put  his  metallic  brand, 
marking  iron,  or  stencil  on  all  samples  of  provisions  in  tierces  or  barrels  that  he 
inspects;  and  he  shall  pass  no  hog  products  in  tierces  or  barrels  as  standard  unless 
the  real  packer's  name,  location,  number  of  pieces,  date,  and  weight  of  the  prod- 
ucts contained  therein  are  branded,  according  to  these  rules,  on  the  head  of  every 
package. 

Reg.  8.  Should  the  inspector  be  called  upon  to  inspect  pickled  meats,  and  upon 
examination  he  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  number  of  pounds  required  by 
these  rules  had  not  been  originally  packed,  he  shall  not  pass  them  as  standard,  but 
shall  refer  the  matter  at  once  to  the  committee  on  provision  inspection,  who  shall 
investigate,  and  if  a  satisfactory  explanation  can  be  given  or  arrived  at,  they  shall 
instruct  the  inspector  to  proceed  and  inspect  and  pass  them;  but  if  not  satisfactory 
to  the  committee  they  shall,  in  their  judgment,  make  the  fact  known  to  the  asso- 
ciation in  any  way  they  may  think  most  proper. 

Reg.  9.  Contents  of  each  package  of  pickled  meats  must  show  a  reasonable  uni- 
formity in  weight,  according  to  its  class. 

Reg.  10.  It  shall  be  the  further  duty  of  the  inspectors  during  the  packing  sea- 
son to  visit  frequently  the  different  packing  houses,  to  see  that  provisions  are 
properly  dated  and  branded  at  the  time  of  being  packed. 

Reg.  11.  Dry  salted  rough  sides  may  be  made  into  short  rib  or  short  clear  sides, 
and  dry  salted  short-rib  sides  may  be  made  into  short  clear  sides  if  in  all  other 
respects  they  are  up  to  the  requirements,  and  shall  be  classed  as  standard. 

Reg.  12.  All  the  foregoing  regulations  and  the  requirements  as  to  the  cut  and 
packing  of  hog  products  must  be  justly  and  liberally  construed,  and  no  property 
shall  be  rejected  or  condemned  on  mere  technicalities;  but  this  shall  not  be  regarded 
as  giving  license  to  departure  from  their  general  spirit  and  intent. 

The  rules  adopted  by  the  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  governing  the 
provision  trade,  including  inspection,  dated  August  1,  1882,  are  as  follows: 

Rules  for  the  government  of  the  provision  trade. 

Rule  1.  The  committee  on  provision  inspection  shall  act  as  referees  in  all  cases 
of  complaints  against  inspectors,  or  the  inspection  of  any  lot  of  provisions,  or  any 
matters  of  business  pertaining  to  the  same;  but  the  buyer  shall,  in  all  cases,  have 
the  right  to  designate  his  own  inspector;  but  in  case  the  seller  feels  that  injustice 
is  being  done,  he  shall  have  the  right  to  call  upon  the  committee  of  inspection, 
whose  decision  shall  be  final  and  binding.  Any  inspector  agreed  upon  by  parties 
to  a  transaction  shall  be  regarded  as  a  regularly  authorized  inspector,  subject  to 
the  rules  of  the  chamber,  and  the  committee  on  provisions  shall  constitute  the 
committee  of  reference. 

Rule  2.  All  appeals  from  inspection  must  be  made  before  the  property  leaves 
the  city,  packing  point,  or  place  of  delivery. 

Rule  3.  Pork  products  packed  between  November  1st  and  March  1st  shall  alone 
be  classed  as  "standard.'" 

Rule  4.  In  sales  of  fully  cured  meats,  or  to  be  fully  cured  and  delivered  at  a 
specified  time,  the  seller  must  deliver  in  good  faith  according  to  the  contract,  the 
inspector  to  be  the  .judge,  who  shall  always  be  fully  informed  of  the  conditions  of 
the  contract  before  proceeding  to  inspect.  Where  sales  of  dry  salted  meats  are 
made  without  other  specifications,  it  shall  be  considered  that  the  sales  contemplate 
meats  fully  cured,  the  inspector  to  be  the  judge. 

Rule  5.  In  case  of  no  specific  agreement  the  saltage  allowed  on  bulk  meats  shall 
be  one  (1)  per  cent  from  the  1st  of  November  to  the  Ist  of  May;  but  should  the 
buyer  or  seller  object,  the  inspector  shall  sweep  as  many  drafts  as  he  may  consider 
necessary,  and  the  percentage  thus  obtained  shall  be  binding  on  both  parties. 
But  from  the  1st  of  xVIay  to  the  1st  of  November  the  tare  shall  be  ascertained  by 
washing  in  cold  water  with  a  cloth,  in  case  of  no  special  agreement  to  the  con- 
trary. A  drainage  of  one  (1)  per  cent  shall  be  allowed  on  pickled  hams  and 
shoulders. 

Rule  <i.  To  determine  the  tare  on  lard  the  package  shall  first  be  weighed  gross, 
the  lard  then  removed,  and  the  empty  package  subjected  to  dry  heat  and  drained, 
after  which  the  empty  package  shall  be  weighed  and  its  weight  deducted  from  the 
gross  weight.  The  difference  thus  obtained  shall  be  considered  the  net  weight  of 
the  lard. 


796  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Rule  7.  Three  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  net.  shall  be  the  average  weight 
of  a  tierce  of  lard,  upon  which  all  settlements  with  contractors  shall  be  based:  but 
the  number  of  packages  the  contract  calls  for  must  be  delivered,  and  the  differ- 
ence, if  any.  settled  at  the  market  price  on  the  day  of  delivery. 

Rule  h.  Four  hundred  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  net,  shall  constitute  a 
box  of  Cumberland  middles,  and  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  to  five  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pounds,  net.  shall  constitute  a  box  of  all  other  English  cuts  of 
middles,  shoulders,  and  hams,  and  all  boxes  containing  over  five  hundred  pounds 
of  meat  to  have  a  third  strap  around  the  box.  All  settlements  of  contracts  shall 
be  made  on  a  basis  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  per  box,  net,  for  Cum- 
berland cut,  and  five  hundred  pounds  per  box,  net,  for  all  other  English  cuts  of 
meats. 

Rule  9.  If  on  inspection  of  a  fair  sample  of  bulk  meats  twenty  (20)  per  cent  or 
over  is  found  to  be  sour  the  buyer  shall  not  be  required  to  take  the  lot. 

Rule  10.  All  the  foregoing  rules  must  be  justly  and  liberally  construed,  and  no 
property  shall  be  rejected  or  condemned  on  a  mere  technicality. 

Rule  11.  The  committee  on  provisions  shall  not  have  power  of  arbitration,  but 
shall  be  empowered  to  consider  all  cases  in  reference  to  quality  of  meats,  cooper- 
age, etc..  and  parties  refusing  to  abide  the  decision  of  the  committee  while  acting 
in  their  line  of  duty  shall  be  liable  to  arraignment  for  unmercantile  conduct. 

Rule  12. '  In  case  of  no  specific  agreement,  contracts  for  100  barrels  of  pork,  100 
tierces  of  lard.  100  boxes  dry  salted  meats,  or  for  a  larger  amount  deliveries  can 
be  made  on  seller's  option,  or  called  for  on  buyer's  <jption,  in  lots  of  not  less  than 
100  packages,  as  above  named,  nor  less  than  100  packages  of  one  brand. 

Contracts  for  50  hogsheads  or  50  half -hogsheads  of  bacon  or  dry  salted  meats,  or 
more,  deliveries  can  be  made  on  seller's  option  or  called  for  on  buyer's  option  in 
quantities  of  not  less  than  50  hogsheads  or  50  half -hogsheads,  and  not  less  than 
this  (juantity  of  one  brand. 

Contracts  for  lOO.OuO  pounds  of  bacon  or  dry  salted  meats,  loose,  or  for  a  larger 
amount,  deliveries  can  be  made  on  seller's  option  or  called  for  on  buyer's  option  in 
quantities  of  not  less  than  100,000  pounds. 

Contracts  for  100  tierces  of  hams  or  shoulders  in  pickle,  smoked,  or  canvased, 
or  for  a  larger  amount,  deliveries  can  be  made  on  seller's  option  or  called  for  on 
buyer's  option  in  lots  of  not  less  than  50  tierces  nor  less  than  50  tierces  of  one  brand. 

Payment  to  be  made  as  lots  are  delivered. 

Rule  18.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  of  provisions  to  weigh  stufif  when 
called  upon,  receiving  therefor  a  fee  of  five  (5)  cents  per  each  one  thousand  (1,UOO) 
pounds  in  addition  to  the  inspection  fee— the  party  ordering  the  weighing  to  be 
responsible  for  the  fee. 

Rule  14.  The  inspector  shall  keep  a  record  in  detail  of  every  examination  he 
may  make,  that  he  may  be  qualified  to  testify  positively  in  event  of  a  dispute. 

Rule  15.  For  the  examination  of  provisions  sold  as  "regular."  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  inspector  (or  his  deputed  assistants),  on  receiving  notice,  to  go  to  any 
packing  house  or  warehouse  in  the  city  to  examine  provisions  in  such  quantities  as 
may  be  required,  selecting  the  same  in  such  manner,  from  the  lots  specified,  as  in 
his  judgment  will  give  a  fair  samp'e  of  the  whole. 

Rule  16.  If  upon  examination  it  is  found  in  all  respects  up  to  the  requirements 
according  to  the  classification  or  grades  adopted  by  the  chamber  of  commerce,  he 
shall  issue  certificates  to  that  effect. 

When  necessary  to  remove  property  for  the  convenience  of  examination.it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  send  for  the  same,  that  a  fair  sample  may  be  obtained. 

In  no  case  should  a  certificate  be  granted  on  samples  delivered  by  the  seller. 

Rule  17.  The  inspector  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  as  compensation  for  examin- 
ing provisions  as  follows:  For  beef  and  pork,  in  barrels,  five  dollars  for  the  first 
five  barrels,  the  insi)ector  furnish'ng  labor  and  other  renuirements  and  seeing  that 
the  property  is  properly  repacked  and  rebrined.  and  fifty  cents  for  each  additional 
barrel  examined — payable  by  the  buyer  if  regular,  and  by  the  seller  if  rejected, 
and  cartage  when  removed:  and  for  bulk  bacon  or  boxed  meats,  fifteen  cents  per 
one  thousand  pounds,  payable  by  the  buyer.  For  inspecting  lard,  five  cents  per 
package,  payable  by  the  buyer  if  accepted  or  by  the  sel'er  if  rejected:  and  for  strip- 
ping lard,  one  dollar  per  package,  to  lie  paid  by  the  buyer.  Five  barrels  of  jiork 
or  tiv.'  tierces  of  lard  to  be  sufficient  to  sample  any  lot  sold,  unless  otherwise  agreed 
between  buyer  and  seller. 

Rule  18.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector,  when  requested  by  the  owner, 
either  at  any  packing  house,  warehouse,  or  in  yards  provided  by  the  inspector,  to 
overhaul  and  inspect  provisions  according  to  the  qualifications  and  classifications 

'  As  amended  September  27,  1875. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  797 

authorized:  two  hundred  pounds  of  meat,  with  abundance  of  good  salt,  to  be 
repacked  in  each  bairel  and  cooperage  to  be  put  in  good  order.  Each  barrel  of 
provsions  that  is  sound,  sweet,  and  free  from  any  and  every  defect  to  have  grade 
and  date  of  inspection  branded  thereon  and  the  word  "repacked,"  as  hereinafter 
specified;  and  any  portion  that  is  defective  to  be  branded  in  like  manner  "rust}'.'* 
"sour,'"  or  "tainted."'  as  the  case  may  be;  the  said  brand  to  be  placed,  with  the 
inspector's  brand,  across  the  regular  packer's  brand,  such  pork,  according  to  the 
grade  or  quality,  to  be  classed  as  "repacked.  300  pounds." 

Rule  19.  The  inspector  shall  use  metallic  letters  and  figures  or  marking- iron  for 
his  dates  and  classes  of  inspection. 

Rui.E  20.  It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  inspector  to  put  his  metallic  brand  or 
marking-iron  on  samples  of  provisions  in  packages  that  he  inspects;  and  he  shall 
pass  no  pork  products  as  "regular""  unless  the  real  packer's  name  of  the  product 
contained  therein  is  branded,  according  to  these  rules,  on  the  head  of  each  package. 

Rule  21.  In  all  cases  of  sales  of  provisions  as  "regular,"  theinspector  shall  exam- 
ine and  inspect  when  called  on;  and  if  the  property  be  up  to  the  requirements,  he 
shall  issue  a  certificate  simply  for  so  many  barrels  or  packages  of  product  (nam- 
ing it),  for  so  many  pieces  or  pounds  of  meat  (naming  the  kinds). 

Rule  22.  Should  the  inspector  be  calkd  on  to  inspect  pickled  meats,  and  upon 
examination  he  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  number  of  pounds  required  by 
these  rules  had  not  been  packed,  he  shall  not  pass  it  as  "regular,"  but  shall  refer 
it  at  once  to  the  inspection  committee,  who  shall  investigate,  and  if  a  satisfactory 
explanation  can  be  given  or  arrived  at,  they  shall  instruct  the  mspector  to  proceed 
and  inspect  and  pass  it;  but  if  not  satisfactory  to  the  committee,  they  shall,  in  their 
judgment,  make  the  fact  known  to  the  provision  trade  in  any  way  they  may  think 
proper. 

Rule  23.  All  "  hog  products,"'  to  be  "  regular."  must  be  from  corn-fed  slaugh- 
tered hogs,  not  frozen  before  cutting,  and  shall  average  not  less  than  14  pounds  for 
shoulders,  or  'SO  pounds  for  sides,  and  must  run  at  least  bO  per  cent  sweet. 

No  hogs  shall  be  killed  on  the  same  day  on  which  they  arrive  at  the  pens  of  the 
slaughterhouse. 

Rule  24.  Where  meat  is  in  store  it  shall  be  weighed  and  inspected  in  store:  where 
meat  arrives  by  river,  rail,  or  canal,  it  shall  be  inspected  and  weighed  at  house  of 
buyer. 

Rule  25.  All  bacon  uncanvased,  bulk  meats  packed  between  March  1  and 
November  1,  shall  be  in  fly-tight  cooperage. 

Rule  26.  In  all  sales  of  provisions  for  future  delivery  either  party  may  call  for 
a  margin  at  any  time,  unless  it  is  expressly  understood  between  the  parties  at  the 
time  the  contract  is  entered  into  that  such  call  can  not  be  made.  In  the  absence 
of  special  contract  either  party  shall  be  entitled  to  a  margin  equal  to  ten  (10)  per 
cent  of  the  market  value  of  the  article  contracted  to  be  delivered,  the  same  to  be 
kept  good,  twenty-four  (24)  hours'  notice  in  writing  to  residents  and  forty-eight 
(4N)  hours'  notice  in  writing  or  by  telegraph  to  nonresidents  shall  be  given  on  a 
call  for  a  margin,  and  where  a  party  fails  to  respond  to  such  call  within  the  said 
time  the  property  may  be  sold  at  public  auction  on  the  floor  of  the  Merchants* 
Exchange  during 'Change  hours  on  the  following  day  "for  account  of  whom  it 
may  concern." 

Rule  27.'  In  settlement  of  contracts  (unless  otherwise  specified)  the  following 
weights  shall  govern: 

Dry  salted  meats  or  bacon:  - 

Packed  in  hogsheads —  Pounds. 

Shoulders 1,000 

Rib  sides 900 

Clear  rib  sides - 950 

Clear  sides.   .   .. 1,000 

Packed  in  half  hogsheads — 

Shoulders • 550 

Rib  sides 500 

Clear  rib  sides 550 

Clear  sides 575 

Hams  or  shoulders: 

Smoked  and  can vased,  packed  in  tierces 340 

In  pickle,  imcked  in  tierces  (green  weight)  ..- ...: 300 

Rule  28.  All  barreled  provisions  offered  for  sale  as  "regular"  in  this  market 
must  be  cut.  selected,  and  packed  in  all  respects  as  to  quality  and  condition  equal 
to  the  classification  of  inspection  as  adopted  by  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

'As  amended  September  27,  1875, 


798  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    U^JITED   STATES. 

Rule  29.  Unless  otherwise  stipulated,  in  all  sales  made  of  any  of  the  grades  of 
provisions  represented  as  "regular."  the  seller  shall  be  l)Ound  to  fulfill  his  sale  by 
the  delivery  of  the  quality  called  for  by  stach  sale,  and  which  on  examination  by 
tlie  inspector  has  been  certified  by  him  to  have  been  packed  acfordiiig  to  the  clas- 
sification, and  is  at  the  same  time  of  delivery  in  good  merchantable  condition  in 
every  respect. 

Provisions  from  which  any  surplus  gain  has  been  removed  can  not  be  classed  as 
"regular." 

Rule  30.  All  provisions  sold  in  this  market,  in  the  absence  of  special  agreement, 
shall  be  deemed  "  regular,"  and  the  property  must  compl)'  with  the  reijuirements 
of  the  rules  of  inspection  of  the  board.  All  provisions  sent  to  this  market  for 
sale,  which  are,  in  all  respects,  in  conformity  with  these  rules,  shall  be  classed  as 
"regular." 

Rule  31.  No  original  weight  shall  be  taken  out  of  any  package  of  provisions 
without  removing  the  original  packer's. brand  entirely  from  the  head  ot  the  pack- 
age, and  the  b.and  "  repacked  "  burned  in  the  head  distinctly. 

Rule  32.  In  all  cases  product  should  be  sold  "  regular,"  but  in  case  a  particular 
brand  is  sold,  and  upon  examination  the  product  will  not  inspect  "regular,"  the 
buyer  shall  elect  to  take  another  brand,  or  the  difference  in  value  of  the  special 
brand  shall  be  settled  between  the  buyer  and  seller. 

Ri'LE  33.'  On  sales  of  provisions  for  future  delivery,  on  buyer's  option,  if  the 
buyer  call  before  the  expiration  of  the  month  of  contract,  the  seller,  if  he  so  elect, 
shall  in  case  of  barreled  meats  and  lard  in  tierces  have  two  working  days'  notice, 
and  for  boxed  meats,  pickeled  or  smoked  hams,  and  shoulders  in  tierces,  or  dry 
salted  meats,  four  working  days  to  prepare  property  for  delivery;  and  when,  at 
the  option  of  seller,  the  seller  tenders  before  the  expiration  of  the  month  of  con- 
tract, the  buyer,  if  he  so  elect,  shall  have  the  same  time  to  prepare  for  receiving 
the  same. 

RcLE  34.  Buyers  of  provisions  on  time  contracts  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect 
before  the  day  of  delivery,  provided  they  send  an  inspector  in  time  to  allow  the 
inspection  to  be  co:npleted  before  the  expiration  of  the  contract:  but  failing  to  do 
so  the  seller  shall  have  the  privilege  of  having  the  property  inspected,  the  cost  to 
be  paid  by  the  buyer. 

Rule  35.'  Where  the  buyer  of  provisions  fails  to  avail  himself  of  the  privilege 
of  inspection,  in  the  absence  of  any  special  agreement  upon  the  part  of  the  seller 
to  guarantee  his  product,  the  liability  of  the  seller  shall,  as  to  quality,  saltage,  and 
weights  cease  when  the  product  shall  have  left  his  house. 

The  rules  for  inspection  of  provisions  adopted  by  the  Saint  Louis  Chamber  of 
Commerce  are  as  follows: 

Rule  xn. 

Inspection  and  delivery  of  provisions. 

Section  1.  The  board  of  directors  shall  appoint  inspectors  of  provisions,  not  to 
exceed  three,  upon  the  written  application  or  indorsement  of  not  less  than  five 
regular  dealers  in  beef  or  hog  product,  either  on  their  own  account  or  on  commis- 
sion, members  of  the  exchange,  who  shall  be  authorized,  when  called  upon,  to 
inspect  in  person  or  by  assistants,  and  report  the  actual  condition  of  the  property 
inspected.  The  inspectors  may  appoint  competent  assistants,  said  assistants  in 
all  cases  to  be  approved  by  the  board"of  directors,  but  the  certificate  of  inspection 
must  be  signed  by  an  appointed  inspector,  though  the  inspection  w;is  made  by  an 
assistant  under  his  direction,  and  the  inspector  signing  shall  be  accoimtable  to  the 
same  extent  as  if  the  property  had  been  actually  inspected  by  himself.  Each 
inspector  shall  give  bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty  as  indicated  by 
the  rules  of  the  exchange,  or  by  order  of  the  board  of  directors,  which  bond  shaU 
be  satisfactory  to  the  board  of  directors  and  their  successors,  and  approved  by 
them  before  he  shall  enter  upon  his  duties,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  any  person 
or  persons  who  may  be  aggrieved  or  injured  on  account  of  his  official  acts. 
Inspectors  shall  receive  for  their  services  the  fees  lor  inspection  as  established  and 
fixed  by  the  board  of  directors.  The  board  shall  also  appoint  five  members  of  the 
exchange  as  a  committee  on  provision  inspection,  who  shall  act  as  referees  in  all 
cases  of  complaint  against  inspectors  for  the  inspection  of  any  lot  of  provisions, 
or  any  matters  of  business  pertaining  to  said  inspection.  The  buyer,  however, 
shall  in  all  cases  have  the  right  to  select  his  own  inspector  from  the  inspectors 
appointed  by  the  board  of  directors;  but  in  case  the  sdler  feels  that  injustice  is 
being  done,  he  shall  have  the  right  to  call  upon  the  committee  on  inspection,  whose 

'Adopted  February  8,  1877. 
*  Adopted  September  27,  1875. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  799 

■decision  shall  be  final  and  binding.  In  the  absence  of  such  committee,  arbitrators 
may  be  substituted.  Buyers  of  provisions  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect  before 
the  day  of  delivery,  provided  they  send  an  inspector  in  time  to  allow  the  inspec- 
tion to  be  completed  before  the  expiration  of  the  contract:  but.  failing  to  do  so, 
the  seller  shall  have  the  privilege  of  having  the  property  inspected  by  an  inspector 
appointed  by  the  board  of  directors,  the  cost  to  be  paid  by  the  buyer.  All  appeals 
f  I  om  inspe;;tion  musl  be  made  before  the  property  leaves  the  city,  packing  point, 
or  place  of  delivery.  The  committee  shall  be  allowed  one  dollar  each  for  every 
case  decided  by  them,  to  be  paid  by  the  parties  in  default. 

Sec.  8.  The  inspector  shall  keep  a  record,  in  detail,  of  every  examination  he 
may  make,  that  he  may  be  qualified  to  testif  j'  positively  in  the  event  of  a  dispute. 

Sec.  3.  In  case  of  no  specific  agreement,  the  saltage  allowed  on  bulk  meats  shall 
be  (1  per  ct. )  one  per  cent  from  the  first  of  November  to  the  first  of  May;  but, 
should  the  buyer  or  seller  object,  the  inspector  shall  sweep  as  many  drafts  as  he 
may  consider  necessary,  and  the  percentage  thus  ascertained  shall  be  binding  on 
both  parties:  but  from  the  first  of  May  to  the  first  of  November  the  tare  shall  be 
ascertained  by  washing  in  cold  water  with  a  cloth,  in  cases  of  no  special  agree- 
ment to  the  contrary.  A  drainage  of  (1  per  ct.)  one  per  cent  shall  be  allowed  on 
pickled  hams,  shoulders,  and  mess  pork,  and  they  shall  be  free  from  salt. 

Sec.  4.  To  det'  rmine  the  tare  on  lard,  the  package  shall  first  be  weighed  gross, 
the  lard  then  removed,  and  the  empty  package  subjected  to  dry  heat  and  drained, 
after  which  the  empty  package  shall  be  weighed,  and  its  weight  deducted  from 
the  gross  weight;  the  difference  thus  obtained  shall  be  considered  the  net  weight 
of  the  lard. 

Sec.  5.  Three  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  net,  shall  be  the  average  weight  of 
a  tierce  of  lard,  upon  which  all  s.^ttlements  on  contracts  shall  be  based:  but  the 
number  of  packages  the  contract  calls  for  must  be  delivered,  and  the  difference, 
if  any,  settled  at  the  market  price  on  the  day  of  delivery.' 

Sec.  6.  Pickled  hams  and  shoulders  shall  be  sized  when  packed,  the  light, 
medium,  and  heavy,  separately,  as  near  as  practicable.  Number  of  pieces  and 
green  weight,  packer "s  name  and  location,  and  date  of  packing  shall  be  branded 
on  the  head  of  each  package,  the  date  to  be  branded  with  metallic  letters,  marking 
iron,  or  stencil,  at  time  of  packing. 

Sec.  7.  In  English  meats  the  pieces  shall  be  classified,  and  the  light,  medium, 
and  heavy  packed  separately  as  nearly  as  practicable,  in  boxes  made  to  fit  the  dif- 
ferent sizes.  Four  hundred  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  net.  shall  constitute 
a  box  of  Cumberland  middles;  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  to  five  hundred  and 
twenty- five  pounds,  net,  shall  constitute  a  box  of  all  other  English  cuts  of  middles, 
shoulders,  and  hams:  and  all  boxes  containing  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
of  meat  to  have  a  th  rd  strap  around  the  box.  All  settlements  of  contracts  shall 
be  made  on  a  basis  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  per  box.  net,  for  Cum- 
berland cuts,  and  five  hundred  pounds  per  box,  net,  for  all  other  English  meats. 

Sec.  8.  If  on  inspection  of  a  fair  sample  of  bulk  meats  twenty  (20)  per  cent  or 
over  is  found  to  be  sour,  the  buyer  shall  not  be  required  to  take  the  lot. 

Sec.  9.  Dry  salted  rough  sides  may  be  made  into  short  ribs  or  short  clear  sides, 
and  dry  salted  short  rib  sides  may  be  made  into  short  clear  sides,  if  in  all  other 
respects  they  are  up  to  the  requiivments,  and  shall  be  classed  as  standard. 

Sec.  10.  On  all  contracts  for  boxed  meats  it  shall  be  understood  that  the  meat 
may  not  be  fully  cured,  but  shall  have  been  from  fifteen  to  twenty  days  in  salt 
before  boxing. 

Sec.  11.  On  all  contracts  or  sales  of  barreled  pork,  not  less  than  fifty  barrels  of 
one  brand  shall  be  delivered. 

Sec.  12.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  the  inspector,  one  hundred  and  ninety  pounds  of 
green  meat  shall  have  been  packed  in  a  barrel  of  pork,  then  it  shall  be  classed  as 
standard,  and  should  there  be  sufficient  overweight  to  cover  any  irregularity  of 
packing,  then  in  that  case  it  should  also  be  passed  as  standard. 

Sec.  1H.  In  no  case  should  a  duplicate  inspection  certificate  be  issued  by  the 
inspector,  except  on  sufficient  evidence  of  the  loss  of  the  original. 

Sec.  14.  On  all  deliveries  on  contracts  for  bulk  meats  and  pickled  meats  other 
than  barreled  pork,  the  inspection  certificate  shall  hold  good  for  five  days,  and  on 
barreled  pork  for  ten  days. 

Sec.  15.  Pork  product,  to  be  standard  and  delivered  on  contracts,  must  be  sound, 
fully  cured,  and  cut,  as  is  required  by  the  rules  of  the  exchange.  Barreled  pork, 
to  be  standard,  must  be  packed  between  the  first  of  November  and  the  first  of 
March,  and  barreled  pork  and  hams  in  pickle  shall  not  be  standard  or  deliverable 
on  contracts  after  the  first  day  of  January  following  the  packing  season  in  which 
they  are  made.  Repacked  pork  shall  not  be  classed  as  standard  or  deliverable  on 
contracts;  but  this  shall  not  apply  to  pork  examined  and  repacked  by  an  author- 
ized inspector  for  the  purpose  of  passing  upon  the  condition  thereof.    No  certifl- 


800  SWINE    PRODrCTS    OF    THE    T'XITED    STATES. 

cate  of  ^eef  or  hog  product  shall  be  recognized  as  regular  unless  it  is  signed  by  an 
iuspecti  r  appointed  by  the  boa  d  of  directors. 

Sec.  Hi.  In  case  property  does  not  pass  insjiection.  the  fees  shall  be  paid  by  the 
seller.  No  original  weight  shall  1  e  tal^eii  out  of  any  barrel  or  tierce  of  provisions 
without  the  inspector  s  removmg  the  original  packer  s  brand  entirely  from  the 
head  of  the  package. 

Sec.  17.  All  deliveries  of  beef  or  hog  products  sold  for  future  delivery,  in  the 
absence  of  special  agreement,  shall  be  by  the  deliver}'  of  warehouse  receipts, 
issued  from  such  warehouses  or  places  only  as  shall  have  been  declared  a  regular 
warehouse,  or  other  place,  for  the  storage  of  such  property  under  the  rules  of  the 
Merchants*  Exchange  by  the  board  of  directors.  r?uch  places  of  storage,  in  all 
cases,  shall  be  suitab  e  for  the  preservation  of  the  property,  and  all  deliveries  shall 
be  accompanied  by  the  certificate  of  inspection  of  an  inspector  of  provisions, 
appointed  by  the  board  of  directors,  which  inspection  shall  conform  to  the  rules 
of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  governing  such  property.  Any  person  or  persons 
or  corporation  des'ring  to  ha\e  their  warehouse  or  places  declared  regular  shall 
make  application  therefor  to  the  board  of  directors,  stating  his  or  their  location, 
insurance,  facilities  for  shipping,  and  shall  furnish  such  other  information  as  may 
be  required  by  the  board  of  directors,  and  shall  also  give  a  good  and  sufficient 
bond  in  such  sum  as  the  board  of  directors  may  require,  that  property  p'aced  in 
his  or  their  or  its  care  shall  have  the  necessary  attention  for  its  preservation. 
Any  place  declared  and  designated  as  regular  may.  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons, 
satisfactory  to  the  board  of  d. rectors,  be  declared  by  said  board  no  longer  a  regu- 
lar warehouse  for  the  storage  of  provisions,  nnder  the  rules  of  the  exchange,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  property  already  in  store  in  such  warehouses  shall  continue 
to  be  regular  on  delivery  so  long  as  it  remains  in  such  warehouse. 

The  meat  rejected  by  the  above  inspection  is  selected  according  to  its  condition. 
The  worst  quality,  including  all  that  may  be  unfit  for  food,  is  consigned  to  the 
offal  tank  and  the  remainder  sold  on  its  merits,  usually  going  to  the  markets  of 
the  South  and  the  West  Indies. 

LARD. 

There  are  anumber  of  grades  of  lard  m^deatpacking  establishments:  1.  Choice 
lard  made  from  leaf  and  trimmings,  which  may  be  either  kettle  or  steam  rendered, 
and  has  the  method  of  rendering  stamped  on  the  packages.  2.  Prime  steam  lard 
from  the  hog  "  round."  which  includes  nearly  everything  from  the  hog  not  men- 
tioned in  No.  1.  but  should  contain  no  salted  trimmings.  3.  "Off  grade"  lard 
from  salted  trimmings. 

OFFAL, 

In  the  oflfal  is  included  the  blood,  hair,  head,  feet,  heart.  Inngs,  liver,  kidneys, 
stomach,  and  intestines.  The  blood  is  boiled  until  coagulated.  It  is  then  pressed 
for  the  grease,  ground,  dried,  and  sold  for  fertilizers,  the  price  of  this  being  regu- 
lated by  the  per  cent  of  ammonia.  The  hair  is  sold  to  curlers.  The  tongues  are 
fdckled.  The  cheek  meat  is  made  into  "brawn"'  or  sausage.  The  head,  heart, 
ungs,  kidneys,  liver,  stomach,  and  such  of  the  intestines  as  are  not  used  for  sau- 
sage casing.s  are  tanked  for  grease.  The  residue  from  tanks  is  dr:ed  for  fertilizer. 
The  feet  are  made  into  glue  or  pickled. 

In  addition  to  the  general  statements  received  from  numerous  pr.ckers  in  the 
country,  a  large  amount  of  specific  information  was  received  from  Messrs.  Armour 
&  Co.,  of  Chicago,  probably  the  most  extensive  packing  house  in  the  world. 

The  correspondence  and  the  questions  and  replies  are  here  inserted  in  full. 

Chicago,  January  22, 1884, 
E.  W.  Blatchford,  Esq.,  Chicago,  III. 

Dear  Sir:  We  are  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  yesterday,  with  its  inclosures.  all 
of  which  have  full  consideration.  We  take  pleasure  in  complying  with  your 
reijuest  and  beg  to  hand  you  with  this  our  answers  to  your  various  inquiries.  We 
have  endeavored  to  make  them  as  explicit  and  comprehensive  as  possible,  for  we 
fully  appreciate  their  importance:  and  if  you  should  desire  further  information 
in  connection  with  this  matter,  please  be  assured  that  our  services  are  at  your 
command. 

Very  respectfully,  etc. ,  Armocb  &  Co. 

The  following  are  the  questions  and  answers: 

Q.  1.  Where  and  how  are  the  hogs  purchased? — A.  At  the  stock  yards,  from 
shippers  and  drovers,  by  careful,  experienced  men. 
Q.  2.  How  do  you  buy  your  hogs?— A.  Through  our  own  buyers  in  the  yards, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  801 

whose  instructions  are  positive  concerning  quality  and  condition,  and  to  make 
careful  selections. 

C^.  3.  In  selecting  hogs  what  do  you  reject? — A.  They  are  told  to  reject  every- 
thing objectionable. 

Q,  4.  Diseased  animals? — A.  Yes;  invariably. 

Q.  5.  Bruised  animals? — A.  Yes;  they  are  useless  for  our  purposes. 

Q.  6.  Ruptured  animals?— A.  Yes;  we  avoid  them. 

Q.  7.  Still-fed  animals?— A.  Yes;  wherever  it  can  be  discovered. 

Q.  8.  Pregnant  sows? — A.  Yes;  if  too  far  advanced. 

Q.  9.  Stags? — A.  Yes;  unless  at  reduced  valuation,  and  for  special  uses  and 
markets  here. 

Q.  10.  Crippled  hogs? — A.  Yes;  they  are  always  avoided. 

Q.  11.  Are  hogs  usually  rejected  for  these  reasons? — A.  Yes;  for  packing  pur- 
poses. 

Q.  13.  If  not  rejected,  what  do  you  do  with  them?— A.  They  are  usually  put  into 
the  offal  tanks. 

Q.  VS.  Is  it  not  customary  to  buy  hogs  from  the  general  appearance,  weight, 
and  evenness  of  a  lot? — A.  Yes,  frequently. 

Q.  14.  What  is  done  with  rejected  hogs? — A.  They  are  either  resold  or  put  into 
the  offal  tanks. 

Q.  15.  How  long  are  the  hogs  kept  in  your  pens  before  slaughtering? — A.  About 
twenty-four  hours. 

Q.  16.  W  hy  are  they  kept  this  length  of  time? — A.  To  cool  off  and  to  improve 
their  condition. 

Q.  17.  How  do  you  care  for  them  in  your  pens? — A.  Give  them  plenty  of  fresh 
water  and  corn. 

Q.  18.  How  are  these  pens  constructed? — A.  They  are  covered  and  have  wooden 
floors. 

Q.  19.  Do  any  die  in  the  pens?— A.  Occasionally,  but  they  are  closely  watched. 

Q.  20.  If  so,  how  many,  and  from  what  cause? — A.  The  number  is  insignificant; 
the  cause  is  smothering. 

Q.  21.  What  is  done  with  the  dead  hogs? — A.  They  are  put  into  the  offal  tanks 
invariably. 

Q.  33.  How  are  the  hogs  prepared  for  slaughtering? — A.  By  being  rested, 
watered,  and  fed. 

Q.  23,  Is  the  condition  of  the  hogs  at  all  observed  or  considered  before  slaugh- 
tering?—A.  It  is,  always. 

Q.  24.  How  is  the  proper  condition  of  the  hog  assured  at  time  of  slaughter? — A. 
By  examination  and  general  appearance. 

Q.  25.  How  are  the  hogs  taken  from  the  pens  to  the  slaughtering  room? — A. 
They  are  driven  a  short  distance. 

Q.  26.  If  hogs  are  unable  to  be  driven  to  the  slaughtering  room,  what  is  done 
with  them? — A.  Unless  healthy  and  in  good  order  they  are  killed  and  put  into  the 
offal  tank. 

Q.  27.  What  mode  of  slaughter  do  you  adopt?— A.  They  are  bled  to  death  by 
cutting  the  main  arteries  in  the  throat. 

Q.  28.  What  time  is  allowed  the  hog  to  bleed? — A.  Until  he  is  dead. 

Q.  29.  Is  an  examination  made  whether  life  is  extinct  before  scalding? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  80.  What  is  done  with  the  carcass  when  coming  out  of  the  scalding  tub? — 
A.  It  is  scraped;  the  entrails  are  removed,  and  it  is  sent  to  the  cooling  room. 

Treatment  of  carcass  of  hog  after  slaughter. 

Q.  31.  What  time  is  allowed  the  carcass  to  cool  before  cutting  up?— A.  From 
thirty-six  to  forty-eight  hours. 

Q.  33.  Is  the  carcass  thoroughly  cooled  before  going  to  the  cutting  bench?— A. 
Yes;  thoroughly. 

Q.  83.  Is  this  rule  strictly  carried  out? — A.  Yes;  very  carefully. 

Q.  34.  Why  is  the  thorough  cooling  of  the  carcass  important  liefore  cutting  up 
and  commencing  to  cure? — A.  In  order  to  remove  all  animal  heat,  and  to  prevent 
souring. 

Q.  35.  Is  there  any  inspection  made  to  ascertain  that  it  is  thoroughly  cooled? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  36.  What  is  your  rule  for  cutting? — A.  After  hanging  for  forty-eight  hours. 

Q.  87.  Is  inspection  of  meat  had  at  time  of  cutting  up,  and  for  what? — A.  Yes; 
to  detect  all  objectionable  pieces. 

Q.  38.  Is  such  inspection  sufficiently  thorough  to  detect  disease  or  bruises? — ^A. 
Yes;  entirely  so. 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 5X 


802  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Q.  39.  After  cutting  up  the  carcass  how  are  the  parts  treated  to  effect  a  cure?— 
A.  Well  salted,  and  covered  with  brine. 

Q.  40.  How  are  they  piled  to  secure  thorough  curing?— A.  In  cold  cellars. 

Q.  41.  What  is  the  temperature  of  the  room?— A.  About  i^o"  Fahrenheit. 

Q.  42.  What  time  is  refjuired  for  rnrinj^V— A.  About  forty  to  sixty  days. 

Q.  43.  Is  meat  ever  shipped  before  being  fully  cured? — A.  Very  seldom. 

Q.  44.  Is  it  desirable  to  perfect  the  curing  of  the  meat  in  as  short  a  time  as  pos- 
sible?—A.  We  think  not. 

Q.  45.  Is  not  the  curing  of  the  meat  often  forced  for  the  nnrpose  of  making  it 
salable  and  deliverable  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible? — A.  We  think  not. 

Q.  46.  Do  yon  ascertain  by  inspection  the  soundness  of  your  cured  meat? — A.  We 
do.  always, 

Q.  47.  To  what  causes  do  you  attribute  unsound  or  "sour"  meat? — A.  Negli- 
gence in  curing,  and  careless  handling,  and  cutting  before  the  cooling  is  completed. 

i^.  48.  Do  you  attribute  it  to  a  d  seased  car^'ass^ — A.  No,  not  necessarily. 

Q.  4J).  Do  you  attribute  it  to  a  faulty  treatment?— A.  Yes.  usually. 

Q.  r)0.  Do  you  attrioute  it  to  a  want  of  care?— A,  Yes,  generally. 

Q.  51.  What  quantity  of  "'sour"  meat  do  you  have? — A.  It  is  infinitesimal. 

Q.  52.  What  is  done  with  it?— A.  It  is  put  into  the  offal  tanks,  or  sold  on  its 
merits  to  home  markets. 

Q.  53.  What,  if  any.  changes  in  modes  of  curing  are  adopted  for  meats  destined 
tx)  markets  in  different  climates?— A.  No  changes:  but  careful  selections. 

Q.  .54.  Can  as  reliable  results  of  curing  be  had  in  summer  as  in  winter?— A.  Yes, 
with  proper  care  and  ice  facilities. 

Q.  55.  What  kind  or  kinds  of  salt  are  us?d?— A.  Both  foreign  and  domestic, 
coarse  and  fine. 

Q.  56.  How  do  you  give  this  or  that  kind  preference? — A.  Coarse  for  pickling; 
fine  for  dry  salting. 

Q.  57.  How  is  meat  packed  for  shipment? — A.  In  boxes,  sprinkled  with  salt,  and 
also  in  brine. 

Q.  .58.  What  is  the  quality  of  the  packages  used?— A.  Pine  boxes,  and  oak  bar- 
rels and  tierces. 

Q.  59.  What  is  the  size  of  packages? — A.  Boxes  hold  about  500  pounds;  barrels, 
200  pounds;  tierces,  300  pounds. 

Q.  CO.  Is  any  salt  put  in?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  61.  How  much  to  each  box  of  meat? — A.  About  50  pounds. 

62.  What  is  the  rule? — A.  No  special  rule;  the  custom  is  from  40  to  50  pounds. 

63.  Is  this  rule  strictly  adhered  to? — A-  We  think  it  is. 
Is  not  less  salt  used  than  the  rule  calls  for  to  save  expense?— A.  We  think 


What  is  the  character  of  the  salt  used?— A.  Fine  salt. 
Is  any  care  taken  that  the  salt  be  clean? — A.  Yes. 

What  is  your  rule  for  cutting  mess  pork? — A.  From  well-fatted  hogs; 
uniform,  strips,  according  to  board  of  trade  rules. 
Q.  68.  How  many  pieces  in  each  barrel? — A.  AlK)ut  sixteen  pieces. 
Q.  69.  What  is  the  w^eight  of  meat  in  each  barrel? — A.  190  pounds  packed  in  win- 
ter and  200  pounds  packed  in  summer. 
Q.  70.  What  kind  of  salt  is  used?— A.  Coarse  salt. 

Q.  71.  What  quantity  of  salt  is  used?— A.  About  30  pounds  of  coarse  salt,  and 
the  barrel  filled  with  brine. 

Q.  72.  How  is  the  quality  of  the  salt  test,ed?— A.  By  analysis,  and  the  use  of  the 
salometer. 

73.  Where  is  the  mess  pork  stored?- A.  Generally  in  cool  cellars. 

74.  What  are  the  regulations  regarding  its  storage?— A.  That  it  shall  be  in 
warehouse  well  located. 

Q.  75.  What  is  the  temperature  of  the  warehouse?- A.  Generally  about  40"  or 
50°  Fahrenheit. 

Q.  76.  What  examinations  are  made  as  to  its  condition  from  time  to  time?— 
A.  Packages  unrolled  to  ascertain  about  the  pickle;  occasionally  opened,  and 
cooperage  also  examined. 

Q.  77.  What  numbers  of  hogs  do  you  kill  annually?— A.  About  one  million  in 
our  Chicago  house. 

Q.  78.  What  is  their  average  weight?— A.  From  260  to  280  pounds  live  weight. 

Q.  79.  What  parts  of  the  hog  do  you  use  for  lard? — A.  Leaf  and  trimmings. 

Q.  80,  What  do  you  include  as  offal?— A.  Portions  of  the  entrails  and  general 
refuse. 

Q.  81.  What  is  done  with  the  head?— A.  The  meat  is  made  into  head-cheese  and 
the  balance  is  put  into  the  offal  tanks. 


SWINE    TRODUCTS    OF    THE    UN1TP:D    STATES.  803 

Q.  82.  What  is  done  with  the  feet? — A.  Some  are  thrown  into  the  offal  tank, 
others  are  cooked  and  pickled. 

Q.  S'S,  What  is  done  with  the  entrails?— A.  Some  are  cleaned  for  sausage  casings, 
and  the  balance  thrown  into  the  offal  tank. 

Q.  84.  What  is  done  with  the  heart,  liver,  and  lights? — A.  Some  are  used  for 
sausages  and  the  balance  thrown  into  the  offal  tank. 

Q.  85.  What  is  done  with  the  blood? — A.  It  is  dried  and  used  as  a  fertilizer. 

Q.  80.  What  is  done  with  the  refuse  from  tan  cs?— A.  It  is  dried  and  made  into 
fertilizers. 

Q.  87.  Is  all  meat  inspected  before  being  shipped?— A.  Yes,  as  a  rule. 

Q.  88.  By  whom?— A.  By  the  board  of  trade  and  other  inspectors,  and  by  our- 
selves. 

Q.  89.  Under  what  authority? — A.  Of  the  board  of  trade  and  mutual  agreement. 

Q.  90.  Is  meat  ever  packed  and  shipped  without  being  inspected?— A.  No,  except 
by  possible  oversight. 

Q.  91.  Under  what  circumstances?— A.  By  mistake  or  oversight. 

Q.  92.  Do  you  ever  guarantee  inspection?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  98.  If  so.  tinder  what  cir  umstances,  and  to  what  extent? — A.  When  buyers 
have  our  confidence  and  rejections  can  be  returned. 

Q.  94.  What  course  does  the  inspector  take  in  e.\amining  meat?— A.  He  goes  in 
person,  or  by  deputy,  by  mutual  consent  and  arrangement  of  buyers  and  sellers. 

Q.  95.  Does  he  examine  each  piece? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  96.  What  tests  are  made?— A.  He  uses  a  "tryer,"  made  for  this  purpose. 

Q.  97.  For  fully  or  properly  cured?— A.  Yes,  both. 

Q.  98.  For  stags?— A.  Yes, 

Q.  99.  For  piggy  sows?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  100.  For  sour  meat?— A.  Yes. 

Q.  101.  For  bruised  meat. — A.  Yes. 

Q.  102.  For  what  causes  is  meat  rejected? — A.  For  the  above;  also  for  irregular 
cuts,  and  for  imperfect  cure. 

Q.  103.  Whatisdone  with  m-'at  rejected  by  the  inspector?- A.  It  is  selected,  sold 
on  its  merits  to  home  markets,  or  put  Into  offal  tanks,  according  to  its  condition. 

Q.  104.  What  do  you  say  to  inspection?— A.  We  respectfully  suggest  that  a 
Government  inspection  of  exported  (or  other)  meats  would  no  doubt  meet  with 
general  approval,  and  it  could  doubtless  be  harmonized  or  merged  into  the  present 
authorized  systems  in  each  important  market. 

Similar  questions  were  addressed  to  the  leading  packing  houses  in  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  Jersey  City,  New  York,  Boston,  West  Albany,  and  Buffalo.  The 
answers  in  all  cases  were  essentially  the  same  as  those  received  from  Armour  & 
Co.,  of  Chicago. 

PURCHASE  AND  SALE  OF  HOG  PRODUCTS. 

The  ordinary  course  of  purchase  and  sale  of  hog  products  is  as  follows: 
When  a  purchase  of  these  products  is  made  of  a  packing  firm,  an  order  is  issued 
in  favor  of  the  buyer  lor  the  number  of  packages  or  pieces  of  meat  sold;  also  an 
order  to  permit  the  buyer's  inspector  to  make  a  satisfactory  inspection  of  the 
meats.  The  purcha-er  hands  tlie  order  for  tlie  meats  to  the  agent  of  the  railroad 
company,  and  the  order  for  inspection  to  his  inspector,  or  the  regularly  authorized 
inspector,  as  he  sees  fit,  giving  to  each  such  instructions  as  will  best  carry  out  the 
terms  of  his  purchase. 

The  rules  and  regulations  for  the  purchase  and  sale  of  provisions  and  their 
inspection,  adopted  by  the  St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of  December  18, 1883, 
are  as  follows: 

Sec.  14.  All  provisicms  offered  for  sale  as  "standard"  in  this  market  must  be 
cut,  selected,  and  packed  in  all  respects  as  to  quality  and  condition  etjual  to  the 
standards  established  by  the  board  of  directors,  and  the  seller  shall  be  Lound  to 
fulfill  his  sale  by  the  delivery  of  the  (luality  called  for  by  such  sale,  which,  on 
examination  by  the  authorized  inspe:  tor,  has  been  certified  by  him  to  have  been 
packed  according  to  the  established  classification,  and  is  at  the  time  of  delivery  in 
good  merchantable  condition  in  every  respect.  Provisions  from  which  any  surplus 
gain  has  been  removed  can  not  afterwards  be  classed  as  "standard." 

Sec.  15.  In  sales  as  standard  of  a  particular  packer's  brand  or  cut,  if  the  property 
does  not  pass  insjjection,  the  buyer  shall  elect  either  to  take  the  lot  tendered  at 
contract  prite  or  require  that  some  other  brand  or  cut  be  substituted  therefor  that 
will  pass  inspection,  or  to  receive  the  difference  in  value  between  tiie  property 


804  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

tendered  and  such  as  called  for  by  the  contract:  and  snch  election  shall  be  binding 
upon,  and  be  carried  out  by,  both  parties  as  a  settlement  of  the  contract. 

Sec.  16.  In  all  cases  of  sales  of  provisions  as  "standard"  the  inspector  shall 
examine  and  inspect,  when  called  upon,  and  shall  decide  if  the  property  be  up  to 
the  requirements;  and  he  shall  issue  his  certificates,  stating  correctly  the  condi- 
tion and  quality  of  the  propei-ty  inspected  and  specify  the  defects,  if  any  exist 
therein. 

Sec.  17.  In  sales  of  fully  cured  meats,  or  to  he  fully  cured  and  delivered  at  a 
specified  time,  the  seller  must  deliver  in  good  faith,  according  to  contract,  the 
inspector  to  be  the  judge,  who  shall  always  be  fully  in'ormed  of  the  conditions  of 
the  contract  before  proceeding  to  inspect.  Where  sales  of  dry  salted  meats  are 
made  without  other  specifications  it  shall  be  considered  that  the  sales  contemplate 
meats  fully  cured,  the  inspector  to  be  the  judge. 

Sec.  18.  On  sale  of  provisions  for  future  delivery,  "at  buyer's  option,"  if  buyer 
calls  before  expiration  of  contract  the  seller,  if  he  so  elect,  shall  have  at  least  five 
working  days  to  prepare  property  for  delivery,  in  the  case  of  bacon  and  bulk 
meats.  Purchasers  of  provisions  shall  have  three  days  free  of  storage  to  remove 
property  when  in  store. 

The  rules  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  governing  the  purchase  and  sale  of  hog 
products  and  their  inspection,  adopted  September  1, 1883: 

Bulb  XXY. 

Provisions. 

Section  1.  The  board  of  directors  shall  appoint  five  members  of  the  association 
as  a  committee  on  provision  inspection,  who  shall  have  and  exercise  a  general  con- 
trol over  the  inspection  of  provisions,  and  shall  act  as  referees  in  case  of  com- 
plaint against  the  chief  inspector  of  provisions  or  the  inspection  of  any  lot  of  pro- 
visions, or  any  matter  of  difference  pertaining  to  the  same,  except  as  hereinafter 
provided.  The  committee  shall  be  authorized,  in  determining  the  correctness  of 
any  inspection  they  are  called  upon  to  revise,  to  adopt  any  measures  they  may 
deem  necessary  under  the  circumstances  for  the  ascertainment  of  its  true  charac- 
ter. The  committee  shall  be  entitled  to  fees  amounting  to  $3  each  for  each  case 
of  appeal  decided  by  them,  to  be  paid  by  the  party  against  whom  the  decision 
shall  be  made. 

Sec.  2.  The  board  of  directors  shall  also  appoint  a  suitable  person  as  chief 
inspector  of  provisions,  who  shall  be  required  to  give  a  bond  in  such  amount  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  the  board  of  directors  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his 
duties  as  indicated  by  the  rules  of  the  board  of  trade  or  by  order  of  the  board  of 
directors.  Said  bond  shall  be  satisfactory  to  the  board  of  directors  and  be  approved 
by  them  before  the  said  chief  inspector  shall  be  entitled  to  enter  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duties.  Said  bond  shall  be  made  to  the  president  of  the  board 
of  trade  and  his  successors  in  office,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  any  parties  having 
legal  claims  for  damages  against  said  chief  inspector  on  account  of  any  of  his 
official  acts. 

Sec.  3.  The  chief  inspector  of  provisions  shall  appoint,  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
committee  on  provision  inspection,  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  deputy 
inspectors,  who  shall  be  under  his  control  and  subject  to  his  orders  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  performance  of  official  duty. 

Sec.  4.  The  chief  inspector,  through  and  by  his  deputies,  shall  furnish  the  nec- 
essary labor  and  materials  for  inspection.  The  several  deputy  inspectors  shall 
make  a  report  in  detail  of  every  inspection  or  examination  they  may  make,  which 
report  shall  be  returned  to  the  chief  inspector  and  be  by  him  preserved  for  future 
reference. 

Sec.  5.  The  board  of  directors  shall  also  appoint  a  competent  person  as  registrar 
of  provisions,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  provide  and  cause  to  be  kept  suitable  books 
in  which  shall  be  registered  all  warehouse  receipts  for  beef  and  hog  product  issued 
as  "regular  "  or  for  the  "  regular  delivery''  of  such  property  in  the  Chicago  mar- 
ket under  the  rules  of  the  board  of  trade.  Such  receipts,  after  being  so  registered, 
shall  be  stamped  or  written  across  their  face  with  the  word  "registered,"  and  the 
date  of  such  registry,  and  signed,  in  writing,  by  the  said  registrar  or  some  person 
duljr  authorized  by  him  for  that  service.  AH  warehouse  receipts,  before  being 
registered,  shall  be  plainly  numbered,  and  shall  indicate  on  their  face  the  number 
or  mark  of  the  particular  lot  of  property  intended  to  be  covered  or  represented  by 
Buch  receipt.  AH  such  receipts  issued  from  or  by  each  warehouse  or  other  place 
of  storage  shall  be  consecutively  numbered,  and  no  receipts  of  duplicate  numbers 


SWINE   PKODUCfS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  805 

issued  from  the  same  place  of  storage  shall  be  registered.  All  property  covered  or 
represented  by  registered  warehouse  receipts  shall  be  plainly  marked  in  such  man- 
ner as  will  clearly  distinguish  it  from  all  other  property  stored  in  the  same  ware- 
house or  place  of  storage,  and  by  such  marks,  numbers,  or  characters  as  may  be 
approved  by  the  registrar  of  provisions,  such  marks  to  be  so  arranged  as  to  avoid 
the  possibility  of  duplication  or  uncertainty  as  to  the  identity  of  the  property  so 
receipted  for.  No  warehouse  receipt  shall  be  registered  until  a  report  shall  have 
been  received  at  the  ofltice  of  the  registrar  of  provisions  from  a  duly  authorized 
deputy  that  the  property  represented  by  the  receipt  is  actually  in  the  place  of  stor- 
age and  is  marked  as  indicated  in  the  receipt.  Such  reports  shall  be  in  a  form  pre- 
scribed by  the  registrar,  and  shall  be  i)reserved  by  him  for  future  reference.  No 
second  warehouse  receipt  for  the  same  property  shall  be  registered  unless  the 
original  is  presented  at  the  time  and  its  registration  canceled  by  the  registrar.  In 
such  case  new  receipts,  either  for  the  whole  or  parts  of  lots,  or  the  consolidation 
of  different  lots,  may  be  registered  upon  the  report  of  a  deputy  that  the  property 
is  in  the  place  represented  and  is  marked  as  represented.  All  new  receipts  so 
registered  shall  bear  the  same  date,  as  near  as  may  be,  with  the  originals  so  can- 
celed, and  no  receipts  differing  in  date  more  than  thirty  days  shall  be  consolidated 
into  a  new  receipt. 

No  property  shall  be  removed  from  the  place  of  storage  indicated  by  any  regis- 
tered receipt  issued  to  represent  it  until  the  registration  of  such  receipt  has  first 
been  canceled  in  the  office  of  the  registrar  of  provisions  by  writing  or  stamping 
across  its  face  the  words  "  Registration  canceled." 

Sec.  6.  The  chief  inspector  shall  receive  for  his  services  and  for  the  compensa- 
tion of  the  deputy  inspectors  employed  him  by  the  fees  for  inspecting  as  estab- 
lished by  the  board  of  trade.  The  registrar  shall  receive  as  compensation  for  his 
own  services  and  the  necessary  expenses  of  his  office  such  sum,  to  be  paid  from 
the  funds  of  the  association,  as  may  be  determined  by  the  board  of  directors. 

Sec.  7.  All  claims  tor  errors  of  inspection  or  damages  resulting  from  improper 
inspection  shall  be  made  to  the  chief  inspector,  and  in  case  of  dispute  as  to  the 
validity  of  any  claim  so  made  the  ques;ion  shall  be  decided  by  the  committee  on 
provision  inspection,  or  by  a  special  arbitration,  if  either  of  the  parties  so  prefer. 
In  the  latter  case  the  arbitrator  shall  be  chosen  either  by  mutual  agreement,  or 
an  equal  number,  not  exceeding  two,  may  be  selected  each  by  the  chief  inspector 
and  the  claimant;  and  the  persons  so  chosen  shall  select  an  additional  arbitrator. 
Arbitrations,  either  by  the  committee  on  provision  inspection  or  special  arbitrators, 
shall  be  conducted  under  substantially  the  same  form  of  proceedings  as  regular 
arbitrations  under  the  rules  of  the  board  of  trade,  and  shall  be  8ub,ect  to  all  the 
provisions  of  regular  arbitrations,  except  that  they  shall  not  be  subject  to  appeal. 

Sec.  8.  All  deliveries  of  beef  or  hog  product  in  store,  in  the  absence  of  special 
agreement,  shall  be  by  the  delivery  of  registered  warehouse  receipts  issued  from 
such  warehouses  or  places  only  as  shall  have  b^en  declared  a  regular  warehouse 
for  the  storage  of  such  property,  under  the  rules  of  the  board  of  trade,  by  the 
board  of  directors;  such  places  of  storage,  in  all  cases,  to  be  under  cover,  and  such 
as  is  suitable  for  the  proper  preservation  of  the  property.  All  such  deliveries  shall 
be  accompanied  by  a  certificate  of  inspection  of  the  chief  inspector  of  provisions, 
which  certificate  shall  state  the  number  of  packages  or  the  number  of  pieces, 
together  with  their  weight,  in  the  lot  to  which  it  applies,  the  place  where  the 
same  is  stored,  and  the  distinguishing  marks  upon  it:  also  the  number  of  packages 
or  pieces  examined,  and  that  the  same  was  found  to  be  in  good  merchantable  con- 
dition and  of  standard  quality.  In  the  case  of  barreled  pork,  the  number  of  pieces 
and  the  weight  in  each  barrel  shall  be  stated;  also  the  date  of  its  packing  as  indi- 
cated by  the  packer  s  brand  upon  the  packages.  Such  certificate  shall  be  dated 
within  five  (5)  days  of  such  delivery;  the  required  number  of  days  shall  include 
both  the  day  of  date  and  the  day  of  delivery. 

Sec.  9.  No  warehouse  receipts  for  beef  or  hog  product  shall  be  registered  except 
such  as  have  been  issued  by  or  from  a  warehouse  or  place  of  storage  declared  to 
be  a  regular  warehouse  for  the  storage  of  such  property  by  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  board  of  trade;  and  before  any  warehouse  or  storage  place  shall  be  declared 
a  regular  warehouse  for  such  property  the  proprietors  thereof  shall  file  a  bond 
with  the  board  of  trade  for  such  an  amount  as  may  be  deemed  sufficient,  and  with 
sureties  approved  by  the  board  of  directors.  Such  bond  shall  be  made  payable  to 
the  president  of  the  board  or  his  successors  in  office,  for  the  use  of  any  person  or 
persons  suffering  damages  by  reason  of  the  neglect  of  duty,  fault,  or  fraud  of  the 
proprietor  or  manager  of  such  warehouse,  and  such  bond  may  be  prosecuted  in 
the  name  of  the  president  of  the  board  of  trade,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  persons 
aggrieved  or  damaged  by  the  acts  of  such  warehouse  proprietor  or  manager.  All 
such  bonds  shall  be  conditioned  upon  the  faithful  and  honest  performance  of  his 


806  SWINE    PRODT7CTS   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

or  their  duties  by  the  proprietor  or  manager  of  his  or  their  warehotisos.  as  defined 
by  the  laws  of  this  State,  or  by  the  rales  of  the  board  of  trade  not  inconsistent 
there  w  J  til. 

Rdle  XXVI. 

Sale  of  proviftions. 

Section  1.  All  provisions  sold  in  this  market,  in  the  absence  of  special  agree- 
ment, shall  be  deemed  standard,  and  the  property  delivered  must  comply  with  the 
requirements  of  the  regulations  of  inspection  established  by  the  association.  And 
all  provisions  sent  to  this  market  for  sale  which,  upon  examination,  shall  be 
found  to  have  been  mannfacti.red,  handled,  or  packed,  in  all  respects  and  to  all 
appearances,  in  conformity  with  those  rnles  shall  be  classed  as  .standard. 

Sec.  2.  All  provisions  sold  as  s'andard  shall  be  cut,  selected,  and  packed  in  all 
respects  as  to  quality  and  condition  conformably  to  the  classification  of  inspection 
as  adopted  by  the  association:  and.  unless  otherwise  stipulated,  on  all  sales  made 
of  any  of  the  grades  of  provisions  as  standard  the  seller  shall  deliver  the  parcels  of 
the  kind  and  quality  called  for  by  such  sale,  wliich  any  duly  appointed  inspector 
of  the  association  has  examined  and  has  certified  to  have  been  packed  according 
to  the  classification  and  is  at  the  time  of  delivery  in  good  merchantable  condition 
in  every  respect:  or.  failing  so  to  deliver,  he  shall  be  bound  to  settle  his  contract 
under  the  provisions  of  Rule  XXIV  of  the  association:  Provided,  That  in  all  sales 
si)ecified  as  for  cash  the  buyer  shall  not  be  bound  to  pay  inspection  fees  unless  he 
orders  the  inspection  of  the  property. 

Sec.  3.  Lard,  hams,  or  shoulders  may  be  packed  in  tierces,  either  wood  or  iron 
bound,  or  bound  partly  with  both.  Provisions  from  which  any  gain  has  been 
removed  shall  not  afterward  be  classed  as  standard. 

'•Sec.  4.  All  hog  product  to  be  classed  as  standard  shall  comply  in  all  respects 
with  the  requirements  of  the  rules  of  inspection  adopted  by  the  board  of  trade, 
and  if  delivered  on  or  after  January  1  sha'l  include  only  such  as  has  been  packed 
on  or  after  the  first  day  of  the  previous  November,  and.  in  the  case  of  barreled 
pork,  shall  include  only  such  as  has  been  packed  between  November  1  and  March  1.'' 

Sec.  5.  No  original  weight  shall  be  taken  out  of  any  package  of  provisions  which 
is  afterward  to  be  offered  for  sale  by  the  package  without  removing  the  original 
packer's  brand  entirely  from  the  head  of  the  package,  unless  the  property  be 
repacked  and  so  branded  by  the  party  repacking. 

Sec.  6.  Buyers  of  provisions  on  contracts,  deliverable  on  the  demand  of  the 
buyer  within  a  specified  time,  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect  the  same  before  the 
day  of  delivery,  provided  they  send  an  inspector  in  time  to  allow  the  inspection 
to  be  completed  be!  ore  the  proposed  delivery,  but  failing  to  do  so  the  selier  shall 
have  the  privilege  of  having  the  property  inspected,  the  cost  to  be  paid  by  the 
buyer. 

Sec.  7.  On  sales  of  provi-ions  deliverable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  seller  within  a 
specified  time  the  seller  shall  have  the  privilege  of  delivering  at  any  time  during 
the  life  of  the  contract  without  previous  notice  to  the  purchaser  by  the  tender  of 
a  registered  regular  warehouse  receipt,  together  with  a  certificate  of  inspection 
by  an  inspector  of  the  association  (such  inspection  having  been  made  within  the 
last  five  days).  Such  a  delivery  shall  be  held  to  be  regular,  -and  the  buyer  shall 
receive  and  pay  for  the  same,  together  with  the  fees  lor  inspection.  If,  however, 
within  the  next  forty-eight  (48)  hours  the  buyer  shall  pro<luce  the  certificate  of 
the  committee  on  provision  inspection  that  the  properly  so  delivered  is  not  stand- 
ard, the  seller  shall  immediately  receive  the  property  back,  paying  all  accrued 
expenses,  and  substitute  other  property  that  is  standard:  Provided,  That  the  evi- 
dence of  the  committee  on  provision  inspection,  as  herein  referred  to,  shall  be 
furnished  during  the  next  forty-eight  (48)  hours,  or  as  soon  as  said  committee  can 
report,  they  having  been  called  for  such  examination,  and  the  seller  so  notified 
within  the  next  twenty-four  (*24)  hours.  On  sales  deliverable  on  the  demand  of 
the  buyer,  if  such  demand  be  made,  if  the  buyer  calls  before  the  expiration  of 
contract,  the  seller,  if  he  so  elect,  shall,  in  the  case  of  pickled  meats,  have  twenty- 
four  (24)  hours  to  prepare  the  property  for  delivery,  and  on  bulk  or  boxed  meats, 
four  (4)  working  days. 

Sec.  8.  On  sales  of  barreled  meats  or  lard,  if  more  than  one  brand  is  tendered 
the  purchaser  shall  be  required  to  pay  such  inspection  fees  only  as  would  be  proper 
were  it  all  of  one  brand. 

Sec.  9.  On  sales  of  provisions  as  standard,  or  of  a  particular  packer's  brand,  in 
case  the  property  does  not'  i  ass  inspection  the  buyer  shall  elect  either  to  take  the 
lot  named  at  contract  price,  after  being  regularly  inspected  at  cost  of  seller,  or  to 


SWINE   PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  807 

require  that  some  standard  lot  be  substituted,  but  the  buyer  shall  receive  the  one 
or  the  other  if  tendered  within  a  reasonable  time. 

Sec.  10.  In  sa'es  of  fully  cured  meats,  or  to  be  fully  cured  and  delivered  at  any 
specified  time,  the  seller  must  deliver  in  good  faith,  according  to  contract,  the 
inspector  to  be  the  j  udge,  who  shall  always  be  informed  of  the  conditions  of  the 
contract  before  proceeding  to  inspect.  Where  sales  of  dry  salted  meats  are  made 
without  other  specifications,  it  shall  be  considered  that  the  sale  contemplates 
meats  fully  cured,  the  inspector  to  be  the  judge. 

Sec.  n.  In  sales  of  provisions,  when  an  article  is  substituted  or  delivered  infe- 
rior in  quality  to  the  sample  exhibited,  or  which  had  been  passed  upon  by  the 
inspector  as  standard,  the  seller  shall  be  responsible  for  any  damage  resulting 
from  such  exchange  or  substitution.  All  examinations  or  inspections  are  to  be 
made  within  a  reasonable  time,  and  proper  care  of  the  property  is  to  be  taken  by 
the  owner  or  his  agent. 

Sec.  12.  Joints  cut  from  hogs  that  have  been  frozen  shall  not  be  classed  as 
standard. 

Sec.  l;^.  In  case  of  no  specific  agreement,  the  saltage  allowed  on  bulk  meats  shall 
be  1  per  cent,  but  should  the  buyer  or  seller  object  the  inspector  shall  sweep  as 
many  di*afts  as  he  may  consider  necessary,  and  the  percentage  so  determined  shall 
be  binding  on  both  parties.  But  from  June  1  to  November  1  the  tare  shall  be 
ascertained  by  washing  in  cold  water  with  a  cloth,  in  case  of  no  specific  agreement 
to  the  contrary.     One  per  cent  for  drainage  shall  be  allowed  on  pickled  meats. 

Sec.  14.  To  determine  the  tare  of  lard,  the  package  shall  first  be  weighed  gross, 
the  lard  then  removed,  and  the  empty  package  subjected  to  dry  heat  and  drained, 
the  empty  package  to  be  then  weighed  and  its  weight  deducted  from  the  gross 
weight.     The  difference  so  obtained  shall  be  considered  the  net  weight  of  the  lard. 

Sec.  15.  In  case  lard  in  tierces  be  delivered  of  a  weight  more  or  less  than  320  lbs. 
net  per  tierce,  the  shortage  or  excess  shall  be  settled  for  at  the  current  market 
price,  but  the  full  number  of  packages  contracted  for  shall  be  deliveied.  In  the 
settlement  of  contracts  for  lard,  320  lbs.  net  shall  be  taken  as  the  average  weight 
of  a  tierce. 

Sec.  16.  Provisions,  if  desired  by  the  purchaser,  must  be  delivered  at  cars  or  on 
teams,  from  packing  house  or  store,  free  of  charge.  All  deliveries  of  provisions 
in  store  shall  be  free  of  storage  to  the  buyer  for  five  (5)  days,  or,  if  in  packing 
houses,  for  three  (3)  days,  except  when  the  first  day  of  the  month  falls  on  Sunday 
or  a  holiday;  in  which  case  receipts  shall  be  regular  to  the  buyer,  if  free  of  stor- 
age, for  four  days,  or,  if  in  packing  house  two  days,  from  the  time  the  seller  signi- 
fies his  readiness  to  deliver,  and  anj^  extra  expenses  attending  the  examination  of 
provisions  are  to  be  paid  by  the  party  ordering  the  same. 

Sec.  17.  The  standard  net  weight  of  meats  packed  in  boxes  shall  be  between  450 
and  525  pounds  for  each  box.  and  in  all  settlements  or  deliveries  of  boxed  meats 
an  average  of  500  pounds  net  per  box  shall  be  made  the  basis  for  settlement,  and 
the  excess  or  shortage  from  said  average  shall  be  settled  at  the  market  value  of  the 
property  delivered  at  the  time  of  its  delivery.  But  in  case  of  delivery  the  full 
number  of  packages  contracted  for  must  be  delivered. 

Sec.  18.  Long  clear  sides  shall  not  average  less  than  forty-five  (45)  pounds:  short 
clear  sides  shall  not  average  less  than  forty  (40)  pounds,  ana  short  rib  sides  shall 
not  average  less  than  thirty  (30)  pounds,  and  dry  salted  shoulders  shall  not  aver- 
age less  than  twelve  (12)  pounds,  to  be  standard  and  regular  on  delivery,  either 
loose  or  boxed. 

Skc.  19.  On  an  examination  by  an  inspector  of  dry  salted  meats,  in  bulk  or  for 
boxing,  if  over  twenty  (2 J)  per  cent  turns  out  rejected  he  shall  not  be  required  to 
take  the  lot  in  that  condition. 

Sec.  20.  A  delivery  of  sweet  pickled  hams  or  shoulders  shall  be  considered  regu- 
lar if  they  average  not  over  two  (2)  pieces  unsound  per  tierce,  and  a  deduction  of 
twenty-five  (25)  per  cent  on  the  price  shall  be  made  on  the  unsound. 

SHIPMENT   OF  HOG  PEODUCTS  TO  SEABOARD. 

The  railroad  agent,  having  received  the  order  for  delivery,  orders  a  sufficient 
number  of  cars  sent  to  the  packing  house  or  warehouse.  When  loaded,  a  receipt 
is  given  by  the  proper  officer  of  the  railroad  company  in  charge  of  the  loading  for 
the  number  of  packages  or  pieces  put  on  board.  This  receipt  is  attached  to  an 
invoice  accompanied  by  a  list  of  the  individual  weights  and  tares  and  handed  to 
the  buyer.  On  this  receipt  a  bill  of  lading  in  duplicate  is  issued,  giving  name  of 
line  or  lines  by  which  shipped,  date  of  shipment,  from  whom  received,  marks  or 
brands,  destination,  gross  weight,  and  rate  of  freight  per  100  pounds. 

Shipments  of  bacon  are  usually  made  by  all-rail  routes  to  the  seaboard;  very 
seldom  in  any  other  way. 


808 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


Pork  and  lard  are  shipped  by  lake  steamers  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by  canal  to 
seaboard  by  rail. 

Lard,  and  sometimes  pork,  is  shipped  in  quite  large  quantities  b}'  lake  steamers 
to  Buffalo,  and  thence  by  canal  to  seaboard.  This  method,  however,  is  of  com- 
paratively recent  adoption. 

The  lard,  when  it  reaches  the  canal,  is  placed  on  flat  barges,  or  on  the  decks  of 
canal  boats,  covered  with  an  awning,  and,  in  warm  weather,  frequently  sprinkled 
with  water. 

Experience  shows  that  these  products  invariably  reach  the  seaboard  in  excellent 
condition. 

On  arrival  at  seaboard,  if  intended  for  export,  the  products  are  held  in  the  cars 
or  on  the  boats,  and  the  consignee  or  the  agent  of  the  steamshi])  line  with  which 
the  contract  has  been  made  is  notified  of  their  arrival.  If  a  steamer  is  ready  to 
receive  the  shipment,  it  is  placed  (if  in  cars^  on  board  of  lighters  and  towed  to  the 
steamer's  side,  or  the  dock,  and  loaded. 

In  case  no  steamer  is  ready,  the  property  is  sent  to  a  warehouse  to  await  the 
arrival  of  the  next  steamer.  It  is  the  custom  in  the  trade  with  foreign  markets 
to  make  sales  upon  a  price  that  covers  the  cost,  freight,  and  insurance  to  destina- 
tion, and  orders  are  usually  made  on  this  basis.  It  is  also  customary  for  buyers 
to  state  how  and  by  what  routes  the  goods  are  to  be  shipped. 

As  the  reimbursement  to  the  seller  for  export  depends  on  all  the  conditions  being 
strictly  adhered  to,  he  is  very  careful  to  see  that  they  are  carried  out;  and  no 
documentary  exchange  is  complete  unless  the  original  and  duplicate  bills  of  lading 
and  certificates  of  insurance  and  inspection  accompany  the  draft. 

The  following  are  the  usual  forms  of  inland  and  foreign  bills  .of  lading: 

INLAND. 

[Form  100  H.] 

(n)  National  Line. 

(Throngh  freight  line,  owned  and  operated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Company. 
C,  St.  L.  and  P.  R.  R.  and  Pan  Handle  route.) 


All  ran.    Via 


^   [Cnt.l 
®  Nat'l  Line. 
6,000. 
Marks. 


This  bill  of  lading 

from 

Chicago,  His., 

to 


The  rate  of  freight  through 

is  to  be 

-         per  100  ponnds. 

■ per  barreL 


Chicago,  III.,- 


■  — ,  188-. 


-  the  following  packages  (contents  and 


No.  — .] 

Received  from 

value  unknown)  in  apparent  good  order,  viz: 

Marked  and  numbered  as  in  the  margin,  to  be  transported  by 
the  National  Line,  and  the  steamboats,  railroad  companies,  and 
forwardiug  lines  with  which  it  connects,  on  the  following  term 
and  conditions,  viz: 

It  being  expressly  understood  and  agrefed  that  the  National 
Line  reserves  the  right,  in  consideration  of  issuing  a  through  bill 
of  lading  and  guaranteeing  a  through  rate,  to  forward  said  goods 
by  any  railroad  liue  between  points  of  shipment  and  destination. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  the  rates  given  on  buUc  freight  are 

§iven  on  the  understanding  that  not  less  than  34.000  pounds  will 
e  loaded  in  each  car.  and  tnat  such  minimum  weight  may,  at  the 
option  of  this  line,  be  charged  for,  whether  that  quantity  is 
placed  in  the  car  or  not. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  all  weight  in  excess  of  30,000  pounds 
per  car  will  be  charged  double  the  rate  named  in  this  bill  of 
lading. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  the  said  National  Line,  and  the  steam- 
boats, railroad  companies,  and  forwarding  lines  with  which  it 
connects,  and  which  receive  said  property,  shall  not  be  liable  for 
leakage  of  oils  or  any  kinds  of  licmids:  breakage  of  any  kind  of 
glass,  earthen  or  queens  ware,  carboys  of  acids,  or  articles  packed 
in  glass,  stoves  and  stove  furniture,  castings,  machinery,  car- 
riages, furniture,  musical  instruments  of  any  kind,  packages  of 
eggs,  or  for  rust  of  iron  and  of  iron  articles,  or  for  loss  or  damage 
by  wet,  dirt,  fire,  or  loss  of  weight,  or  for  condition  of  baling  on 
hajr,  hemp,  or  cotton;  nor  for  loss  or  damage  of  any  kind  on  any 
article  whose  bulk  requires  it  to  be  carried  on  open  cars;  nor  for 
damage  to  perishable  property  of  any  kind  occasioned  by  delays 
from  any  cause  or  by  change  of  weather;  nor  for  loss  or  damage 
on  any  article  of  property  whatever,  by  fire  or  other  casualty, 
while m  transit  or  while  ia  depots  or  jilaces  of  transshipment,  or 
at  depots  or  landings  at  point  of  delivery;  nor  for  loss  or  damage 
by  lire,  collision,  or  the  dangers  of  navigation  while  on  seas, 
nvers,  lakes,  or  canals.  All  goods  or  property  under  this  bill  of 
lading  will  be  subject,  at  its  owner'scost,  to  necessary  cooperage 
or  bailing,  and  is  to  be  transported  to  the  depots  of  the  comjianies 
or  laodiugs  of  the  steamboats  or  forwarding  lines,  at  the  point 
receipted  to.  for  delivery. 

It  IS  further  agreed  that  unless  this  bill  of  lading,  properly 
indorsed,  be  delivered  to  the  agent  of  the  National  Line  at  aestl- 
natiou  on  or  before  the  arrival  there  of  the  hereinabove  described 
property,  the  said  line  is  authorized  to  deliver  the  said  property 
to  the  consignee,  or  to  the  party  to  whose  care  it  is  by  this  bill  of 
lading  consigned;  and  after  such  delivery  the  said  line  shall  be  no 


SWINE    PEODtrCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


809 


longer  responsible  for  or  on  account  of  this  bill  of  lading  or  for  or 
on  account  of  any  assignment  or  transfer  thereof. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  the  said  National  Line  and  the  steam- 
boats, railroads,  and  forwarding  lines  with  which  it  connects  shall 
not  be  held  accountable  for  any  damage  or  deficiency  in  packages 
after  the  same  shall  have  been  receipted  for  in  good  order  by  con- 
signees, or  their  agents,  at  or  by  the  next  carrier,  beyond  the 
point  to  which  this  bill  of  lading  contracts.  Consignees  are  to  pay 
freight  and  charges  upon  the  goods  or  merchandise  in  lots  or  parts 
of  lots  as  they  may  be  delivered  to  them,  and  upon  the  weight  as  as- 
certained by  the  line's  scales.  The  goods  transported  shall  be  sub- 
ject to  a  lien,  and  may  also  be  retained  for  all  arrearages  of  freight 
due  on  other  goods  by  the  same  consignee  or  owners. 

It  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed  that  in  case  of  any  loss,  det- 
riment, or  damage  done  to  or  sustained  by  any  of  the  property 
herein  receipted  for  during  such  transportation,  whereby  any  legal 
liability  or  responsibility  shall  or  may  be  incurred,  that  company 
alone  shall  be  answerable  therefor  in  whose  actual  custody  the 
same  may  be  at  the  time  of  the  happening  of  such  loss,  detriment, 
or  damage,  and  the  carrier  so  liable  shall  have  the  full  benefit  of 
any  insurance  that  may  have  been  effected  upon  or  on  account  of 
said  goods. 

And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  amount  of  the  loss  or  damage 
so  accruing,  so  far  as  it  shall  fall  upon  the  carriers  above  described, 
shall  be  computed  at  the  value  or  cost  of  said  goods  or  property 
at  the  place  and  time  of  shipment  under  this  bill  of  lading,  except 
the  value  of  the  articles  has  been  agreed  upon  with  the  shipper  or 
is  determined  by  the  classification  upon  which  the  rates  are  based. 

It  is  further  agreed  that  all  weights  furnished  by  shippers  aro 
subject  to  correction. 

This  contract  is  executed  and  accomplished,  and  the  liability  of 
the  companies  as  common  carriers  thereunder  terminates  on  the 
arrival  of  the  goods  or  property  at  the  station  or  depot  of  delivery 
(and  the  companies  will  be  liable  as  warehousemen  only  thereaf- 
ter), and  unless  removed  by  the  consignee  from  the  stations  or  de- 
pots of  delivery  within  twenty -four  hours  of  their  said  arrival  they 
may  be  removed  and  stored  by  the  companies  at  the  owner's  ex- 
pense and  risk. 

Notice.— In  accepting  this  bill  of  lading  the  shipper,  or  other 
agent  of  the  owner  of  the  property  carried  expressly  accepts  and 
agrees  to  all  its  stipulations,  exceptions,  and  conditions. 

,  Agent. 


FOREIGN. 

[Form  743.— Foreign.    N.  Y.— Special.] 

Stab  Union  Line, 

Via  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and from  Chicago  to . 

Shipped  in  apparent  good  order  by ,  the  following  property,  marked  or  numbered 

as  below  (weight,  measure,  gauge,  (juality,  condition,  quantity,  brand,  contents,  and  value 
unknown),  weight  subject  to  correction: 


Marks  and  numbers. 


Merchandise. 


To  be  delivered  in  like  good  order  and  condition,  unto  ■ 


,  or assigns,  upon  pay- 
ment in  cash  of  freight  due  thereon,  immediately  on  landing  the  property,  at  the  rate  of 

cents,  American  gold,  per  1(X)  pounds  gross  weight,  with  all  charges  and  average  accus- 
tomed, without  any  allowance  for  credit  or  discount,  one  pound  sterling  being  considei'ed  equal 
to  four  dollars  and  eighty  cents  ($4.80)  American  gold,  under  the  following  terms  and  con- 
ditions, viz: 

1.  That  said  Union  Line,  and  its  connections,  which  receive  said  property,  shall  not  be  liable 
for  breakage  of  packages  of  eggs,  or  for  rust  of  iron  and  of  iron  articles,  or  for  loss  or  damage 
by  wet,  dirt,  fire,  or  loss  of  weight,  or  for  condition  of  baling  on  hay,  hemp,  or  cotton;  nor  for 
loss  or  damage  of  any  kind  on  any  article  whose  bulk  requires  it  to  lie  carried  on  open  cars;  nor 
for  damage  to  perishable  property  of  any  kind  occasioned  by  delays  from  any  cause  or  changes 


810  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

of  weather:  nor  for  loss  or  damage  on  any  article  or  property  what-ever,  by  fire  or  other 
casualty,  while  in  transit  or  while  in  depots  or  places  or  transshipment,  or  at  dejwts  or  landings 
at  all  points  of  delivery:  nor  for  loss  or  damage  by  Are.  collision,  or  the  dangers  of  navigation 
while  on  sea-s.  rivers,  lakes,  or  canals.  All  goods  or  property  under  this  bill  of  lading  will  be 
subject,  at  its  owner's  cost,  to  necessary  cooperage  or  baling,  and  is  to  l>e  transported  to  the 
depots  of  the  companies,  or  landings  of  the  steamboats  or  forwarding  lines,  at  the  points 
receipted  to  for  delivery. 

2.  It  is  further  agretKi  that  said  Union  Line  and  its  connections  shall  not  Ijo  held  accountable 
for  any  damage  or  deficiency  in  packages  after  the  same  shall  have  l)een  receipted  for  in  good 
order  by  consignees,  or  their  agents,  at  or  by  the  ne.xt  carrier  l)eyond  the  point  to  which  this 
bill  of  lading  contracts.  Consigrnecs  are  to  nay  freight  and  charges  upon  the  goods  or  mer- 
chandise in  lots  or  parts  of  lots,  as  they  may  be  delivered  to  them. 

3.  It  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed  that  in  case  of  any  loss,  detriment,  or  damage  done  to 
or  sustained  by  any  of  the  property  herein  receipted  for  during  such  transportation,  whereby 
any  legal  liaJiility  or  responsiljility  shall  or  may  tie  incurred,  that  com|muy  alone  shall  be  held 
answerable  therefor  in  whose  actual  custody  the  same  may  Ixj  at  the  tune  of  the  happening  of 
such  loss,  detriment,  or  damage,  and  the  carrier  so  liable  shall  have  the  full  benefit  of  any 
insurance  that  may  have  been  effected  upon  or  on  account  of  said  goods. 

4.  And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  amount  of  loss  or  damage  so  accruing,  so  far  as  it  shall 
fall  upon  the  carriers  above  descriljod,  shall  be  computed  at  the  value  or  cost  of  the  said  goods 
or  property  at  the  place  and  time  of  shipment  under  this  bill  of  lading. 

5.  And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  carriers  shall  not  be  liable  for  any  discrepancy  between 
the  contents  of  the  packages  and  the  description  of  the  same  in  the  bills  of  lading,  nor  for  any 
discrepancy  between  the  mill  brands  of  flour,  as  stated  in  the  margin  hereof,  and  those  actually 
delivered. 

6.  And  it  Is  further  agreed  that  from  and  after  the  arrival  of  said  goods  at  the  port  of  New 
York,  and  while  said  gotxls  remain  on  the  wharf  or  wharves  waiting  for  further  cxjnveyance, 
the  Union  Line  shall  not.  nor  shall  any  of  its  connections— inland  or  ocean— l)e  liable  for  delay, 
nor  shall  they,  or  any  of  them,  be  liable  in  respect  of  said  goods  otherwise  than  as  warehouse- 
men. It  is  also  agreed  that  the  said  Union  Lme  reserves  the  right  not  to  forward  said  goods 
or  property  by  flrst  steamer  or  steamers,  and  to  ship  by  any  steam.ship  or  steamship  line  other 
than  tne  one  named  herein. 

7.  And  it  is  further  agreed  that  this  contract,  on  the  part  of  the  Union  Line,  is  accomplished, 
and  the  liability  of  the  Union  Line  as  a  common  carrier  or  forwarder  thereunder  as  limited  in 
and  by  the  foregoing  terminates,  on  the  delivery  of  the  goods  or  property  to  the  steamship,  her 
ma.ster,  agent,  or  servants,  or  to  the  steamship  line  at  port  of  New  York,  when  the  responsibility 
of  the  steamship  or  steamship  line  liegins,  and  not  before. 

8.  And  it  is  further  agreed  that  the  above-mentioned  projierty  shall  be  transported  from  the 

port  of  New  York  to  the  port  of by  the  said  steamship  or  steamship  line,  with  liberty  to 

ship  by  any  other  steamship  or  steamship  line,  suWect  to  the  following  exceptions  and  restric- 
tions, viz:  That  the  carrier  shall  not  Ije  liable  for  damages  arising  out  of  tlu^  act  of  God,  public 
enemies,  pirate.s,  robliers,  thieves,  by  land  or  at  sea,  barratry  of  master  or  mariners,  restraint  of 
princes,  rulers,  or  peoples;  loss  or  damage  resultii)g  from  vermin,  rust,  sweating,  wastage,  leak- 
age, breakage,  mortality,  or  from  rain,  spray,  coal  or  coal  dust,  insufficiency  of  strength  of 
packages;  inaccuracy,  indLstinctuess,  illegibility,  obliteration,  or  omission  of  marks,  numbers, 
Srands,  or  addresses,  or  descriptions  of  goods,  injury  to  wrappers,  however  caused,  or  from  cor- 
ruption, frost,  decay,  stowage,  or  contact  with  or  smell  or  evaporation  from  other  goods,  or 
from  loss  or  damage  cau.sed  by  heavy  weather,  or  pitching  or  rolling  of  the  vessel,  or  from 
inherent  deterioration,  risk  of  lighterage  to  or  from  the  vessel,  transshipment,  jettison,  explo- 
sion, spontaneous  combustion,  fire  Ijefore  loading  in  the  ship  or  after  unloading,  heat,  toilers, 
steam,  or  steam  machinery,  including  consecinences  of  defect  therein  or  damage  thereto,  colli- 
sion, stranding,  straining,  or  other  i)erils  of  tne  seas,  rivers,  steam  and  steam  navigation,  or  land 
transit  of  whatsoever  nature  or  kind,  nor  for  damage,  loss,  or  injury  arising  from  the  perils  or 
matters  above  mention<«l.  and  whether  such  perils  or  matters  arise  from  the  legligence,  default, 
or  error  in  judgment  of  the  pilot,  master,  marinei-s.  engineers,  stevedores,  or  other  persons  in 
the  service  of  the  carrier;  Ufir  shall  the  carrier  be  hi'ld  accountable  for  weight,  contents,  value, 
length,  measure,  or  quantities  or  condition  of  contents,  nor  for  money,  documents,  gold,  silver, 
bullion,  spe<rie,  precious  metals,  jewelry,  precious  stones,  statuary,  paintings,  or  other  highly 
valued  goods,  or  beyond  the  amount  of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling  for  any  one  package,  unless 
bills  of  lading  are  signed  therefor  and  the  value  therein  expressed,  and  the  freignt  paid  accord- 
ingly. The  carrier  is  not  to  be  liable  for  any  damage  to  any  goods  which  are  capable  of  being 
covered  by  insurance,  nor  for  any  claim  notice  of  which  is  not  given  before  the  removal  of 
the  goods,  nor  for  any  claims  for  damage  or  detention  of  goods  under  through  bill  of  lading 
where  the  damage  is  done  or  detention  occurs  whilst  the  goods  are  not  in  the  possession  of  the 
carrier,  nor  in  any  case  for  more  than  the  known  or  invoiced  value  of  the  goods,  whichever 
shall  be  least.  Goods  of  an  inflammable,  explosive,  or  otherwise  dangerous  character  .shipjjed 
without  permission  and  full  disclosure  of  their  nature  and  contents  may  be  seized  and  con- 
fiscat<(d  or  destroyed  by  the  carrier,  at  any  time  before  delivery,  without  any  compensation 
to  the  shipper  or  consignee.  In  case  any  part  of  the  within  goods  can  not  be  found  for  delivery 
during  the  vessel's  stay  at  the  port  of  destination,  they  are,  when  found,  to  be  sent  back  by  flrst 
steamer,  at  ship's  expense,  the  steamer  not  to  be  held  liable  for  any  claim  for  delay  or  sea  risks. 
The  only  condition  upon  which  glass  will  be  carried  is  that  the  carrier  shall  not  be  held  liable 
for  any  breakage  which  may  occur  from  negligence  or  any  other  cause  whatever.  The  goods 
to  be  taken  from  alongside  by  the  consignee  immediately  the  vessel  is  ready  to  discharge,  or 
otherwi.se  thev  may  be  landed  by  the  master  and  deiwsited  at  the  expense  of  the  consignee,  and 
at  his  risk  of  Are,  loss,  or  injury.  In  the  warehouse  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  the  carrier  to 
have  a  lien  on  the  goods  for  such  charge.  Parcels  for  diflferent  consignees,  collected  and  made 
up  in  single  packages,  addres.sed  to  one  party,  for  the  purpose  of  evading  payment  of  ]iarc«l 
freight,  will  be  charged  with  the  proper  freight  on  each  parcel.  The  steamer  shall  have  liberty 
during  the  voyage  to  call  at  any  port  or  ports  to  receive  fuel,  to  load  or  dischage  cargo,  or  for 
any  other  purpose  whatever;  to  sail  with  or  without  pilots,  to  tow  and  assist  vessels  in  all  situ- 
ations, and  in  the  event  of  putting  back  to  New  York  or  into  any  other  port,  or  being  oth'-rwise 
prevented  in  the  ordinary  course  of  her  voyage,  to  transship  the  goods  to  any  other  steamer. 
Further,  subject  to  any  other  conditions  aiid  restrictions  expressed  in  the  customary  forms 
of  bills  of  lading  in  use  at  the  time  of  shipment  by  steamship  or  steamship  line  carrying  this 
property. 

(On  the  margin:)  Attention  of  shippers  is  called  to  act  of  Congress  of  1851:  "Any  per.son  or 
persons  shipping  oil  of  vitriol,  nnslacked  lime,  inflammable  matches,  or  gunpowder  in  a  ship  or 
ves.sel  taking  cargo  for  divers  persons  on  freight  without  delivering  at  the  time  of  shipment  a 
note  in  writmg  expressing  the  nature  and  character  of  such  merchandise  to  the  master,  mate, 


SWiNE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  Sll 

t>r  officer  or  person  in  cliarge  of  the  loading  of  the  ship  or  vessel,  shall  forfeit  to  the  United 
States  one  thousand  dollars." 

Notice.— In  accepting  this  bill  of  lading  the  shipper  or  other  agent  of  the  owner  of  the  prop- 
erty carried  expressly  accepts  and  agrees  to  all  its  stipulations,  exceptions,  and  conditions. 

In  witness  whereof  the  agent  signing  for  the  said  railway  and  steamship  companies  hath 
aflBrmed  to  — —  bills  of  lading,  all  of  this  tenor  and  date,  one  of  which  being  accomplished  the 
others  to  stand  void. 

Dated  in  Chicago,  Ills., ,  188-. 

Agent  severally,  but  not  jointly. 


Part  III. 
III. 

EXTENT  OF  TRICHINIASIS  IN   AMERICA  AND   EUROPE. 

This  subject  being  in  the  present  attitude  of  certain  foreign  governments  in  regard 
to  American  pork  products  the  most  important  of  all  the  questions  that  have  received 
our  attention,  we  have  given  it  a  very  careful  consideration.  The  alleged  fre- 
quency of  trichiniasis  in  American  hogs  has  been  the  reason  insisted  upon  by  the 
various  countries  which  have  i)rohibited  the  importation  of  such  products;  for 
while  it  is  true  that  other  objections  have  been  advanced,  particularly  in  France, 
none  of  these  have  sufficient  foundation  in  fact  to  stand  the  test  of  even  a  super- 
ficial examination.  It  is.  however,  not  a  question  of  the  prevalence  of  trichiniasis 
here  and  its  absence  in  other  countries,  since  this  parasite  has  been  found  infect- 
ing the  hogs  and  other  flesh-eating  animals  in  the  most  widely  separated  portions 
of  the  earth.  Dr.  Manson  examined  225  specimens  of  Chinese  pork  and  found  2, 
or  nearly  1  per  cent,  infected.'  Dr.  Wartable  has  described  epidemics  near  the 
sources  of  the  Jordan  resulting  from  eating  the  flesh  of  the  wild  boar,'-  and  in 
every  European  country  in  which  inspections  have  been  made  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  trichinous  animals  have  been  discovered. 

Certain  writers  have  pretended  that  the  animals  of  France  have  never  been 
infected  with  trichiniasis,'  but  this  conclusion  seems  to  have  been  reached  with- 
out any  investigations.  A  large  proportion  of  the  rats  of  Paris  were  long  since 
found  to  be  infected,^  and  in  1879  a  serious  epidemic  of  trichiniasis.  known  as  that 
of  Crepy-en-Valois,  occurred,  in  which  sixteen  persons  s.ckened  from  eating  the 
flesh  of  a  native  animal." 

That  trichinae  also  exist  in  America  and  infest  a  small  proportion  of  American 
hogs  is  a  fact  that  must  be  admitted,  but  it  is  a  more  difficult  matter  to  compare 
the  frequency  of  American  and  European  infection  than  has  usually  been  sup- 
posed. American  hogs  have  usually  been  examined  by  microscopists  who  were 
competent  to  do  the  work  and  who  would  not  overlook  a  single  case,  while  in 
Germany  there  has  been  an  immense  number  of  inspectors  employed  (18.581  in 
1881),  many  of  whom  were  utterly  incompetent.  An  examination  in  1877  showed 
that  many  of  the  microscopes  were  useless,  that  glasses  used  were  too  dirty  to 
permit  the  examination,  and  that  some  of  the  inspectors  were  incapable  of  detect- 
ing the  parasite."  Even  as  late  as  1881  there  were  complaints  in  regard  to  the 
incompetency  of  inspectors,  and  the  continued  recurrence  of  trichiniasis  among 
people  from  eating  inspected  meats  demonstrates  that  these  complaints  were  not 
made  without  reason.'  Even  the  German  inspections  of  American  meats  can  not 
be  taken  as  a  fair  comparison  with  the  average  of  their  inspections  of  indigenous 
animals,  for  the  reason  that  our  meats  are  examined  in  their  larger  cities  and  by 
their  most  comjietent  inspectors.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  bear  these  facts  in 
mind  in  considering  the  figures  which  are  given  as  representing  the  results  of  the 
microscopic  examination  of  American  and  European  pork. 

PROPORTION   OF   AMERICAN  HOGS  INFECTED  WITH  TRICHINIASIS. 

The  hogs  in  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  seem  to  be  infected  in  a  larger  propor- 
tion than  anywhere  else  in  the  country,  or  at  least  were  in  1874.  Drs.  Harding 
and  Robbins  examined  245  animals  slaughtered  near  Lawrenceburg,  and  found 

>  Imp.  Customs  Med.  Report,  Shanghai  XXI  (1881), p.  26. 

*  Lancet,  August  4.  1883. 

*  J.  Chatin,  La  Trichine  et  la  Trichinose. 

*  Davaine,  Traite  des  entozoaires,  etc., p.  755. 
■"  Gazette  des  Hopitaux,  February  20,  1879. 

«  Vierteljahrschrift  f.  Ger. .  Med. ,  etc. ,  N.  F.  XXX,  p.  175-181. 
">  Log.  cit.,  XXXVII,  p.  345-351. 


812  8WINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

that  40,  or  IBjt  per  cent,  contained  this  parasite.  This  seems  to  be  far  beyond  the 
average,  however,  even  in  tliis  center  of  inlection,  for  Drs.  Gatch  and  Miller 
examined  200  animals  at  the  same  place  and  found  only  13  infected,  or  G..)  per 
cent.' 

In  1866  Belfield  and  Atwood  are  reported  to  have  found  2  per  cent  of  the  hogs 
slanghtered  in  Chicago  infected,  and  in  1878  an  examination  of  100  animals  at  the 
same  place  indicated  that  8  per  cent  contained  trichinae. 

From  1879  to  1881,  Dr.  F.  S.  Billings,  of  Boston,  examined  8,773  hogs,  of  which 
347,  or  4  per  cent,  were  reported  as  containing  trichinte. 

Dr.  Deveron,  of  New  Orleans,  inspected  5,40iJ  hogs  in  1881,  of  which  only  22,  or 
0.4  per  cent,  were  trichinous.^  Of  these  animals,  529  came  from  St.  Louis,  and 
among  them  were  18  infected  ones,  being  3.4  per  cent;  241  came  from  Louisville, 
and  two  of  these,  or  0.83  per  cent,  contained  trichinae;  48 1  from  unknown  parts  of 
the  West  had  but  2  infected,  or  0.4  per  cent,  while  the  remaining  4,146,  mostly 
from  the  South,  were  free  from  this  parasite. 

Dr.  C.  A.  Simpson  examined  30  hogs  at  Atlanta,  which  were  mostly  from  Ten- 
nessee, without  finding  any  infected,  and  Dr.  R.  W.  Steger  examined  180  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  all  of  which  were  also  free.  Dr.  William  Myers  examined  330  hogs 
at  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  finding  tricliin.e  in  but  2,  or  0.6  per  cent.' 

Dr.  H.  J.  Detmers  has  examined  from  August  to  December,  1883,  for  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  3,331  at  Chicago;  of  which  80,  or  2.4  per  cent,  were  found  to 
be  infected.  Of  this  number  1.126  were  from  unknown  districts  of  the  West;  46, 
or  4.08  per  cent,  containing  trichinae:  50  were  from  Michigan,  among  which  4  con- 
tained the  parasite;  831  were  from  Iowa,  of  which  19,  or  2,27  per  cent,  were  in- 
fected; 50  were  from  Dakota,  of  which  1  was  infected;  520  were  from  Illinois, 
among  which  were  7,  or  1.35  per  cent,  containing  trichina?;  304  were  from  Wis- 
consin, with  but  2  infected,  or  0.66  per  cent:  350  came  from  Nebraska,  having  but 
I  infected,  or  0.28  per  cent;  100  were  from  Minnesota,  and  were  free  from  infection. 

In  the  laboratory  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  specimens  from  300  hogs 
have  recently  been  examined,  and  of  these  5,  or  1.66  per  cent,  were  found  to  con- 
tain this  parasite. 

We  have  above  the  records  of  the  examination  of  18,889  hogs  from  various  parts 
of  the  United  States,  of  which  517  or  2.7  per  cent,  contained  trichinae.  It  is  evi- 
dent from  these  records  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  hogs  from  some  sec- 
tions of  the  country  are  trichinous,  while  those  from  other  sections  are  practically 
free  from  infection.  While  it  may  be  diflBcult  to  outline  the  trichinae  districts  and 
to  trace  the  infected  animals  to  the  farms  on  which  they  were  raised,  it  is  believed 
that  such  a  study  would  do  much  to  clear  up  the  origin  of  this  infliction. 

In  addition  to  the  inspections  detailed  above,  Drs.  Osier  and  Clement  examined 
at  Montreal  1.000  hogs  from  western  Canada,  finding  4  infected.-'  The  French 
inspectors  report  the  examination  of  103.5"J8  pieces  of  American  meat,  containing 
2,080,  or  about  2  per  cent,  infected.'  The  German  inspectors,  during  the  year 
1880,  examined  78,880  pieces  of  American  pork,  of  which  we  have  record,  and  found 
1,265,  or  1.6  percent,  to  contain  trichinae,  and  in  1881  they  examined  96,485  pieces, 
finding  trichinae  in  2,414,  or  2.5  per  cent.* 

Taking  all  the  examinations  of  American  pork  thus  far  made,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  we  have  a  total  of  298,782,  during  which  trichinae  were  found  6,280 
times,  being  2. 1  per  cent,  or  1  to  48. 

It  would  f-eem  that  this  number  of  pieces,  considering  the  close  agreement 
between  the  results  reached  bv  American  microscopists  over  this  limited  territory 
and  those  obtained  by  the  inspectors  of  American  pork  in  Europe,  perhaps  repre- 
sents the  condition  of  American  pork  so  far  as  examined. 

In  Europe  there  are  some  localities  where  the  inspections  have  shown  a  gn'eater 
proportion  of  infection  than  the  average  in  the  United  States.  At  Stockholm  2.000 
hogs  contained  58  infected  ones,  or  2.9  per  cent;  at  Tannefors  300  hogs  contained 
10  infected  ones,  or  3.3  per  cent,  and  in  112  Bavarian  hams  3  were  trichinous,' 
while  Dr.  Bine,  of  Linten,  reported  4  infected  animals  in  45,  or  nearly  9  per  cent." 

'A  Report  on  Trichiniasis  as  observed  in  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  in   1874. 
By  George  Sutton,  M.  D.,  Aurora,  Ind. 
'Report  of  American  Health  Association,  vol.  7,  p.  136. 
•Report  of  American  Health  Association,  vol.  7,  p.  138-145. 

*  An  investigation  into  the  Parasite  in  the  Pork  Supply  of  Montreal,  1883,  p.  6. 
*Chatin,  La  Trichine  et  la  Trichinose,  Paris,  1883,  p.  217. 

•H.  Eulenberg.     Ueber  die  im  Jahre.  1881,  auf  Trichinen  und  Finnen  unter- 
suchten  Schweine.     Vierteljahrschrift,  f,  Ger,  Med.,  etc.,  1882. 
1  Warfwinge,  Nord.  Med.  Ark.,  1875,  VII,  3.  No.  18. 

•  Meissner,  Schmidt's  Jahrbiicher,  No.  130,  p.  118.    Quoted  by  Glazier  Rep. ,  p.  68. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  813 

In  Prussia,  where  the  only  really  effective  inspection  is  made,  the  proportion 
found  infected  with  trichinae  was,  in  1876,  1  to  2,000;  in  1877, 1  to  2,800;  in  1878,  1 
to  2,000;  in  1879,  1  to  1,632;  in  1880,  1  to  1,460;  in  1881,  1  to  1,839;  in  1882,  1  to 
2,056.'  The  number  of  inspectors  in  1882  is  placed  at  20,140.  Several  inspectors 
at  Erfurt  were  removed  on  account  of  incapacity,  and  complaints  were  made  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  microscopes.  Indeed,  it  seems  that  the  village  barber  is 
usually  trusted  with  the  inspection  of  hogs  in  the  smaller  towns  and  villages,  and 
that  he  is  required  to  make  but  three  preparations  from  each  animal. 

Frequently,  or  generally,  the  specimens  for  examination  are  taken  from  the 
hams  and  hard  muscles,  where  the  trichinae  are  least  abundant,  instead  of  from 
the  pillars  of  the  diaphragm  and  tenderloin,  where  they  are  most  easily  found. 
Since  the  great  epidemic  of  trichiniasis  in  Saxony  it  seems  to  be  admitted  that 
these  inspections  are  totally  inadequate,  and  in  order  to  make  them  more  efficient 
the  magistrates  have  awarded  sums  varying  from  15  to  30  marks  for  each  trichinous 
animal  discovered.  As  a  result  of  the  rewards,  and  possibly  of  the  fear  excited  by 
the  recent  terrible  outbreaks  of  the  disease  in  people,  an  increased  number  of 
infected  hogs  seems  to  have  been  discovered.'^  These  facts,  as  well  as  the  extraor- 
dinary number  of  people  recently  infected  from  eating  pork  which  had  been 
inspected,  are  sufficient  to  demonstrate  that  large  numbers  of  trichinous  hogs  pass 
the  inspectors  without  being  discovered,  and  that  consequently  the  figures  given 
above  are  not  a  correct  representation  of  the  proportion  of  hogs  which  are  infested 
with  this  parasite. 

In  nearly  every  country  of  Europe  hogs  have  been  examined  and  a  certain 
number  found  to  contain  trichinae,  but  the  records  do  not.seem  to  have  been  care- 
fully kept;  the  data  are  not  fully  given,  and  there  is  reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy 
of  the  work.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  reach  any  satisfactory  conclusion  as  to 
the  proportion  of  infected  hogs.  "We  may  safely  assert,  however,  that  no  country 
can  with  reason  claim  that  its  hogs  are  free  from  trichinae,  while  the  probability 
is  that  European  hogs  generally  are  infected  in  a  much  larger  proportion  than  is 
at  present  admitted. 

In  some  parts  of  Europe  rats  seem  to  have  been  examined  more  carefully  than 
pigs.  Thus  in  Saxony  one-half  of  the  rats  from  flayers  contain  trichinae,  and  20 
per  cent  of  all  those  caught  are  similarly  infected;  in  Moravia,  16  out  of  one  lot 
of  20  rats  were  infected,  9  of  a  second  lot  of  12  were  infected,  7  of  a  third  lot  of 
8  were  infected.  In  Klederling,  a  suburb  of  Vienna,  7  out  of  47,  and  at  Unter- 
meidling  2  out  of  31  were  infected.^  In  France,  where  the  authorities  now  deny 
the  existence  of  trichinae  except  as  imported,  and  where  one  of  the  reasons  for 
prohibiting  American  poi'k  is  the  alleged  fear  of  scattering  this  parasite  over  the 
country,^  the  only  outbreak  of  trichiniasis  on  record  was  caused  by  the  flesh  of  a 
native  hog;  and  the  rats  from  the  ditches  and  sewers  of  Paris,  examined  by  Drs. 
Goujon  and  Legros,  were  infected  in  a  very  large  proportion,  one  lot  of  83  containing 
3  with  trichinae,  and  of  72  rats,  5  were  full  of  these  parasites,^ 

EFFECT  OF  THE  CURING  PROCESS  ON  THE  TRICHINA. 

If  we  admit  that  about  2  per  cent  of  American  hogs  contain  trichinae,  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the 
parasite  after  it  has  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  salt  a  sufficient  time  to  enable 
the  pork  to  be  carried  from  the  packing  houses  in  this  country  to  the  consumers 
abroad.  And  here  the  effect  on  the  consumers  is  entitled  to  more  weight  as  a 
matter  of  evidence  than  those  scientific  experiments  which  are  simply  designed 
to  prove  the  life  of  the  parasite;  for  the  trichinae  may  sometimes  still  be  living 
but  not  have  sufficient  vitality  to  develop  and  reproduce  itself.  Such  trichinae 
would  be  perfectly  harmless,  even  though  the  pork  were  eaten  without  previous 
cooking. 

In  France  it  is  said  in  the  report  of  Academy  of  Medicine  of  Paris  that  95,000,000 
kilograms  or  200,000,000  pounds  of  American  pork  products  had  been  consumed 
from  1876  to  1881  without  causing  a  single  case  of  disease.  And  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  large  quantities  of  such  pork  have  been  consumed  for  a  number  of 
years,  the  one  outbreak  of  trichiniasis  at  Crepy,  which  was  clearly  traced  to  a 
French  hog,  is  the  only  instance  of  the  appearance  of  the  disease  among  people 
that  is  recorded  in  that  country, 

iH.  Eulenberg,  Vierteljahrschrift  f.  Ger.  Med.,  1877  to  1883. 
*  Dispatches  of  A,  A.  Sargent,  American  minister  at  Berlin,  to  State  Department, 
dated  October  26  and  November  12. 
*Dr.  Glazier,  Report  on  Trichinae  and  Trichiniasis,  Washington,  1881. 
*J.  Chatin,  Trichine  et  Trichinose,  p.  153,  footnote. 
'These  de  Paris,  1866,  and  Davaine  Traits  des  Entozoaires,  p.  755. 


814  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

In  Germany,  where  it  is  the  habit  of  the  people  to  eat  pork  without  cooking, 
trichiniasis  amonjj  people  is  common,  and  it  baa  been  very  frequently  asserted  in 
some  (juarters  that  many  of  the.-e  cases  were  due  to  American  pork.  During  the 
recent  terrible  epidemic  at  Einersleben  and  neighboring  towns.  Dr.  Brouardel,  of 
the  Paris  Academy  of  .Medicine,  went  to  Pru.s.sia  to  investigate  the  origin  and 
nature  of  the  disease  and  learn  what  he  could  in  regard  to  the  health  fulness  of 
American  pork.  Not  only  did  he  find  that  these  particular  cases  of  trichiniasis  were 
due  to  German  hogs,  but  such  eminent  and  well-known  authorities  as  Piotessors 
Virchow  and  Hertwig,  who  have  charge  uf  the  pork  inspection  at  Berlin, asserted 
most  positively  that  no  case  of  trichiniasis  in  Germany  had  ever  been  clearly  traced 
to  American  pork,  although  the  people,  as  is  their  ha'tit.  persist  in  eating  it  raw.' 

The  so-called  outbreak  of  trichin'asis  on  board  the  English  reformatory  school- 
ship  Cornwall  has  been  much  (pioted  as  illustrating  the  danger  of  American  salted 
pork;  but  when  closely  investigated  it  proves  to  be  an  illustration  of  jumping 
at  conclusions  without  evidence,  as  always  seems  to  have  been  the  case  where  tri- 
chiniasis has  been  attril)Uted  to  our  meats.  This  outbreak  of  disease  occurred 
between  Septemt  er  23  and  October  23,  1879,  and  43  Loys  were  attacked  out  of  a 
total  of  2<)2  boys  and  15  officers  on  the  ship.  The  idea  that  the  disease  was  trichi- 
niasis seems  to  have  been  an  afterthought,  for  the  only  examination  made  was  of  the 
body  of  one  of  the  boys  two  months  after  it  had  been  buried.  Drs.  Powell  and  Cory 
thought  they  found  trichinae  in  the  muscles,  and  concluded  the  disease  must  have 
originated  from  the  American  pork  which  was  used  on  board  the  ship;  but  no 
examination  of  this  pork  appears  to  have  been  made,  and  we  are  not  at  all  certain 
that  English  pork  was  .not  used  as  well.  Fortunately,  specimens  taken  from  the 
corpse  were  submitted  for  examination  to  that  well-known  scientist.  Dr.  Charlton 
Bastian,  and  he  pronounced  the  worms  not  trichin*  at  all,  but  a  hitherto  unknown 
nematoid  which  he  classed  with  the  genus  Fclodera,  calling  the  species  Peloilera 
setigera.  Dr.  Cobbold.  who  is  one  of  the  very  best  authorities  on  this  subject, 
asserts  very  positively  that  the  worm  was  the  Pelodera  teres,  and  had  probably 
invaded  the  body  after  death."  As  this  worm  has  never  been  known  to  exist  as 
a  parasite  in  the  hog.  the  assumption  that  the  disease  was  produced  by  eating  pork 
is  an  entirely  gratuitous  one,  and  the  further  assumption  that  it  was  due  to  the 
American  pork  is  evidently  w.thout  the  least  foundation.^ 

England  has  been  one  of  the  largest  consumers  of  American  bacon, hams,  and 
pork,  taking  even  in  1880  and  1881,  when  this  trade  reached  its  largest  proportions 
abroad,  five  times  as  much  as  either  France  or  Germany.  Belgium  has  also  been 
a  large  consumer.  The  Comite  consul tatif  d'hygiene  publique  de  France  said  in  a 
recent  official  report  that  in  order  to  determine  the  danger  1  rom  the  use  of  Ameri- 
can pork  they  had  recently  made  new  inquiries  in  England  and  Belgium.  In  Eng- 
land they  were  told  that  trichiniasis  was  so  completely  unknown  that  it  was  never 
m-ntioned.  either  in  the  newspapers,  the  hospitals,  or  in  teaching  medicine.  And 
this  was  also  the  case  in  Belgium.^ 

We  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  notwithstanding  the  enormous  quantity  of 
American  pork  which  has  been  consumed  in  Europe  there  is  no  reliable  evidence 
that  any  cases  of  trichiniasis  have  ever  originated  from  its  use. 

We  can  now  consider  more  intelligently  the  conflicting  testimony  in  regard  to 
the  condition  of  the  trichinse  in  American  salted  meats  when  they  reach  Europe. 
In  1879  it  was  stated  in  the  German  reports  that  although  a  very  considerable 
number  of  examinations  had  been  made  at  Minden.no  living  trichinse  had  been 
demonstrated  in  i)veparations  of  American  pork."  This  statement  was  repeated 
in  1880  by  the  same  authority."  In  France  Colin  and  most  others  who  have  exper- 
imented with  the  trichinae  of  American  meats  have  found  them  dead  and  incapa- 
ble of  producing  any  injurious  effects  when  fed  to  other  animals.  It  was  also 
found  that  even  slight  salting  killed  all  the  trichinae  within  two  months.  Colin 
concludes,  therefore,  that  the  danger  from  eating  American  pork,  considering  the 
time  that  it  must  have  been  in  salt  before  it  can  reach  Europe,  is  slight  or  inap- 
preciable.''   Fourment"  and  Chatin'  have  contested  these  results,  but  their  ojun- 

' P.  Brouardel  L'Epidemic  de  trichinose  d'Ermesleben.  Bui.  de  I'Acad.  de  Med., 
Paris.  1883,  p.  1501. 

*  Veterinarian,  1884.  p.  4. 

*  W.  H.  Power.  Outbreak  of  Fever  proved  to  be  Trichiniasis  on  Board  Reforma- 
tory School-ship  Cornwall.    Rep.  Med.  Off.  Local  Gov.  Bd.,  1879.    London,  1880. 

*H.  Bouley,  Bnl.  de  I'Acad.  de  Med..  Paris,  1884, p.  33. 

*Eulenberg,  Vrtljhrscht.  f.  ger.  Med.,  1879. 

•Loc.cit..l880. 

^G. Colin, Comptes  Rendus.xcvi  (1882), 886-888, 

«L. Fourment, Comptes  Rendus. xciv  (18H2).  1211-1213. 

» J.  Cbatin,  La  Trichine  et  la  Trichinose,  Paris,  1883, 164-190. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES.  815 

ions  are  so  extremely  radical  as  to  lose  much  of  their  force  on  this  account.  It  is 
not  impossible  that  in  certain  very  rare  cases  the  capsules  containing  the  trichina? 
may  have  become  so  dense  or  so  impregnated  with  lime  salts  as  to  protect  the 
parasites  for  a  longer  time  than  usual  against  the  action  of  the  brine;  but  the  com- 
plete innocuousness  of  our  pork  as  demonstrated  by  its  use  on  so  large  a  scale  in 
England.  France.  Belgium,  and  Germany,  with  no  cases  of  disease  clearly  traced 
to  it,  is  the  strongest  possible  evidence  of  the  destruction  of  the  trichinae  during 
the  process  of  curing. 

Dr.  Brouardel,  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Medicine,  who  investigated  the  recent 
outbreaks  in  Ermsleben,  has  furnished  new  and  very  important  evidence  on  this 
point.'  He  learned  that  the  meat  of  the  diseased  hog  was  chopped  and  mixed 
with  sufficient  salt  to  preserve  it,  and  those  who  ate  of  this  meat  soonest  after  the 
killing  of  the  animal  were  not  only  more  severely  affected,  but  their  symptoms 
appeared  in  a  shorter  time.  The  animal  was  killed  the  12th  of  September,  and  of 
those  who  partook  of  this  meat  on  the  18th  38  per  cent  died,  while  of  those  who 
did  not  eat  of  it  until  the  ISth  and  19th  none  died.  In  fact,  there  was  a  very  reg- 
ular gradation  in  the  intensity  and  fatality  of  the  cases  when  they  were  classified 
according  to  the  number  of  days  which  had  elapsed  between  the  killing  of  the 
animal  and  the  eating  of  the  meat.  It  was  very  evident  that  the  parasites  were 
rapidly  losing  their  vitality  and  their  power  to  produce  disease.  M.  Colin  thought 
this  was  due  to  the  effects  of  the  slight  salting,  and  M.  Brouardel  seemed  willing 
to  admit  this. 

If,  then,  so  marked  a  result  is  produced  in  a  single  week  by  the  slight  salting 
which  this  chopped  meat  received,  it  is  very  plain  that  the  high  degree  of  salting 
to  which  our  packed  meats  are  subjected  must  be  sufficient  in  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  to  completely  destroy  all  trichinae  and  to  make  the  meats  perfectly  safe.  The 
question  can  not  be  narrowed  down  for  this  reason  to  a  comparison  of  the  propor- 
tion of  animals  affected  with  trichiufe  in  America  and  Europe,  even  if  this  were 
actually  determined,  which  is  not  the  case,  but  it  necessarily  turns  on  the  health- 
fulness  of  the  meats  of  these  countries  at  the  time  when  they  are  offered  for  con- 
sumption. And  when  the  matter  is  viewed  from  this  standpoint,  the  very  great 
superiority  of  American  salted  meats  over  even  the  inspected  German  hogs  is  too 
apparent  to  be  questioned  by  unbiased  scientific  men. 

In  the  latest  discussion  on  this  subject  in  the  Paris  Academy  of  Medicine, 
M.  Proust  said: 

"The  question  is  not  a  determination  if  American  meats  contain  trichinae,  but 
in  what  condition  these  trichinae  are  found;  if  they  are  alive  or  dead;  if  they  are 
injurious  or  not;  in  a  word,  if  the  consumption  of  American  salted  meats  is  dan- 
gerous or  not  to  the  public  health. 

"  In  this  connection  I  ask  permission  of  the  academy  to  read  a  passage  from  a 
most  interesting  letter  that  I  received  this  morning  from  Dr.  Gibert,  a  health 
officer  and  distinguished  sanitarian  of  Havre: 

" '  In  1881.'  says  M.  Gibert,  'American  salted  meats  entered  largely  into  the  food 
supply  of  the  working  class  of  Havre;  but  in  regard  to  this  it  is  important  to 
divide  the  consumers  into  two  classes — 

"*  1.  The  people  buying  American  salted  meat  for  family  consumption,  always 
cooking  it  and  never  eating  it  raw.  The  inhabitants  of  the  quarters  of  Eure  and 
St.  Frangois  nourished  themselves  exclusively  with  it. 

'"2.  The  workmen  employed  in  handling  the  packages  of  salted  meat,  who, 
during  fifteen  years,  continued  to  eat  this  meat  raw.  MM.  Bouley  and  Chatin 
could  easily  have  seen  in  their  walks  on  the  wharves  of  Havre  workmen  break- 
fasting on  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  slice  of  raw  bacon,  eating  not  only  the  fat  but 
all  parts  of  the  meat.  Anyone  could  repeatedly  see  these  workmen  day  after  day, 
even  when  at  work,  eating  pieces  of  raw  salt  pork  without  fear. 

'"It  is  certain,  then,  that  at  Havre,  for  more  than  fifteen  years,  hundreds  of 
workmen  consumed  salted  meats,  trichinous  as  well  as  not  trichinous,  and  never 
during  this  long  period  of  years  has  a  single  workman  been  incommoded  by  this 
food. 

' ' '  No  physician  in  Havre  has  seen  a  disease  resembling  in  the  least  the  Erms- 
leben disease  described  by  MM.  Brouardel  and  Grancher.  Such  an  assertion 
demands  some  proofs,  which  it  is  easy  for  me  to  give. 

"  '  1  would  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  the  meat  consumed  raw  had  affected 
the  health  of  the  workmen  employed  in  such  large  numbers  handling  salted  meats 
the  directors  would  have  soon  discovered  the  vacancies  in  the  ranks  of  the  workers. 
After  an  investigation  carefully  made  by  me.  and  which  it  is  easy  to  make  anew 
officially,  it  was  found  that  never  had  there  been  a  knowledge  of  such  a  fact  in 
any  of  the  large  importing  houses  of  Havre. 


'  Brouardel,  Bui.  de  I'Acad.  de  Med..  1883. 1501 


816  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

"  *  The  workmen,  after  the  arrival  of  the  Paris  savants,  took  pleasnre  in  eating 
the  pieces  themselves  that  were  pronounced  trichinons.  so  certain  were  they  of 
their  perfect  liarmlessness.  And  neither  during  the  staj'  of  these  gentlemen  at 
Havre  nor  afterwards  was  there  a  single  case  of  disease  or  even  a  simple  indispo- 
sition. 

'"In  the  second  place,  I  would  remark  that  during  this  period  of  fifteen  years 
we  have  had  no  serious  epidemic  of  typhoid  fever.  That  of  188U-81,  the  only  one 
at  all  serious  which  has  occurred  in  our  city,  affected  the  quarters  occupied  by  the 
well-to-do  or  rich  people,  while  the  quarters  where  the  American  meat  was  con- 
sumed suffered  very  little.  There  was  then  no  possibility  of  an  error  on  the  part 
of  the  physicians,  even  if  such  a  gross  error  could  have  been  committed. 

"  *It  follows,  from  the  facts  that  I  have  just  related,  that  the  salting  of  Ameri- 
can pork  is  sufficient  to  kill  the  trichinae;  and  if,  in  addition  to  this  cause  of 
security  which  has  been  experimented  upon  by  the  workmen  of  Havre  for  fifteen 
years,  we  add  the  cooking  as  it  is  practiced  everywhere  in  France,  the  conclusion 
IS  forced  upon  everyone  not  prejudiced  in  advance  that  American  salted  meats 
are  absolutely  incapable  of  producing  trichinosis  in  the  consumers.'" 

In  the  same  discussion  M.  Leblanc  said: 

"The  discussion  appears  to  me  exhausted.  However.  I  ask  permission  of  the 
academy  to  communicate  in  support  of  the  note  of  Dr.  Gibert  the  following  obser- 
vation.   It  was  furnished  to  me  by  the  principal  meat  inspector  of  Paris: 

"The  veterinarians  under  his  direction  examined  during  six  months  in  1881 
5,000  kilograms  (11,000  pounds)  of  American  salted  meat  per  day.  Sixty  thousand 
kilograms  were  seized  as  trichinons,  and  a  large  part  was  shipped  to  England. 
During  these  six  months  the  employees  and  draymen  of  the  dealers  in  salted  meats 
who  came  to  the  station  of  Batignolles  ate  meat  in  presence  of  the  inspectors 
which  was  notoriously  infected  with  trichinre.    Not  one  of  them  became  sick. 

*'  One  of  these,  M.  R.,  employed  by  Caiman,  11  Rue  Bergere,  was  accustomed  to 
this,  and  took  pleasure  in  eating  the  parts  of  the  pork  in  which  the  microscope 
had  demonstrated  the  presence  of  trichinae.  To-day,  alter  three  years,  he  is  well; 
more  than  this,  having  been  received  at  Beaujon  as  a  patient  of  our  colleague  M. 
Tillaux,  for  a  fractiired  arm,  and  having  related  his  bravado,  he  was  the  sui)ject 
of  a  special  examination;  his  muscular  tissue  was  recognized  to  be  healthy,  and 
no  trichinae  could  be  found  in  it."' 

EFFECT  OF  COOKING  ON  TRICHINAE. 

If  the  trichinae  in  American  pork  are  destroyed  by  the  curing  process  in  a  time 
much  shorter  than  is  necessary  for  such  meats  to  be  shipped  from  our  packers  to 
any  of  the  consumers  in  Europe,  it  may  seem  superfluous  to  go  into  a  consid- 
eration of  the  effect  of  cooking,  and  yet  it  is  not  wholly  so.  Under  certain 
conditions  it  would  api)ear  that  the  trichinae  do  resist  the  curing  process  for  a 
considerable  time;  and  though  these  conditions  occur  so  seldom  that  uninspected 
salted  meats  are  much  safer  than  inspected  fresh  ones,  it  is  still  worth  our  while 
to  inquire  if  perfect  safety  against  infection  can  not  be  guaranteed  where  a  rea-. 
sonable  degree  of  cooking  is  practiced. 

There  is  some  conflict  of  opinion  as  to  the  temperature  necessary  to  destroy 
trichinae,  and  yet  the  results  of  experiments  do  not  differ  so  widely.  Vallin*  con- 
cluded that  a  temperature  of  54'  to  56  C.  (129°  to  133  F.)  kills  most  of  them,  and 
that  60'  C.  (140°  F.)  is  safe.  Fiedler's  experiments  show  that  trichinte  are  quickly 
killed  at  62.5°  C.  (144.5°  F.).  Fjord's  investigations  show  that  the  interior  of  a 
ham  weighing  8  pounds  reaches  65"  C.  (149  F.)  after  boiling  two  hours  and  sev- 
enteen minutes;  one  weighing  10  pounds,  after  three  hours  and  six  minutes;  one 
weighing  14|  pounds,  after  four  hours  and  eleven  minutes;  and  one  weighing  16 
pounds,  after  four  hours  and  thirty-seven  minutes.  Vallin  found  that  a  ham 
weighing  12  pounds  had  an  interior  temi)erature  of  65'  C.  after  three  and  a  half 
hours'  boiling.  These  results,  therefore,  correspond  very  closely.  Hein  ■'  found 
that  a  2.2  pound  roast  reached  a  temperature  in  its  interior  of  69  C.  after  one  and 
a  half  hours.  Bupprecht  observed  that  rapidly  fried  sausage  only  had  an  interior 
temperature  of  53.5  C,  and  was  still  capable  of  producing  infection.  Colin  ^  had 
a  steak  weighing  half  a  pound  boiled  for  ten  minutes,  when  its  appearance  on 

•  Bulletin de I'Academy  de  M6d6cine,  1884,  No.  6  (February  5) ,  pages  241  and  247. 

'E.  Vallin.  De  la  resistance  des  trichines  a  la  chaleur  et  de  la  temperature  cen- 
trale  des  viandes  prepar^es.     Rev.d'hyg.  Paris,  1881.  Ill,  177-182. 

•'C.  Hein.  Rep.  of  a  case  of  trichiniasis,  with  remarks  on  diagnosis  and  prophy- 
lasis.    Mitth.  d.  ver.  d.  Aertzte  in  Nied  Pest,  1883. 

*Q.  C!olin.    Sur  las  trichines.    Bulletin  de  I'Acad.  de  Med.,  1881,  243. 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  817 

cutting  was  white,  without  any  red  points.  It  still  contained  living  trichinae, 
howevei-.  which,  being  fed  to  a  bird,  were  afterwards  found  developed  in  the 
intestine. 

The  indications  from  these  experiments  are  that  while  fresh  meats  may  not 
always  be  cooked  sufficiently  to  kill  trichinae,  salted  meats  are  almost  invariably 
cooked  for  more  than  the  necessary  time.  This  conclusion  seems  also  to  be  borne 
out  by  the  experience  of  people  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Trichiniasis  from  cooked 
meats  is  an  exceedingly  rare  disease.  In  the  United  States,  where  pork  in  its 
various  forms  is  consumed  to  as  large  an  extent  as  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and 
where  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  hog  product  of  the  world  is  eaten,  it  is  seldom, 
indeed,  that  we  Lear  of  any  infection  among  our  native  population,  because  the 
habit  of  eating  raw  meats,  particularly  when  fresh,  does  not  prevail.  The  few 
cases  which  occur  from  time  to  time  are  nearly  always  among  Germans,  and  are 
traced  to  the  ingestion  of  pork  in  some  form  which  has  not  been  cooked  at  all. 

In  this  connection  Dr.  Brouardel  brought  out  a  very  interesting  fact  in  his 
investigation  of  the  epidemic  at  Ermsleben.  No  cases  of  disease  occurred  there 
except  with  those  who  ate  the  meat  raw.  The  family  Of  Herr  Heine,  the  mayor 
of  Ermsleben,  consisting  of  five  persons,  consumed  some  of  this  same  meat  in  the 
form  of  sausage  on  the  15th  of  September.  The  sausage  was  cut  in  pieces  about 
li  inches  in  diameter  and  was  cooked  by  placing  in  boiling  water  for  only  five 
minutes.  Not  one  of  this  family  suffered  in  the  least  degree,  but  the  cook,  who 
ate  a  small  piece  of  the  sausage  before  it  was  cooked,  contracted  the  disease.  Boil- 
ing for  so  short  a  time  has  never  heretofore  been  considered  sufficient  to  destroy 
this  parasite,  and  yet  in  this  instance  it  undoubtedly  protected  the  consumers 
from  the  infection. 

At  the  session  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Medicine,  January  39, 1884,  a  report  was 
presented  by  the  special  committee  appointed  to  consider  fl)  the  report  of  M. 
Brouardel  in  regard  to  his  mission  to  Ermsleben,  (2)  the  communication  of 
M.  Grancher  on  the  symptoms  and  pathological  anatomy  of  the  epidemic  of  Erms- 
leben, and  (3)  a  letter  from  the  minister  of  commerce  asking  the  advice  of  the 
academy  in  regard  to  the  question  of  trichiniasis.  In  this  report  appear  the 
following  points  of  interest: 

"A  considerable  invasion  of  German  rats  has  been  noticed  of  late  years  after 
the  freezing  of  the  Rhine,  and  M.  Brouardel  no  longer  sees  the  same  species  of 
rats  at  the  morgue  that  he  formerly  found  there.  M.  Laboulbene  and  M.  Colin 
had  occasion  to  observe  quite  a  large  number  of  trichinous  rats  that  had  been 
found  in  the  sewers  of  Paris.  Finally,  we  are  also  invaded  by  the  trichinae  which 
penetrate  France  with  the  German  hogs,  which  are  infected  in  the  proportion  of 
1  to  1,000  to  1  to  2,000. 

"Without  doubt  we  do  not  know  precisely,  scientifically,  the  degree  of  activity 
of  the  trichinae  according  to  the  time  that  they  have  been  encysted  in  American 
meats,  their  vigor,  the  condition  of  the  meat,  and  the  stage  of  the  curing — desid- 
erata which  future  experiments  can  alone  supply. 

' '  The  same  ignorance  exists  in  regard  to  our  own  hogs.  Are  any  of  them  trichi- 
nous? If  so,  what  proportion?  What  is  the  condition  of  those  in  the  suburban 
zone  surrounding  Paris  which,  nourished  like  the  sewer  rats,  may  be  trichinous 
like  them? 

"It  remains  for  us  to  speak  of  the  action  of  American  salted  meats  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  epidemics  of  trichiniasis  in  Germany  which  have  been  observed  at 
Dusseldorf ,  Rostock,  and  Bremen,  but  our  information  in  this  respect  is  entirely 
insutlicient,  and  according  to  the  indications  that  M.  Brouardel  has  alread}'  pre- 
sented to  the  academy  the  exotic  origin  of  these  epidemics  is  denied  by  several  of 
the  principal  German  savans.  and  particularly  by  M.  Virchow.  Our  Government 
might  address  the  German  Empire  in  regard  to  this  in  order  to  have  official  docu- 
ments; but  the  results  of  such  an  inquiry  have  for  us,  from  the  standpoint  now 
under  discussion,  an  almost  secondary  importance.  If  in  fact  we,  like  the  English 
and  the  Belgians,  have  been  free  from  epidemics  of  trichiniasis,  although  we 
received  salted  trichinous  meats  and  even  fresh  or  slightly  salted  pork  of  German 
origin  more  dangerous  than  that  which  comes  from  Chicago  or  Cincinnati,  since 
it  had  only  to  cross  the  Rhine  and  the  Vosges,  this  is  becaiise  our  culinary  habits 
are  entirely  different.  Let  us  remark  also  that  in  America  it  is  above  all  the  Ger- 
mans who  are  affected  witn  trichiniasis— an  additional  proof  of  the  effect  of  culi- 
nary habits. 

"  But  already  we  can  conclude  from  the  developments  which  precede  that  no 
case  of  trichiniasis  having  been  noticed  either  in  France  or  in  England  from  the 
consumption  of  American  salted  pork,  the  importation  of  these  meats  may  be 
authorized  in  France.  This  decision  has  been  reached  by  the  commission  by  a 
vote  of  5  to  1." 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 52 


818 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    ONITED    STATES. 


At  the  same  session  of  the  academy  M.  Lanier  presented  the  following?  table, 
showing  the  importation  of  salt  pork  prodncts  for  eight  years  in  kilograms: 


Year. 

United  States. 

England. 

Germany. 

Other  coun- 
tries. 

Total. 

1876 

8,269,900 
12,462,078 
28,102,290 
31,784.913 
34,246,195 
17,123,767 
4,611 
62,396 

1,87.5,736 
1,889,9(15 
l,45t.«H4 
1,107.1,91 
1,23:}.  228 
686.  .525 
1,109,870 

702.530 

994,234 

921.167 

1,(I3»,«73 

846.174 

72;},  465 

1,055,783 

1.136,703 

1,047,920 
l,0r8..V6 
1,314,437 
1,742,8.54 
2,387,671 
1,182,474 
1,(174.259 
2,091,779 

7,896,146 

1877 

16,424  722 

1878 

31,792,778 

1879 i 

35,675  131 

1880 

38.713.288 

1881  

19  716,231 

1882 

3,244,5'S 

1883 

3,274,966 

"  It  follows  from  this  table  that  the  importation  of  American  salted  meats,  which 
had  augmented  rapidly.from  1876  to  18*^0,  began  to  diminish  in  1881,  after  the 
decree  of  February  18,  1881 ,  which  prohibited  the  importation  of  salted  meats  from 
the  United  States  into  all  the  French  territory.  The  4.(jl  1  kilograms  which  appear 
in  the  year  1882  came  from  a  stock  taken  from  the  warehouses  December  81, 1883. 
The  52.396  kilograms  of  1883  were  introduced  after  the  promulgation  of  the  decree 
of  November  27.  1883.  which  removed  the  interdiction.' 

The  same  gentleman  presented  the  following  table,  which  sliows  the  number  of 
live  hogs  imported  into  France  in  the  years  1877  and  1882,  and  the  countries  from 
which  they  came: 


Coantries. 


1877. 


1882. 


Germany 

Belgium 

Spam 

Italy 

Switzerland 

Other  countries 

Total 


15,983 

16,165 

67,806 

68,716 

4,234 

2,204 

66,366 

9,567 

904 

1,586 

941 

913 

146,294 


99,148 


In  this  connection  he  remarked,  "It  is,  then,  to-day,  Belgium  and  Germany 
which  furnish  us  the  greatest  number  of  living  hogs.  Is  it  not  from  this  direction 
that  there  is  reason  to  fear  the  invasion  of  trichinae  and  trichiniasis?  "  ^ 

TRICHINIASIS  IN  AMERICA  AND  EUROPE. 

The  nnmber  of  cases  of  trichiniasis  occurring  among  people  in  the  United  States 
is  actually  very  small.  The  records  of  these  have  not  been  brought  together  in  a 
thorough  manner,  but,  as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  disease  has 
never  occurred  in  more  than  three  or  four  localities  in  a  single  year,  and  during 
the  last  twenty  years  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  more  than  thirty  different 
outbreaks.  In  none  of  these  outbreaks  have  a  sufficient  number  of  people  been 
attacked  to  allow  of  the  term  epidemic  being  applied  to  them  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  word.  Usually  but  two  to  four  people  have  been  affected  at  a  time,  and 
never,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  more  than  ten.  All  have  resulted  from 
eating  raw  or  very  imperfectly  cooked  meat,  and  in  very  few  of  the  instances  had  the 
ix>rk  undergone  any  preliminary  curin^:.  Some  of  the  cases  reported  as  trichiniasis 
were  never  demonstrated  to  be  this  disease,  but  seem  to  have  been  the  result  of 
poisoning  by  meat  which  had  been  preserved  without  sufficient  salting  until  it 
had  undergone  partial  decomposition. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  extremely  virulent  poisons  are  produced  during 
putrelaction  of  flesh,  and  the  effects  of  these  have  been  observed  so  often  in  Grer- 
many  when  sausages  were  eaten  that  they  have  received  the  special  name  of 
wurstgif  t  or  sausage  poison.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  understood  by  many  Ameri- 
can physicians,  and  so  nearly  every  case  of  sickness  arising  from  the  consumption 
of  the  raw  or  imperfectly  cooked  flesh  of  hogs  in  the  various  forms  in  which  it  is 
preserved  is  reported  as  trichiniasis.  So  that  while  it  may  be  true  that  some 
cases  have  not  been  reported  or  brought  to  our  notice,  it  is  equally  true  that  not 
aU  the  cases  reported  as  trichiniasis  were  really  due  to  trichinae. 


'  Bulletin  de  1' Academic  de  Medecine,  1884,  pp.  189-211. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  819 

In  the  debate  which  occurred  in  the  French  Senate  June  20,  1882,  M.  Festelin 
referred  to  seven  epidemics  produced  by  American  pork.'  One  of  these  so-called 
epidemics  consisted  of  a  single  case  of  the  disease  which  occurred  in  New  York. 
Another  was  the  disease  on  the  English  ship  Cornwall,  which  was  at  first  sup- 
posed to  be  typhoid  fever,  and  was  only  decided  to  be  trichiniasis  when  a  body  was 
exhumed  two  months  after  burial  and  worms,  which  the  examining  physician  took 
to  be  trichinae,  were  found  in  the  muscles.  But  we  have  it  on  the  very  best 
authority  that  these  worms  were  not  trichinae,  and  there  is  no  evidence  even  that 
they  caused  the  disease.  The  most  probable  theory  is  that  they  gained  access  to  the 
body  after  burial.  No  trichinae  or  other  parasites  were  found  in  the  American 
meat  consumed  on  this  vessel. 

Another  epidemic  he  referred  to  as  having  occurred  at  Bremen,  in  which  40  per- 
sons became  diseased  from  eating  an  American  ham.  M.  Chatin  has  mentioned 
this  outbreak  again  and  again  and  insists  that  it  is  a  demonstration  of  the  danger- 
ous character  of  American  meats.  The  charge  was  so  serious  that  it  has  been 
investigated  as  carefully  as  possible.  M.  Testelin  does  not  give  the  authority  who 
is  responsible  for  this  statement,  nor  does  he  so  much  as  say  in  what  year  the  out- 
break occurred.  M.  Chatin  is  more  definite,  however,  and  says  the  disease  was 
observed  in  1875.  -  He  refers  to  the  Traite  d'hygiene  publique  et  privee,  by  Pronst, 
published  in  1877,  as  his  authority  for  asserting  that  40  persons  were  affected  at 
this  place  as  the  result  of  eating  an  American  ham.  By  consulting  the  yearly 
health  report  of  Bremen  for  1875  we  find  that  no  cases  of  trichiniasis  in  man  are 
recorded  during  that  year.  There  is  simply  a  statement  that  two  trichinous  hogs 
(native  animals)  were  discovered  near  Bremen.  The  outbreak  of  trichiniasis 
referred  to  by  Testelin  and  Chatin  seems  to  have  been  one  that  occurred  at  Has- 
tedt,  near  Bremen,  in  1874,  during  which  43  persons  suffered,  but  all  recovered. 
The  epidemic  was  first  announced  August  15,  and  was  caused  by  eating  the  flesh 
of  a  hog  that  was  slaughtered  July  31.  The  diagnosis  was  confirmed  by  micro- 
scopic examination  of  a  piece  of  muscle  from  one  of  the  sufferers."  There  had 
been  a  habit  here,  as  in  most  other  parts  of  Germany,  of  attributing  all  cases  of 
this  disease  to  American  pork  without  investigation,  and  this  may  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  story  so  industriously  circulated  by  M.  Chatin.  At  all  events  this  is 
the  only  extensive  epidemic  of  trichiniasis  which  is  recorded  as  occurring  at  or  in 
the  vicinity  of  Bremen  from  1873  to  1877,  inclusive,  and  there  is  no  question  but 
that  this  was  caused  by  a  native  animal. 

One  .of  the  other  epidemics  referred  to  occurred  in  Madrid,  and  another  in  Liege, 
in  Belgium.  It  is  doubtful  if,  in  either  case,  the  trouble  was  traced  to  our  pork; 
but  no  facts  in  regard  to  them  have  yet  been  obtained. 

M.  Chatin,  in  his  recent  work  on  trichinae  and  trichiniasis,  states  that  *'  such  is 
actually  the  frequency  of  trichiniasis  in  the  United  States  that  the  newspapers 
consider  themselves  happy  if  they  have  but  a  few  deaths  to  record  each  week." 
Whether  anyone  in  France  believes  this  remarkable  exaggeration  may  be  con- 
sidered questionable,  but  still  it  is  seriously  advanced  by  a  scientific  man  as  a 
reason  for  prohibiting  our  pork.  Those  who  see  the  American  papers  know  very 
well  that  not  only  weeks  but  months  elapse  when  no  deaths  are  recorded  from  this 
cause.  And  if  it  were  not  for  our  foreign  population,  who  have  brought  with 
them  their  dangerous  habits  of  eating  uncooked  pork,  America  would  be  as  free 
from  trichiniasis  among  her  people  to-day  as  is  France. 

When  we  examine  the  records  of  Germany,  however,  we  find  that,  in  spite  of  the 
small  proportion  of  infected  hogs  which  they  admit,  in  spite  of  the  inspection,  there 
occur  a  very  large  number  of  cases  of  this  disease.  In  1877  there  were  16  in  Kon- 
igsberg,  1  in  Potsdam,  6  in  Berlin,  98  in  Stettin,  1  in  Oppelu,  61  in  Merseberg,  and 
52  in  Minden.  In  1878  there  were  27  in  Konigsberg,  8  in  Marienwerder,  102  in 
Potsdam,  50  in  Stettin,  and  30  in  Merseberg.  In  1879  there  were  55  cases  in  Kon- 
igsberg, 93  in  Frankfort-on-the-Oder,  82  in  Berlin,  7  in  Marienwerder,  3  in  Schles- 
wig,  60  in  Erfurt,  7  in  Merseberg,  and  several  in  at  least  three  other  places.  In 
1880  there  were  149  in  Merseberg,  83  in  Erfurt,  49  in  Frankfort-on-the-Oder,  3  in 
Marienwerder.  29  in  Konigsberg,  and  16  in  Berlin.  In  1881  there  were  3  in  Marien- 
werder, 15  in  Berlin,  10  in  Frankfort-ou-the-Oder,  an  indefinite  number  in  Posen, 
4  in  Stettin,  148  in  Merseberg,  and  58  in  Erfurt.  In  1882  there  were  3  cases  in 
Berlin,  60  in  Cologne,  4  in  Merseberg.  4  in  Heiligenstadt,  and  several  in  Posen.* 
In  1883  the  remarkable  epidemic  in  Saxony  occurred  from  eating  pork  which  had 
been  slaughtered  and  inspected  in  the  town  of  Ermsleben.    In  Ermsleben  257  per- 

'  Chatin,  La  Trichinee,  etc.,  p.  210. 
*  Chatin,  La  Trichine,  etc.,  p.  165. 

* Dritter  Jahresbericht  iiber  den  off.    Gesundheitszustand,  etc.,  in  Bremen,  la 
Jahre  1874. 
"Eulenberg,  Vrtljrscht.  f.  ger.  Med.  N.  F.,  XXVIH-XXXVIL 


820  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

sons  contracted  the  disease,  and  50  died.'  In  Deesdorf  there  were  40  cases  and  9 
or  10  deaths;  in  Nieuhagen.  80  cases  and  1  death.  There  were  a  nnmber  of  other 
epidemics  during  the  year,  the  statistics  of  which  have  not  yet  been  published,  but 
we  have  already  recounted  sufl&cient  to  show  that  trichiniasis  is  incomparably 
more  frequent  in  Germany  than  in  America. 

Indeed,  for  the  seven  years  from  1877  to  1883,  inclusive,  the  very  incomplete 
statistics  g^ven  above  show  that  1,835  people  contracted  the  disease,  being  an 
average  of  262  ca-ses  per  annum.  When  in  addition  to  this  we  consider  that  the 
Unit^  States  is  really  the  greatest  pork-eating  nation  in  the  world,  that  we  con- 
sume more  than  four  times  as  many  hogs  a.s  are  raised  in  Prussia,  that  a  consider- 
able portion  of  our  population  consists  of  Germans  who  retain  their  habit  of  eat- 
ing raw  pork,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  we  have  a  half  dozen  or  a  dozen  cases  of 
trichiniasis  in  a  year,  but  that  we  do  not  have  many  times  this  number;  and  we 
see  no  way  of  e-xplaining  the  comparative  immunity  which  our  people  enjoy 
except  by  the  conclusion  that  our  pork,  even  when  fresh,  is  not  so  much  more 
dangerous  than  the  German  article,  as  the  results  of  microscopic  examinations 
thus  far  published  would  lead  one  to  suppose. 

REPORTS  OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH. 

The  commissioners  prepared  and  forwarded  copies  of  the  following  circular 
letter  to  the  various  State  and  city  boards  of  health: 

"With  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  extent  to  which  trichiniasis  prevails  in  the 
United  States,  the  following  qnestions  have  been  formulated,  to  be  addressed  to 
the  secretaries  of  the  various  State  and  city  boards  of  health. 

"  As  it  is  desirable  that  the  report  of  the  commission  should  be  presented  to  Con- 
gress at  once,  the  undersigned  would  beg  as  speedy  a  response  as  possible. 

•'  1.  How  many  cases  of  trichiniasis  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  your  board? 
Please  give  dates  as  far  as  practicable. 

"2.  In  how  many  cases  was  there  a  microscopic  identification  of  the  trichinae 
in  the  human  subject  and  in  the  suspected  meat? 

•'  How  many  of  the  cases  were  fatal?" 

Responses  have  been  received  from  39  of  these  boards.  Of  this  number  22  give 
negative  replies.  They  were  as  follows:  Alabama,  Arkansas,  California,  Delaware, 
District  of  Columbia.  Kentucky.  Louisiana.  Maryland.  Minnesota.  Missouri.Albany 
(N.  Y.),  Ohio,  Pennsylvania.  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  and  Virginia. 

The  secretary  of  the  State  board  of  Alabama  says  that  no  case  has  ever  occurred 
in  that  State,  though  infected  meat  has  been  reported. 

The  secretary  of  the  health  department  of  Maryland  says  that  after  an  exami- 
nation of  the  records  from  January  1, 1834,  to  December  31, 1883,  covering  a  period 
of  fifty  years,  he  finds  no  cases  of  trichiniasis  reported. 

The  health  officer  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  says  that  in  1872-73  there  were  some  cases 
of  trichiniasis  reported  in  that  city,  but  no  definite  record  of  them  can  be  found. 

CASES  OF  TRICHINIASIS  REPORTED. 

Cases  of  trichiniasis  are  reported  by  the  following  boards,  vu. 

Connect icvt.— Three  in  1882;  all  from  the  same  pork  and  at  the  same  time.  The 
suspected  meat  was  examined  by  Mi*.  C.  W.  Chamberlain,  of  Hartford,  secretary 
of  the  board,  and  others.    No  deaths  resulted. 

Illinois. — The  registrar  of  vital  statistics  for  the  city  of  Chicago  says: 

"Three  deaths  from  trichiniasis  have  occurred  in  this  city  within  the  last  ten 
years.  Two  of  these  occurred  in  December,  1880.  and  the  last  one  in  January,  18^2. 
There  was  a  microscopic  identification  in  the  two  first  cases  and,  probably,  also 
in  the  last." 

The  secretary  of  the  State  board  of  health  says: 

"Between  1866  and  1881  there  had  been  seven  outbreaks  of  trichiniasis  in  Illinois, 
resulting  in  11  deaths  out  of  some  70  or  80  cases.  Since  1881  there  have  been  2 
deaths  in  Chicago;  three  outbreaks,  resulting  in  3  deaths,  and  some  25  or  30  cases 
in  1883,  and  1  in  Fulton  County  in  188 1.  details  of  which  have  not  yet  been  received. 
In  9  of  the  fatal  cases  the  disease  was  identified  by  microscopic  examination  of  the 
human  subject,  and  of  the  suspected  meat  in  all  cases." 

luma. — The  secretary  of  the  State  board  of  health  reports  at  follows: 

"Since  1880,  in  compiling  deaths,  I  have  found  3  recorded  as  from  trichiniasis; 
in  1880,  2  in  Adams  county,  probably  genuine  cases;  in  1881, 1  in  Butler  County,  a 
very  doubtful  case.    None  of  the  cases  were  identified  by  microscopic  examinations. " 


•Deutsche  Med.  Woch.,  1884,  No.  1,  p.  7. 


SWINE    PROD  DOTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  821 

Masmchusetts. — The  health  officer  for  the  State  board  of  health  for  Massachu- 
setts says: 

"The  number  of  cases  of  trichiniasis  that  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
board  are  as  follows: 

Cases. 

In  SaxonVille,  Mass.,  February,  1870. 3 

In  Lowell,  Mass.,  March,  1870 6 

In  Framingham,  Mass.,  December,  1872 3 

In  Becket,  Mass.,  May,  1873 4 

In  Wakefield,  Mass.,  March,  1880 3 

Total  number  of  cases _ _ 19 

"One  death  occurred  in  the  outbreak  at  Saxon vllle. 

"Identification  of  trichinae  was  made  in  the  fatal  case  at  Saxonville  by  post- 
mortem. In  the  Lowell  cases  trichina?  were  identified  in  the  pork,  as  also  in  the 
Framingham  cases.  In  the  seven  remaining  cases  at  Becket  and  Wakefield  the 
evidence  was  symptomatic  and  by  exclusion,  /,  e.,  members  of  families  who  had 
not  partaken  of  uncooked  pork  were  exempt  from  infection.  The  evidence,  how- 
ever, was  satisfactory  to  the  board." 

Michigan. — The  secretary  of  the  State  board  of  health  of  Michigan  gives  the 
following  detailed  report  of  ten  outbreaks  of  trichiniasis  in  that  State  since  Decem- 
ber, 1866: 

"1.  A  fatal  case  of  trichiniasis  occurred  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  in  December,  1866. 
Upon  post-mortem  examination  large  numbers  of  trichinte  were  found  in  the  abdo- 
men and  a  lesser  number  in  the  muscles  of  the  leg.     (Dr.  Herman  Kiefer.) 

"  3.  Five  cases  occurred  in  Port  Huron,  Mich. ,  in  January,  1874,  with  two  deaths. 
The  cases  occurred  in  one  family,  and  were  caused  by  eating  salted  smoked  ham. 
(Reported  by  Dr.  M.  Northup,  Port  Huron,  Mich.) 

"8.  Several  cases  of  trichiniasis  occurred  near  Flint,  Mich.,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  1875.  Cases  also  occurred  there  in  June,  1876.  In  the  last  outbreak,  at  least, 
trichinte  were  found  by  microscopic  examination  in  the  meat  and  also  in  a  particle 
of  muscle  of  the  leg  of  one  of  the  patients.  (The  cases  were  in  the  practice  of  Dr. 
A.  B.  Chapin,  of  Flint,  Mich.,  now  of  Detroit.) 

"4.  Five  cases  occurred  in  Otsego  Township,  Allegan  County,  Mich.,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1877.  All  recovered.  All  were  in  one  family,  the  members  of  which  had 
eaten  raw  ham.  Members  of  another  family  ate  a  small  quantity  of  the  meat,  and 
were  also  sick,  but  recovered  without  medical  attendance.  Trichinae  were  found 
in  the  meat  by  microscopic  inspection. 

"5.  Three  cases,  with  one  death,  occurred  in  the  city  of  lona,  Mich.,  in  1878,  in 
the  family  of  Mrs.  Strunck.  The  meat  was  eaten  raw.  A  microscopic  examina- 
tion of  the  meat  was  made,  and,  I  believe,  trichinae  were  also  identified  in  the 
human  subject. 

"6.  I  am  informed  that  cases,  and  one  or  more  deaths,  occurred  in  the  vicinity 
of  lona,  Mich. ,  in  the  summer  of  1880  in  the  practice  of  Dr.  H.  B.  Barnes.  Trichinae 
were  found  in  the  pork  and  also,  I  believe,  in  the  muscles  of  those  who  died. 

"7.  Five  cases  and  two  deaths  occurred  in  the  family  of  a  German  named  Rum- 
sock  in  Lansing,  Mich.,  in  the  last  of  January,  1881,  and  the  first  of  February, 
1881.  The  cases  were  in  the  practice  of  Dr.  Dolan,  of  Lansing,  who  has  since  died. 
Great  numbers  of  noncapsuled  trichinae  were  seen  by  Dr.  George  E.  Ranney, 
myself,  and  others  in  the  muscles  of  a  boy  who  died.  (I  still  have  slides  showing 
the  trichinae  as  taken  from  the  muscles  of  a  person  in  the  family  who  died. )  Part 
of  the  meat  was  eaten  raw.  It  was  not  examined  for  trichinae;  but  the  hog  was 
sick  and  was  killed  to  avoid  loss  of  the  animal. 

"  8.  Five  cases  of  trichiniasis  occurred  in  Vickeryville,  Montcalm  County,  Mich., 
in  December,  1883.  All  resulted  from  eating  the  flesh  of  one  hog.  One  death 
occurred.  The  boy  who  died  had  at  different  times  eaten  small  pieces  of  pork  only 
partially  cooked  by  holding  them  on  a  fork  before  the  tire.  He  had  also  eaten  raw 
on  several  occasions  little  bits  of  sausage  made  from  the  flesh  of  the  hog.  Two 
others  had  eaten  the  meat  cooked,  but  probably  rare  done.  The  other  person  had 
eaten  raw  a  little  bit  of  sausage,  perhaps  half  an  ounce,  but  the  rest  of  what  he 
ate  was  well  cooked.  Trichinae  in  abundance  were  found  in  the  pork,  specimens 
of  which  are  now  in  this  office.    (Reported  by  Dr.  J.  Tennant,  Carson  City,  Mich. ) 

"9.  Four  cases  occurred  in  January,  1884,  m  the  city  of  Niles,  Mich.  One  death 
has  occurred  and  three  persons  are  now  seriously  sick.  The  pork  contains  great 
numbers  of  trichinae,  as  determined  by  observations  made  at  Niles,  Ann  Arbor, 
and  in  this  office.  » 

"Further  details  as  to  the  five  cases  occurring  at  Port  Huron  and  also  of  the 


822  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

case  at  Detroit  are  ffiven  in  the  published  report  of  this  board  for  the  year  1875, 
and  of  those  occurring  in  Otsego  in  the  report  of  this  board  lor  the  year  1877. 

•'Such  answers  as  I  am  able  to  give  to  the  four  questions  asked  by  your  com- 
mission have  been  summarized  from  the  foregoing  particulars,  and  are  given  with 
each  question,  as  follows: 

'"Question  1.  How  many  cases  of  trichiniasis  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
your  board?    Please  give  dates  as  far  as  practicalde. 

"  "Answer  1.  I  am  able. at  this  time, to  send  you  facts  concerning  ten  outbreaks 
of  trichiniasis  occurring  in  Michigan.  In  three  of  these  the  number  of  cases  was 
not  stated.  In  seven  outbreaks  there  was  a  total  of  twenty-eight  cases.  The 
dates  are  given  in  most  instances,  in  the  report  accompanying  this. 

"'Question  2.  In  how  many  cases  was  there  a  microscopic  identification  of  the 
trichinae  in  the  human  subject  and  in  the  suspected  meat? 

"'Answer  2.  In  two  outbreaks  the  observer  did  not  state  whether  any  micro- 
scopic examination  was  made.  It  is  believed  that  the  human  muscles  were  exam- 
ined in  five  of  the  outbreaks,  and  in  each  of  them  trichinie  were  found;  in  three 
of  these  it  is  positively  known  that  trichinae  were  found  present.  In  seven  out- 
breaks the  pork  was  examined,  and  in  each  of  the  seven  trichina:^  were  found  in 
the  pork.  In  the  other  outbreak,  microcopic  examination  was  made  only  of  the 
muscles  of  the  human  subject,  in  which  trichinte  were  found. 

" '  Question  3.  How  many  of  the  cases  were  fatal? 

•'•Answer  3.  In  one  outbreak  it  was  stated  that  there  were  no  fatal  cases;  in 
one  outbreak,  where  fatal  cases  occurred,  the  number  was  not  stated;  in  one  out- 
break it  was  not  stated  whether  any  fatal  cases  occurred;  in  another  outbreak, 
now  in  progress,  one  death  has  already  occurred;  and  in  six  other  outbreaks  seven 
deaths  were  reported;  making  in  all,  in  which  the  number  was  reported,  eight 
deaths.'" 

New  Jersey. — The  records  of  the  State  board  of  New  Jersey  extend  from  Jan- 
uary 1,  1875,  to  date,  a  period  of  about  nine  years.  During  this  period  but  one 
death  from  trichiniasis  has  been  reported.  This  was  in  May,  1881,  and  was  a 
female.    The  method  by  which  the  diagnosis  was  determined  is  not  known. 

New  York. — The  following  report  is  furnished  by  the  secretary  of  the  board  of 
health  of  New  York  City: 

"A  few  cases  of  alleged  trichiniasis  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  board, 
but  there  is  no  record  of  the  number  or  dates. 

"In  two  families,  during  the  past  eighteen  years,  there  has  been,  within  the 
knowledge  of  this  board,  microscopic  identification  of  trichina3  in  the  human 
subject. 

"During  the  past  ten  years  five  deaths  attributed  by  attending  physicians  to 
trichiniasis  have  been  reported  to  this  board,  one  in  1875,  one  in  1878,  one  in  1880, 
and  two  in  1881." 

The  secretary  of  the  board  of  health  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y,,  says  that  five  cases  of 
trichiniasis  have  occurred  in  that  city,  of  whicli  a  full  history  may  be  found  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  Medical  Society  of  Kings  County  for  187'J. 

North  Carolina. — The  secretary  of  the  State  board  says  that  an  equivocal  case 
of  trichiniasis  occurred  in  Wilmington  in  that  State,  but  no  microscopical  exam- 
ination was  made.  It  was  in  the  person  of  a  boy  of  German  parentage,  habituated 
to  using  raw  ham. 

West  Virginia. — The  health  oflScer  of  the  city  of  Wheeling  reports  five  cases — 
father,  mother,  and  a  child  of  same  aged  2i  years,  and  two  females  of  other 
families.  All  ate  of  same  meat — raw,  smoked  ham — on  March  4, 1870.  No  micro- 
scopic identification  was  made  in  the  human  subject. 

Wisconsin. — The  secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  State  board  of  health  says  that 
some  cases  of  trichiniasis  have  occurred  in  Milwaukee,  but  does  not  give  the 
number  or  dates. 

CAUSE  AND  PREVENTION  OF  TRICHINA  IN  SWINE. 

The  worm  known  as  the  trichina  spiralis  has  no  stage  of  its  existence  outside  of  the 
animal  body,  and  can  not  multiply  or  even  remain  alive  for  any  considerable  time, 
so  far  as  has  ever  been  ascertained,  after  it  quits  its  host.  Every  mfected  animal 
must  become  infected  either  by  eating  the  muscular  tissxie  of  another  animal 
which  has  previously  obtained  the  parasite  in  the  same  way.  or  possibly  by  taking 
food  which  has  been  soiled  by  the  excrement  of  an  animal  recently  infected.  It 
is  generally  admitted  that  eating  fiesh  which  contains  the  parasite  is  the  most 
frequent,  if  not  substantially  the  only  way  in  which  trichinae  find  their  way  into 
the  body.  A  few  cases  have  been  advanced  to  show  that  pastures  and  feeding 
places  may  be  infected  and  be  dangerous  for  a  considerable  time;  but,  according 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  823 

to  onr  present  knowledge  of  the  natural  histoi-y  of  this  parasite,  it  may  be  doubted 
if  many  instances  of  this  kind  occur. 

'  When  meat  containing  trichinae  is  taken  into  the  stomach  the  capsule  or  cyst 
which  surrounds  the  worm  is  dissolved  by  the  digestive  liquids,  the  parasite  is  set 
free,  develops  into  its  mature  form,  the  females  are  impregnated,  and  each  give 
birth  to  1,000  or  more  young.  The  young  trichinae  penetrate  the  intestinal  walls 
and  find  their  way  into  the  various  muscles  of  the  body  while  the  mature  worms, 
and  doubtless  many  of  the  young  as  well,  are  voided  with  the  excrement.  Now, 
it  may  be  admitted  that  a  large  number  of  the  mature  parasites  will  be  passed 
from  the  bowels  before  they  have  brought  forth  their  young,  and  that  if  taken 
into  the  stomach  of  another  animal  the  act  of  reproduction  would  continue:  but 
it  seems  doubtful  if  enough  of  such  mature  worms  would  be  consumed  in  this 
manner  to  cause  any  serious  infections.  We  do  not  know,  however,  how  long  the 
worms  are  able  to  live  outside  of  the  body  in  this  developed  condition;  if  they 
can  exist  but  a  few  days  the  danger  from  them  would  be  very  slight,  but  if  this 
period  can  be  prolonged  for  weeks  or  months  the  danger  would  be  more  serious, 
and  we  might  have  at  least  a  partial  explanation  of  the  many  cases  of  infection 
occurring  where  the  condition  of  life  among  the  hogs  seems  to  be  all  that  could 
be  desired. 

The  young  trichinae  or  larvae  which  are  produced  in  such  enormous  numbers  in 
the  intestines  within  a  few  days  after  infected  meat  has  been  eaten,  and  many  of 
which  are  doubtless  voided  with  the  excrement,  are  practically  incapable  of 
dangerously  infecting  grounds  or  feeding  places.  These  can  not  reproduce  them- 
selves until  they  have  found  their  way  into  the  muscular  system,  and  have  been 
encysted  for  a  time,  so  that  even  a  considerable  number  of  such  larvae  taken  into 
the  stomach  would  produce  no  appreciable  effects. 

In  the  present  condition  of  knowledge  the  tendency  is  to  conclude  that  by  far 
the  larger  part  of  trichinous  hogs  are  infected  by  eating  the  flesh  of  some  animal 
which  has  previously  been  infected  in  the  same  way.  Trichinae  can  not  develop 
or  live  for  any  considerable  time  in  the  bodies  of  insects,  cold-blooded  animals,  or 
birds,  and,  consequently,  the  infection  must  result  from  some  of  the  warm-blooded 
animals,  which  either  habitually  or  occasionally  eat  flesh.  Among  these  cats, 
cats,  rats,  and  mice  are  the  ones  most  frequently  suspected;  but  an  inquiry  into 
the  conditions  under  which  hogs  are  raised  in  the  West  has  led  us  to  doubt  if  the 
infection  could  occur  in  any  considerable  number  of  cases  in  this  way.  Hogs  are 
usually  kept  in  grass  fields,  where  rats  and  mice  are  not  common,  and  where  cats 
certainly  do  not  abound,  and  in  no  part  of  the  hog- raising  country  is  it  a  custom,  so 
far  as  could  be  ascertained,  to  run  the  hogs  in  cornfields,  where  there  would  be  an 
opportunity  of  their  finding  rats  and  mice. 

It  has  been  charged  that  there  was  a  custom  of  feeding  the  hogs  which  died 
from  disease  to  the  well  animals,  and  that  this  accounted  for  the  trichinous  infec- 
tion. After  an  extensive  investigation,  however,  we  feel  authorized  to  state  that 
this  assertion  is  not  correct.  Such  a  practice  seems  to  have  been  followed  to  some 
extent  a  half  dozen  or  more  years  ago,  but  as  the  contagious  character  of  hog 
cholera  became  better  understood,  and  as  the  demand  increased  for  the  cheap 
grease  rendered  from  such  dead  animals,  they  were  more  generally  sold  to  render- 
ing establishments  at  a  price  considerably  beyond  what  they  would  be  worth  for 
animal  food.  The  trichinas  of  to-day  must  therefore  be  acquired  from  some  other 
source  than  the  hogs  which  die  upon  the  farms. 

The  French  and  German  authors  have  not  hesitated  to  assume  that  our  hogs 
were  infected  by  feeding  upon  offal  from  the  slaughterhouses,  but  this  assump- 
tion could  only  have  been  made  in  complete  ignorance  of  the  actual  condition  of 
affairs  in  the  hog-growing  sections  of  the  country.  Practically  all  of  the  hogs 
which  go  to  the  packing  houses  are  raised  upon  farms  miles,  and  generally  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  from  any  large  city  where  offal  could  be  obtained,  and  they  are  never 
fed  upon  anything  but  vegetable  food.  The  blood  and  offal  at  the  large  packing 
houses  is  dried  at  a  high  temperature  and  sold  for  fertilizers,  and  is  never  fed  to 
the  hogs  even  in  the  stock  yards.  The  foreign  microscopists  have  the  proof  of 
this  in  their  own  hands,  if  they  would  only  give  the  matter  a  little  consideration 
before  accepting  the  absurd  statements  of  ignorant  and  prejudiced  parties. 

During  the  killing  season  as  many  as  60,000  hogs  are  received  at  the  Chicago 
stock  yards  in  a  single  day,  and  it  is  evident  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  furnish 
accommodations  for  holding  this  enormous  number  for  any  considerable  time 
before  killing.  Now,  the  trichinae  which  are  found  in  American  pork  are  in  the 
vast  majority  of  cases  encysted,  and  for  this  condition  to  be  reached  time  is 
required,  and  much  more  time  than  it  is  possible  to  hold  hogs  in  the  cities  where 
alone  offal  for  feeding  them  can  be  obtained.  It  is  four  weeks  after  infection 
before  cysts  are  formed,  and  it  is  six  weeks  to  two  months  before  they  reach  the 
condition  in  which  they  are  generally  found  by  the  microscopic  examination  of 


824  SWINE   PfiODUCTS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

our  meats.  While  we  know  from  our  own  observation  in  all  the  ci  ties  where  hogs  are 
packed  that  the  animals  are  not  fed  upon  offal  previous  to  killing,  we  have  here 
in  the  condition  of  the  trichinae  themselves  the  best  and  most  incontrovertible 
evidence  that  the  animals  were  not  infected  by  offal  ted  while  they  were  held  at 
the  packing  houses  before  slaughter. 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  just  been  said  that  we  are  unable  at  present  to  give 
a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  Western  hogs  become  infected 
with  trichinae,  for  the  conditions  of  life,  at  least  so  far  as  we  were  able  to  see,  appear 
in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  to  be  all  that  can  be  desired.  The  infected  hogs  must 
be  traced  to  the  counties  from  which  they  come,  and  even  to  the  farms  on  which 
they  are  raised,  and  the  conditions  studied  as  they  exist  on  known  infected  prem- 
ises before  it  will  be  possible  to  give  a  solution  to  this  difficult  question.  And 
until  this  is  done  no  effectual  rules  for  prevention  can  be  formulated  further  than 
in  a  general  way  to  recommend  that  the  hogs  have  no  access  to  any  animal  matter 
except  what  has  been  thoroughly  cooked. 

OBIGIN,  NATUBE,  AND  EXTENT  OP  SWINE  PLAQUE  OE  HCKl  CHOLEBA  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES  AND  EUROPE. 

All  cases  of  sickness  among  the  hogs  of  this  country,  as  a  rule,  are  spoken  of  as 
cholera,  and  the  deaths  from  all  causes  are  grouped  together  in  the  statistics  as 
the  results  of  this  disease.  Hogs,  however,  like  other  animals,  are  subject  to  the 
various  diseases  which  arise  from  meteorological  conditions,  from  exposure,  from 
improper  food  and  surroundings,  from  parasites,  and  from  injuries;  but  farmers 
are  unable  to  discriminate  between  many  of  these  conditions,  and  therefore  all  are 
classed  together.  There  is  no  doubt  that  there  exists  an  infectious  malady  of 
hogs,  which  at  times  is  very  destructive,  and  to  which  the  term  swine  plague  can 
be  properly  applied,  but  the  statistics  as  at  present  compiled  give  an  exaggerated 
idea  of  the  ravages  of  this  plague. 

The  disease  known  as  hog  cholera  or  swine  plague  appears  to  have  had  a  com- 
paratively recent  origin  in  this  country,  and  there  is  no  direct  evidence  to  show 
that  it  originated,  or  that  it  now  originates,  de  novo.  On  the  contrary,  hogs  were 
raised  in  large  numbers  under  conditions  substantially  the  same  as  now  for  many 
years  before  the  appearance  of  this  disease.  It  was  not  until  some  time  between 
1850  and  i860  that  hog  cholera,  so  called,  first  appeared  in  the  States  of  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama,  and  then  it  was  clearly  traced  to  droves 
from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  If  we  go  back  a  few  years  earlier  we  find  the 
malady  seems  to  have  been  unknown  even  in  the  Western  States,  and  consequently 
there  were  many  years  during  which  our  farmers  enjoyed  an  immunity  from  this 
the  principal  infectious  disease  of  the  hog.  Now,  however,  that  the  infection  has 
been  widely  disseminated  over  the  country  there  are  many  outbreaks  which  can 
not  be  traced  to  their  origin,  and  hence  the  theory  of  its  spontaneous  generation 
becomes  more  and  more  popular  with  a  large  class  of  our  population. 

It  is  the  old  story  over  again  which  it  seems  must  be  fought  out  separately  for 
each  of  the  contagious  diseases. 

Rinderpest  was  believed  to  arise  spontaneously  on  the  steppes  of  Russia  until 
an  investigation  was  made,  and  then  it  was  found  that  the  originating  point 
drifted  farther  and  farther  toward  the  east,  but  could  never  be  found.  Lung 
plague  for  many  years  was  said  to  occur  spontaneously  in  many  countries  of 
Euroi)e,  but  as  more  determined  efforts  were  made  to  exterminate  it  and  to  trace 
the  outbreaks  to  their  origin  there  were  fewer  and  fewer  who  accepted  this  belief, 
until  now  it  has  but  a  handful  of  adherents  in  the  whole  of  Europe.  Glauders 
was  thought  to  arise  very  frequently  from  badly  ventilated  stables  and  overwork, 
but  to-day  he  who  was  the  most  eminent  advocate  of  the  theory  admits  that  these 
conditions  are  powerless  to  produce  the  disease  unless  the  virus  has  been  intro- 
duced from  an  affected  animal.  And  this  we  believe  is  also  true  of  swine  plague. 
If  it  was  unknown  in  America  it  has  existed  from  time  immemorial  in  the  various 
countries  of  Europe,  and  might  easily  have  been  introduced  with  the  improved 
animals  brought  from  there.  Indeed,  its  appearance  in  this  country  dates  from 
about  the  time  when  the  first  earnest  efforts  were  being  made  to  improve  our  hogs 
by  infusing  the  blood  of  pure-bred  animals  from  abroad;  and  the  fact  that  this 
disease  is  taiown  in  at  least  one  instance  in  recent  years  to  have  been  imported  in 
this  way  is  suflScient  evidence  that  the  same  may  have  occurred  in  earlier  years. 

The  fact  that  hog  cholera  exists  in  a  country  is  therefore  no  evidence  that  the 
hogs  are  improperly  fed  or  cared  for;  but  it  rather  indicates  that  the  people  do  not 
sufficiently  appreciate  its  contagious  character,  and  do  not  enforce  sufficiently 
stringent  measures  in  regard  to  it.  The  investigations  made  under  the  direction 
of  the  United  titates  Department  of  Agriculture  during  the  past  five  years  have 
thoroughly  convinced  our  hog  growers  that  this  trouble  arises  from  contagion, 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  825 

and  the  precautions  which  they  have  observed  to  prevent  the  infection  of  their 
herds  have  had  an  extraordinary  effect  in  lessening  the  amount  of  this  disease. 
In  fact,  the  malady  has  hardly  existed  in  an  epizootic  form  since  1879,  and  the 
comparatively  few  outbreaks  which  have  occurred  have  been  far  apart  and  have 
not  covered  any  great  extent  of  territory.  The  ravages  of  the  disease  appear  to 
be  steadily  decreasing,  and  it  is  believed  that,  with  the  continued  observance  of 
the  precautions  against  infection,  it  will  never  again  assume  the  importance  that 
it  has  in  the  past. 

There  seem  to  be  no  accurate  records  of  the  extent  of  swine  plague  or  hog  cholera 
in  any  of  the  nations  of  Europe  with  the  exception  of  Great  Britain.  That  it  is 
frequently  very  destructive  in  most  parts  of  the  Continent  is  shown  by  the  veteri- 
nary literature  and  by  the  recent  attempts  in  France  to  confer  immunity  on  the 
hogs  by  vaccination.  In  Great  Britain  a  record  is  now  published  of  the  number 
of  animals  affected  and  the  number  which  die,  and  we  learn  from  this  that  during 
the  first  twenty-one  weeks  of  the  year  1883,  3,607  animals  were  attacked  and  731 
died.  As  there  are  aboiit  eighteen  times  as  many  hogs  in  the  United  States  as  in 
Great  Britain,  this  would  be  equivalent  to  about  65,000  cases  here  in  the  same 
time,  providing  our  hogs  were  diseased  in  the  same  proportion.  It  is  evident  from 
these  figures  that  the  disease  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  United  States,  and  if 
it  has  caused  more  discussion  here  than  abroad,  this  was  occasioned  by  the  deter- 
mination of  our  farmers  to  learn  some  way  of  preventing  its  ravages. 

The  conditions  under  which  our  hogs  are  generally  raised  are  so  good  that  the 
origin  of  diseases  can  not  be  explained  by  them.  They  run  upon  large  grass  fields 
and  are  fed  largely  upon  Indian  corn  and  other  vegetable  food;  and  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  any  substantial  improvement  can  be  made  upon  this  mode  of  feeding. 

It  has  been  frequently  suggested  that  our  pork  would  be  firmer  and  of  better 
quality  if  part  of  the  corn  now  fed  were  replaced  with  pease  or  similar  concen- 
trated food  containing  a  large  proportion  of  nitrogenous  constituents.  That  such 
a  change  would  have  a  desirable  effect  upon  the  quality  of  the  pork  is  scarcely  to 
be  doubted,  for  we  know  that  mast-fed  hogs,  the  nuts  constituting  the  food  of 
which  contain  but  a  very  small  proportion  of  nitrogenous  matter,  produce  soft, 
oily  meat,  which  shrinks  very  much  more  in  cooking  than  corn-fed  pork.  The 
proportion  of  the  nitrogenous  to  nonnitrogenous  constituents  in  the  nut  which 
forms  the  food  of  the  mast-fed  hogs  is  about  1  to  15,  in  that  of  the  corn-fed  hogs 
it  is  about  1  to  8,  and  if  a  further  change  in  this  direction  could  be  made  until  the 
nutritive  ratio  reached  1  to  6  the  quality  of  the  pork  would,  according  to  prevail- 
ing opinion  among  scientists,  not  only  be  improved,  but  the  hogs  would  gain  more 
rapidly  in  weight.  Barley  is  said  to  make  remarkably  fine  pork,  and  this  is  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  the  view  just  mentioned,  for  in  this  grain  the  nutritive  ratio  is 
1  to  6^.  While,  therefore,  it  is  not  necessary  to  recommend  a  change  in  the  pres- 
ent manner  of  feeding  on  the  ground  of  healthfulness  alone,  it  is  probable  that  a 
change  in  the  direction  suggested  above  would  have  a  desirable  influence  on  the 
hardiness  of  the  animals,  cause  them  to  lay  on  flesh  more  rapidly,  and  improve  the 
quality  of  the  pork.  Whether  such  a  change  can  be  economically  made  or  not  is 
a  question  which  every  farmer  will  have  to  decide  for  himself. 

RELATION   OF  SWINE  PLAGUE  TO   HUMAN  HEALTH. 

While  swine  plague  is  a  disease  apparently  common  with  the  hogs  of  all  nations, 
it  has  been  brought  forward,  particularly  in  France,  as  one  of  the  reasons  for 
rejecting  American  pork.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  disease  was  communi- 
cable to  mankind;  that  It  is  caused  by  a  micro-organism,  which  develops  spores, 
and  in  that  state  resists  the  most  unfavorable  condition  for  an  indefinite  time, 
and  that  our  pork  is  dangerous  to  human  health  abroad  because  of  infection  with 
this  parasite. 

In  regard  to  the  first  point,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  two  or  three  cases  of 
diphtheria  referred  to  as  occurring  in  the  West  were  produced  by  the  ice  from  the 
creek  where  dead  hogs  had  been  thrown,  or  that  this  had  any  connection  whatever 
with  the  malady  affecting  the  animals.  Diphtheria  among  children  has  become  a 
very  common  disease  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  most  parts  of  the  civi- 
lized world,  in  fact,  and  there  was  no  more  reason  for  concluding  that  these  two 
or  three  isolated  cases  originated  from  swine  plague  than  there  would  be  in 
attempting  to  trace  the  measles  and  scarlet  fever  of  the  Western  States  to  the 
same  source. 

In  the  second  place,  the  disease  is  not  caused  by  a  bacillus,  as  was  so  confidently 
asserted,  but  by  a  micrococcus,  which  does  not  form  spores,  and  this  organism 
very  soon  loses  its  virulence  outside  of  the  living  animal  body,  and  is  very  sensi- 
tive to  heat  and  other  unfavorable  conditions  of  existence.  It  is  doubtful  if  this 
parasite  could  survive  a  single  day  in  salted  pork,  and  it  is  very  certain  that  the 


826  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

slightest  degree  of  cooking  would  destroy  it,  as  it  is  nnable  to  resist  a  temperature 
of  140    F.  for  fifteen  minuies. 

A  review  of  all  the  evidence  satisfies  us  that  the  virus  of  swine  plague  is  not  in 
the  least  degree  injurious  to  human  health.  Both  English  and  American  investi- 
gators have  frequently  made  post-mortem  examinations  of  hogs  dead  from  this 
disease,  when  cuts  and  abrasions  upon  their  hands  were  covered  with  this  virus  in 
the  most  virulent  form,  and  in  no  case  has  any  discomfort  resulted.  It  would 
seem  that  no  more  severe  test  could  be  made  of  the  dangerous  qualities  of  a  virus 
than  this,  and  in  connection  with  the  lack  of  evidence  that  any  disease  among  peo- 
l)le  has  ever  originated  from  the  sick  or  dead  liogs  it  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
absurdity  of  such  baseless  rumors. 

Again,  it  seems  to  be  impossible  for  the  flesh  of  diseased  hogs  to  enter  the  market 
for  human  food.  There  are  health  officers  in  nearly  all  stock  yards,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  see  that  such  animals  are  not  killed  for  food.  The  skin  and  flesh  of  diseased 
animals  is  so  discolored  that  it  would  be  detected  at  once,  either  before  or  after 
curing;  and  packers  are  unanimous  in  their  testimony  that  the  meat  of  feverish 
or  diseased  animals  can  not  be  cured  without  its  developing  a  disagreeable  odor, 
which  at  once  reveals  its  character.  There  are,  consequently,  many  substantial 
reasons  for  asserting  that  the  fears  so  vigorously  expressed  abroad  in  this  connec- 
tion are  groundless,  and  that  the  trade  inspections  which  every  buyer  has  the 
privilege  to  order  to  be  made  by  his  own  experts  are  sufficient  to  protect  the 
consumer. 

COST  AND  PEACTICABIUTY  OF  INSPECTION. 

Although  many  objections  have  been  urged  against  the  use  of  American  pork, 
the  only  one  of  these  that  has  sufficient  weight  to  be  used  as  a  reason  for  prohi- 
bition is  the  fact  demonstrated  by  microscopic  examination  that  a  small  propor- 
tion of  our  hogs  contain  trichinte.  The  only  form  of  inspection  that  can  remove 
this  cause  of  complaint  and  make  our  meat  satisfactory  to  foreign  governments  is, 
therefore,  a  microscopic  inspection  of  the  hogs  that  are  to  be  packed  for  shipment 
to  those  countries  which  have  placed  restrictions  upon  this  trade.  This  would 
doubtless  be  an  undertaking  of  considerable  magnitude,  considering  the  largo 
number  of  animals  to  be  examined:  but  there  is  nothing  impossible  about  it.  It 
is  simply  a  question  of  expense.  If  the  profits  in  shipping  hogs  to  the  countries 
are  sufficient  to  pay  the  cost  of  inspection  and  leave  a  balance  that  will  induce  the 
trade,  then  it  would  undoubtedly  be  an  advantage  to  the  pork  industry  to  estab- 
lish such  a  system  of  inspection,  providing  this  remains  necessary  to  secure  the 
admission  of  our  pork  products. 

We  have  already  demonstrated  that  American  pork  without  inspection  is  safer 
when  it  reaches  Europe  than  are  the  native  hogs  which  have  undergone  inspection 
there;  and  it  is  our  opinion  that  this  fact  should  be  sufficient  to  secure  the  free 
admission  of  our  pork  to  every  part  of  the  world  without  the  expense  of  a  micro- 
scopic examination.  But  if  this  free  admission  can  not  be  obtained  without  such 
examination,  then  it  would  be  desirable  to  consider  if  a  microscopic  inspection  can 
be  made  practicable  under  the  conditions  which  exist  in  this  country,  and  partic- 
ularly at  the  packing  centers.  The  inspection  need  cau.se  no  delay  in  any  of  the 
Processes  of  packing,  since  the  carcasses  in  any  case  should  be  allowed  to  hang 
rom  twenty-four  to  forty-eight  hours  in  the  cooling  room  before  cutting,  and  this 
would  be  amply  sufficient  for  the  inspection.  It  is  probable  that  certain  packers 
would  make  special  arrangements  for  packing  and  shipping  to  countries  that  have 
now  prohibited  our  pork  as  soon  as  they  were  assured  that  the  inspection  required 
by  the  United  States  Government  could  be  made  at  a  reasonable  sum  per  head  and 
in  guaranteeing  the  meat  free  from  trichinae  would  satisfy  foreign  governments 
and  restore  the  trade. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  conclusion,  we  would  say  that  after  carefully  studying  every  circumstance 
that  in  any  way  affects  the  condition  of  the  American  swine,  from  the  hour  of 
their  birth  to  the  landing  of  the  cured  meat  in  foreign  ports,  we  are  free  to  say 
that  our  exported  pork  in  all  its  forms  is  fully  equal,  perhaps  superior,  in  its  free- 
dom from  taint  of  every  kind,  either  from  disease  or  deterioration  after  slaugh- 
tering, to  the  pork  of  France  or  Germany,  or  any  other  countr}'  in  which  the  hoga 
are  confined  within  a  narrow  compass,  and  do  not  enjoy  that  free  run  and  pastur- 
age which  they  get  in  the  hog-growing  regions  of  the  United  States.  There  is  no 
general  prevalence  of  disease  among  swine  in  any  portion  of  this  country.  Micro- 
scopic examinations  show  that  here,  as  in  all  other  countries,  a  small  percentage 
of  the  swine  is  affected  with  trichiniasis;  probably  a  smaller  percentage  than  in 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  827 

the  countries  of  Europe.  That  the  occasional  presence  of  trichinae  in  our  pork  is 
a  comparatively  unimportant  fact  is  shown  by  the  rarity  of  trichiniasis  among 
human  beings,  as  indicated  by  the  returns  from  the  State  and  city  boards  ot  health. 
Another  very  important  fact  is  the  almost  certain  destruction  of  the  trichinae  when 
present  in  pork  by  the  curing  process  before  it  can  be  landed  in  foreign  countries. 
Nevertheless,  while  we  believe  that  no  legitimate  grounds  exist  for  the  restrictions 
imposed  in  some  foreign  countries  on  the  Importation  of  American  pork,  we  are  sat- 
isfied that  microscopic  inspection  of  all  pork  for  export  can  be  secured  at  the  packing 
houses,  if  such  inspection  should  be  demanded,  as  we  have  already  fully  explained. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

Geo.  B.  Loring, 

E.  W.  Blatchford, 

C.  F.  Chandler, 

F.  D.  Curtis, 

D.  E.  Salmon, 

Commission, 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  SWINE 

IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES, 

AND  THE 

TRANSPORTATION,  CONSUMPTION,  AND  EXPORTATION  OF  HOG  PRODUCTS, 

WITH   SPECIAL  EEFEKENCE  TO   THE 

INTERDICTION  OF  AMERICAN  HOG  PRODUCTS 

FKOM 

FRANCE  AND  GERMANY, 

BEING  A 

SUPPLEMENT  TO  THE  QUARTERLY   REPORT  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  STATISTICS 

ON  THE  FOREIGN  COMMERCE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR  THE 

THREE  MONTHS  ENDED   SEPTEMBER   30,  1883, 

BY 

JOSET^H    NIMMO,  Jr., 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics. 


829 


I?.EPOIiT. 


Treasury  Department, 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  February  IS,  18S4. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you  the  following  report  in  regard  to  the 
production  of  swine  in  the  United  States  and  the  transportation,  home  consumj)- 
tion,  and  exportation  of  hog  proiucts.  This  office  has  for  several  months  been  col- 
lecting and  collating  data  upon  these  subjects,  with  the  special  object  of  meeting 
inquiries  from  various  sources. 

The  subject  of  trichinae  and  trichinosis  has  already  been  investigated  and  offi- 
cially reported  upon,inasomewhatexhaustivemanner,by  an  officerof  the  Marine- 
Hospital  Service,  a  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department,  in  compliance  with  a  res- 
olution of  the  Senate.    The  results  of  this  investigation  are  hereinafter  set  forth. 

The  information  recently  obtained  by  this  office  touching  the  general  subject  of 
the  present  report  has  been  secured  chiefly  through  agencies  at  the  command  of 
this  Department,  viz,  officers  of  the  customs  and  persons  employed  as  experts  in 
connection  with  the  internal-commerce  branch  of  this  Bureau.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  Governments  of  Germany  and  France  have  interdicted  the  importation  of 
American  hog  products  into  those  countries,  statements  are  hereunto  appended 
showing  somewhat  in  detail  the  commerce  between  the  United  States  and  those 
countries.  The  scope  of  the  present  work  has  been  somewhat  enlarged,  and  it  has 
also  been  expedited  and  brought  to  a  close  at  the  present  time,  in  compliance  with 
a  communication  from  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
Senate  requesting  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  transmit  to  that  committee  all 
such  information  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment. 

Swine  are  raised  in  every  State  of  the  Union.  According  to  the  census,  the  num- 
ber of  hogs  on  farms  in  the  United  States  increased  from  25,134,569  in  1870  to 
47,681,700  in  1880,  an  increase  of  89.75  per  cent. 

The  net  weight  of  hogs  annually  slaughtered  in  the  United  States  is  estimated 
by  Mr.  J.  R.  Dodge,  statistician  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  at  5,250,000,000 
pounds,'  and  their  value  at  $393,750,000.  The  annual  exports  of  hog  products  from 
the  United  States  during  the  last  five  years  have  averaged  about  1,000,000,000 
pounds,  or  about  19  per  cent  of  the  production. 

According  to  Mr.  Charles  B.  Murray,  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Price- Current,  a 
recognized  authority  upon  such  matters,  the  annual  pork  product  of  the  United 
States  is  nearly  one-half  of  the  annual  pork  product  of  the  world.  (See  Appen- 
dix A.) 

The  United  States,  however,  by  far  surpasses  every  other  country  in  the  expor- 
tation of  hog  products.  The  growth  of  this  trade  is  exhibited  in  the  following 
table  : 

Value  of  the  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  United  States  during  each  year  ended 
June  30,  from  1860  to  1883. 


Year  ended 
June  30— 


Bacon  and  hams. 


Pork. 


Lard. 


Total 
value. 


1860- 
1861. 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 


Pounds. 
25,844,610 
50,264,267 
141,212,786 
218,243,609 
110,886,446 
46,054,034 
37,588,930 
25,648,226 


Dollars. 
2,273,768 
4,848,339 
10,290,572 
18,658,280 
12,323,327 
10,536,608 
6,269,796 
3,291,176 


Pounds. 

40,956,680 

31,305,810 

61,830,910 

65,576,075 

63,519,400 

41,790,990 

30,056,788 

27,374,877 


Dollars. 
3,132,313 

2,609,818 
3,980,153 
4,334,775 
5,838,030 
6,850,808 
4,788,484 
3,597,690 


Pounds. 
40,289,519 
47,908,911 
118,573,307 
155,336,596 
97,190,765 
44,480,136 
30,110,451 
45,608,031 


Dollars. 
4,545,831 
4,729,297 
10,004,531 
15,755,570 
11,360,728 
9,134,858 
5,970,a51 
6,634,556 


Dollars. 
9,951,912 

18,187,454 
24,275,246 
38,748,625 
29,412,085 
26,  .523, 274 
17,038,931 
13,523,477 


'  Mr.  Dodge  estimates  as  the  equivalent  of  this  4,725,000,000  pounds  of  cured  meats  and  lard. 

831 


832 


8WINE   PEODUOTS   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


Valtte  of  the  carports  of  hog  products  from  the  United  States,  e^c— Continued. 


Year  ended 
JoneaO— 


Bacon  and  bams. 


Pork. 


Lard. 


Total, 
yalae. 


1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1878 

1873 

1874 

1876 

1876 

1877 

1878 

187B 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1888 


Pound*. 
43,659,064 
40,228,165 
88,068,256 
71,446,854 
246,206,143 
395.381,737 
347,406,406 
250,286,519 
827.730.172 
460,057,146 
5»2,814.351 
TAJ.  249.  .576 
759, 773,  KB 
746,944,545 
468,026,640 
340,258,670 


Dollars. 

5,476.998 

7,4«2,000 

6,123,113 

8,126,683 

21,126.592 

35,022,137 

33,38:1906 

28,612,613 

39,664,456 

49,  .512. 412 

51,752,068 

51,074.433 

50,987.623 

61,161,205 

46,675.774 

38,155,952 


Pounds. 
28,690,1:8 
24,4.39.N32 
24,639,831 
39,250,750 
57,169,518 
64.147.461 
70, 482,  .379 
56,1.52,331 
54, 195, 118 
69,671,894 
71,889,255 
84,401,676 
95,949,780 
107,928,066 
80,447,466 
62,116,302 


Dollars. 
3,267.652 
3,422.928 
3,253,137 
4,302,320 
4,122,308 
5.007,035 
5,80«,712 
5,671.495 
5,744,(C2 
6,290,414 
4.9i:{.tt57 
4, 81  ir,  .5(58 

8.272.285 
7,201.270 
6,192,208 


Pounds. 
64,555,462 
41,8s7,545 
a5, 808, 530 
80.  aw.  297 
199,6,51,660 
230.534,207 
2115,527,471 
166,869.393 
168,405,839 
234,741,233 
342.766.254 
326,6.58.686 
.374.979.2H6 
378,142,496 
25(»..Sti7.7«) 
224,718,474 


Dollars. 
9,427.831 
7,443,948 
6,9:8,397 
10.  .563, 020 
20,177,619 
21,2<5.8L5 
19,3118,019 
22,900,522 
22,429,485 
%,  562, 665 
30,022,1.33 
22,856.673 
27,920,367 
35. 236,  .575 
28. 975,  {(02 
26,618,048 


Dollars. 
18,172,481 
18, 348, 9:56 
15,309.647 
22,992.()CS{ 
4.5, 436,  .519 
61.274.987 
58,.5<I0,6:J9 
57.184.6:10 
67,837,963 
81,371,491 
86,687,858 
78,738,674 
84,838,242 
104,660,065 
82.852,946 
70,966,268 


It  appears  that  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1881,  the  year  of  greatest  expor- 
tation of  hog  products,  the  value  of  such  exports  amounted  to  $101,(56(),()r),l,  and 
stood  third  in  the  order  of  magnitude  of  exports  from  the  United  States,  being 
exceeded  only  by  breadstuffs  and  cotton. 

At  this  point  the  fact  must  be  clearly  stated  that  the  total  exportation  of  hog 
products  of  the  various  kinds  from  the  United  States  to  foreign  countries  depends 
mainly  upon  the  demand  for  home  consumption,  as  such  demand  is  related  to  the 
supply.  This  demand  is  the  chief  factor  in  the  determination  of  prices.  It  was 
mainly  the  increasing  home  demand,  with  its  consequent  increase  of  prices  in  th  s 
country,  which  caused  the  total  exports  of  bacon,  hams,  pork,  and  Jard  to  Great 
Britain  to  fall  from  704,846,010  pounds  in  1880  to  ;363,357,222  pounds  in  1885. 
Usually  exportation  fialls  oflf  as  prices  in  the  United  States  appreciate,  and  vice 
versa.  The  general  relation  of  prices  in  this  country  to  exports  is  illustrated  very 
clearly  in  the  following  table: 


Calendar  year— 


of- 


Average  price  at  Chicago  Total  weight 

of  bacon, 

hams,  lard, 

and  pork 

exported. 


Messiwrk. 


Lard. 


1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

188B 

1883 

Six  months  January  to  June,  1883  .. 
Six  months  July  to  December,  1883 


Per  barrel. 
$9.00 
9.54 
13.06 
16.47i 
19.42 
15.14i 


Per  100  lbs. 

$6.75J 

6.16J 

7.40J 

10.88} 

11.47 

9.16f 


Pounds. 

1,138,109,904 

1,186,685,121 

1,333,049,082 

9t)9, 546,801 

651,109,210 

776,361,776 


18.181 
12.09} 


11.131 
8.171 


848,901,769 
427,460,007 


The  high  prices  which  have  prevailed  for  Western  hog  products  during  the  last 
four  years  have  been  very  largely  the  result  of  the  rapid  growth  of  population  in 
our  Western  and  Northwestern  States,  with  its  constantly  increasing  demand  for 
food. 

Without  going  into  any  labored  dissertation  upon  the  point  to  which  attention 
has  here  been  directed,  the  fact  will  be  clearly  appreciated  from  the  foregoing  data 
and  from  subsequent  statements  that,  although  the  home  demand  for  hog  products 
is  the  chief  element  in  the  determination  of  prices,  yet  that  the  foreign  demand 
for  such  products  constitutes  always  an  exceedingly  im])ortant  element  in  the 
profitableness  of  the  raising  of  swine  in  the  United  States,  inasmuch  as  it  provides 
markets  for  our  surplus  product.  Open  foreign  markets  are  of  special  importance 
at  times  when,  owing  to  an  unusually  large  production  in  the  United  States  or  to 
other  causes,  prices  fall  in  this  country.  Foreign  markets  then  serve  to  prevent  a 
disastrous  decline  of  prices.  The  recent  fall  of  prices  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  consequent  increased  tendency  towai'd  the  exportation  of  hog  products  to  for- 


SWINE   PE0DUCT8    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


833 


eign  countries,  renders  that  trade  a  subject  of  great  public  interest  at  the  present 
time. 

As  hereinafter  shown,  the  exportation  of  hog  products  to  foreign  countries  is  of 
especial  importance  to  the  Western  and  !North western  States  of  this  country,  and 
to  the  commercial  and  industral  interests  which  are  connected  with  the  pork  trade 
in  that  section  of  the  country. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  data  supplied  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, gives  the  number  and  value  of  the  hogs  on  farms  in  each  State  and  Ter- 
ritory in  the  year  1882,  in  the  order  of  the  magnitude  of  value: 

Table  showing  the  estimated  number  and  value  of  hogs  on  farms  in  the  United 
States  during  the  year  1882,  stated  in  the  order  of  magnitude  of  value. 

[From  Special  Report  No.  56,  Department  of  Agriculture.] 


State. 


Number  of 
hogs. 


Value  of 
bogs  on 
farms. 


Iowa 

Illinois 

Ohio 

Missouri 

Indiana 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

Wisconsin 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Pennsylvania 

New  York 

Michigan 

Texas. -- 

California 

Georgia 

North  Carolina 

Alabama 

Arkansas 

Mississippi 

Virginia 

Minnesota 

New  Jersey 

Maryland 

South  Carolina 

Louisiana 

"West  Virginia 

Massachusetts 

Dakota  Territory 

Oregon 

Florida 

Vermont 

Maine 

New  Hampshii-e 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Utah  Territory 

Washington  Territory 

Idaho  Territory 

New  Mexico  Territory 

Rhode  Island 

Montana  Territory 

Colorado 

Nevada 

Arizona  Territory 

Wyoming  Territory . .. 

Total 


5,107,445 

3,970,764 

2,714,113 

3,892,920 

2,724,;^83 

1,984,646 

1,526,823 

1,162,238 

1,988,753 

1,916.587 

1,060,856 

744,2.38 

934,184 

1,953,189 

856,000 

1,412,604 

1,311,821 

1,225,534 

1,250,513 

1,070,269 

773,864 

434,057 

214,688 

325, 413 

584,601 

564,439 

404,406 

80,908 

109,600 

168,954 

320,000 

74,864 

71,416 

54,511 

62,406 

46,740 

22,500 

50;300 

23,600 

19,300 

14,405 

17.200 

12,100 

12,000 

9,200 

735 


$40,961,709 

29,621,899 

21,902,884 

21,644,6a5 

20,814,286 

17,008,416 

12,153,511 

11,343,448 

11,057,467 

10,982,044 

9,802,309 

8,156,848 

7,893,855 

7,773,692 

6,111,840 

5,706,920 

5, 444, 057 

5,318,818 

4,851,990 

4,a34,589 

4,147,911 

3,159,225 

2,737,272 

2,583,779 

2,5:^7,168 

2,427,088 

2,394,084 

1,157,793 

965, 576 

927,557 

880,000 

873,663 

847,708 

661,218 

647. 774 

364,572 

279,450 

272,626 

259,600 

208,440 

192,883 

182.320 

140,118 

136,800 

73,600 

7,784 


43,270,086 


291,951,221 


From  this  table  it  appears  that  the  State  of  Iowa  stands  first  in  the  raising  of 
Bwine;  Illinois,  second;  Ohio,  third;  Missouri,  fourth;  Indiana,  fifth;  Kansas, 
sixth;  Nebraska,  seventh;  Wisconsin,  eighth;  Tennessee,  ninth,  and  Kentucky, 
tenth. 

The  annual  hog  product  of  quite  a  number  of  the  States  is  less  than  the  quantity 
of  such  products  consumed  therein,  and  the  comparatively  small  surplus  in  cer- 
tain other  States  is  sold  in  home  markets  and  consumed  in  this  country. 

The  deficiency  of  such  products  in  the  various  States  and  sections  of  this  country 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 53 


834  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

is  supplied  almost  entirely  by  the  surplus  product  of  the  Western  and  North- 
western States. 

By  means  of  our  unequaled  system  of  internal  transportation,  pork  products 
are  carried  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  a  distance  of  900  miles,  for  only  about  one- 
third  of  a  cent  per  pound.  The  rate  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York  is  about  the 
same.  The  average  ocean  charge  from  New  York  to  Bremen  during  the  last  year 
was  also  about  one-third  of  a  cent  per  pound.  On  direct  consignments  hog  prod- 
ucts can  be  shipped  from  Chicago  or  from  St.  Louis  to  Bremen  for  a  little  more 
than  one-half  a  cent  per  pound.  The  rates  from  Cincinnati  to  the  seaboard  and  to 
Bremen  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  above  stated  from  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis. 

The  existence  of  such  facilities  of  transportation,  in  connection  with  the  almost 
unlimited  capacity  of  our  Western  and  Northwestern  States  for  the  production 
of  swine,  has  built  up  a  great  industry  and  a  great  trade,  which  ai"e  now  seriously 
affected  by  the  action  of  the  Governments  of  Germany  and  France  in  forbidding 
the  importation  of  American  hog  products  into  those  countries. 

PORK  PACKING  AT  THE  WEST. 

It  Is  estimated  by  Mr.  Charles  B.  Murray  that  95  per  cent  of  the  exports  of  hog 
meats,  86  per  cent  of  the  exports  of  lard,  and  93  per  cent  of  the  total  exports  of 
hog  products  from  the  United  States  during  recent  years  have  consisted  of  the 
surplus  products  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Wisconsin. 

The  pork  packing  of  the  West  for  commercial  purposes  is  carried  on  chiefly  at 
the  towns  and  cities  mentioned  in  the  following  table,  which  shows  the  number 
of  hogs  packed  at  each  point  during  the  year  ended  March  1, 1883: 

No.  of  hogs. 

Chicago.  HI 4,222,780 

Kansas  aty,  Mo 813,834 

St.  Louis,  Mo 532,180 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 507,316 

Milwaukee,  Wis 40.'),  510 

Indianapolis,  Ind 388, 417 

Cedar  Rapids.  Iowa 327,163 

Cleveland,  Ohio 218,885 

St.  Joseph.  Mo 152,365 

Omaha,  Nebr 151,086 

Louisville,  Ky ^ 143,393 

Ottumwa,  Iowa 121,554 

Detroit,  Mich.. 99,155 

Des  Moines,  Iowa 90, 871 

Keokuk,  Iowa 68,446 

All  other  points ..1,100,044 

Total  ..: 9,342,999 

From  this  it  appears  that  45  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  hogs  packed  in  the 
Western  and  Northwestern  States  are  packed  at  Chicago. 

[The  fact  must  be  carefully  observed  that  the  above  table  and  the  following 
tables,  showing  production,  do  not  include  the  product  of  hogs  slaughtered  on 
farms  and  in  villages  for  domestic  consumption  in  the  immediate  localities  where 
such  slaughtering  is  done,  nor,  to  any  great  extent,  the  slaughtering  by  city 
butchers  for  local  consumption.  The  product  of  the  pork  packing  included  in  the 
above  table  is  marketed  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  also  in  foreign 
countries.] 

The  percentage  which  the  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  United  States  con- 
stituted of  the  whole  quantity  packed  at  the  West  during  the  last  ten  years  is 
exhibited  in  the  following  tables,  compiled  by  Mr.  Charles  B.  Murray,  editor  of  the 
Cincinnati  Price-Current: 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


835 


Exports  of  pork,  bacon,  and  hams  for  the  years  ended  October  31,  from  1873  to  1SS3, 
inclusive,  as  compared  loith  the  Western  yearly  production. 


Meats  exported. 

Production  of 
meat. 

Percent- 

Year ended  October  31— 

Pork. 

Bacon  and 
hams. 

Total. 

age  ex- 
ported. 

1873  

Pormds. 
63,86.5,821 
66.481,132 
57,247.971 
57,838,184 
68.839,674 
77; 262. 061 
93,324,250 
94,557,703 
101,460,298 
69,711,137 
73,181,801 

Pounds. 
415,239,087 
332,419,497 
264,225,246 
388,337,246 
444,133,016 
634,678,301 
773,30.5,316 
778,391,739 
693,676,987 
374,648,953 
407,099,371 

Pounds. 
479, 104, 908 
398,9:«.629 
321,473,217 
446.075,430 
513,9(53,690 
711,940.363 
866,629,566 
872, 849, 433 
794,137,285 
444,360,080 
480,281,173 

Poxmds. 

968,021,941 

914,666.521 

937,6.56,785 

991,5,56,881 

1,057,421,041 

1,401,543,139 

1,578,584,510 

1,643,118,570 

1,551,331,161 

1,184,431,931 

1,380,302,000 

49.49 

1874 

43.61 

1875 

32.50 

1876 

44.20 

1877 

48.51 

1878 

50.80 

1879 

54.90 

1880 

53.15 

1881 

51.19 

1882 

37.53 

1883 

34.80 

N.  B. — The  exports  include  products  of  pork  packing  in  Eastern  cities  each  year. 

Exports  of  lard  for  each  of  the  following  years  ended  October  31,  compared  with  the 
Western  yearly  production. 


Year  ended  October  31— 

Lard  ex- 
ported. 

Production 
of  lard. 

Percent- 
age ex- 
ported. 

1873    

Pounds. 
2.34,901.511 
184, 100. 226 
167,579,377 
198,008,212 
2^37,744,307 
345,693,527 
343,119,208 
4n.5,436,658 
30.5,001,686 
239,904,6.57 
273,236,610 

Pounds. 
247,967,565 
223,943,684 
236,195,8,'J3 
243.057,560 
259,242,066 
365,143.000 
424,333,030 
415,636,942 
400,976,439 
308,050,355 
344,485,000 

94  73 

1874 

82  58 

1875    

74  08 

1876 

81  46 

1877 

91  71 

1878 

94  67 

1879 

80  86 

1880        

97  55 

1881 

83  55 

1882 

77.88 

1883 

79  33 

N.  B.— The  exports  include  products  manufactured  in  Eastern  cities  each  year. 

Exports  of  pork,  bacon,  hams,  and  lard  for  each  year  ended  October  31,  compared 
with  the  Western  yearly  production. 


Year  ended  October  31— 

Production  of 

meats  and 

lard. 

Total  produc- 
tion exported. 

Percent- 
age ex- 
ported. 

1873 

Pounds. 
1,215, 989,  .506 
1,137,610,205 
1.1.53,852,607 
1,234,614,441 
1.316,663,107 
1,766,686,129 
2,002,917,540 
2,057,755,512 
1,953.307,600 
1,493,473,276 

Pounds. 

714,006,419 

583,030,855 

489,a52,594 

644,083,642 

750,706,997 

1,057,633,889 

1,209,748,774 

1,278,286,090 

1,129,138,971 

684.264,737 

753,517,782 

58  73 

1874 

51  25 

1875 

43.38 

1876 

53  17 

1877 

57  02 

1878 

59.87 

1879 

60  40 

1880 

63.12 

1881 

57  84 

1883 

45.84 

1883 

N.  B.— The  exports  include  products  manufactured  in  Eastern  cities  each  year. 

From  these  tables  it  appears  that  during  the  year  ended  October  31,  1880 — the 
year  preceding  the  interdiction  of  American  hog  products  from  France  and  Ger- 
many— the  exports  of  such  products  from  the  United  States  constituted  62.12  per 
cent  of  the  hog  products  of  the  Western  and  Northwestern  States  for  commercial 
purposes,  and  that  the  exports  of  pork,  bacon,  and  hams  constituted  53.15  per  cent 
of  such  products  of  those  States. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  statements,  it  is  evident  that  the  success  of  the  pork- 
packing  business  of  the  West  depends  mainly  upon  the  foreign  trade.    Any  serious 


836 


SWIXE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


obstruction  to  this  trade  must  very  injuriously  affect  the  agricultural  interests  of 
our  Western  and  Northwestern  States  and  the  commercial  and  industrial  interests 
of  the  several  cities  which  are  largely  engaged  in  the  pork-packing  business.  Such 
obstruction  must  also  in  a  marked  degree  atfect  the  trade  interests  of  the  cities  of 
New  York,  Boston.  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  which,  as  shown  in  Appendix  B, 
are  the  cities  from  which  hog  products  are  chieHy  exported. 

Appendixes  C,  D,  E.  F.  and  G  show,  respectivelj-,  the  exports  of  bacon,  hams, 
pork,  lard,  and  total  hog  products  from  the  United  States  to  each  foreign  country 
during  the  years  ended  June  HO,  1881,  1882,  and  1883. 

The  Interdiction  of  American  Pork  Products  from  France  and  Germany. 

The  following  table  shows  the  value  of  the  exports  of  bacon,  hams,  lard,  and 
pork  from  the  United  States  to  France  and  Grermany  during  the  last  nineteen 
years: 

Value  of  bacon,  hams,  and  pork  exported  to  France  and  to  Germany  during  each 
year  from  1865  to  188S,  inclusive. 


Year  ended  June  30— 


Exported  to — 


France.     Gtermany. 


Year  ended  June  30— 


Exported  to— 


Prance.     Germany. 


1865 
18«6 
1867 
186H 
186» 
1870 
1871 
UTS 
18W 
1874 


$20, 
5. 
13», 
»7, 
31. 

267! 
1,150. 
1,982, 

985, 


$67,106 
3,650 
59,5.59 
89.391 

306,528 

177.  on  . 

221,862  I 
1,7(8,576 
5,596,884 
3,071.738  I 


1875 
187>i 
1877 
1878 
187St 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


$454,  n7 

4-35,505 

2,056,280 

4,208,991 

3,388.872 

3,953,259 

4,987,673 

468,675 

40,100 


$2,458,222 
2,053,137 
2,401.784 
2,251,169 
2,ia3,903 
1,865,858 
3,2«:i.725 
4^12,426 
1,577,308 


Appendix  H  shows  the  value  of  the  exports  of  hog  products  of  each  kind  from 
the  United  States  to  France  and  Germany  during  the  ten  years  from  1874  to  1883, 
inclusive. 

The  regulations  of  the  Governments  of  those  countries  in  regard  to  such  products 
relate  exclusively  to  meats — viz,  bacon,  hams,  salted  pork,  canned  pork,  and  sau- 
sages— and  not  to  lard. 

Sausages  and  canned  pork  meats  are  also  prohibited  from  being  imported  into 
either  France  or  Germany  from  the  United  States,  but  the  quantities  or  values  of 
these  two  commodities  can  not  be  stated,  as  in  the  returns  made  by  customs  offi- 
cers such  commodities  are  included  in  preserved  and  canned  meats  generally. 
Canned  meats  of  all  kinds  are  packed  in  large  wooden  cases,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
ascertain  whether  their  contents  are  pork  or  beef. 

From  the  above  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  exportation  of  bacon,  hams,  and 
pork  to  both  France  and  Germany  has  been  a  trade  of  comparatively  recent  growth. 
Those  engaged  in  the  business  at  the  great  centers  of  the  pork  trade  at  the  West 
were  cultivating  it  by  improvements  in  the  modes  of  preparing  and  packing  pork 
products,  in  order  to  meet  the  demand  in  those  two  countries,  and  its  develoj)- 
ment  to  much  larger  proportions  was  confidently  expected.  Such  expectations 
appeared  to  be  justified  by  the  fact  that  the  total  value  of  similar  exports  from  the 
United  States  to  Great  Britain  amounted  during  the  year  ended  June  30, 1881,  to 
$48,319,897. 


GERMAN  EDICTS  IN  REGARD  TO  AMERICAN  PORK  PRODUCTS. 

On  the  2.5th  of  June,  1880,  the  German  Government  issued  an  edict  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  American  salted  pork  meats  into  that  country.  (See  Appen- 
dix J.)  This  edict  in  terms  exempted  ••  bacon  "  and  "  hams;  "  but  on  the  21st  of 
February,  1883,  the  German  Bundesrath  adopted  a  resolution  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  American  hog  meat  of  every  description  into  that  country.  Upon 
this  point,  attention  is  invited  to  a  letter  addressed  to  this  office  by  Messrs.  Armour 
&  Co.,  of  Chicago,  under  date  of  January  29.  1883,     (See  Appendix  K.) 

In  a  communication  addressed  to  this  office  by  the  firm  ju.st  mentioned,  under 
date  of  February  2,  1884.  it  is  stated  that  the  exclusion  of  canned  hog  products 
from  Grermany  is  to  them  a  serious  cause  of  complaint. 

That  pork  meats  continued  to  be  exported  to  Germany  during  the  year  ended 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  837 

June  30,  1883,  was  due  to  the  fact  above  stated,  that  until  the  edict  of  February 
21,  1883,  took  effect  "bacon"  and  '"hams"  were  admitted  at  the  ports  of  that 
country,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  American  hog  products  are  allowed  to  be  entered 
at  the  ports  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen  for  exportation  therefrom  to  foreign  coun- 
tries. 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  German  Government  favors,  or  at  least  permits, 
the  use  of  American  pork  and  other  hog  products  by  German  seamen  on  board  of 
German  vessels  trading  at  her  ports. 

For  a  while  Hamt)m-g  and  Bremen,  which  are  free  ports,  admitted  American 
hog  products  for  consumption  in  those  cities:  but  more  recently  they  have — reluc- 
tantly, it  is  said — followed  the  example  of  the  Imperial  Government  in  pursuance 
of  the  policy  "si  omnes  consentiunt,  ego  non  dissentio.''  A  copy  of  the  decree  of 
the  board  of  trade  and  navigation  of  the  city  of  Hamburg  is  hereunto  appended. 
(See  Appendix  L. ) 

Perhaps  the  most  irritating  feature  of  the  restrictive  measures  adopted  by  Ger- 
many regarding  American  hog  products  is  the  fact  that  that  country  forbids  the 
transportation  of  such  products  across  her  territory  in  transit  and  in  bond  to  other 
countries,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  abundant  provisions  exist  throughout 
Europe  for  the  security  of  merchandise  so  transported  over  railroads. 

THE  FRENCH  EDICT  IX  REGARD  TO   AMERICAN  PORK  PRODUCTS. 

The  French  Government,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1881,  prohibited  the  importa- 
tion of  all  hog  meats  from  the  United  States  to  that  country.     (See  Appendix  I.) 

Prior  to  the  interdiction  of  American  hog  products  from  France,  that  was  a 
valuable  and  rapidly  growing  trade.  The  value  of  the  exports  of  bacon,  hams, 
and  pork  from  the  United  States  to  France  increased  from  $267,804  in  1871 
to  §4,987,673  in  1883.  The  American  merchants  and  packers  engaged  in  this  trade 
regarded  it  as  one  of  great  promise,  but,  as  stated,  it  has  been  utterly  broken 
down. 

Aside  from  the  direct  results  of  the  action  of  Germany  and  France  in  regard  to 
American  hog  products,  it  is  believed  that  the  moral  effect  of  such  action  has 
worked  serious  injury  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  Northwest  and  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  the  country,  by  creating  a  prejudice  against  American  hog 
products,  thus  inducing  other  countries  to  take  like  action.  Portugal  appears  to 
be  among  the  latest  to  follow  the  example  of  France  and  Germany  in  this  direction. 

TRICHINA  AND  TRICHINOSIS. 

Hog  products  in  their  various  forms  and  in  the  different  modes  by  which  they 
are  prepared  as  food  by  the  culinary  art,  constitute  articles  of  food  for  persons 
in  all  classes  and  conditions  of  life.  It  is  a  fact  generally  known  that  such  prod- 
nets  are  especially  suitable  for  food  in  the  temperate  and  colder  climates,  and 
that  the  quantity  thereof  consumed  during  the  summer  months  is  much  less 
than  during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  An  experience  of  centuries  in  many  coun- 
tries has  proved  pork  meats  to  be  a  nutritious  and  sustaining  article  of  food, 
especially  for  persons  performing  vigorous  physical  labor,  and  more  particularly 
for  those  engaged  in  outdoor  employments. 

The  annual  consumption  of  hog  products  in  the  United  States  amounts  to  about 
4.200,000,000  pounds,  or  five  times  the  quantity  exported  to  all  foreign  countries. 
These  products  are  also  largely  consumed  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  countries  of 
Continental  Europe,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  their  consumption  in  the  United 
States. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  hog  products  are  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  con- 
sumed by  almost  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States,  the  instances  of  dele- 
terious results  from  their  use  as  articles  of  food  have  been  very  tew  and  isolated, 
and  the  evidences  appear  to  be  incontrovertible  that  all  the  cases  of  trichinosis 
which  have  occurred  have  been  directly  traceable  to  eating  uncooked  pork  meats. 
There  aijpears  to  be  no  authenticated  case  on  record  of  trichinosis  resulting  from 
eating  such  meats  when  cooked.  Trichinae  are  said  to  be  found  in  the  flesh  of 
many  of  the  lower  animals,  and  without  any  apparent  impairment  of  their  health. 
That  these  parasitic  animalculae  are  sometimes  found  in  the  hog  appears  simply 
to  proclaim  the  fact  that  such  products  in  an  uncooked  state  are  not  proper 
articles  of  human  food.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  this  fact  ought  to  ^e 
generally  understood  for  other  and  manifest  reasons. 

It  seems  passing  strange  that  canned  hog  products  should  be  interdicted  from 
any  foreign  country,  for.  as  stated  by  Messrs.  Armour  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  the  most 


838  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

extensive  pork  packers  in  the  United  States,  in  a  communication  to  this  office, 
such  products  "  are  subjected  for  several  hours  to  a  temperature  always  above 
boiling  point,  and  in  many  cases  to  240^  F, ,  destroying  all  life  beyond  perad- 
venture. " 

It  is  believed  that  a  careful  investigation  would  reveal  the  fact  that  the  eating 
of  a  number  of  other  staple  articles  of  food  causes  more  sickness  and  a  greater 
number  of  deaths  than  does  the  eating  of  hog  products. 

Dr.  Z.  T.  Sowers,  a  physician  of  large  practice  in  the  city  of  Washington,  has 
stated  it  as  his  opinion  that  more  sickness  ensues  and  more  deaths  occur  from 
eating  fish  and  oysters  in  bad  condition  and  stale  vegetables  than  from  eating 
unwholesome  pork,  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  chief  health  officer  of 
New  York  City. 

Attention  is  invited  to  a  statement  by  Mr.  Sidney  D.  Maxwell,  superintendent 
of  the  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  who  has  for  several  years  been 
employed  as  an  expert  in  connection  with  the  internal-commerce  branch  of  this 
office.  (See  Appendix  M.)  In  this  statement  Mr.  Maxwell  shows  that  swine  for 
exportation  are  raised  in  this  country  under  circumstances  peculiarly  favorable 
to  their  healthfulness.  In  regard  to  trichinae  in  hogs,  he  sas's:  "  In  this  city  (Cin- 
cinnati), which  may  be  regarded  as  the  home  of  pork  packing  in  this  country, 
where  for  well  nigh  half  a  century  this  has  been  a  great  industry,  and  where  large 
quantities  are  consumed,  there  does  not  appear  on  the  records  a  single  well- 
authenticated  case  of  trichinosis." 

The  secretary  of  the  Illinois  State  board  of  health,  in  a  report  made  January 
18,  1884,  says:  "As  a  sanitarian,  I  regard  the  danger  to  human  life  from  trichinae 
as  practically  amounting  to  nothing,  it  being  so  easily  prevented  by  thorough 
cooking." 

Mr.  George  H.  Morgan,  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange,  and 
Mr.  Charles  Randolph,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago,  both  employed 
as  experts  in  connection  with  the  internal-commerce  work  of  this  office,  having 
recently  given  like  testimony  as  to  the  whole-someness  of  Western  hog  meats, 
which,  as  before  stated,  constitute  almost  the  entire  exports  of  such  meats  to 
forei-rn  countries.  Mr.  E.  H.  Walker,  statistician  of  the  New  York  Produce 
Exchange,  under  date  of  January  18,  1884,  gives  like  tetsimony. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Hamilton.  Supervising  Surgeon-General  of  the  Marine-Hospital  Service 
of  the  United  States,  in  a  letter  to  this  office,  under  date  of  February  1, 1884,  states 
that  the  total  number  of  persons  treated  by  that  service  during  the  last  ten  years 
was  234,353,  and  that  the  total  number  of  deaths  of  persons  under  its  care  was 
4,234:  but  that  no  case  of  trichinosis  has  been  reported  during  that  time,  nor  since 
the  organization  of  the  service,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  seamen,  the  class  of 
patients  treated,  subsist  largelj'  upon  salt  pork.     (See  Appendix  T. ) 

No  case  of  trichinosis  has  ever  been  reported  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  (See 
letter  under  date  of  February  2,  1884,  from  Dr.  Smith  Townshend,  health  officer, 
Appendix  U. ) 

From  information  just  received  from  the  chief  health  officers  of  the  cities  of 
Boston.  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  it  appears  that  the  total  number 
of  deaths  in  those  cities  during  the  last  five  years  was  350.072.  and  that  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  resulting  from  trichinosis  was  only  6,  viz.  3  in  New  York  and  3  in 
Philadelphia.  (See  Appendix  V. )  This  fact,  in  connection  with  a  statement  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  E.  H.  Walker,  superintendent  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange, 
showing  that  during  the  last  five  years  there  were  14,701,230  live  hogs  received  at 
the  four  cities  above  mentioned,  almost  all  of  which  were  consumed  there,  would 
appear  to  constitute  conchisive  evidence  as  to  the  healthfulness  of  American  hog 
meats.  The  chances  of  injurious  results  from  the  eating  of  pork  meats  appear  to 
be  infinitesimal,  and  to  be  limited  to  the  condition  of  eating  raw  pork. 

The  foregoing  facts  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  the  country,  and  they  can 
neither  be  reinforced  nor  refuted  by  microscopic  analyses. 

It  may  be  remarked,  also,  in  this  connection,  that  in  various  parts  of  Germany 
and  France  vigorous  protests  have  been  made,  both  by  commercial  bodies  and  by 
prominent  individuals,  against  the  interdiction  of  American  pork  meats  upon  the 
broad  ground  that  no  necessity  exists  for  such  measures,  and  that  they  are  opposed 
to  the  true  interests  of  the  people  of  those  countries.  The  monthly  consular 
reports  published  by  the  Department  of  State  furnish  abundant  evidence  of  this 
sort. 

No  city  or  State  in  this  country  has  as  yet,  in  the  exercise  of  its  police  powers, 
attempted  to  restrain  the  use  of  pork  meats,  nor  has  any  suggestion  been  raised  in 
any  part  of  the  United  States  as  to  the  need  of  any  such  action  upon  sanitary 
grounds  or  for  any  other  reason.  A  line  of  policy  of  which  such  action  might 
fairly  be  regarded  as  an  example  would  paralyze  commerce  and  arrest  many 
important  industries.    Although  in  clearly  attested  cases  the  disease  known  as 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  839 

trichinosis  may  have  been  traced  directly  to  trichinae  in  hogs,  yet  so  few  and  far 
between  have  been  those  cases,  and  so  clearly  has  the  cause  of  the  sickness  which 
has  ensued  been  traced  to  eating  raw  pork  meats,  that  any  attempt  to  restrain  the 
use  of  hog  products  as  human  food  would  have  become  a  subject  of  popular  deri- 
sion; for  it  would  have  been  regarded  as  in  the  nature  of  an  attempt  to  shield  the 
people  against  their  own  indiscretion  and  against  the  accidents  of  life.  In  a  word, 
the  people  of  this  country  are  fully  convinced,  from  an  experience  long  continued 
and  almost  universal,  that  no  valid  objection  can  lie  against  American  hog  products 
on  account  ot  their  supposed  unwholesomeness,  and  it  is  in  the  light  of  this  con- 
viction that  the  interdiction  of  such  products  from  foreign  ports  is  generally 
regarded. 

The  whole  subject  of  the  existence  of  trichinae  in  hogs  and  the  disease  known  as 
trichinosis  has,  however,  already  been  fully  considered  and  reported  upon  by 
another  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department,  with  special  reference  to  the  grounds 
upon  which  the  Governments  of  Germany  and  of  France  have  excluded  American 
hog  products  from  those  countries. 

In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  on 
the  15th  of  December,  1880,  transmitted  to  the  President  of  the  Senate  a  report 
on  trichina?  and  trichinosis,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Supervising  Sur- 
geon-General by  Asst.  Surg.  W.  C.  W.  Glazier,  of  the  Marine-Hospital  Service. 
Dr.  Glaziers  report  was  the  result  of  an  extended  and  thorough  investigation  of 
the  literature  of  the  subject.  It  was  the  most  valuable  treatise  upon  that  sub- 
ject which  had  appeared.  He  brought  to  his  task  abilities  of  a  high  order  and 
attainments  which  give  him  distinction  as  a  scientist. ' 

He  made  such  analyses  as  were  necessary  in  order  to  determine  the  nature  of 
the  parasite  known  as  trichina  and  the  pathology  and  history  of  the  disease  known 
as  trichinosis.  He  clearly  proved  by  his  historical  researches  that  the  disease  had 
existed  in  Germany  and  France  even  so  far  back  as  the  year  1830.  This  was  long 
before  it  was  known  in  the  United  States,  and  before  American  hog  products 
were  imported  into  France  or  Germany.  Dr.  Glazier  showed,  also,  that  great 
doubt  exists  as  to  whether  the  cause  of  any  of  the  more  recent  cases  of  trichinosis 
in  Germany  and  in  France  is  or  is  not  traceable  to  the  use  of  American  hog  prod- 
ucts. He  stated,  generally,  that  "whatever  may  be  said  of  the  number  of  trichi- 
nosed  hogs  found  in  the  United  States,  the  epidemics  of  Germany  are  almost 
uniformly  traced  to  the  ingestion  of  freshly  killed  German  pork. "  He  also  asserted 
that  the  occurrence  of  trichinosis  in  Germany  has  been  directly  traceable  to  eating 
raw  pork  in  its  various  forms  as  smoked  and  salted  meat. 

The  correctness  of  Dr.  Glazier  s  conclusions  is  fully  attested  by  the  statements 
of  consular  officers  of  the  United  States  in  Germany  and  in  France,  and  those 
conclusions  are  believed  to  be  incontrovertible. 

American  hog  products  are  largely  consumed  in  the  United  States  at  the  pres- 
ent time  by  more  than  2,000,000  persons  of  Gei'man  birth,  and  probably  by  five  or 
six  million  persons  of  German  birth  and  parentage.  Such  products  are  also  con- 
sumed in  this  country  by  a  large  number  of  persons  born  in  France  and  their 
immediate  descendants,  and  without  injurious  results.  It  seems  strange,  there- 
fore, that  these  products  should  be  regarded  as  unfit  articles  of  food  for  the  people 
of  Germany  and  France  residing  in  their  own  country. 

It  has  been  siipposed  that  a  considerablequantity  of  American  pork  finds  its  way 
into  France  and  Germany  through  the  ports  of  Great  Britain.  This  appears  to  be 
a  misapprehension,  as  the  total  weight  of  pork  products  of  all  kinds  exported  from 
the  United  States  to  Great  Britain  during  the  last  three  years  amounted  to 
1,580,847.902  pounds,  whereas  the  quantity  of  pork  products  of  all  kinds,  both  of 
foreign  and  colonial  production,  exported  from  Great  Britain  during  the  years 
1880,  1881,  and  1882  to  France  amounted  to  only  3,456,832  pounds,  and  the  quan- 
tity exported  to  Germany  to  only  16,997,568  pounds.     (See  Appendix  N.) 

Trade  of  the  United  States  with  France  and  Germany. 

The  interdiction  of  the  importation  of  American  hog  products  from  France  and 
Germany  has  given  rise  to  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  general  subject  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  with  those  countries.  In  order  to  meet  all  of  such 
inquiries,  and  at  once,  the  following  statements  are  presented. 

'Dr.  Glazier  died  of  yellow  fever  at  Key  West,  Fla.,  December  12,  1880,  while 
there  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties.  In  his  death  the  public  service 
lost  one  of  its  ablest  and  most  efficient  officers,  and  the  profession  to  which  he  de- 
voted his  life  lost  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments. 


840 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


TRADE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH  FRANCE. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  total  value  of  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  with  France  during  each  year  from  1867  to  1883,  inclusive: 

Value  of  merchandise  imported  into  the  United  States  from  France  and  of  mer- 
chandise exported  from  the  United  States  to  France, 


Year  ended  June  30— 


1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 

im 

WS 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


Exports. 


Domestic.        Foreign. 


$33,834,460 
25.890,7.59 
33,747,919 
45,053,886 
26,482,263 
30,939,206 
33,220.620 
42,326,187 
83,172.387 
39,022,829 
44,098,343 
54,289,918 
88,194,041 
98,899,209 
89,844,100 
47,401,923 
55,965,191 


$582, 

528. 

366, 

503, 

170, 

492, 

560, 

638, 

460, 

769. 

1,041. 

1,029, 

1,475, 

1,173, 

4,353, 

2,608, 

2,717, 


Total  ex- 
ports. 


Imports. 


$34,417,166 
28,416,991 
33, 114, 4<.I8 
45, 556. 347 
26,  r>52. 608 
31,433,118 
33,781,506 
43.964,311 
33,632,727 
39,792.703 
45,139,918 
55,319,138 
89,669,627 

100,063,044 
94,197,451 
50,010,818 
58,682,223 


$29,386,239 
25,31.5,603 
30,384,.5:n 
42. 781.  i:J8 
28,099.279 
43,140,156 
33,977,200 
51,691,896 
69,773,148 
50,959,577 
47.5.56,292 
43,378,870 
50,684,601 
69,344,412 
69,806.37.5' 
88,897,606 
97,989,164 


Total 

imports  and 

exports. 


$63,808,405 
51,732.596 
63,398,930 
88,287,385 
54,751,887 
74.572,274 
67,758,706 
94,6.56,207 
93,405,875 
90,753,279 
92,696,210 
98,698,(J08 
140,354,238 
169, 407, 456 

164, 00.3,  we 

138,908,424 
156,671,387 


From  the  foregoing  table  it  appears  that  the  exports  of  domestic  merchandise 
from  the  United  States  to  France  fell  from  S98,8U9,209  in  1880  to  $55,965,191  in 
1883,  a  decrease  of  .§42,934,018,  or  43.4  per  cent,  but  that  the  imports  of  merchan- 
dise into  the  United  States  from  France  rose  from  $69,344,413  in  1880  to  $97,989,164 
in  1883,  an  increase  of  $28,644,752,  or  41.3  per  cent. 

Attention  is  invited  to  Appendix  O,  which  shows  in  detail  the  exports  of  mer- 
chandise from  the  United  States  to  France  and  the  imports  of  merchandise  from 
France  into  the  United  States  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1883,  distinguishing 
between  merchandise  free  of  duty  and  dutiable. 

The  principal  articles  imported  from  France  were,  in  the  order  of  magnitude  of 
value,  as  follows: 


Or- 
der. 


Commodities. 


Value. 


Free of duty 
or  dutiable. 


Manufactures  of  silk 

Wool,  and  manufactures  of 

Manufactures  of  cotton 

Wines,  spirits,  and  cordials 

Leather,  and  manufactures  of 

Precious  stones 

Silk,  raw 

j  Watches,  watch  movements,  and  materials. 
Fancy  goods 


$22,054,666 
» 16, 299, 966 
8,787,412 
6,615,577 
"6,238,050 
3,8a5.191 
3,607.958 
2,166,588 
2,075,529 


Dutiable. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Free. 
Dutiable. 

Do. 


1  The  value  of  raw  wool  included  is  only  $706,857. 
«  The  value  of  leather  included  is  S4,.506,208. 

The  imports  of  manufactures  of  silk  goods,  cotton  goods,  woolen  goods;  wines, 
spirits,  and  cordials;  watches,  watch  movements,  and  materials,  and  fancy  goods 
from  France  compete  with  similar  manufactures  in  the  United  States.  According 
to  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  Silk  Association  of  America  for  1883,  it  appears 
that  the  percentage  of  silk  goods  manufactured  in  the  United  States,  as  compared 
with  the  whole  consumption  of  such  goods  in  the  countrj',  increased  from  13  per 
cent  in  1860  to  38  per  cent  in  1880.  The  total  value  of  the  manufactures  of  wool 
in  the  United  States  during  the  census  year  was  .$267,252,913;  the  total  value  of 
the  manufactures  of  cotton  goods  was  $210,950,383:  the  total  value  of  the  manu- 
factures of  leather  was  $154,969,870,  and  the  total  value  of  the  manufactui'es  of 
watches,  watch  movements,  and  materials  was  $4,889,509. 

Special  inquiry  has  been  made  in  regard  to  the  imports  of  wine  into  the  United 


SWIKE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


841 


States  from  France,    The  following  table  shows  the  imports  of  wine  into  the 
United  States  from  that  country  during  the  last  ten  years: 

Quantity  and  value  of  wine  imported  from  France  into  the  United  States  during 
each  year  from  I864  to  1883,  inclusive. 


Year  ended  June  30— 

In  casks. 

In  bottles. 

Total. 

Gallons. 

Dozens. 

1864 

4, 331, 712 

$2, 198, 835 

$3,198,835 
727, 591 

1865 ,.-- 

1,147,025 

367.518 

153,282 

$360,173 

1866 

5,891,730 

1,639,447 

1121,334 

1,163,457 

2,801,904 

1867 

5,288.587 

1,728,031 

1105,070 

1,047,980 

2.776,011 

1868 

3,533,273 

1.301.712 

1104,810 

1,111,292 

2,313,004 

1869 

4,123,561 

1,299,133 

363, 7-« 

1,791,803 

3,090,936 

1870 - 

5,834,0'.tl 

1,779,  en 

456,351 

3,072,569 

3,853,240 

1871 

6,2(J5,516 

1,726,408 

381,590 

1,033,751 

2,749,159 

1872 

5,972,423 
6,216,064 

1,769,535 
1,976,048 

331,298 
347,625 

1,960,425 
3,068,794 

3,729,960 

1873 

4,044,842 

1874 --.. 

5,076,928 

1,870,781 

324,083 

3,109,244 

3,980,035 

1875 

4,226,886 

1,540,624 

307,617 

1,887,119 

3,427,743 

1876 , 

2,696,856 

9.50,035 

367,650 

1,850,561 

2,800,586 

1877 

2,726,803 

951,055 

337,842 

1,613,417 

2,564,472 

1878 

2,154,097 

885, 138 

334,648 

1,564.931 

2,450,059 

1879 

2,294,775 

947,767 

184,083 

1,363,697 

2,311,464 

1880 

2,110,635 

970,223 

257,736 

3,063,857 

3,034,080 

1881 

1,942,379 

979,870 

286,995 

3,491,085 

3,470.955 

1883 

3,088,351 

1,136,169 

339,664 

2,837,708 

3,963,877 

1883 - 

2,511,982 

1,349,617 

417,642 

3,946,339 

5,295,856 

1  Sparkling  wines  only. 

From  this  statement  it  appears  that  the  total  quantity  of  wine  imported  into 
the  United  States  from  France  during  the  year  ended  June  30,  1883,  amounted  to 
about  3,514,323  gallons,  the  total  value  of  which  was  §5.295,856.  According  to 
the  estimate  of  Mr.  Charles  Loeser.  of  New  York,  president  of  the  Wine  and 
Liquor  Dealers'  Association  of  the  United  States,  the  wine  product  of  this  country 
for  the  year  1883  amounted  to  17,487,000  gallons.  About  $3,000,000  were  collected 
from  duties  on  wines  imported  into  the  United  States  from  France  during  the 
year  ended  June  30,  1883. 

TRADE   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES  WITH   GERMANY. 

The  following  table  shows  the  total  value  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
with  Germany  during  each  year  from  1867  to  1883,  inclusive: 

Value  of  merchandise  imported  into  the  United  States  from  Germany  and  of  mer- 
chandise exported  from  the  United  States  to  Germany. 


Year  ended  June  30— 

Exports. 

Total  ex- 
ports. 

Imports. 

Total 
imports  and 

Domestic. 

Foreign. 

exports. 

1867            

$20,578,510 

$1,489,668 

$23,068,178 

$26,581,208 

$48,649,386 

1868 

29,641,606 

1,548,716 

31,190,322 

22,377,761 

53,568,083 

1869         

36,924,931 

958,321 

37, 883. 252 

25,087,987 

63,971,339 

1870 

•    41,250,530 

1,0.38,347 

42,388,877 

27,015,321 

69,304,198 

1871 - 

34,353,023 

638,385 

34,990,407 

25,093,635 

60,084,048 

1872 

39,867,604 

766,294 

40,638,868 

46,343,748 

86,877,616 

1873 

60,134,410 

1,465,637 

61,590,047 

61,401,756 

123,991,803 

1874 - 

61,668,381 

1,334,844 

63,993,325 

43,909,852 

106,903,077 

1875 

49,333,648 

1,333,377 

50,466,035 

40,247,712 

90,713,737 

1876 

49,161,752 

1,467,320 

50,639,073 

35,319.463 

85,948,534 

1877 

57,456,120 

6.51,313 

58,107,433 

33,  .509. 365 

90,616,798 

1878 

53,991,387 

818,458 

54,809,845 

34,790,103 

89,599,948 

1879 

.56,164,394 

893,851 

57,057,345 

35,519,818 

93,577,063 

1880 

.56,393,106 

770,157 

57,063,263 

52,211,2;j7 

109,373,500 

1881.- 

68,858,571 

1,339,681 

70,188,353 

.52,989.181 

123,177,433 

1882 

.55,790,056 

1,438,897 

54,338,953 

56,  .368. 542 

110,597,495 

1883 

64,340,490 

1,829,439 

66,169,939 

57,377,728 

133,547,657 

842 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Attention  is  invited  to  Appendix  P.  which  shows  in  detail  the  articles  of  mer- 
chandise exported  from  the  United  States  to  Germany  and  the  imports  of  mer- 
chandise from  Germany  into  the  United  States  during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
30.  18.Si. 

The  chief  articles  imported  from  Germany  during  the  year  were,  in  the  order  of 
magnitude  of  value,  as  follows: 


Or- 
der. 


Commodities. 


Value. 


Dutialjlo  or 
free  of  duty. 


Manufacturos  of  cotton 

Wool,  and  manufactures  thereof '. 

Manufactures  of  silk 

Iron  and  steel,  and  manufactures  thereof 

Leather,  and  manufactures  thereof 

Buttons  and  button  materials 

Fancy  goods 


$8,710,077 
>6.4«7.99!t 
4,237,1(K» 
3,  l.'>8, 973 
"3,114,981 
2,332,090 
2,006,684 


Dutiable. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


'  The  value  of  the  wool  imported  from  Germany  amounted  to  only  $8,960,  the  value  of  the 
Imports  of  manufactures  of  wool  from  that  country  having  been  J6,489,03iB. 

'The  value  of  leather  imported  from  Germany  was  $1,104,909,  and  the  value  of  manufactures 
of  leather,  $2,010,072. 

The  imports  of  all  the  manufactured  commodities  mentioned  in  the  foregoing 
schedule  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  came  into  competition  with  similar  articles 
manufactured  in  the  United  States. 

The  quantity  and  value  of  wine  imported  from  Germany  into  the  United  States 
during  each  year  from  1864  to  1883.  inclusive,  is  shown  in  Appendix  Q. 

Attention  is  also  invited  to  the  following  documents,  appended  hereunto: 

(a)  The  American  pork  question;  a  letter  addressed  to  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs  of  France  by  Leon  Chotteau.  a  citizen  of  that  country.     (SeeAi)pendix  R,) 

{b)  A  letter  addressed  to  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  by  Dr.  Emmons 
Clark,  secretary  of  the  health  department  of  New  York  City.     (See  Appendix  X.) 

(c)  A  statement  showing  the  duties  imposed  by  the  French  and  German  Govern- 
ments upon  hog  products  when  imported  into  those  countries.     (See  Appendix  Y. ) 

(d)  A  statement  by  Mr.  Charles  Randolph,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  Chicago,  in  regard  to  prices  and  the  exportation  of  hog  products  to  foreign 
countries.     (See  Appendix  W.) 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr., 

Chief  of  Bureau, 
Hon.  Charles  J.  Folger, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


APPENDIX, 

Appendix  A. — The  world's  supply  of  stcine. 

The  following  table  is  taken  from  the  Cincinnati  Price-Current,  published  by 
Mr.  Charles  B.  Murray,  and  shows  the  number  of  swine  reported  in  the  United 
States  in  1883,  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1882,  and  in  other  countries  having 
100,000  or  more  in  1880: 


Countries. 


United  States 

Russia 

Germany 

Austro  Hungary 

Prance  

Spain 

United  Kingdom 

Switzerland 

Italy 

British  North  American 

Provinces 

Roumania 

Portugal 


Number. 


43,270,000 
10,332,000 
7,324.000 
6,995.000 
6,801,000 
4,352,000 
3,940,000 
2,000,000 
1,564,000 

1,419,000 
8-37.000 
717,000 


Per  cent 
of  total. 


47.05 
11.23 
7.96 
7.61 
H.31 
4.73 
4.28 
2.18 
1.70 

1.54 
.91 

.78 


Countries. 


Belgium 

Australia 

Denmark 

Sweden 

Holland 

Argentine  Republic 

New  Zealand 

Greece 

Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Norway 

Total 


Number. 


602,000 
567.000 
504,000 
426,000 
852,000 
342,  OfX) 
207,000 
180.000 
132,000 
101,000 


91,964,000 


Per  cent 
of  total. 


.£5 
.62 
.56 
.46 
.38 
.37 
.23 
.20 
.14 
.11 


100 


SWINE    PKODUCTR    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


843 


Appendix  B. — Value  of  the  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  principal  and  all 
other  parts  of  the  United  States  during  the  years  ended  June  30,  1S81,  18S2,  and 
1SS3. 


Ports. 


Year. 


1881. 


1883. 


1883. 


Baltimore,  Md 

Boston  and  Charlestown,  Mass 

NewYork,N.  V 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Portland  and  Falmouth,  Me  . . . 

Port  Huron,  Mich.  1 

All  other  ports 

Total 


910,910 
042,646 
558.806 
034,147 
770,919 
156,5:% 
186, 107 


$784, 
14,942, 
54,427, 
8,34.5, 
750, 
2,037, 
1,564, 


100 


104,660,065 


82,853,946 


117,361 
307,310 
695.931 
321,369 
779,459 
426,461 
318,590 


70,065,368 


1  The  exports  from  Port  Huron  were  to  Canada. 

Appendix  C. — Value  of  the  exports  of  domestic  bacon  from  the  United  States  to 
each  one  of  the  principal  foreign  countries  for  the  years  ended  June  30,  1881, 
1883,  and  1883. 


Countries. 


Years. 


1881. 


1882. 


1883. 


Great  Britain  and  Ireland 

Germany 

Belgium  -.. 

British  North  American  Possessions 

Denmark 

Sweden  and  Norway 

Netherlands 

Cuba 

British  West  Indies 

All  other 

Total 


$38,651,946 

3,983,852 

4,583,807 

738,301 

458,181 

457,666 

55.5,241 

342,113 

32,669 

4,732,305 


$38,318,699 

295, 856 

1,696.150 

704,987 

163,382 


236,969 
240, 745 
28,086 
439,728 


53,616,981 


42,124.603 


$26,845,784 

1,374,432 

1,339,123 

938,;364 

644,545 

562,618 

289,516 

284,202 

31,181 

72,986 


32,282,751 


Appendix  D. — Value  of  the  exports  of  domestic  hams  from  the  United  States  to 
each  one  of  the  principal  foreign  countries  for  the  years  ended  June  SO,  1881, 
1882,  and  1883. 


Countriea 


Years. 


1881. 


1882. 


1883. 


Great  Britain  and  Ireland 

Cuba 

British  North  American  Possessions 

Germany 

Porto  Rico 

British  West  Indies 

Belgium 

British  Guiana 

Mexico - - 

United  States  of  Colombia ■ 

Hawaiian  Islands 

Venezuela - 

Haiti 

Netherlands 

All  other 

Total 


$5, 


853,920 

251.486 

175, 666 

173,655 

58,355 

71,604 

348,348 

25, 469 

1.5,718 

16,723 

15.088 

a5,013 

29,927 

37,765 

436, 487 


7,544,224 


$3,516,799 
237,933 
248,534 
44,024 
65,138 
85,284 
83,472 
29,671 
21, 444 
19,a54 
19,639 
18,875 
25,683 
10,006 
135,037 


4,551,172 


$4,670,608 

319,052 

368,583 

94.851 

83,241 

79,836 

59,384 

31,697 

39,597 

39,038 

28,320 

27,734 

23,809 

19,773 

108,692 


5,873  201 


844 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Appendix  E. —  Value  of  the  exports  of  domestic  pork  from  the  United  States  to 
each  one  of  the  principal  foreign  countries  for  the  years  ended  June  SO,  1S81, 
1882,  and  1SS3. 


Countries. 


Years. 


1881. 


1882. 


British  North  American  Possessions 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland 

British  West  Indies 

Haiti 

British  Uniana 

Porto  Rico 

Dntc^Qoiana 

Cuba 

Germany 

British  Honduras 

French  West  Indies 

United  States  of  Colombia , 

Danish  West  Indies 

Miquelon.Langley.etc 

Central  American  States 

All  other 

Total 


$1,782,933 

3,KHr.(J31 

5*J,  799 

979, 3U7 

1«1,766 

197,224 

62.1.54 

90,967 

108,218 

42,627 

78,522 

23.262 

37,100 

19.349 

8.442 

273,586 


8,272,286 


$2,302,915 

2,470,131 

596,537 

693,960 

289,661 

211,460 

84,126 

89,668 

92, 5W 

43,510 

41,938 

30.789 

34.. 570 

22.953 

14.622 

181,884 


7,201,270 


$2,274,793 

1.5:«,X96 

644,518 

570,Ot'.l 

247,  .3S1 

206,522 

117,870 

113.268 

108,(85 

63,280 

56,588 

49,693 

28,871 

2.5.117 

18,304 

134, 102 


6,192,268 


Appendix  F. — Value  of  the  exports  of  domestic  lard  from  the  United  States  to  each 
one  of  the  principal  foreign  countries  for  the  years  ended  June  SO,  ISSl,  18S2, 
and  1883. 


Countries. 


Years. 


1881. 


1883. 


Great  Britain  and  Ireland 

Germany — — 

France 

Cuba 

Belgium 

British  North  American  Possessions 

United  States  of  Colombia 

Denmark 

Netherlands 

Brazil 

Venezuela 

Porto  Rico 

British  West  Indies 

Hayti 

Mexico 

French  West  Indies 

Peru 

British  Guiana 

All  other 

Total 


$10,808,193 

8,018,932 

5,567,030 

2,449,865 

2,913,709 

662,028 

408,867 

963,044 

800,986 

547,679 

405.476 

250,496 

248,144 

170,014 

132,597 

77,803 

19,089 

61,030 

721,593 


35,226,575 


$9,407,757 

6,2.55.827 

3,699,876 

1,673,0.50 

2,398,716 

663,522 

852,083 

751,416 

513, 110 

491,252 

416,662 

280,925 

268,363 

151,398 

145,293 

78,458 

137.595 

78,156 

711,843 


28,975,902 


$7,941,529 

4,867.142 

3,727.936 

2,471.774 

1,723.;»5 

1,444.177 

729.5.37 

684,410 

621,873 

468,874 

S2-3,532 

298.977 

248.161 

181,399 

163,797 

88,354 

70,044 

64,8<-.5 

599,  .':22 


26,618.048 


Appendix  G. — Value  of  the  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  United  States  to  each 
one  of  the  principal  foreign  countries  for  the  years  ended  June  30,  1881,  1882, 
and  1883. 


Years. 


Countries. 


1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

$.59,128,087 

$53,713,386 

$40,991,812 

11,282,6.57 

6,691,253 

6,444.450 

4.284.044 

4,89M.228 

5.939.612 

10,554,703 

4,168,551 

3,768.026 

3,134,431 

2,231,996 

3,188.297 

7,860,483 

4,228,755 

3,035.428 

1,434,211 

91.5,608 

1,328.9.55 

1,404,486 

770,348 

848,388 

561,719 

567,278 

5,015,244 

5,236,821 

4,8&t,022 

104.660,065 

82,852,946 

70,9tJ6,2ti8 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland , 

Germany -. 

British  North  American  Pessessions . 

France 

Cuba : 

Belgium , 

Denmark. , 

Netherlands 

Sweden  and  Norway 

All  other 

Total 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


845 


Appendix  H. — Quantities  and  values  of  exports  of  hog  products  from  the  United 
States  to  France  and  Germany  during  each  year  from  1874  to  188S,  inclusive. 

FRANCE. 


Year 

Bacon  and  hams. 

Lard. 

Pork. 

Total. 

ended 
June  30— 

Pounds. 

Valua 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

1874 

11,550,574 

$959,851 

9,937,387 

$882,513 

379,108 

$35,629 

31,867,069 

$1,867,993 

1875 

3,916,811 

382,908 

6,437,958 

897,730 

724,075 

71,809 

11,078,844 

1,353,447 

1876 

3,484,772 

412,114 

10,059,487 

1,346,504 

221,199 

23,391 

13,765,458 

1,783,009 

1877 

^3, 167, 336 

3,041,520 

23, 788, 669 

2,462,330 

179,500 

14,760 

47,135,405 

4,518,610 

187!^ 

55,280,429 

4,161,468 

50,465,990 

4,274,074 

599,969 

42,523 

106,346,388 

8,478,065 

1879 

53,593,720 

3,248,214 

42,360,456 

2,877,630 

2,168,614 

140,658 

98,122,390 

6,366,503 

188(1 

66,357,041 

3,848,930 

55,462,701 

3,941,971 

1,608,545 

104,329 

123,428,287 

7,895,330 

1881 

68,105,887 

4,855,932 

61,908,551 

5,567,030 

1,896,969 

131,741 

131,911,407 

10,554,703 

188:2 

5,350,311 

445,719 

31,610,618 

3,699,876 

2.57,574 

23,956 

37,218,503 

4,168,551 

1883 

253,891 

29,246 

31,794,241 

3,727,926 

109,400 

10,854 

32,156,533 

3,768,036 

GERMANY. 


1874 

30,917,017 

$2,918,849 

64,436,920 

$5,967,604 

1,961,038 

$153,889 

97,314,965 

$9,039,339 

1873 

21,269,791 

2,384,587 

49,873,431 

6,589,229 

757, 133 

73.635 

71,900,355 

9,047,451 

187(5 

16,146,243 

1, 959, 757 

47,894,522 

6,242,432 

845,686 

93,380 

64,886,453 

8,295,569 

1877 

23,715,093 

2,286,914 

58,038,751 

6,108,520 

1,351,166 

117,870 

83.003,010 

8,513,304 

1878 

28,023,987 

2,201,208 

85,419,191 

7,419,237 

703,900 

49,961 

114,145,078 

9,670,406 

1879 

37,508,897 

2,051,712 

89,710,334 

6,163,503 

919,817 

52,281 

128,139,048 

8,267,496 

18S0 

36,843,862 

1,786,494 

85,509,388 

6,379,894 

5,259,417 

79,364 

113,612,667 

8,245,733 

1881 

41,549,770 

3,153,507 

88,127,893 

8,018r932 

1,455,()46 

108,218 

131,133,309 

11,282,657 

1882 

3,380,356 

339,880 

55,4()7,728 

6,255,827 

1,109,00(J 

92,546 

59,937,084 

6,688,253 

1883 

14,708,835 

1,469,283 

41,872,915 

4,867,142 

1,146,663 

108,025 

57,728,409 

6,444,450 

Appendix  I. — Tlie  President  of  the  French  Republic  on  the  report  of  the  minister 
of  agriculture  and  of  commerce. 

In  view  of  the  advice  of  the  consultative  committee  of  public  hygiene  of  France, 
considering  that  the  introduction  into  France  of  salt  pork  notoriously  infected 
with  trichinae  presents  great  dangers  to  the  public  health,  decrees: 

Article  1.  In  all  the  territory  of  the  French  Republic  the  importation  of  salt 
pork  coming  from  the  United  States  of  America  is  forbidden. 

Article  2.  The  minister  of  agriculture  and  of  commerce  and  the  minister  of 
finances  are  charged,  each  in  that  which  concerns  him,  with  the  execution  of  the 
present  decree,  which  will  be  inserted  in  the  Journal  Officiel  and  published  in  the 
Bulletin  des  Lois. 

Done  at  Paris,  February  18,  1881. 

Jules  Grevy. 

By  the  President  of  the  Republic: 

P.  TiRARD, 

Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce, 
J.  Magnin, 

Minister  of  Finances. 


Appendix  J. — Decree  of  June  25,  1880,  regarding  the  prohibition  of  the  importa- 
tion of  pork  and  sausages  into  Germany  from  America. 

We,  William,  by  the  grace  of  God  Emperor  of  Germany  and  King  of  Prussia, 
etc.,  decree,  in  the  name  of  the  Empire,  the  consent  of  the  federal  council  having 
been  obtained,  as  follows: 

§  1.  The  importation  of  chopped  or  in  a  similiar  manner  divided  or  otherwise 
prepared  pork  and  of  sausages  of  all  kinds  from  America  is  prohibited  until  fur- 
ther notice.     This  prohibition  does  not  include  the  importation  of  hams  and  bacon. 

>J  2.  The  imperial  chancellor  is  authorized  to  make  exceptions  to  this  prohibition 
and  to  adopt  the  measures  necessary  for  this  purpose. 

?;  3.  This  decree  takes  effect  on  the  day  of  its  publication. 

Witnessed  under  our  high  signature  and  the  affixed  imperial  seal. 

Given,  Bad  Ems,  the  25th  day  of  June,  1880. 

[seal.!  William. 

[SEAL.J  Prince  V.  Bismarck. 


846  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Appendix  K. 

Chicago,  January  29,  ISS4. 

Dear  Sir:  We  are  in  receipt  of  your  esteemed  favor  of  the  26th  instant  with 
inclosures,  and  have  given  them  our  careful  attention.  Our  experience  proves 
that  bacon  and  hams,  as  well  as  pork,  are  actually  excluded  from  both  France  and 
Germany.  There  is  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  any  restriction  on  the  importation  of 
American  lard  into  France  or  Germany.  As  to  the  French  edict  referring  only 
to  salted  meats,  we  may  say  the  prohibition  has  to  our  knowledge  been  operative 
against  all  other  forms  of  hog  product  (lard  excepted)  not  covered  by  the  expres- 
sion • '  salted  meats. "  The  term  pork  as  used  in  the  edicts  is  in  our  opinion  designed 
to  cover  more  than  the  commodity  known  here  as  "pork,"  and  really  includea 
"bacon "and "hams."  Such  certainly  is  the  interpretation  which  those  intrusted 
with  the  execution  of  the  respective  edicts  have  seen  fit  to  put  upon  it. 

To  come  to  the  next  point  in  your  letter,  we  would  say  that  the  German  prohi- 
bition applies  equally  to  Bremen  and  Hamburg  with  the  rest  of  the  Empire,  so  far 
as  consumption  in  these  cities  is  concerned,  but  it  is  permitted  to  ship  all  hog 
products  to  Bremen  and  Hamburg,  provided  these  ports  are  used  merely  as  points 
of  transshipment  to  other  countries. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  direct  effect  of  the  French  and  German  prohibitions 
was  mitigated  and  at  times  entirely  neutralized  by  commercial  causes,  and  that 
the  high  prices  ruling  here,  as  a  consequence,  presumably,  of  reduced  production 
of  hogs  in  the  United  States,  encouraged  an  increased  production  in  the  countries 
excluding  our  product.  It  is  very  difficult,  therefore,  to  state  or  to  show  just 
what  loss  was  inflicted  on  our  trade  by  the  action  of  France  and  Germany;  but 
that  it  has  suffered,  and  materially,  too,  we  have  no  doubt.  Neither  do  we  doubt 
that  the  action  of  these  countries  has  created  in  some  other  countries  a  decided 
prejudice  against  American  hog  products,  and  has  influenced  other  countries  (of 
which  Portugal  is  the  latest  example)  to  imitate  their  prohibitory  policy. 

We  shall  await  your  report  with  patience,  and  shall  deem  it  fortunate  if  what 
little  information  we  have  been  able  to  impart  conduces  in  your  hands  to  the  result 
which  we  desire,  viz,  the  final  recall  of  the  prohibitory  edicts. 
Yours,  very  respectfully, 

Armour  &  Co. 

Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr.,  Esq., 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Appendix  h.— Edict  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Navigation  of  Hamburg  respecting 
the  importation  of  American  hog  products  at  that  port. 

[Notice  respecting  the  prohibition  of  the  import  of  pii^s,  pork,  bacon,  and  sausages  of  American 

origin.] 

The  masters  of  vessels  arriving  at  this  port  having  on  board  as  cargo  or  provi- 
sions pigs,  pork,  bacon,  and  sausages  of  American  origin  are  hereby  informed  that 
snch  import  is  prohibited,  and  that  goods  of  that  description  being  of  other  than 
American  origin  are  only  allowed  to  be  discharged  with  the  permission  of  the 
proper  authorities  (Declarations- Bureau). 

Pork  and  bacon  of  American  origin  which  are  intended  for  reexport  to  foreign 
countries  or  as  provisions  for  seagoing  vessels  lying  in  this  harbor  may  be  dis- 
charged under  the  direction  and  superintendence  of  the  proper  authorities  (Admin- 
istration of  the  Quay). 

The  masters,  who  are  also  responsible  for  their  crews,  are  recommended  to  inform 
themselves  at  their  arrival  here  from  their  agents  or  brokers  as  to  the  strict  obser- 
vation of  the  directions  under  which  pigs,  pork,  bacon,  and  sausages  may  be  landed. 
For  neglecting  to  do  so  they  incur  heavy  penalties  and  the  confiscation  of  the  goods 
discharged  without  permission. 

Hamburg,  the  21st  of  April,  1883. 

The  Board  of  Trade  and  Navigation. 


Appendix  M. — Statement  made  by  Mr.  Sidney  D.  Maxwell,  superintendent  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Cincinnati,  to  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,  in 
regard  to  the  qvxility  of  American  hog  products,  in  a  letter  dated  January  21, 1884' 

The  hogs  of  this  country  are  generally  raised  under  circumstances  the  most  favor- 
able to  produce  healthy  meats.  They  are  almost  universally  allowed  to  range  at 
large  in  the  fields  and  wooded  lands,  where  they  have  ample  air  and  water.  They 
are  fattened  from  corn,  and  under  the  rules  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  of  this 
city  only  meats  from  corn-fed  hogs  are  recognized  as  regular.    The  circumstances 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


847 


under  which  pork  is  produced  are  such  as  to  reduce  the  liability  to  diseased  meats 
to  the  minimum.  So  remote  a  possibility  is  this  that  in  this  citj',  which  may  be 
regarded  as  the  home  of  pork  packing  in  this  country,  where  for  well-nigh  half  a 
century  this  has  been  a  great  industry  and  where  large  quantities  are  consumed, 
there  does  not  appear  on  the  records  a  single  well-authenticated  case  of  trichinosis. 
In  relation  to  the  hog  cholera,  it  may  be  remarked  that  it  is  well  i<nown  to  hog 
raisers  that  cholera  usually  attacks  the  young  swine,  which  are  not  such  as  are 
acceptable  to  our  packers,  who  use  the  heavy  hogs;  and  where  there  is  an  excep- 
tion to  this  rule  the  packers  are  aware  that  meats  made  from  diseased  hogs  will 
not  only  not  cure  properly,  but  will  contaminate  good  meats;  so  that  if  a  curer 
were  prompted  by  no  other  than  a  mercenary  motive  the  public  would  find  the 
amplest  protection  against  bad  meats  from  this  cause.  Under  our  municipal  reg- 
ulations we  have  regular  inspectors,  whose  duty  it  is  to  visit  the  stock  yards  and 
slaughterhouses  daily,  with  a  view  to  protecting  the  public  against  hogs  being 
slaughtered  for  food  that  are  diseased.  Hogs  that  die  from  disease  go  to  the  desic- 
cating companies,  whose  wagons  are  alone  authorized  to  remove  them.  The  work 
of  our  packing  houses  is  done  in  an  open  and  public  manner  and  under  the  most 
improved  methods  for  killing  the  animals  and  handling  and  curing  the  meats. 
Then,  at  last,  if  meats  were  sought  to  be  cured  from  hogs  diseased,  bruised,  or 
maimed,  they  would  be  liable  to  be  detected  by  our  inspectors  of  meats.  I  doubt 
if  in  the  whole  range  of  articles  for  human  food  of  large  consumption  there  is  a 
better  record  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  the  curer s  of  the  hog  product.  I 
say  this  much  because  in  my  statistical  work  I  have  good  opportunities  of  know- 
ing something  about  the  matters  involved  in  the  discussion  and  because  your 
in(iuiry  and  my  relations  to  your  Department  have  made  it  suitable  for  me  to  go 
beyond  the  immediate  bounds  of  your  inquiry.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the 
outcry  against  the  meats  made  from  the  hogs  of  this  country  is  the  result  of  igno- 
rance in  relation  to  the  subject  or  because  foreign  governments  have  sought  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  growing  commercial  and  industrial  importance  of 
this  country  by  resorting  to  a  miserable  subterfuge;  and  the  former,  with  all  the 
agitation  since  the  foreign  raid  against  the  hog  product  of  this  country  was  inau- 
gurated, and  with  the  opportunities  of  information  which  existed  at  this  stage  of 
the  inquiry,  seems  so  improbable  as  to  be  unworthy  of  consideration. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

Sidney  D.  Maxwell, 

Superintendent. 


Appendix  N. — Quantities  and  values  of  exports  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
of  pork  products  of  foreign  and  colonial  production  to  France  and  Germany 
during  each  year  from  1873  to  1882,  inclusive. 

[From  the  annual  statement  of  the  trade  of  the  United  Kingdom.] 
TO  FRANCE. 


Year  ended  De- 
cember 31— 

Bacon. 

Hams. 

Lard. 

Pork,  salted. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quan- 
tity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quan- 
tity. 

Value. 

1873 

Pounds. 

3,708,768 
2,124,976 

$308,127 
173,510 

Pounds. 
219,520 

89,712 
145,264 
370,496 
818,944 
977,536 
688,912 
729,568 
498,176 
182,224 

$26,902 
12,531 
23,345 
53,298 
99,715 

109,686 
75,333 
90,040 
78,623 
33,126 

Pounds. 
556,192 
343,056 

$50,018 
36,966 

Pounds. 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1,105,776 

2,257,136 

1,118,208 

867,552 

757,904 

113,020 
183,769 
79,509 
57,128 
59,206 

712,208 
670,544 
125,664 

87,996 
71,382 
12,122 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

288,960 

40,329 

TO  GERMANY. 

1873 

1,892,464 
1,179,024 

$230,906 
100,610 

95,760 

$11,973 

2,907,520 

i,ra4,320 

973,616 
1,899,296 
1,130,528 
2,231,488 
3,391,034 
3,4.58.896 
3,453,288 
2,668,736 

8265,078 
305,887 
119,015 
304,349 
117,823 
173,009 
217,946 
284,491 
400,036 
341, 181 

148,064 

$11,811 

1874  .  .. 

1875 

1876  .  . 

541,072 

49,667 

1877 

1878 

1879 . 

1,971,312 

4,268,330 

2,443,738 

489,338 

114,650 

337,843 

226,852 

45,998 

1880 

216,272 

26,196 

1881 

1883 

848 


SWIKE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


Appendix  O. — Commerce  of  the  United  States  with  France  during  the  year  ended 

June  SO,  ISSS. 

IMPORTS  OF  MERCHANDISE  FROM  FRANCE, 
[n.e.  s.:  Not  elsewhere  specified.] 


Articles. 


Quantities. 


Values. 


FREE  OF   DUTY. 

Silk,  raw pounds.. 

Areols  do 

Hides  and  skins,  other  than  fur 

Chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  and  medicines,  n.e.s 

Bolting  cloths ... ...... 

Wood,  unmanufactured 

Articles,  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  the  United  States, 
brought  back 

India-rubber  and  gutta-percha,  crude pounds . . 

Household  and  personal  effects  and  wearing  apparel,  old  and  in 
use,  of  persons  arriving  from  foreign  countries 

Oil,  volatile  or  essential pounds.. 

Paper  materials do 

Pamtings,  statuary,  and  other  works  of  art  of  American  artists. 

All  other  free  articles 


Total  free  of  duty 

SUBJECT  TO  DUTY. 


Silk,  manufactures  of: 
Dress  and  piece  goods. . 
Other  manufactures  of  . 


Total. 


Wool, and  manufactures  of: 

Unmanufactured pounds. 

Dress  goods square  yards. 

Cloths  and  cassimeres 

Shawls 

Other  manufactures, n  e.s 


Total. 


Cotton,  manufactures  of. 


Wine,  spirits,  and  cordials: 

Spirits  and  cordials,  in  casks proof  gallons. 

Spirits  and  cordials, in  bottles dozen. 

Wine,  in  casks gallons. 

Wine,  in  bottles dozen. 


Total. 


Leather,  and  manufactures  of: 

Leather  of  all  kinds pounds.. 

Glovesof  kid  and  aU  other  skin  or  leather dozen  pairs.. 

Other  manufactures  of 


Total. 


Precious  stones 

Watches,  watch  movements,  and  materials 

Fancy  goods 

Paintings,  chromo  lithographs,  photographs,  and  statuary,  n.  e.  s. 

Furs  and  dressed  fur  skins 

Earthen,  stone,  and  china  ware 

Fruits  of  all  kinds,  including  nuts 

Buttons  of  all  kinds,  including  button  materials  partly  fitted 

for  buttons  exclusively 

Flax,  manufactures  of 

Straw  and  palm  leaf ,  manufactures  of 

Glass  and  glassware 

Chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  and  medicines,  n.  e.  s 

Breadstuffe  and  other  farinaceous  food 

Provisions 

Fish,  not  of  American  fisheries 

Iron  and  steel,and  manufactures  of 


671,330 
9,776,538 


205,612 


150,996 
2,887,253 


5,798,992 
44,974,881 


345,776 

79,137 

«, 511, 982 

417,642 


6,828,225 
251,464 


$3,607,958 

1,647,523 

1,280,717 

615,433 

895,329 

299,675 

291,601 
187,546 

170,941 
118,715 
112,058 
80,223 
1,944,852 


10,632,670 


13,233,887 
8,820,779 


22,054,666 


706,a-)7 
10.88.5.227 
2,155,363 

497,350 
2,055,169 


16,299,966 


8,787,412 


803,004 

516,717 

1,349,617 

8,946,239 


6,615,577 


4,506,206 

1,488,423 

24:3,421 


6,238,050 


8,885.191 
2,166,588 
2,07,5,529 
1,623,582 
1,  .594, 484 
1,:«2,046 
1,250,748 

1,227,711 
1,196,984 
1,084,357 
917,047 
875,926 
786,836 
721,841 
691,672 
629,845 


SWIN^E    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES, 


849 


Appendix  O. — Commerce  of  the  United  States  loith  France,  etc. — Continued. 
IMPORTS  OF  MERCHANDISE  FROM  FRANCE-Coutinued. 


Articlea 


Quantities. 


SUBJECT  TO  DUTY— continued. 

Metals, metal  compositions, and  manufactures  of,n.e.s 

Clothing  (except  of  silk,  and  except  hosiery,  etc.,  of  cotton  or 

wool)  - 

Perfumery  and  cosmetics 

Jewelry, and  all  manufactures  of  gold  and  silver, n.e.s 

Oils 


Books,  pamphlets,  engravings,  and  other  publications,  n.  e.  s 

Paper,  and  manufactures  of 

Wood,  manufactures  of 

Musical  instruments 

Brass,  and  manufactures  of 

Bristles «. pounds- 

Paints -- 


Seeds 

Hair,  and  manufactures  of. 

All  other  dutiable  articles  . 


Total  value  of  dutiable  merchandise 

Total  value  of  merchandise  free  of  duty. 

Total  value  of  imports  of  merchandise  .. 


144,622 


Values. 


$421,130 
379,087 

368,  oas 

366,471 
355,  .■Vt7 
3a5,950 
2as,748 
236,487 
212.5.59 
171, 974 
148,078 
144,298 
132,664 
12.S,<)T9 
1,611.281 


87,  .3.56. 494 
10,632,670 

97,989,164 


EXPORTS  OF  DOMESTIC  MERCHANDISE  TO  FRANCE. 

[n.e.s.:  Not  elsewhere  specified.] 


1 

Cotton,  and  manufactures  of: 

Unmanufactured 

Ibs-- 

214,414,623 

$22,703,670 
13, 027 

Total 

22, 716, 697 

Bread  and  breadstuffs: 

Indian  corn 

Indian-corn  meal 1 

Wheat 

Wheat  flour 

Other  small  grain  and  pulse. 

bush-. 

bbls.. 

-.-bush.. 

bbls.- 

1,617,903 

127 

15,096,712 

63,223 

2 

1,077,000 

495 

17,178,486 

355,672 

825 

Maizena,  farina,  and  all  other  preparations  of  breadstuffs 
used  as  food 

1,850 

Total 

18,614,328 

Provisions: 

lbs.. 

114,281 
138,610 
296,  SM 
118,596 
9,481 

3 

11,815 
17  431 

lbs 

Beef,  salted  or  cured 

Butter. 

lbs.. 

lbs-. 

lbs_^ 

23,932 

25,250 

1,597 

300 

Condensed  milk 

Fish,  other  cured ,       -    -- 

16, 4;j;i 

lbs 

31,794,241 

3, 727. 926 

Meats,  preserved '. 

26,60(i 

1,188 

27 

pickles  and  sauces     . 

Pork   

lbs__ 

109,400 

10, 854 

Vegetables,  prepared  or  preserved    .      

1, 175 

Total 

3,864,544 

Oils: 

Mineral,  crude 

Mineral,  reflned — 

Naphthas,  benzine,  gasoline,  &c 

Illuminating 

Lubricating  (heavy  parafflne,  &c.) 

Residuum  (tar,  pitch,  &c.) , 

Total  mineral ., 

galls.. 

galls.. 

...galls.. 

galls.. 

bbls.. 

33,570,402 

4,890,493 

2,122,804 

613,725 

14,221 

4 

2,373,472 

373,074 

163,003 

165,819 

43,757 

3,117,124 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 54 


850 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


Appendix  O.— Commerce  of  the  United  States  vriih  France,  cfc— Continued. 

EXPORTS  OF  DOMESTIC  MERCHANDISE  TO  FRANCE-Contlnued. 


it 

a 

u 

O 

'                                              Articles. 

Quantities. 

Values. 

i 

Oils— Continued. 
Animal— 

78,  IKl 
l,::iii 

58,  U:^ 
. .  ■  1. 

$73,4.->7 

l.&JO 

>    34,110 

N^at;s- foot  and  other  animal 

Whale  and  other  fish ,.. 

Total  animal     .. ... 

......galls.. 

talis. - 

.  .  '    109,317 

46,000 
15,083 

Vegetable- 

Cotton-seed 

Volatile  or  essential 

r 

galls.. 

94,000 

Total  vegetable 

01,082 

Total  oils 

3,287,423 

Tobacco: 

Leaf          

IhR 

37,965,743 

6 

8,086,437 

M}iTHitiMitn'*P«  of           .... 

5,l?i 

Total 

.  .      ' 

3,091,599 

Copper,  manufactures  of .  . . . 

A 

991,161 

Wood,  and  manufactures  of: 

Boards,  clapV)oards,  deals,  planks,  joists,  and  scantling  .M  ft.. 
Shocks,  staves,  and  headings 

13,988 

7 

208,828 
124. 420 

All  other  lumber .      --   - 

32,  (i23 

Logs,  masts,  spars,  and  other  whole  timber. 
Timber,  sawed  and  hewed 

69, 4'.Mi 

cu.  ft.. 

1,008,431 

134.  HOf) 
42,344 

Wooden  ware 

2.117 

All  other  manufactures  of  Wood.n.e.s ....'.'•'•.J.-. 

22,256 

Total 

63(i,973 

Agricultural  imjilemencs: 

Mowers  and  reapers 

No. 

■     ■       /       No 

2,547 
145 

8 

197,8.36 
1,306 

All  ot.bpr.Ti.  ft.ij                  .'.',".!" 

2f)4,566 

Total 

403,708 

Beeds: 

Clover..::.;;... ' 

lh« 

3,547,935 

9 

369,. 522 

Timothy,  garden,  and  all  other 

21,239 

Total      

890,761 

Tallow .....:...: 

lbs. 

•  2,988,083 
115.697 

151 

10 

257,018 

11 

Whalebone 

Iron  and  steel: 

Iron,  manufactures  of— 

Sheet,  band,  and  hoop 

lbs.. 

245,431 

12 

10 

Castings, n.e. 8 '.'.'. . .... .   .  , 

4,385 

Stoves, and  parts  of. -  -    -----    ..    . 

510 

Steram  engines,  stationary 

Machinery, n. e. s  ..'....■. 

.-.No.. 

1 

325 
83,2:59 

Nails  and  spikes 

Printing  presses  and  tyi»e 

lbs.. 

15,000 

465 

i.7;« 

Scales  and  balances' 

2,134 

Sewing  mafliines,  and  parts  of 

72,074 

All  other  manufactures  of  iron, n.e.  3 , 

—      • 

28,701 

Steel,  manufactures  of— 

Cutlery 

879 

Edge  tools 

13,2J>1 

Files  and  saws 

00 

Firearms 

2,361 

All  other  manafactnres  of  steel,  n.e.s 

2,587 

Total. 

210,674 

\ 


SWINE    PKODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


:-851 


^AEEEjfDix  O.— Commerce  of  the  United  States  tmth  France,  etc. — Continued. 
EXPORTS  OP  DOMESTIC  MERCHANDISE  TO  FRANCE— Continued. 


■  ^ 

■SI 

Articles. 

Quantities. 

Values. 

13 

Spirit-',  distilled: 

From  grain - 

From  other  materials 

Total      

-gals., 
.gals.. 

756,643 
55 

$151,634 
90 

151, 724 

'     14 

129, 994 

15 

.gals.. 

282,458 

12j,  090 

16 

77, 933 

Naval  stores: 

Rcisin  and  turpentine 

Tar  and  pitch. .' - 

Total 

.bbls.. 

.bbls.. 

30,012 
3,003 

17 

61,289 

8,642 

69,931 

Fruits:                                                                           

Apples,  dried. -.^ « , 

Applpp  £;r»pxi  0'^rip«                            .,            

...lbs., 
bush-- 

1,272,780 
97 

A     18 

58,041 

21)4 

2,855 

Preserved,  in  caps  or  otherwise , 

1, 770 

Total 'r 

62, 870 

Hair: 

Unmanufactured .. . 

19 

42,887 

3,886 

Total 

46, 773 

Varnish    .    .' j..l 

.gals.. 

-.CWt.- 

11,095 
9 

20 

46,663 

Hemp,  manufactures  of:' 

21 

177 

All  oth^r  manufactures  of,..  ^.—,.^ 

45,436 

Total 

45, 613 

Paintings  and  engravings ,, ^, „,-,- ... 

22 

38, 650 

23 

a5, 739 

34 
25 

Wearing  apparel .,.,.......,.. ^^. 

Bark  for  tanning 

26,973 
26,057 

26 

India-rubber  and  gutta-percha  manufactures 

22,f32 

27 

Books,  maps,  pamphlets,  and  other  publications 

20, 615 

28 

Fancy  articles   ...           .  .. 

19,,782 

W 

Glass  andgTassware , , 

13,443 

30 

Paints  andpainters'  colors 

11,478 

All  articles  not  enumerated: 

All  otlier  unmanufactured  articles 

f— 

57,041 

All  other  manufactured  articles ,,-,, 

235, 185 

Total  not  enumerated                        .        :.w~. 

283  ^6 

Total  value  of  exports  of  domestic  merchandise 

55,965,191 

RECAPITULATION. 


Imports  of  merchandise 

Exports  of  domestic  merchandise 
Exports  of  foreign  merchandise.. 

Imports  of  specie 

Exports  of  specie 


: $97,989,164 

55,965,191 

.- 3,717,033 

104.433 

1,;«1,214 

Total  commerce  with  Fiance 158,157,033 


852 


SWINE    PROJ>DCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


Appendix  P.— Commerce  of  the  United  States  tcith  Germany  during  the  year 

ended  June  30,  1S8S. 

IMPORTS  OF  MERCHANDISE  FROM  GERMANY, 
[n.  e.  8.:  Not  elsewhere  specified.] 


Articles. 


Qnantities. 


Values. 


FREE  OF  DUTY. 


Chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  and  medicines 

Articles  the   produce  or  manufacture  of  the  United  States 

brought  back . 

Hide.sand  skins,  other  than  fur 

Paper  materials . —lbs.. 

Fur  skins,  undressed - 

Hair,  unratinufactured lbs.. 

Household  and  personal  effects  and  wearing  apparel,  old  aud  in 

use.  of  persons  arriving  from  foreign  countries 

India  rubber  and  gutta-percha,  crude lbs.. 

Guano tons.. 

Books,  n.  e.  s. 

"other  free  articles . 


-doz.. 


Total  free  of  duty . 


SUBJECT  TO  DUTY. 


Cotton,  manufactures  of 

Wool,  and  manufactures  of: 

Wool,  raw lbs. 

Dress  goods .sq.yds. 

Other  manufactures  of 


Total. 


Silk,  manufactures  of 

Iron  and  steel,  and  manufactures  of. 


Leather,  and  manufactures  of: 

Leather  of  all  kinds lbs. 

Manufactures  of 


Total. 


Buttons  of  all  kinds,  including  button  materials  partly  fitted  for 

buttons  exclusively 

Fancy  goods 

Chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  and  medicines 

Glass  and  glassware 

Flax,  manufactures  of 

Musical  instruments 

Earthen,  stone,  and  china  ware 

Paper,  and  manufactures  of 

Bristles lbs.. 

Books,  pamphlets,  engravings,  and  other  publications,  n.e.s 

Sugar,  orown lbs.. 

Metals,  metal  compositions,  and  manufactures  of.  n.e.s 

Zinc,  spelter,  or  tutenegue,  and  manufactures  of 

Fursand  dressed  fur  skins 


Wines,  spirits,  and  cordials: 

Spirits  and  cordials,  in  ca^iks proof  galls. 

Spirits  and  cordial.s.  in  bottles doz. 

Wine,  in  casks galls. 

Wine,  in  bottles doz. 


Total. 


Tobacco,  and  manufactures  of: 

Leaf , lbs.. 

Manufactures  of 


Total. 


Fruits  of  all  kinds,  including  nuts 

I*recious  stones 

Clothing  (.except  of  silk,and  except  hosiery,  &c.  ,of  cotton  or  wool) . 


32,530,678 


418,997 


256,127 
94<i 


251,903 


$1,870,723 

1,5.52,629 

1,1,146, 908 
96H,  ."vV) 
241.(48 
141,837 

132,478 

121,978 

56,843 

55,849 

54.166 

1,693,180 

7,936,189 


8,710,077 


10,671 
5,116,953 


8,960 
1,414,478 
5,074,.5<il 


6,497,999 


4,227,109 
3,158,973 


1.644,330 


l,l(U,9fl9 
2,010,072 


3,114,981 


699,059 


16,285,489 


2,332,090 

2,on6.6K4 

1,6!KJ.143 

1,4.%,  449 

1,288,472 

1,1.%.  000 

l,0S«.O74 

928.. ")4C. 

907,203 

899,952 

758,588 

681,662 

664,ft57 

636.819 


37,292 

9. 971 

508.  (Ctt 

29,481 


23,.')e9 

39,178 

387.319 

179, 895 


639,861 


591,606 


845.621 

18,233 


363.853 


5.58,045 
472,428 
390,132 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


853 


Appendix  P. — Commerce  of  the  United  States  with  Germany,  etc. — Continued. 

IMPORTS  OF  MERCHANDISE  PROM  GERMANY-Continued. 


Articles. 


Quantities. 


Values. 


SUBJECT  TO  DUTY— continued. 

Paintings,  chromo-lithographs,  photographs,  and  statuary,  n.  e. 

Wood,  manufactures  of 

Jewelry,  and  all  manufactures  of  gold  and  silver,  n.  e.  s 

Hair,  and  manufactures  of 

Watches  and  watch  movements  and  materials 

Paints. 


Beer,  ale,  porter,  and  other  malt  liquors gails 

Breadstufifs  and  other  farinaceous  food 

Seeds 


484,188 


Fish,  not  of  American  fisheries: 

Herring,  pickled bbls. 

All  other 


9,958 


Total. 


Brass,  and  manufactures  of. 
All  other  dutiable  articles.. 


Total  value  of  dutiable  merchandise 

Total  value  of  merchandise  free  of  duty. 

Total  value  of  imports  of  merchandise. .. 


$390,424 
384,994 
321,552 
260,225 
237,590 
207,608 
147,231 
126, 788 
116,468 


96,844 
18,989 


115,833 


97.417 
2,435.815 


49,441,539 
7,936,189 


57,377,728 


EXPORTS  OF  DOMESTIC  MERCHANDISE  TO  GERMANY. 
[n.  e.  s.:  Not  elsewhere  specified.] 


1 

Cotton,  and  manufactures  of: 

Un  manufactured 

Manufactures  of 

IbS-- 

269,291,378 

$29,542,185 
144,953 

Total 

29,687,138 

Oils: 

Mineral,  crude 

Mineral,  refined  or  manufactured: 

Naphthas,  benzine,  gasoline,  &c 

Illuminating 

Lubricating  (heavy  paraflane,&c.) 

Total  mineral 

galls.. 

galls.. 

galls.. 

galls.. 

2,613,524 

2,367,177 

118,781,859 

1,321.345 

2 

178,927 

154,829 

9,219,609 

265,218 

9,818,583 

^ 

Animal:                                    • 

Lard 

Sperm 

Whale  and  other  fish 

Total  animal 

galls.. 

galls.. 

galls.. 

8,956 

4,687 
160 

8,412 

5,831 

98 

14,341 

Vegetable: 

Cotton  seed 

Volatile  or  essential 

galls.. 

35,126 

23,497 
105,  (508 

Total  vegetable 

129,105 

Total  oils .-i-- 

9  962  029 

Provisions: 

...       lbs 

14,004,017 

7(H,815 

l,982,a54 

870,043 

ia5,713 

19,200 

43 

3 

1,374,4.33 

94,851 
170,673 
132  827 

Hams   

lbs 

Beef, salted  or  cured 

Butter 

lbs.. 

lbs 

Cheese 

lbs 

17  117 

Eggs 

3,456 

Fish,  pickled 

Fish,  other  cured 

bbls.. 

1,105 
84,199 

8.54  gWIJpB^  !PI505DUC1|S  'OF   THE  'IfNrKED.  STATES?. 

Appendix  P. — iSomnieroelif'the'Zftiited  Stntcs^tmTh' Germany,  lef^.-fllJontinuedA, 

EXPORTS  OF  DOMEf5TIC  MERCHANDISE  TO  GERJtf  AJJY-Contiuued. 


I 

;  7 


Provisions— Con tinued.  .,'  .      "  , 

Lard' ^ , ^.4.. -■^-•, .i-y^u  .--Ibe. 

Meats^rre^Q^y.ed — ..  .t,^sil-:ii-l  -aA^---^-  .Ivxf-^i 

Oysters, „,»•«,,•,-. , .^,....^ 

Pickles  and  sauces .^.a./i.v ...,..'..,jj..^i. — 

Pork , .(,.^, lbs. 

Potatoes  and  all  other  vegetapl^a.^., -.t.j 


Total. 


Bread  and  breadstuflfs:  

Bread  and  biscuit .j(....lba.. 

Indian  corn _ j^J'-buHb.. 

Rye ,...,^.,,.^^,,.. ^,....,fc.,.bu3h.. 

wheat „.„..,, „ bnt^h- 

Wbeatflour bbla.. 

All  other, and  preparations  of. ....... .,,.„^.v.« 


Total. 


Tobacco,  and  manufactures  of: 

Leaf 

Manufactures  of , 


.lbs 


Total. 


Seeds: 

Clover 

Timothy,  garden,  and  all  other . .-. 


.lbs.. 


Total. 


Iron  and  steel: 

Machinery,  n.  e.  s .-:- 

Sewing  machines,  and  parts  of . 
All  other  manufactures  of  iron 
Steel,  manufactures  of ..•...■.: 


Total 

Furs  and  fur  skins  . 


Wood, and  manufactures  of:'  — '  

Boards,  clapboards,  deals,  planks,  joists, and  scantling.. M  ft. 

Shocks, staves; and  headings.....'.  ....■.■.'.."..". 

All  otlrcr  lumber 

Logs,  masts,  spars,  and  other  whole  timijer 

Timlier,  sawed  and  hewed cu.ft. 

Household  furniture  .-. ..■.■.■...■...'.,'..'......". 

All  other  manufactures  of  wood.n.e.s 


Total. 


Oilcake :.-...i;--.v.:'.:-..-.v.::..::v.;:."-.'-lbB. 

Leather,  and  manufactures  of :  * ' ' 

Sole, upper, and  all  other Ibe. 

All  other, and  manufactures  of ...; 


Total . 


Naval  stores, rosin, turpentine. tar, and  pitch-.v"": 
Drugs, chemicals, dyestufls, and  medicines ...... 


:.;..bbl8.. 


Fruits: 

Apples, dried lbs.. 

All  other,  green,  ripe, dried,'and  preserved  .:::;."i;:::. ::....:, 


Total. 


Spirits  of  turpentine •.::z\..:i:::::.i::.::tlii. ::..:. .gntte: 

Whalebone v.*.t.-...v.i".-.-..-.:v..:i. "- Ibe- 


41,872,915 


1.146,602 


$4,867,142 
i:»).  4.H 

13.113 

11)4 

108,  (m 

6.57;i 


7,013,051 


10,790 

1,8«0.271 

•    69:i7l5 

1,405,!>!I9 

33,645 


41,810,092 


15,079,768 
t.. 


■»r*o¥ 


3,125 


423,824 


55,087,968 


2,481,629 


253,127 
3,696,119 


680,551 
680,551 


837 

1,277,527 

4;j(!.397 

1,61(1,127 

19(J.24() 

54,376 


8,5<ai..5<)4 


2,99().a'.0 
89, 734 


8,0a5.784 


1,746,670 
329.  :«3 


2, 076, 01 « 


228.;j2t} 

814.  '.78 

2:W.(i03 

.58,  ItW 


1,339,674 
~848J2»I 


67J482 
43,575 
51.fe84 
24:{,i.5!)4 
IHt.Usti 
ti>,l..7y7 
190.'-'15 


794,:743 


629,449 


522.  .574 
61,(00 


583 


,(|64 


546,1687 
52«J(I27 


51,]870 


29(l.k 

j    289.ft 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


855 


Appendix  P. — Commerce  of  the  United  States  icith  Germany,  etc.^Contmned.. 

EXPORTS  OP  DOMESTIC  MERCHAN'DISE  TO  GERMANY -Continued. 


Articles. 


Quantities. 


Values. 


17 


Agricultural  implements: 

Mowera  and  reapers , No. 

All  other. 


1,043 


Total . 


Musical  instruments 

Paintings  and  engravings 

Manures  - 

Spirits,  distilled galls.. 

Hides  and  skins,  other  than  fur 


125,042 


Copper,  and  manufactures  of: 

Ore cwts- 

Manufacturesof- 


6,454 


Total . 


Sugar  and  molasses ^.. 

Clocks,  and  parts  of 

Wearing  apparel 

Vessels  sold  to  foreigners,  sailing tons. 

Books,  pamphlets,  maps,  and  other  publications 

Paper  and  stationery  .*: 

Fancy  articles '.'.. 

Zinc,manTifactures  of 

India  rubber  and  gutta-percha,  manufactures  of 

Hemp,  manufactures  of 

Mathematical  and  philosophical  instruments  

Hair,  and  manufactures  of 

Brass,  and  manufactures  of 

Carriages,  carts,  cars,  and  parts  of 

Bonebfack.  ivory-black,  and  lampblack 

Starch lbs. 

Spermaceti lbs. 

Glass  and  glassware 

Jewelry,  and  other  manufactures  of  gold  and  silver 

Marble  ahd  stone,  and  manufactures  of 

All  articles  not  enumerated — 

All  other  unmanufactured  articles ". 

All  other  mapufactured  articles 


3,245 


674,733 
142,639 


"Tir" 


$97,761 
185,297 


283,058 


152,334 
148,692 
136, 020 
124,063 
116,016 


65,449 
39,562 


105,011 


94,099 
90.601 
81,200 
78,234 
73,195 
67, 765 
66,161 
58,333 
55, 551 
54,927 
49,480 
42,168 
36,496 
33,879 
29,739 
28,778 
24,200 
24.146 
,,  23,652 
21,993 

218.017 
423,363 


Total  value  of  exports  of  domestic  merchandise . 


64,340,490 


RECAPITULATION. 

Imports  of  merchandise ,.,. ^....  $57,377,728 

Exports  of  domestic  merchandise ...,.    64,340,490 

Exports  o£  foreign  merchandise .'.. '...■_,      1,829,439 

Imijorts  of  specie .,.J... ...., ........i..,.      2,570j717 

Exports  of  specie , .t..-,-..^ 368,055 


Total  commerce  with  Germany 126,486,429 


856 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


Appendix  Q. — Quantity  and  value  of  wine  imported  from  Germany  into  the  United 
States  during  each  year  from  IS64  to  18S3,  inclusive. 


Year  ended  Jnne  30— 


In  casks. 

In  bottles. 

Oallons. 

Dozent. 

107, 3!« 

$58,564 

6i,277 

2:3,550 

398 

$2,460 

8:U,880 

153,020 

1,682 

11,7:«) 

3(H,953 

166,143 

1,592 

1:3,422 

2a5,]53 

119, 100 

3,440 

34.1.39 

5»0,418 

215,781 

12,201 

88,074 

860,626 

313,560 

12,188 

67,281 

603,685 

22t>,054 

10,910 

52,864 

988,456 

a5i.5n 

1.5,145 

90,094 

687.047 

268,290 

17,549 

127,573 

42:3,932 

167,(190 

7,967 

52,277 

297,228 

135,625 

15,872 

107,619 

274,355 

179,270 

12,666 

99,075 

178,216 

111,528 

11,017 

93,177 

204,084 

130,790 

11,401 

85,124 

184,613 

126. 5t» 

11,785 

&5,471 

312,683 

14<i,9(l9 

12.898 

87,214 

228,941 

1.t6,982 

12,950 

&5,307 

318,928 

229,372 

21,081 

140,320 

508,033 

387,219 

29,481 

179,895 

Total 


1864 
1866 
1806 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


$58,  .504 
26.010 
ltVt,.544 
179..'>)W 
13(1.  :588 
303.855 
380,841 
278,918 
441,605 
395,863 
219.367 
2J3.244 
278.  .'545 
au,  705 
215,914 
212,040 
234,123 
242,289 
3«),692 
567, 114 


Appendix  R. — The  American  pork  question  in  France. 

The  following  letter  has  been  addressed  to  Mr.  De  Freycinet,  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  president  of  the  French  cabinet: 

Paris,  February  5,  1882. 

Dear  Sir:  The  important  question  of  the  American  salted  pork  meats,  which 
your  predecessors  often  examined  and  always  postponed,  is  not  yet  resolved. 

The  decree  of  prohibition  was  signed  on  February  18,  1881.  Its  object  was  to 
struggle  against  a  danger  which  science  declared  did  not  exist. 

Such  a  measure  suppressed  at  once  in  our  seaports  a  branch  of  trade  amounting 
annually  to  about  40,000,000  francs  ($8,000,000)  and  deprived  the  working  classes 
of  a  wholesome  food  at  a  cheap  price. 

After  February  18  the  French  Republican  Government  saw  that  it  had  gone  too 
far;  for  it  was  said  to  General  Noyes  (at  that  time  American  minister  at  Paris) 
and  to  French  importers,  who  had  in  prospect  nothing  less  than  ruin: 

'Do  not  provoke  any  agitation;  make  no  noise;  be  quiet;  the  decree  is  only  a 
temporary  one,  and  we  are  going  to  repeal  it." 

General  Noyes  wrote  the  following  reply  on  April  8, 1881,  to  the  Government 
at  Washington: 

"  I  have  some  reason  to  think  that  the  French  Government  is  more  favorably 
disposed  than  heretofore  towards  our  application,  and  I  am  confident  that 
within  two  months,  perhaps  within  one  month,  the  order  will  be  annulled." 

The  two  months  are  now  long  past,  but  up  to  the  present  date  nothing  has 
been  done,  though  the  preceding  cabinets  have  made  an  effort  to  lull  the  vig- 
ilance of  interested  people.  Recently,  I  believe,  these  promises,  made  in  Murch 
and  April,  were  renewed  to  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  successor  of  General  Noyes 
at  Paris.  Such  is  my  opinion.  I  can  not,  however,  interrogate  Mr.  Morton  on 
the  subject,  nor  can  he  show  me  his  reports, 

A  project  establishing  the  rules  of  the  microscopic  inspection— that  is  to  say, 
offering  an  impossibility  to  the  trade— was  introduced  at  the  Chamber  of  Dep- 
uties by  the  minister  of  commerce  on  November  5,  1881.  That  project,  elabo- 
rated with  care,  was  a  perfect  one;  unfortunately,  it  was  unpraclical.  Then 
the  bill  was  retired  by  a  decree  of  the  President  of  the  French  Republic. 

Another  project  was  presented  to  tbe  Chamber  by  the  minister  of  commerce 
on  January  14  last.  This  second  project  proposes  to  take  the  place  of  the  pro 
hibitory  decree  of  February,  a  system  of  inspection  which  is  neither  practical  nor 
logical,  but  which,  however,  has  the  advantage  of  suppressing  the  microscope. 
It  was  accepted,  though  imperfect,  at  Havre,  Bordeaiix,  Marseille,  and  Lyons 
just  at  a  time  when  the  minister  who  proposed  it  resigned. 

At  present  interested  people  are  afraid  that,  with  a  new  state  of  things,  the 
question  of  microscopical  inspection  will  again  be  agitated,  although  recognized 
impossible  by  the  second  project.  Should  that  second  project  be  retired  and  a 
third  one  introduced,  but  to  share  the  fate  of  its  two  predecessors,  men  of  good 


SWINE   PRODUCTS    OF   THE   UiaTED    STATES.  857 

common  sense  will  ask  themselves  when  the  result  so  anxiously  desired  will  be 
obtained  definitely.  The  American  people  have  been  patient  up  to  this  time,  but 
that  patience  is  now  nearly  exhausted.    . 

In  1867  Mr.  Bigelow,  then  American  minister  at  Paris,  received  one  day  the 
official  order  to  say  to  the  Imperial  Government: 

"  Withdraw  your  soldiers  from  Mexico,  or  we  immediately  interfere." 

The  French  soldiers  were  immediately  withdrawn. 

If  you,  sir,  do  not  soon  repair  the  mistake  committed  during  the  last  year,  Mr. 
Morton,  faithful  interpreter  of  his  Government,  will  probably  before  long  say 
to  you: 

"  Repeal  the  decree  of  February  18,  1881,  or  we  will  prohibit  the  introduction 
to  the  United  States  of  your  wines  and  silk  fabrics,"  etc. 

This,  sir,  is  the  impression  I  received  during  my  last  trip  in  America. 

You  will  be  able,  I  am  sure,  enlightened  by  your  wisdom  and  patriotism,  to  save 
our  French  trade  from  the  imminent  retaliations  of  the  United  States. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  very  respectiuily, 

Leon  Chotteau. 


Appendix  S. 

[Telegram.] 

New  York,  February  1,  ISSfy. 
Merchants  here  engaged  in  export  trade  state  there  is  a  strict  prohibition  of  hog 
product,  even  in  bond  in  transit  for  other  countries,  in  both  France  and  Germany. 
Switzerland  imports  through  Italy.  At  Hamburg  and  Bremen  it  is  permitted, 
when  taken  by  the  same  vessel  that  brought  it,  if  final  destination  is  a  Baltic 
point  outside  of  Germany;  but  no  transshipment  permitted.   • 

E.  H.  Walkee, 
Statistician,  N.  Y.  Pr.  Esc, 
Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr., 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics. 


Appendix  T. 

Treasury  Department, 
Office  Supervising  Surgeon-General 

U.  S.  Marine- Hospital  Service, 

Washington,  February  1.  1884. 
Sir:  In  accordance  with  the  request  contained  in  your  letter  of  January  30, 1884. 
I  have  to  inform  you  that  the  total  number  of  seamen  treated  by  the  Marine- 
Hospital  Service  for  the  ten  years  from  1874  to  1883,  inclusive,  was  234,353.  The 
total  number  of  deaths  from  all  causes  during  that  period  was  4,234.  There  were 
no  cases  of  trichinosis  reported  during  that  period,  or  since  the  organization  of  tht 
service,  so  far  as  the  records  of  this  office  show. 

In  apswer  to  your  inquiry  as  to  whether  the  class  of  patients  who  are  treated  by 
this  service  do  not  subsist  very  largely  upon  pork  meat  I  have  to  say  that  they  do 
subsist  largely  upon  that  class  of  food,  and  it  is  for  the  most  part  salt  pork. 
Very  respectfully, 

John  B.  Hamilton, 
Surgeon-General,  Marine  Hospital  Service. 
Mr.  Joseph  Nimmo, 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics. 


Appendix  U. 

District  of  Columbia,  Health  Department, 

Washington,  February  2,  ISS^. 

Dear  Sir:  Referring  to  yours  of  January  30, 1884,  asking  certain  information 

relative  to  sickness  or  death  caused  by  eating  certain  articles  of  food,  I  have  the 

honor  to  state  that  the  records  of  this  Department  show  no  fatal  case  of  sickness 

caused  by  the  eating  of  pork  meats  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

In  80  far  as  the  question  of  the  relative  merits  of  pork  meats  compared  with 


858 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


other  articles  of  diet  is  concerned,  the  only  way  we  have  of  jiidging  is  by  the  con- 
demnations of  unwholesome  food.  I  send  you  herewith  a  marked  copy  of  my  last 
published  rejjort,  which  will  give  you  the  facts  in  taVnilar  form.  It  will  be  seen 
that,  during  the  ten  years  covered,  the  condemnations  of  bacon,  l>am.  and  pork 
form  but  a  comparatively  small  proportion.  See  pages  13  and  l(i  of  report. 
Very  respectfully,  etc., 

Smith  Townshend.  M.  D., 

Health  .Officer, 
Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr., 

Chief  Bureau  of  Statistics, 


Appendix  V. — Statements  from  the  chief  health  officers  of  ^ew  York,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  in  regard  to  the  total  numifer-Qf  de(f.ths  in  those 
cities  and  tJie  number  of  deaths  from  trichinosis. 

Office  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
Registration  Department.  No,  604  Sansom  Street, 

Philadelphia,  February  1,  ISSJf, 
Sir:  Your  telegram  this  date  to  hand.     In  reply: 


Years. 


Number  of  Deaths  from 
deaths.      trichinosis. 


1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

Total 


15,473 
17,711 
19,51.5 
20,  ((.■i9 
20.1HW 


92,7tt4 


Yours,  respectfully. 


Joseph  Nimmo,  Esq., 

Washington,  D,  C. 


G.  E.  Chambers, 

Registrar, 
Per  TuRNEY. 


Number  of  deaths  in  the  dty  of  Neiv  York  during  the  ten  years  ISV^-ISSS,  and  the 
number  of  deaths  attributed  to  trichinosis  during  the  same  period. 


Years. 

Number  of 
deaths. 

Deaths  from 
trichinosis. 

1874          

28,727 
30,709 
29, 1.52 
26,30:{ 
27.008 
28,iH2 
31,937 
38,()34 
37.924 
34,011 

None. 

1875                                 ,           

1 

187B           .         

None. 

1877 

None. 

1878                   .          ..            

1 

1879     

None. 

1880 

1 

1881                 v.. 

o 

1882                                           

None. 

1883              

None. 

Total 

170,838 

5 

Correct: 


February  1,  1884. 


Emmons  Clark, 
Secretary  Health  Department,  New  York  City. 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

[Telegram.] 


859 


Board  of  Health, 
Boston,  Mass.,  February  1,  I884. 
Sir:  Total  number  of  deaths  reported  to  us  last  five  years,  48,680.    No  deaths 
reported  from  trichinosis. 

Respectfully,  A.  H.  Durgin, 

Chairman. 
To  Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr., 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Health  Department,  • 
City  Hall,  Baltimore,  February  1,  IS84. 
Dear^ib:  Your  telegram  to  Dr.  Benson  has  been  placed  in  my  hands.  I  en-, 
deavored  to  reply  by  telephone,  and  now  write  to  verify  my  statement.  I  have 
just  completed  a  statistical  table,  covering  a  period  of  fifty-four  years,  in  regard 
to  zymotic  diseases  and  the  mortality  of  children  under  5  years  of  age  in  the 
city  of  Baltimore.  Have  also  made  a  very  thorough  examination  of  the  reports  of 
this  department  from  January  1, 1834,  to  December  31, 1883.  a  period  of  fifty  years, 
and  have  been  unable  to  find  a  single  case  of  '•  trichinosis  "  reported.  1  have  also 
consulted  some  of  our  ablest  as  well  as  oldest  physicians.  Their  testimony  is, 
that  they  never  heard  of  a  case  in  Baltimore.  I  have  resided  here  nearly  fifty-seven 
years,  and  consider  myself  a  close  observer;  have  a  good  memory  also.  I  never 
heard  of  a  case  in  our  city,  notwithstanding  a  vast  amount  of  pork  is  consumed 
by  our  citizens.  I  therefore  feel  quite  confident  In  asserting  that  this  city  lias 
been  absolutely  free  from  this  disease.  I  find  by  my  table  that  the  total  number 
ol  deaths  in  Baltimore  have  been  as  follows: 


Yeur.i. 

Total 
deaths. 

Years. 

Total 
deaths. 

1S.3H - 

2,086 
2,308 
i3..57:i 
2,4U5 
2,747 
2,050 
2,192 

18.57 

i  1858 

5,120 

ISAX 

5  407 

IKVi                                       

18.J9         . 

4,647 
4.866 

]8;«      

:  1860 

183*  

1  18ul 

4,790 

1835        

1862 

5,173 
5,551 

1;-!;*  

1863 

l.'-vi"           

2,518 

1864 

5,  .568 
4, 695 
5  623 

l,s:{8             

2,376 
2,200 
2,045 

2,448 

186.)        

U-vi9                '       .      .                         ... 

186() 

1867     ..,.' 

lN+0 

5,211 

]s41 

181)8 

6,178 
6,497 
7,262 

18i;i 

2, 4.54 
2,3:13 

2,665 

1869 

18+.5 

1870 

184+                     

1871 ., 

7,141 

I8+.5                              ... 

2,896 
2,  S,U 
3,414 
3,861 
4,165 
4,210 
4,169 
4,965 
4,717 
5,416 
5,075 
5,229 

1872            

*  7, 546 

18415      .           

1873 : 

'7,817 

]847                        

1874 

7,401 
7,382 
7,317 
9,022 

181S 

1875  ...i.... 

]8W          .         .„ 

1876     

I8.">i)     ,.  !*, 

1877 

18.51                     V  .     

1878  

6,733 

J8">:,'               L                                

1879        ...  :      . 

7,618 

18r>:s            ,^v       - 

1880 

8,043 

18,54                                            

1881 

8,816 

ia5.5 

1882 

«8,993 

18515          .                                      

1883 

*9,380 

'  85:5  from  cholera. 
2  8!i6  from  sma.lpox. 


'  617  from  smallpox. 
*  551  from  smallpox. 


'  633  from  smallpox. 


Making  a  grand  total  of  deaths  during  fifty-four  years.  264,334.  of  which  number 
135,874  were  children  under  5  years  of  age,  17,982  having  died  from  cholera 
infantum. 

Respectfully  submitted.  A.  R.  Carter, 

Secretary  Health  Department. 
Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr.,  Esq., 

Cui^f  of  Bureau  of  btatistics,  Washington,  D.  C. 


860  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Appexdix  W. — Letter  addressed  to  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  by  Mr. 
Charles  Randolph,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago. 

Board  of  Trade, 
Secretary's  Office,  Chicago,  January  30,  I884. 

Dear  Sir:  Yonrs  of  the  2Gth  and  28th  instants  are  received,  the  first  with  inclo- 
sures,  which  1  herewith  return.  I  have  read  over  your  letter  (copy)  to  Mr.  Murray. 
I  quite  agree  with  you  that  it  would  be  "  a  perversion  of  the  truth  to  represent  that 
the  total  falling  off  in  ourexportsof  hogproilucts  has  been  due  entirely  to  the  action 
of  Germany  and  France. "  The  Geman  general  interdiction  did  not  take  effect  until 
March,  1883. 

The  decree  of  June  25,  1880,  a  copy  of  which  you  inclosed  me,  did  not  cover  any- 
thing but  sausage,  and  had  little  effect  in  this  country,  as  we  had  sent  but  an  insig- 
nificant quantity  previously.  In  March,  1883,  a  new  order  whs  issued,  the  text  of 
which  I  have  not  got.  This  covered  all  forms  of  pork  meat  when  designed  for 
consumption  in  Germany,  and,  by  the  statement  of  Consul  Mason,  at  Basle. 
Switzerland,  was  also  held  to  prohibit  the  transportation,  even  in  sealed  cars,  of 
American  pork  from  other  countries  through  German  territory  to  countries  beyond. 
This,  perhaps,  was  the  most  unfriendly  act  that  has  grown  out  of  the  whole  busi- 
ness, and  one  that  it  seems  to  me  ought  to  have  called  out  a  vigorous  protest  from 
our  Government.  The  State  Department  was.  [  think,  informed  in  May  last  of 
this  prohibition,  the  circumstances  of  which  were  detailed  in  correspondence  sent 
the  Department  by  Consul  Mason.  There  is  no  prohibition  on  the  importation  of 
lard  in  Germany;  but  the  authorities  have.  I  understand,  seized  some  lard  alleged 
to  be  mixed  with  water,  and  confiscated  it  at  the  German  border  ( I  think  Aix-la- 
Chapelle).  In  France  the  prohibition  is  held  to  cover  all  forms  of  pork  meat,  but 
not  lard.  I  think  there  is  a  still  later  decree  than  that  of  February  18,  1881,  copy 
of  which  you  sent.  This  one,  however,  would  doubtless  be  held  to  cover  all  forros 
of  pork  meat,  whether  salted  in  barrels  or  otherwise,  smoked  or  not.  These  pro- 
hibitions are  understood  in  the  trade  to  cover  all  forms  of  pork  except  lard,  in 
both  France  and  Germany,  with  the  exception  that  pork  in  barrels  is  allowed  into 
German  ports  if  to  be  used  on  shipboard,  and  is  held  under  Government  control 
until  taken  for  shipment  by  sea. 

The  great  falling  off  in  exports  of  hog  products  from  this  country  has  been  far 
more  on  account  of  the  high  price  at  home  than  from  any  of  these  prohibitions, 
the  high  prices  made  by  home  demand  of  course  being  possible  of  attainment  on 
account  of  that  demand  being  largely  increased  on  a  diminished  supply,  resulting 
from  the  causes  alluded  to  in  your  letter  to  Mr.  Murray.  Mess  pork  in  barrels  is 
perhaps  the  best  standard  to  estimate  all  values  by.  That  averaged  in  this  market 
in  1878,  .$9  per  barrel:  in  1879.  §8.54;  in  1880,  §13.06;  in  1881.  $16,474;  in  1882. 
§19.42;  and  in  1883,  $15.12i;  but  up  to  July,  1883,  very  much  higher  than  the 
average  of  the  whole  year.  That  the  price  (here)  has  had  more  to  do  with  the 
falling  off  in  exports  than  any  prohibition  is  clearly  shown  in  the  falling  off  in 
lard  exports,  on  which  there  has  been  no  prohibition,  and  also  in  the  large  decline 
in  exports  to  Germany  prior  to  March,  1883,  when  there  was  no  prohibition  except 
as  it  relates  to  sausages. 

I  can  not  say  positively  as  to  whether  or  not  the  action  of  France  and  Ger- 
many has  discredited  our  pork  products  in  Great  Britain  to  an  extent  that  has 
diminished  our  exports  there,  but  I  do  not  think  it  has  had  any  such  effect.  Those 
exports  have  been  reduced,  as  1  think,  on  account  of  our  high  prices  for  home 
consumption,  the  same  as  com  exports  were  diminished  in  1882  from  the  same 
cause.  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  arrive  at  a  percentage  of  total  exports  of  hog 
products  that  falls  under  the  prohibition  in  any  satisfactory  manner.  Ton  might 
tiike  the  total  exports  of  any  given  year  prior  to  the  prohibitions,  and,  arriving  at 
the  percentage  of  that  year  which  went  to  those  countries,  state  that  to  be  the  per- 
centage that  under  a  similar  volume  of  exports  would  now  be  the  percentage  fall- 
iii'jT  under  the  prohibitions:  but  even  that  would  not  be  a  very  satisfactory  way 
of  stating  it.  because  under  a  different  range  of  prices,  changed  l^me  supplies, 
etc. ,  it  mis?ht  be  quite  different. 

I  do  not  think  of  anything  else  in  this  connection  that  can  be  of  value  to  yon. 
Yours,  truly, 

Chas.  Randolph,  Secretary. 

Hon.  Jos.  NiMMO,  Jr., 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Washington.  D.  C, 


SWINE    PEODUCTS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  861 

Appendix  X. 

Health  Department, 
No.  SOI  Mott  Street,  Neiv  York,  January  31,  ISS4. 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  examined  the  article  inclosed  in  yours  of  30th  instant  on  "  Tri- 
chinae and  trichinosis,"  and  confidently  certify  to  the  correctness  of  the  state- 
ments therein.     That  more  deaths  occur  and  more  sickness  prevails  from  eating 
fish  and  oysters  in  bad  condition,  and  from  eating  stale  vegetables,  than  from 
eating  pork,  can  hai'dly  be  questioned. 
Yours  respectfully, 

Emmons  Clark,  Secretary. 
Joseph  Nimmo,  Jr., 

Chief  Bureau  of  Statistics,  Treasury  Department, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Appendix  Y. — Duty  imposed  by  the  French  Government  under  provisions  of  the 
general  tariff  promulgated  May  8, 1881,  on  hogs  and  hog  products  when  imported 
into  that  country. 

[From  the  new  tariff,  translated  from  the  Journal  Official  by  the  U.  S.  State  Department.] 

Pigs 3.00  francs  each =57.9  cts.  each 

Sucking  pigs  .-. .50  francs  each =  9,7  cts.  each. 

Meats,  fresh,  butchers' 3.00  francs  per  100  kilos=26.3  cts.  per  100  lbs. 

salted 4.50  francs  per  100  kilo8=39.5  cts.  per  100  lbs. 

preserved  in  cans 8.00  francs  per  100  kilos=70.2  cts.  per  100  lbs, 

extracts  of 4.00  francs  per  100  kilos=35,l  cts.  per  100  lbs. 

Animal  fat,  except  fish  oil. Free. 

Other  raw  animal  products Free. 

Duties  imposed  by  German  Government  on  hogs  and  hog  products,  July  15, 1879. 
[U.  S.  State  Department,  Commercial  Relations,  1879,  vol.  2.] 

Meat,  slaughtered,  fresh  or  pre- 
pared, game  and  poultry,  fowls, 
not  living,  meat  extracts 12.00  marks  per  100  kilos=|l. 298  per  100  lbs. 

Lard  of  swine  and  geese _ 10.00  marks  per  100 kilos=  1.082  per   100  lbs. 

Hogs 2.50 marks  each =  59.5  cts.  each. 

Sucking  pigs,  weighing  less  than  10 
kilos 30marks  each =  7.14  cts.  each. 


Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Paris,  February  8,  I8S4. 
Sir:  I  beg  to  inclose  a  copy  of  a  telegram  which  I  had  the  honor  to  address  to 
you.  *  *  *  I  am  happy  to  add  that  the  French  Academy  of  Medicine  has  with 
but  one  dissentient  voice  voted  that  the  Government  may  without  injury  to  the 
public  health  withdraw  the  decree  prohibiting  the  importation  of  American  salted 
meats.  Herewith  you  will  find  a  printed  slip  giving  the  substance  of  their  answer 
to  the  questions  propounded  by  the  Government.  I  was  informed  by  a  member 
of  the  academy  some  days  since  of  the  probable  result  of  the  inquiry. 

Mr.  Ferry  also  made  renewed  inquiry  regarding  steps  whiclj  had  been  taken  to 
inaugurate  American  Federal  inspection,  the  adoption  of  which  system  he  believed 
would  be  the  most  satisfactory  solution  of  the  controversy. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Levi  P.  Morton. 
Hon.  Fred'k  T.  Frelinghxttsen, 

Secretary  of  State, 


862  SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

[Extract  from  Moming  News,  February  7, 1884.] 
THE  LATEST  VIEWS  ON   PORK. 

The  following  are  the  answers  of  the  French  Academy  of  Medicine  to  the  qties- 
tions  o€  the  minister  of  commerce  on  the  subject  of  the  importation  of  foreign 
tueat: 

I.  The  symptoms  of  typhoid  and  trichinosis  are  so  dissimilar  in  every  respect 
that  one  epidemic  could  never  be  mistaken  for  the  other. 

II.  The  importation  of  foreign  salt  pork  may  be  fearlessly  authorized  by  the 
French  Government,  as  it  is  clearly  proved  that  no  danger  to  public  health  has 
been  caused  by  such  importation.  ,  - 

III.  Special  international  laws  ought  to  be  enacted  by  which  guarantees  against 
the  importation  of  diseased  meat  may  be  had. 

IV'.  Positive  instructions  should  be  distributed  to  all  venders  of  foreign  pork, 
who  ought  to  be  forced  by  law  to  hang  up  in  their  shops,  in  the  same  way  that 
wine-shop  keepers  exhibit  the  statutes,  "  Loi  dlvresse  Publique." 


March  24,  1884. 

[Senate  Report  No.  345,  Part  2.] 

Mr.  Vance,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted 
Ihe  following  views  of  the  minority:        -      .  - 

'  The  uncler,sigQed  is  not  able  to  concur  in  the  report  of  the  com- 
•mittee,  and  is  constrained  by  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  present 
'the  reasons  for  his  nonconcurrence. 

The  matter  complained  of,  and  which  the  bill  is  designed  to  remedy, 
is  the  exclusion  of  our  hog  products  from  entering  Germany  for  sale 
on  the  ground  that  they  are  unwholesome.  In  my  opinion,  Germany 
has  the  right  to  do  this  if  she  deems  it  proper,  and  that  we  are  not 
justified  in  impeaching  her  motives  in  so  doing. 

If  it  be  true  that  our  pork  is  to  any  extent  unwholesome,  we  should 
endeavor  by  a  rigid  system  of  inspection  to  remove  the  cause  of 
complaint. 

If  it  be  that  fear  of  trichinosis  is  only  a  pretext,  and  that  the  real 
reason  for  excluding  our  hog  products  is  the  desire  to  protect  their 
own  producers,  then  we  are  the  last  people  on  earth  who  ought  to 
complain.  After  surrounding  ourselves  for  more  than  twenty  years 
with  a  protective  tariff  wall  so  high  as  to  exclude  virtually  all  the 
products  of  Germany  which  compete  with  ours,  it  is  rather  late  for  us 
to  advocate  retaliation  against  a  government  which  merely  follows  our 
example.  In  fact  (Termany's  action  is  retaliation,  and  the  cry  of 
"Stop  thief"  can  not  change  the  true  condition  of  things.  We  have 
got  to  learn  that  we  are  not  so  great  and  independent  as  to  enable  us 
to  defy  the  laws  of  political  economy  and  the  amenities  of  interna- 
tional trade  with  impunity. 

We  have  been  told  again  and  again  that  our  true  policy  was  to  shut 
up  our  manufactures  from  the  competition  of  the  world,  and  that  all 
the  nations  thus  excluded  would  be  compelled,  nevertheless,  to  buy 
our  breadstuffs  and  provisions — that  they  could  not  do  without  them. 
We  are  greatly  surprised  and  indignant  when  one  important  customer 
says  he  can  get  along  without  our  hog  products,  and  forbids  their 
coming  in;  and  we  propose  to  retaliate !  For  what?  For  simply  and 
frankly  forbidding  them  to  be  imported.  Suppose,  instead  of  doing 
this,  Germany  had  imposed  a  duty  of  100  per  cent  on  them,  which  as 
effectually  prohibited  their  importation,  what  then?    Where  would  be 


SWINE    PRODUCTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  863 

our  so-called  retaliation?  The  undersigned  can  see  no  difference 
whatever  in  the  two  methods  of  prohibition,  so  far  as  results  are  con- 
cerned, only  that  the  one  is  manly  and  direct,  while  the  other  is 
indirect  and  based  on  false  pretenses; 

Our  great  meat  industry  must  indeed  be  cared  for.  It,  with  kindred 
agricultural  industries,  furnishes  nearly  all  of  our  foreign  trade,  and 
they  deserve  all  that  Congress  can  do  for  them.  But  this  bill  does 
not  propose  the  true  way  to  do  it.  This  way  is  to  remove  as  far  as 
possible  all  restrictions  upon  trade,  and  to  enlarge  the  markets 
for  our  farmers'  products  all  over  the  world  by  liberal  treaties  and 
tariff  laws. 

The  last  section  of  the  bill  is  especially  objectionable,  not  only  in 
the  proposed  retaliation,  but  in  the  relegation  of  the  whole  matter  to 
the  Executive.  We  propose  thereby  to  arm  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a 
constitutional  republic  with  the  same  arbitrary  power  over  commerce 
that  is  now  exercised  by  the  prime  minister  of  a  feudal  European  des- 
potism, in  order  that  on  equal  terms  they  may  inflict  mutual  injuries 
on  their  people  until  one  or  the  other  gives  in.  This,  too,  while  Con- 
gress is  in  session,  and  the  representatives  of  the  people  are  present, 
ready  to  say  if  they  wish  to  begin  this  war,  and  on  what  articles  of 
commerce  they  prefer  the  fight  to  be  made.  The  section,  in  effect,  is 
an  abdication  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  Congress  and  a  delegation 
thereof  to  the  better  judgment  of  the  President.  If  such  measures  of 
so-called  retaliation  toward  Germany,  or  any  other  nation,  should  be 
deemed  necessary  or  advisable,  imprimis  let  Congress. say  so;  and  let 
it  likewise  prescribe  all  the  details  of  such  measure,  and  the  articles 
on  which  the  struggle  is  to  be  made.  It  is  the  President's  business  to 
execute  the  laws,  not  to  make  them;  it  is  as  certainly  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  make  them,  and  not  shift  the  task  upon  somebody  else. 

Those  sections  of  the  bill  which  provide  for  an  inspection  of  meats 
designed  for  exportation,  and  which  forbid  the  importation  of  adul- 
terated and  unwholesome  articles  of  food  or  drink,  constitute  proper 
legislation,  and  while  not  regarded  as  sufficiently  thorough,  are  yet 
in  the  right  direction.  When  perfected  by  experience  and  the  sincere 
desire  to  give  the  world  wholesome  food,  which  it  is  not  doubted  all 
our  producers  entertain,  in  the  opinion  of  the  undersigned  all  will 
have  been  accomplished  that  is  desired  by  the  friends  of  the  bill. 

Z.  B.  Vance. 


II^DEX. 


[Note. — For  all  subjects  connected  with  Nicaragua  Canal,  see  Nicaragua  Canal,  this  index,  and  Inter- 
oceanic  Canals,  Vol.  VIII.] 

A. 

Page. 

Alaska,  to  facilitate  development  of 140 

Alert,  authorizing  return  of  steamship 44 

Algiers,  Americans  captive  in 5, 6, 8 

frigates  for  Dey  of 6 

protection  of  commerce  against  cruisers  of 6,  8 

American  captives  in  Algiers 5, 6, 8 

commerce  in  Mediterranean 6,  8 

conference  to  promote  commerce 136 

Medical  Congress,  delegates  to 409 

Nations,  assembly  of 12 

navigation,  to  promote 526 

seamen,  for  protection  of 6, 8, 526 

Anderson,  Richard  C.     (jSce  Nominations. ) 

Argentine,  present  to  American  minister  from 44 

Assembly  of  American  nations  at  Panama ,. 12 

Authority  to  accept  decorations 43,  47, 49, 56 

medals 42,55,57,69,75 

position 37 

presents 44, 51,  63, 68 

return  steamship  Alert 44 

B. 

Baltimore,  medals  for  crew  of  IT.  S.  S 75 

Barbary  powers,  for  protection  of  commerce  against 6, 8 

Bark  Lammerlaw,  medal  for  aid  to 42 

Bartholdi  Statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World 57 

Belgium,  charge  d'affaires  to.     {See  Nominations. ) 

Bernadou,  J.  B. ,  vases  from  Government  of  Japan  for 68 

Bolivar,  Simon,  statue  to : 43 

Boundary  commission  with  Great  Britain 503 

Mexico  {see  Nominations) 33 

British  vessels,  embargo  against 518, 523, 524, 528 

C. 

Cable,  Pacific 490 

Canada,  water  boundary  between  United  States  and 503 

Canals,  Nicaragua  {see  Nicaragua  Canal) . .  105, 107, 135, 139, 141, 187, 402, 410, 415, 457 

Tehuantepec 81 

Captives  in  Algiers,  American 5, 6, 8 

Cassard,  Augustus  J. ,  medal  from  French  Government  for 42, 57 

Charg^  d'affaires  to  Belgium.     {See  Nominations.) 

S.  Doc.  231,  pt  4 65  865 


866  INDEX. 

Page. 

Chesapeake,  attack  by  British  ship  Leopard  on  frigate 514 

Chicago,  International  Exhibition  of  1893  at 407 

Chile,  medal  to  D.  W.  Mullan  from  Government  of 55, 69 

China,  decoration  to  I).  Pratt  Mannix  from  Government  of 56 

Citizens  of  United  States  in  captivity  in  Algiers 5, 6, 8 

Colombia,  authority  to  Lieutenant  Ijemly  to  accept  position  witli 37 

John  W.  Phillip  to  accept  present  from 51, 63 

Colonial  possessions  of  foreign  nations,  commerce  with 507, 528 

Commerce,  American  conference  to  promote 36 

in  Mediterranean,  for  protection  of 6, 8 

Oriental 632 

protection  against  Barbary  powers  for 5, 6 

restriction  of 507, 511, 639 

spoliations  on 5, 514 

suspension  of 512, 513, 514, 518, 523, 524, 528 

with  foreign  colonial  pos*t>ssion8 507, 628 

nations.  507, 508, 511, 512, 513, 518, 523, 524, 525, 526, 528, 532 

France,  suspension  of 512, 518, 523 

Great  Britain,  suspension  of 518, 523, 524, 528 

Santo  Domingo,  suspension  of 512, 513 

Commission,  Canadian  boundary 603 

Conference,  Pan-American  Medical 409 

to  fix  common  prime  meridian 134, 138 

promote  commercre,  American 136 

Congress  of  American  nations  at  Panama 12 

Pan-American  Medical 409 

Consuls,  defining  and  regulating  duties  of 608 

Conway,  John  R.     {See  Nominations. ) 

Council,  orders  in 514 

Crimes  against  neutrality  of  United  States,  punishment  of 632 

D. 

Darien,  Isthmus  of.     {See  Nicaragua  Canal. ) 

Decorations,  from  Government  of  China 56 

France 43,49 

Russia 47 

to  Cassard,  Augustus  J 42 

Howard,  0.0 49 

Mannix,  D.  Pratt : 66 

Rawicz,  Joseph 47 

Vignaud,  Henrj' 43 

Decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan 514 

Development  of  Alaska,  to  promote  the 140 

Dey  of  Algiers,  frigates  for 6 

Diversion  of  waters  between  United  States  and  Canada 503 

Duties  of  consuls,  defining  and  regulating 508 

on  French  vessels,  remission  of 511 

tonnage 607 

Embargo  on  vessels  of  France 612 

remission  of  penalties  under  acts  of 626 

removal  of 511, 628 

Envoys.     (-See  Nominations.) 


INDEX.  867 

Paca 

Exhibition  at  Chicago,  International,  1893 407 

Havre,  International  Maritime 95 

Paris,  1889 158 

F. 

Firearms,  traffic  with  New  Hebrides  in 533 

Foreign  nations,  commercial  intercourse  with 507, 

508, 511, 512, 513, 518, 523, 524, 525, 526, 528, 532 

tariff  discriminations  of 532 

Forfeitures  under  embargo  acts,  remission  of 526 

France,  decorations  from  Government  of 43,  49 

medals  from  Government  of 42, 57 

statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World  from  citizens 57 

suspension  of  commercial  intercourse  with 512, 518 

vessels  of,  embargo  on 512 

remission  of  duties  on 511 

Frigates  for  Dey  of  Algiers 6 

G. 

Gallatin,  Albert.     {See  Nominations. ) 

Government,  decoration  from  China 56 

France 43,  49 

Russia 47 

medals  from  Chile 55, 69 

France 42, 57 

Great  Britain 42 

Sweden  75 

position  with  Colombia 37 

present  from  Argentina 44 

Colombia 51, 63 

Great  Britain 42 

Japan 68 

Spain 37 

statue  from  France 57 

Venezuela 43 

Great  Britain,  boimdary  commission  with 503 

envoy  to 12 

medals  from 42 

minister  to 30 

presents  from 37 

return  of  steamship  Alert  to 44 

suspension  of  commerce  with 518, 523, 524, 528 

H. 

Hague,  minister  at  the 11 

Havre,  International  Maritime  Exhibition  at 95 

Hawaii,  cable  to 490 

Howard,  Gen.  O.  O.,  decoration  from  France  for 49 

I. 

Importations  of  meats  from  United  States,  prohibition  of 532, 539 

Intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  commercial 507, 

508, 511, 512, 513, 518, 523, 524, 525, 526, 528, 532 

diplomatic 507 


868  INDEX. 

Pare. 

Intercourse  with  France,  suspension  of  commercial 512,513,518, 523 

Great  Britain 518,523,524 

Santo  Domingo 512, 513 

International  American  conference  to  promote  commerce 36 

boundary  commissions 33, 503 

conference  of  American  nations 136 

to  fix  common  prime  meridian 134, 138 

exhibition  at  Chicago,  1893 407 

Havre,  maritime 95 

Paris,  1889 158 

Intoxicants,  traflSc  with  New  Hebrides  in 533 

Isthmus  of  Darien.     (<See  Nicaragua  Canal.) 

Nicaragua.     {See  Nicaragua  Canal. ) 

Tehuantepec.     {See  Nicaragua  Canal) 105 

J. 

Japan,  present  to  J.  B.  Bernadou  by  Government  of 68 

Jeannette,  recognition  of  services  to  survivors  of  crew  of  steamer 45 

L. 

Lammerlaw,  medals  for  aid  to  crew  of  bark 42 

Legar6,  Hugh  S.     {See  Nominations. ) 

Lemly,  Lieut.  Henry  R.,  position  with  Government  of  Colombia 37 

Leopanl,  attack  on  frigate  Chesapeake  by  man-of-war 514 

Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,  statue  of 57 

London,  minister  at 11 

Longitude,  confereupe  to  fix  common  prime  meridian  of 134, 138 

M. 

Mannix,  Lieut.  D.  Pratt,  decoration  from  Government  of  China  for 56 

Maritime  canals.     {See  Nicaragua  Canal  and  Tehuantepec  Canal. ) 

exhibition  at  Havre,  international 95 

Meats,  restriction  of  importation  from  United  States  of 532, 539 

Medals,  permission  to  accept  from  Government  of  Chile 55, 69 

France 42,57 

Great  Britain 42 

Sweden 75 

to  Cassard,  Aug.  J 42, 57 

crew  U.  S.  S.  Baltimore 75 

MuUan,  D.  W 55,69 

Stream,  Altert  T 42 

Medical  Congress,  delegates  to  Pan-American 409 

Mediterranean,  traxle  and  commerce  of  United  States  in 5, 6, 8 

Meridian  of  longitude,  conference  to  fix  common  prime 134, 138 

Mexico,  boundary  commission  with.     {See  Nominations.) 
Ministers.     {See  Nominations. ) 
Monroe,  James.     {See  Nominations.) 

Morocco,  to  secure  recognition  of  treaty  with 5 

Morris,  Gouverneur.     (/SJee  Nominations.) 

Mullan,  D.  W. ,  medal  from  Government  of  Chile  to 55, 69 

Munitions  of  war,  neutral  trade  in 532 


INDEX.  869 

N. 

Paee. 

Navigation,  to  promote  American 526 

Neutrality,  to  prevent  violation  of 532 

New  Hebrides,  traffic  with  natives  of 533 

Nicaragua  Canal 105,-107, 135, 139, 141, 187, 402, 410, 415, 457 

Administration  of  canal  work 238 

Advisory  board  of  engineers 381,458 

report,  1889 293 

Alaska,  products  of 334, 487 

American  citizens,  employment  of 109 

American  Isthmus,  canal  across,  early  ideas  in  relation  to 188,  208 

first  survey  for 208 

historical  review  of 187 

lowest  continental  divide 108, 187,  209 

Aqueduct,  Greytown 341 

Atkins,  Thomas  B.,  statement  of 321 

Atrato-Napipo  canal  route 131 

Australia,  commerce  in  1888 327 

Belize,  British  settlement  at 191 

declared  a  British  colony,  1862 191 

legislative  assembly  of,  1853 191 

Bonds  for  canal,  guaranteed  by  United  States 110,  202,  205, 467, 471 

application  of  proceeds  of .  205, 472 

cancellation  of 205, 469 

duration  of 205,412,471 

interest  on. .  204, 412, 467, 471, 472 
issue    to    Maritime    Canal 

Company 204,469,470 

limit  of  amount 110, 205, 412 

suspension  of  issue  of 472 

not  guaranteed  by  United  States,  amount  not  limited ...      200 

outstanding  ..      469 

interest  on 349 

market  price  of 200 

negotiation  of 348,  379 

Boundary  between  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica 377 

Breakwn ter  at  Brito 21 6,  217, 366,  367 

Greytown 339,376 

Brito,  breakwater  at 216,  217, 366,  367 

harbor  construction  at 367 

Business  of  canal,  estimated 350, 352, 358 

California  Bankers'  Magazine  on 271 

Canal  work,  administration  of 238 

Capacity  of 217 

Capital,  foreign 201,354,460 

Charter  to  Canal  Company 410, 411 

Clay,  Henry,  as  to  advantages  of  canal 188 

Clayton-Bulwer  convention 189 

British  action  under 190, 191 

Central  America  under,  control  of 189 

inapplicable  now 191 

negotiation  of 189 

provisions  of 189, 190 


870  INDEX. 

Nicaragua  Canal — CJontinued.  Page. 

Climate 237,252,269 

effect  on  Northern  men  of 360 

Commerce  of  Australia 327 

France 326,486 

Gennany '. 327,486 

Great  Britain 326,486 

Lake  Superior  Canal 231 

New  South  Wales 328 

New  Zealand 327 

United  States,  total  foreign 326 

Victoria 328 

Commercial  importance  of  canal 108, 109 

Commissary  arrangements  for  employees 238 

Completion  of,  time  neceasary  for 357, 364 

Concessions  from  Costa  Rica 193, 309-320, 378, 384, 461 

history  of 378 

protest  of  Nicaragua  a<rainst 378, 392 

Nicaragua 112, 113, 146, 192, 296,  308, 378,  383, 461 

lands  under 461 

■ ,                       transfer  from  Canal  Association  to  Construction  Company...      384, 
^'  391,392 
Construction  Company  to  Maritime  Canal  Com- 
pany    384,387,393,400 

value  of 461 

Condition  of  work  on 457 

Congress,  action  of 459 

Construction  Company.    {See  Nicarj^ua  Canal  Construction  Company. ) 

materials '. 217, 376 

Contract,  Construction  Company  with  Maritime  Company,  permanent. .  247, 377, 

294, 396, 398, 401 

cancellation  of.      470 

temporary  . .  200, 374, 

381,386,393,397 

Convention  of  1850.     {See  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty.) 

1859,  Great  Britain  and  Guatemala 191 

Correspondence  as  to  report  of  Charles  E.  Harvey 222 

Costa  Rica,  concessions  of 193, 309-320, 378, 384, 392, 461 

protest  of  Nicaragua  against 378, 392 

navigation  rights  of 378 

Nicaraguan  boundary  with 377,  392 

protest  of  Nicaragua  against  concessions  of 378, 392 

stock  of  Maritime  Company  to 204, 41 1, 469 

Coat  of  canal,  estimated  actual .  199,  219, 220, 287, 347, 348, 349,  357, 358, 380, 458, 466 

without  Government  aid 349, 469 

maintenance 489 

Dams,  Ochoa 196,  236 

San  Francisco  Valley 361,  363 

San  Juan  River 361,363 

Darien,  isthmus  of.     {See  American  isthmus.) 

Davis,  Frank  P.,  report  as  to  work  prior  to  October,  1890 243 

Deseado  Swamp,  engineering  work  in 197 

Dea  Moines  Canal 119 

Dimensions  of 217 

sections  of 218 


I 


INDEX.  871 

Nicaragua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Diplomatic  view  of  construction 468 

Directors  Maritime  Canal  Company 373 

Government 205, 411, 413, 471 

Distances,  table  of 108,109,133,207,259,263,336 

Dividends  of  Nicaragua  Canal,  estimated 412, 472, 473 

Suez  Canal 110,466,467 

Earnings  of  canal,  estimated 258,  273,  350, 412, 467, 472, 473 

Earthquakes 364 

Employees,  commissary  arrangements  for 238 

health  and  comfort  of 197,238 

Engineers,  advisory  board  of 381, 458 

report  of,  1889 293 

division,  reports  of 222, 243 

Government  inspecting  board  of 472 

Engineering  News,  articles  on  Nicaragua  Canal 260, 265 

difficulties 361 

Environments  of 232 

Excavation  of  rock  and  earth,  estimate  of 267,  357 

Expenditures  of  Maritime  Canal  Company 370,  376 

Explorations  for  canal,  1870-1876 209 

Financial  provisions  of  Senate  bill  1481,  Fifty-second  Congroes 470, 472 

Forests  of  Nicaragua,  value  of 367 

France,  commerce  of 326, 485, 486 

Freight  rates,  bulk,  long  haul. . , 263 

on  lumber,  New  York  to  Greytown 353 

Gateway  of  communication  between  North  and  South  America 193 

Geology  of  Nicaragua  Canal  route 232 

Germany,  commerce  of 327, 485, 486 

Government,  aid  of 198,  410, 411, 459, 460, 467, 469 

control  of,  advantages  of 144, 381, 467 

public  opinion  as  to 460 

treaty  rights  under 468, 469 

surveys,  purpose  of 210 

Great  Britain,  commerce  of 326, 485, 466 

interest  in  Nicaragua  Canal 467 

Suez  Canal , 467 

settlement  at  Belize 191 

treaty  with  Guatemala,  1859 191 

Greytown  aqueduct 341 

Harbor 338,340 

breakwater  to 339, 376 

dredging  of 340 

restoration  of 216 

size  of 340 

■Guatemala,  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  1859 191 

Harbor,  Brito,  construction  of 216,  366,  367 

Greytown 338-340 

breakwater  to 339, 376 

dredging  of 340 

restoration  of 216 

size  of 340 

Harvey,  Charles  E.,  C.  E.,  report  of 222 

Health  of  employees,  care  of 197, 238 

Historical  view  of  canal 187 


872  INDEX. 

Nicaragua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Hitchcock,  Hiram,  president  Maritime  Canal  Company,  statement  of 369 

Hospital  service 248, 341 

Imp>ortance  to  American  republics  of 193 

Income  of  canal,  estimated 258, 273, 412, 472, 473 

Indebtedness  of  Maritime  Canal  Couijjany,  liquidation  of 469, 470 

India-rubber  industry  of  Central  America 488 

Influence  of  canal  on  trade 482 

Inspecting  engineers,  board  of  Government 472 

Interest  on  bonds  guaranteed  by  United  States 205,  412, 467, 471 ,  472 

not  guaranteed 200,  350 

Interoceanic  communication 350 

Isthmus  of  Darien.     (See  American  isthmus.) 

Laborers,  American,  number  employed 344 

pay  of 344 

Nicaraguan,  general  character  of 344 

Labor  supply 238,  269 

Lake  Nicaragua  only  practicable  passage 188, 356 

rise  and  fall  in 360 

swamps  and  lowlands  of 361 

Superior  basin,  canal  facilities  and  traffic  of 224 

ship  canal 221-231,241 

commerce  of 231 

construction  of,  1852 224 

cost  of  construction 225 

locksof 226 

obstacles  overcome  in  building 225 

traffic  and  development  of 228 

Lands,  concessions  of 461 

Length  of  canal 353, 356 

Liabilities  of  Maritime  Canal  Company,  liquidation  of 469, 470 

Location  of 253, 338, 356 

Lockage 219,273,358 

Locks,  Nicaragua  Canal 365 

Louisville  and  Portland  Canal 118 

Lumber  freight  rates 363 

trade.  Pacific  coast 352,488 

Machine  shops,  construction  of 345 

Maritime  Canal  Company  of  Nicaragua 116, 143 

Business  outlook  of 350 

Capital  stock  of,  bonus  from 200 

cancellation  of 205,  469,  470 

for  Canal  Association 384 

Construction  Company 384, 387, 393 

Costa  Rica 384 

Nicaragua 204,384,412,468 

holders  of 372,403,470 

issue  of 349,370,372,384,400 

limit  to 200,204 

outstanding 469 

ownership  of 204,354,377 

Meetings  of 395 

Report  on 222 

Statement  of  treasurer  of 373 

Work  accomplished  by 261 


INDEX.  873 

N'lcarafrua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Mason,  Alexander  T. ,  statement  of 391 

Menocal,  A.  G.,  chief  engineer  Construction  Company,  statement  of 208,  356 

Merry,  William  L.,  statement  of 271 

Miller,  Warner,  president  Construction  Company,  statement  of 337 

Mines 368 

Morgan,  Hon.  John  T.,  report  from  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations 457 

Mortality,  percentage  of 342 

Mortgage,  foreclosure  of 414, 472 

Mosquito  Coast.     {See  Belize. ) 

Maintenance,  cost  of 489 

New  South  Wales,  commerce  of,  1888 328 

Zealand,  commerce  of,  1888 327 

Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  concessions  to - 192,  251, 378, 383,  392 

expenditures  of 338 

members  of 385 

organization  of 192,  251 ,  378, 383,  392 

purpose  of 391 

stockof 384 

transfer  to  Construction  Company 384,  391 

work  prior  to  Nicaraguan  concession 338 

Construction  Company,  capital  stock  of 347 

ownership  of  . . .       377 
contract    with    Maritime   Com- 
pany. .  200, 347, 377, 380,  386, 393, 470 

expenditures  of 469, 470 

financial  plan  of 348,354 

status  of 383 

incorporation  of 391 

issue  of  stock  by 400 

meetings  of 395 

members  of 385 

relations  with  Construction  Com- 
pany   384, 391 

Maritime     C  o  m  - 

pany 377 

report  on  location  of  canal  of...       275 

work  performed  by 243,  376 

Lake  only  practicable  passage 188 

rise  and  fall  in 360 

swamp  and  lowlands  of 361 

Mail  Steam  Navigation  Company,  purchase  of 344 

Republic  of 251 

appeal  to  the  United  States  in  1825,  of 188 

boundary  between  Costa  Rica  and 377, 392 

climateof 253,269,342 

concessions  from 296-308 

forests  of 367 

lands  granted  by 461 

products  of 253 

protest  against  Costa  Rican  concession  of 378,  392 

rainfall  of 269 

scenery  of 253 

stock  in  Maritime  Canal  Company  of . . .  204,  384, 412, 468 
temperature  of ^ 253, 342 


874  INDEX. 

Nicaragua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Nitrate  trade,  facta  concerning 330 

Nortli  Sea  Canal 119 

Ochoa  Dam 190,  236 

Panama  Canal i:;0,  240,410 

Railway 209 

Police  organization  for 238 

Policy  of  United  States,  President  Hayes  as  to 203 

Secretary  Evarts  as  to 203 

Political  advantages  of 272 

President  of  Nicaragua,  statement  of 459 

Products  of  Alaska 334 

Nicaragua 253 

Pacific  coast 271 

Proposed  route 211,  :i56 

Public  opinion  on  Government  control 460 

Puget  Sound  lumber  trade 352 

Queensland,  commerce  of,  1888 327 

Railway,  Deseado  Swamp 197 

Nicaragua  Canal 3 12, 376 

Panama 208 

transcontinental 464 

Rainfall  of  Nican^ua 363 

Report  advisory  board  of  engineers,  1889 293,  295 

Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  Forty-seventh  Congress,  special 

session 105 

Forty-seventh  Congress,  firstses- 

sion 107 

Forty-seventh  Congress,  second 

session 135 

Forty-ninth    Congress,    second 

session 139 

Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session  .       141 
Fifty-first  Congress,  second  ses- 
sion   187,402 

Fifty-second    Congress,    second 

session 410, 415 

Fifty-third  Congress,  second  ses- 
sion        457 

division  engineers 222,  243 

Maritime  Canal  Company  to  Secretary  Interior,  1889 369 

1892 473 

1893 480 

Menocal,  A.  G.,  chief  engineer 275 

Resolution  of  Senate  authorizing  inquiry 187, 459 

Resources  of  country  adjacent  to  canal 272, 367 

Revenue,  annual  estimated 258,273,350,412,467,472 

Rio  Lajas  route 120 

St.  Marys  River  dam  and  improvements 118,  226, 412 

Salmon  industry  of  Northwest 488 

San  Carlos  River  dam 120 

Francisco  Valley  dam 361 

Juan  River  dam 363 

Sault  Ste  Marie  Canal,  transit  through 261 


INDEX.  875 

Nicaragua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Scenery  of  Nicaragua 253 

Seasons  in  Nicaragua 253, 362 

Secretary  of  Interior,  transmitting  report  of  canal  company,  1892 473 

1893 480 

Senate  bills,  financial  provisions  of 204, 411, 460, 470, 472 

Sherman,  Hon.  John,  reports  by 187, 410 

Shipping  tonnage  of  the  world 255, 260 

Soil,  character  of 266 

Spanish  canal  proposition  of  1551 188 

Stock.     {See  Maritime  Canal  Company,  Nicaragua  Canal  Association,  and 
Nicaragua  Canal  Construction  Company. ) 

Strategic  view  of  canal 463, 464 

Stubbert,  J.  Edward,  report  on  hospital  service  of 248 

Suez  Canal,  administration  of 126,  2^9,  240, 350, 466 

British  control  of 190 

capitalization  of 465 

cost  of  construction 465 

dividends  of 110,466,467 

length  of 239, 353, 465 

revenue  of 1 26,  240,  258,  353, 466 

tollrateof 351 

tonnage  of 258,  351, 466 

Survey  commission,  1872 209 

preliminary,  cost  of 338 

United  States 196,  210 

Swamp,  Deseado  River 197 

Lake  Nicaragua 361 

Tehuantepec  Canal 81, 108, 109, 124, 129 

Telegraph  and  telephone  lines  along  caniil 343, 376 

Temperature  of  Nicaragua 253, 342 

Toll  rates  on  wheat,  lake  and  canal 262 

Nicaragua  Canal 201,330,353,489 

Tonnage  dues  of 472 

prospective 463 

report  on 321 

tributary  to  canal 256,  331 

world's  shipping 255, 260 

Topography  of  route 233 

Towage  of  sailing  vessels 353 

Trade  of  United  States,  coastwise 257, 487 

and  hi!:o 334,  487 

Traffic  capacity  of  canal 255 

classification  of 331 

report  on  tonnage  of 321 

Suez  Canal 257 

tributary  to  Nicaragua  Canal,  aggregate 489 

entirely 331,333,335,483 

partially 332, 333, 335, 484 

Transcontinental  railways 464 

Transit,  time  occupied  in 219, 358 

Treaty,  1859,  Great  Britain  and  Guatemala 191 

1850,  Great  Britain  and  United  States 189 

1867,  United  States  and  Nicaragua 114, 192,  380 


876  INDEX. 

Nicaragua  Canal — Continued.  Page. 

Treaty,  1884,  Unite<l  States  and  Nicaragua,  cause  of  withdrawal 203 

negotiation  of 192 

rights  under -169 

United  States  coasting  trade 257 

control  of  canal 198,410,411,459,460,467,469 

foreign  commerce,  1889 326 

stock  in  Maritime  Canal  Company 468 

treaty  with  Great  Britain,  1850 189 

Nicaragua,  1867 114,192,380 

1884 192,203,469 

Victoria,  commerce  in  1888  of 328 

Water  required  for  lockage 219, 358 

supply 219 

Welland  Canal 108 

Wheat  of  Pacific  coast 271 

rates,  lake  and  canal 262 

Work,  estimated  cost  per  yard - 268 

on  canal,  general  features  of 254 

proposed 253 

Nomination  of  Anderson,  Richard  C 12 

Conway,  John  R 33 

Gallatin,  Albert 12 

Legar^,  Hugh  S 29 

Monroe,  James 11 

Morris,  Gouvemeur 11 

Pickering,  Thomas 11 

Runnells,  Hiram  G 33 

Russell,  Jonathan 11 

Sergeant,  John 12 

Short,  William 11 

Stevenson,  Andrew 30 

to  be  boundary  commissoners  with  Mexico 33 

charg^  d'affaires  to  Belgium 29 

minister  to  France 11 

Great  Britain 11,12,30 

Netherlands 11 

Panama  Congress 12 

Russia 12 

Sweden 11 

Secretary  of  State 11 

O. 

Orders  in  council 514 

Oriental  commerce 532 

Osbom,  Thomas  0. ,  present  from  Government  of  Argentina 44 

P. 

Pacific  cable 490 

Panama,  Assembly  of  American  Nations  at 12 

Pan-American  Medical  Congress 409 

Paris,  World's  Exhibition  of  1889  at 158 

Permission  to  accept  p)08ition  with  Government  of  Colombia 37 

Philip,  John  W.,  present  from  Government  of  Colombia  for 51, 63 

Pickering,  Thomas.     {See  Nominations.) 


INDEX.  877 

Page. 
Pinckney,  Thomas,  presents  from  Governments  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain  for.        37 

Poor,  Henry  V.,  compilation  by 533 

Presents  from  Government  of  Argentina 44 

Colombia 51, 63 

Great  Britain 37 

Japan 68 

Spain 37 

to  Bernadou,  J.  B 68 

Osborn,  Thomas  O 44 

Philip,  John  W 51, 63 

Pinckney,  Thomas 37 

Prisoners  in  Algiers,  Americans 5, 6,8 

Proclamation  prohibiting  importations,  authorizing 532 

Protection  of  American  commerce 5, 6, 8, 532, 539 

R. 

Railroad  to  Alaska 140 

Ransom  of  American  captives  in  Algiers 5, 6, 8 

Rawicz,  Joseph,  decoration  from  (lovernment  of  Russ-ia 47 

Regulation  of  commerce 511, 532, 539 

Removal  of  embargo 511 

Rei)orts  by  Mr.  Anderson 12 

Bibb 8 

Bingham 6 

Brown 55, 56,  63 

Buchanan 33 

Burnside 105, 106 

Clay 30 

Edmunds 49 

Frye 57 

Giles 11 

Goldsborough 11 

Langdon 5, 6 

Lapham 43 

Macon 12 

Mason 81 

Miller 42, 43,  44,  45, 107 

Payne 47,  69 

Sedgwick 37 

Sherman 51 ,  57, 68,  75,  76,  77,  78 

Smith 6 

Strong 11 

Sumner 95 

Tazewell 29 

Wilson 42 

Windom 37 

Restrictions  on  trade  of  United  States  by  foreign  tariffs 532,  539 

Runnells,  Hiram  G.     {See  Nominations.) 
Rut^sell,  Jonathan.     {See  Nominations.) 

Russia,  decoration  from  Government  of 47 

minister  to 12 

services  to  survivors  of  Jeannette  of  citizens  of 45 


878  INDEX. 

8. 

Page 

San  Domingo,  suspension  of  intercourse  with 512, 513 

Seamen  of  United  States,  for  encouragement  of 6, 8, 526 

Secretary  of  State.     {See  Nominations. ) 
Sergeant,  John.     {See  Nominations.) 

Shield  from  Government  of  Argentina  to  Thomas  O.  Osborn 44 

Ship  canal  across  Isthmus  of  Darien.     {See  Nicaragua  Canal.) 
Short,  William.     (<S!pe  Nominations.) 

Spoliations  on  commerce 5, 514 

Statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World 57 

to  Simon  Bolivar 43 

Steamship  Alert,  return  to  Great  Britain  of 44 

Jeannette,  services  to  survivors  of  crew  of 45 

Stevenson,  Andrew.     {See  Nominations.) 

Stream,  Albert  T.,  medal  from  Government  of  Great  Britain 42 

Sweden,  minister  to.     {See  Nominations.) 

Swine  products  of  United  States,  restrictions  on  importation  of 539 

T. 

Tariff  restrictions  of  foreign  nations 532, 539 

Tehuantepec,  canal  across  Isthmus  of 81 

Trade  in  Mediterranean 5,6 

Traffic  with  natives  of  New  Hebrides 533 

Treaty  with  Morocco,  to  enforce 5 

U. 

United  States,  boundary  of,  northeastern 503 

southwestern 33 

commerce  of 5, 

6, 8, 507, 508, 511, 512, 513, 514, 518, 523, 524, 525, 526, 528, 532, 539 
crimes  against  neutrality  of 532 

V. 

Vases  presented  to  J.  B.  Bemadou  by  Government  of  Japan 68 

Venezuela,  statue  of  Simon  Bolivar  from  Government  of 43 

Vessels  of  France,  embargo  on 512, 518, 523 

Great  Britain,  embargo  on 518, 523, 524, 528 

San  Domingo,  embargo  on 512, 513 

United  States,  for  protection  of 6, 8, 526 

Vignaud,  Henry,  decoration  from  Government  of  France  for » 43 

W. 

War,  trade  in  munitions  of 532 

Washington,  erection  of  statue  of  Bolivar  at 43 

Waters  between  Canada  and  United  States,  diversion  of 503 


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